need help with heil heat pump

elite

i am working on a heil heat pump. it cools perfect, but in heat mode, the house never warms past about 65 degrees. the auxillary heat is working..... but the heat pump runs continously even with auxillary heat on. is this normal operation? and if not, could the cold refrigerant in the air stream be killing the heat produced by the aux heat? and would appreciate any ideas on correcting the problem

beenthere

Are your sure the heat pump is running in heat mode?

What size heat pump.
What size aux heat.
What size house.

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elite

it does switch. the company that installed it has a rep for shotty work at best.
it has 2- 15 kw heat strips, and is roughly 1152 sq ft. house is well insulated. the heat pump never shuts off in heat mode, and continues to run with aux heat. just not sure if it is normal. it seems to me it should drop out of the system when aux heat comes on

beenthere

2-15 KW heaters is 102,390 BTUs. So I doubt both are on at the same time. And not able to heat the house.

Are you sure it isn't 2-5 KW heat strips?

Is the large line hot when its in heat mode?

Its not uncommon for a heat pump to run 24/7 when its near design temp, or alittle above design temp. But all winter, means a problem.

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elite

it is stage 2 and stage 3 heat. i dont know if stage three is comming on, but it is a good heat strip.

beenthere

Could be its not coming on.

Check if its working with your meter.

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elite

the guy told me it never shuts off no matter how cold it gets, and it freezes over all over the bottom of the unit( about 3 " thick ice). i was thinking that it might need an out door thermostat and a crankcase heater, but that dont solve the heating issues

elite

what would you suggest for the may not be comming on problem? it is way too warm right now to get any heat strips to come on right now..... he is just trying to get a jump on it now instead of waiting till winter.

beenthere

You can jump out the terminals at the air handler to bring on the heaters for the few minutes it takes to check them.

As far as freezing up at the bottom of the coil. Could be a charge issue. or a restricting metering device.

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elite

i really appreciate your help. thanks alot

DuMass

Just talking about heating this time of year is making me sweat.

Did you happen to look over the t-stat base terminal wiring yet?
Some t-stats don’t have the E terminal, so they tell you to put the former emergency heat wire on with Aux terminal. That might be what is allowing the compressor to run at the same time the electric heat strips are on. This is likely done by design, but maybe changing the t-stat to a type with an E terminal would be easier than adding a low ambient cut-out, etc., if you feel this is a problem.

What happens when the unit goes into defrost? You may be able to initiate defrost by jumpering the test terminals on the board.

Did you check the reversing valve to see if it's operating?

If you’re already sure the heat strips and thermal fuses are okay, I would also check the sequencers to make sure they are all working.
Good luck with it.

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elite

sequencers are built into control board.... not sure which legs to jump from and to

beenthere

R to W1 and W2.

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How many times must one fix something before it is fixed?

elite

thank you for your help.... not overly familiar with heat pumps

hvaclover

......and there was a mushroom cloud seen over the home Elite was working at.


Elite was never heard from again.

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gene2

Are you sure it is a Heat Pump?
I have run into countless situations in my area where a heat pump was sold but when HO got wise that something wasn't right, turns out a straight AC running all year with Aux Heat doing what little heating delivered. An AC will frost in winter.
Cheap bid contractors cheating HO. As my mentor always said, at least weekly, you get what you pay for - if your lucky.

DuMass

That would really stink... that is, finding out that you paid for an HP and only got a straight AC and had been heating your home with the auxiliary heat strips for the past few years.
If it were me, I would want that installer’s sack sizzling on my Weber while still attached to him.

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gene2

I agree but local code officials & law enforcement is extremely lax here. Code officials arbitrarily pick a point at random to enforce upon the legit, totally ignore infractions on the rest

nicktech

WTF?

hvaclover

Beats the hell outa me

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