Keep dumping money into my home AC. Have 3 zones....one zone (main one) just doesn't cool that well. Turn on at 11am when it hits 81 in house and it never shuts off and only gets it down to 80 when the sun goes down on a 90deg humid day. AC guy says have to completely replace system. (air handler and outside unit) for like 10 grand. Heard of a guy that gets defective new units and repairs them. Had him put new outdoor unit in for $1300(Goodman 1.5 ton). Not only did I find out he was a convicted child molester who had just gotten out of prison, he failed to evac unit. Just installed and charged. Still it worked about like old unit. He used replacement R22. My local guy says it needs complete evac and acid treatment plus real R22. I buy the R22 and have him do it. Still no better.... The air handler is in crawl space and drain pan does not ever drain completely due to it's poor drain design. It was nasty...I cleaned it and angled unit some for better drainage. Still it's pretty scary how air passes over that wet coil and drain pan and into house to breathe. I added UV light so maybe I won't get Leagionaire's disease. Any ideas? My thought is that with that wet pan it never gets the humidity out before it can really cool. The air in outlet ducts via probe is 58deg which the guy says is a good differential when air in house is 80. Air speed seems low buy guy says that isn't a bad thing...cools better.
how many square feet in the zone your having the issue with? 58* supply air with 80* return air is 22* split. that's pretty good considering target is usually 18-20* split.
Ran into a similar problem. The original AC unit was undersized for the square footage, and the drain pan installation was bad. Since the unit was 12 years old and this is sunny SW Florida, I opted for a new Rheem unit. The drain installation was left as was, but the installers said that the return to the air handler was undersized as well. We added return capacity; for practical reasons the extra plenum isn't where I wanted it nor where it should be, but we weren't going to rip the new roof apart. After a few months the cooling was getting poorer and I called the installer. The installation company said that the ducts were full of mold and for $2,800 they would clean them. This didn't make sense to me so I called another company. No mold in the ducts, but plenty in the improperly installed drain system. The new company installed UV at the air handler and redid the drain properly for about a grand. The system works great now.
Not sure...living room, dining room, kitchen and sunroom. I'm thinking sunroom attic is cooking and too much heat load. Maybe add more insulation. Part of issue is attic above all main living areas.....
How much insulation do you have in attic now? R-50 is what is recommended for ceilings, we have R-57 in our shop ceiling. Keith
Interested in this as well. I'm having the same problem, 20 year old unit can no longer keep up. Runs and runs, can't quite get down to 72 on the 95* days and overheats/shuts down. Ac companies want big money to replace condenser and evap units saying mine has all good pressures etc, just old amd worn out. I'm thinking about tackling the install myself. Hopefully Briz sees this and replies, he's an ac guy who knows this stuff.
Man...if I could see 70s I'd be real happy! What about insulating the inside of roof (attic ceiling) in addition to floor of attic? Keep heat from coming in in the first place.
Watching this thread. I also have issues with my 8 - 10 year old unit. Works fine when temps are in the 80s but when in the 90s like this week the coils will ice up. Unit doesn’t blow cool and we get excessive water that drops to bottom then leaks to basement floor. Have pulled a couple of gallons of water a day out sometimes. Have had installing company look at it many times but can’t find problem. Has been this way since installed.
They don't make AC units like they used to. Most of the internals are made in China. I have heard a number of people complain about porous aluminum tubing. My AC is 18 years old and works well. I will not have it checked - leave well enough alone. I purchase a dehumidifier in June 2016 for my basement. That unit lasted less than one year. Replaced under warranty. It is called "built in obsolescence"! Can't have products last too long!
I added a dehumidifier to my great room. At first I would empty it every morning and every night, then went with a hose so I never have to empty it and I leave it on 24/7. My AC is only a few years old but struggled mightily to cool my big old wood house (1976) during the Florida summers. (clogged drain lines, frozen systems, etc.) Since I added the dehumidifier my AC only has to cool the air and not also pull the humidity out. I have not had a problem since AND my electric bill went DOWN $150.00/month on average. Cliff
Good idea....I live in humid area. Right now my dehumidifier is in crawl space working. Maybe I'll get another....
The Goodman units come fully charged so evac should not be necessary: "Fully charged for 15’ of tubing length". Try turning on your unit at 7AM when its 70 degrees - don't let the heat load get ahead of you. At 80 its just keeping up! Are you talking about the drain pan inside under the coil or out side under the unit. Not sure why they put it under the house, lots of moisture and dust down there. Try putting an exhaust fan on the crawl space to keep the humidity down - I'm assuming the crawl space is dirt floor?
But seal gets broken on install. Right? They cut and soldered lines outside. Yes, I'm talking drain pan in air handler in crawlspace. Dirt with plastic covering....and lots of snakes.
Steve (Briz) and I are both AC contractors as are a couple of others on the Forum. So you have lots of help. I would be happy to do a "manual J" for you so you know exactly what size you need along with what ductwork will suffice. I will PM you my number... Mikey
We just got a Mitsubishi mini split system installed. No ducts. Just two tubes connecting each unit. Small narrow units attached to the wall. One small unit outside, Quiet as a mouse. Makes all other systems obsolete. Apparently this is all anyone uses in Australia. We are just catching on in this country. They also make heat. Takes heat from outside even at -15F. Don’t ask me how that works but it does. It was installed and running in one short day.
When you say 3 zones Im assuming you mean you have 3 separate systems to control different areas of your home and not a true zoned air system. Reading some of the replies dont make much sense to me as one thats been in the business for nearly 20 years. It seems that 1.5 tons is pretty minimal for anything more than 600sq' unless you got that sprayed foam insulation, excellent windows and some afternoon shading. If you have the drainage challenges I see above and dont want to use a condensate pump you best option is to completely abandon the existing system and go with a mini split like mentioned above. you can buy something like this. DYI install with minimal tools and 1 20A power supply Get a licensed contractor to properly triple evac and charge the system for you. Last 1 I did for a guy was charged 200.00 If you were local I'd be glad to help no charge.
