Air Conditioner/heating problems

Hi everybody,

This has been a long drawn out affair but hopefully the end is near.

When we moved into our PPOR, we had central heating installed. At the same time, we decided to install central refrigerated cooling as well. The building company put both units through the same vents.

The problem....
For the last 4 years, since we have moved in, both the cooling and haeting have been totally ineffective. Everything seems to be working well except there is no air coming through any vents at all, only a trickle.

We have had countless people out to try and rectify the problem but they dont seem to understand that there is no air coming out of the vents.

Mr Bird has climbed into the roof to make sure that all vents have been attached properly so the only answer is the central fan that pushes out the air is not working properly.

Next week we have yet another technician to look at our unit. Mr Bird is just about to rip our the whole heating and cooling system and smash it into a thousand pieces. Our neighbours have exactly the same set up and works 100%.

Is there anybody who can at least give us suggestions what is wrong so at least we can suggest likely scenarios to the tradesperson.

Thank you Mrs Bird :)
 
Mrs Bird said:
Hi everybody,

This has been a long drawn out affair but hopefully the end is near.

When we moved into our PPOR, we had central heating installed. At the same time, we decided to install central refrigerated cooling as well. The building company put both units through the same vents.

The problem....
For the last 4 years, since we have moved in, both the cooling and haeting have been totally ineffective. Everything seems to be working well except there is no air coming through any vents at all, only a trickle.

We have had countless people out to try and rectify the problem but they dont seem to understand that there is no air coming out of the vents.

Mr Bird has climbed into the roof to make sure that all vents have been attached properly so the only answer is the central fan that pushes out the air is not working properly.

Next week we have yet another technician to look at our unit. Mr Bird is just about to rip our the whole heating and cooling system and smash it into a thousand pieces. Our neighbours have exactly the same set up and works 100%.

Is there anybody who can at least give us suggestions what is wrong so at least we can suggest likely scenarios to the tradesperson.

Thank you Mrs Bird :)


Im a bit confused as you say 'everything seems to be working well' but you also say you have a problem. Does it heat and cool?

Try looking at the air intake for the unit, it might be restricted somehow.

Alternatively try:

http://www.amca.com.au/web/index.php
 
likewow said:
Im a bit confused as you say 'everything seems to be working well' but you also say you have a problem. Does it heat and cool?

Hi likewow,

We have a seperate unit in our roof that is for our central heating. We then have another unit that is on the side of our house for the cooling. As far as I can tell, when each unit is turned on, we can hear a fan starting up in the roof before the systems kick in. We know that is must be something to do with the fan? that pushes the air through the vents as no air comes through for either heating or cooling.

I find it very hard to articulate this because I dont know any technical terms.
The problem is, the cooling technicians will not come out because they say its related to the heating and vice versa.

When I say everything seems to be working well I mean the air conditioner has gas in it and the heater when turned on seems to purr along magnificently..just no air coming out of the vents.

If you like more information, I will try my best.

Mrs Bird :)
 
There are three aspects to the air. Theres the air intake, the motor/fan and the air output(s). If we assume the motor is ok you must have air restriction somewhere. Are you sure air is supposed to pour out of the vents? What have the techs said on that topic?
 
Hi Mrs Bird

After the fire the ducted heating tubes and vents were vacuumed, as were the evap cooling tubes.

This was necessary as some bright spark from the fire brigade turned the evap cooling on while smoke was still billowing from the house, and of course the smoke just got sucked back in and blown throughout the house! The heating kept turning itself on as all the doors and windows were open to let the smoke out - words fail me!

Anyway, after the cleaning company had left Mrs Tenant noticed that the rumpus room wasn't getting any heat.

Luckily, the painter did such a dreadful job that the project managers had all the trades come back again, including the duct cleaning company because they had snapped the fittings from the return air vent in the ceiling which was left hanging out of the ceiling by the tubing. A really classy look in exec housing, should catch on as a fashion statement!

When the duct people were back again Mrs Tenant told them about the rumpus room.

Their vacuum system had sucked the walls of the tubing in so it had collapsed on itself and therefore no air was getting through.

My suggestion? Check that someone didn't leave the forceps behind after the operation, in other words that the ducts themselves do not still have cardboard, wadding or other packing materials still left in them and that the ducts are not collapsed anywhere along the run. Where ducting runs inbetween ceiling / floor in two storey houses this (so I hear) can be a problem - the duct gets squashed but it's not the carpenter's problem or the plasterer's problem so they just install flooring or ceilings and leave the squashed ducting for someone else to sort out.

We once had vinyl installed in a new home and the vinyl layer hammered the pipes for the hydronic heating back under the floor so he didn't have to cut holes for them. This means all the roughing in by the heating plumber was wasted and he had great difficulty in retrieving the pipes from within the second floor cavity as you can imagine.


Good luck with getting this sorted out

Kristine
 
likewow said:
There are three aspects to the air. Theres the air intake, the motor/fan and the air output(s). If we assume the motor is ok you must have air restriction somewhere. Are you sure air is supposed to pour out of the vents? What have the techs said on that topic?

Thanks for the quick response.

They havent told us anything related to the air restriction.

I think the problem is that we have not had the correct technician out for the job. Can you suggest who we should be asking for?

Your suggestion above will be very helpful when our next tech( Heating) person comes out next week.

Mrs Bird
 
Its not really my area of expertise but i spent some time in the buidling industry in another life and you tend to get across all trades a bit. I cant suggest anyone as im nowhere near Vic but try the link i posted earlier.
 
Thankyou Kristine,

Indeed I will leave no stone unturned when our technician turns up.

I am going to give both yours and likewows suggestions to him!
I know it is something simple but it has gone on for too long. We paid alot of money for these systems and it is going to work even if we pull the whole house apart :D

Mrs Bird
 
Mrs Bird,
i may understand what your problems is,if your system is ducted
there will be maybe i or 2 volume control dampers in your system to
balance the litres of air per room ,maybe on of these dampers are shut,
if thats not the problem then the fire damper maybe is shut off,and if thats the case then its in the elecs boards in the units controls panels..i would say your main controls are out.
good luck
willair..
 
Bit of a long shot..
If your system happens to run on three phase power and the ceiling fan motor has been connected up incorrectly the fan will spin the wrong way. Often fans that spin the incorrect way don't blow any significant air... possibly causing your problem. To rectify an electrician needs to swap two phases of the electric motor..... very easy
 
Hi Mrs Bird
Suggest you contact the manufacturer requesting they name a qualified and certified repairer of their product.
cheers
crest133
 
Mrs Bird,
our reverse cycle a/c system has dampers fitted to the ducts so that air can be controlled to specific parts of the house. If these dampers are switched off, or burn out like ours have, then they remain closed. In this case, everything appears to work fine, but no air can be blown through. I climbed into the roof cavity and jammed the dampers open. Your technician should check the dampers anyway.
Terry
 
Hello Everybody,

I thought I would give an update on our air/heating problem.

I printed out all ideas and gave them to Mr Bird. He then decided to check a few things himself. Armed with the manual, he went into our roof to check fan speeds, blocked ducts, circuits and everything else that was suggested. Up in the roof he noticed a breeze around his legs...and there it was, hidden out of sight, one of the ducts had come of the main unit. As a consequence, most of the air was not being blown into the ducts. He put it back where it belong and put duct tape arount it to make sure it didnt happen again.

It seems to work much better but I'm not convinced...have to wait for a really hot day. It boils down to the fact I dont know how effective a central refrigerated unit for a double story town house should be. We have it zoned for either up stairs or down stairs, not both.
My friend has a similiar unit in her single story house and you can feel the air flow very strongly.
Our air flow is better now but still on the weakish side.


Once again, thankyou for all your help. Your suggestions gave us the confidence to take matters into our own hands

Mrs Bird

ps Monoploy, the house is in beautiful Melbourne :)
 
Ok, was only asking in case sombody lived nearby and could drop over and have a quick look, but seems like you have it under control now.

Cheers
 
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