Advice from an old retired electrician. Use a hammer handle to push on breakers when there is some concern they might trip. It might save your hand from an arc flash if the breaker were to trip under a short condition. Turning your head away is always a good idea.
I usually do that anyway, it's easier and incase of a hand slip, you wont stick your hand onto bare buss bars if there's no other breakers in there. over the years, I've had adjacent breakers pop out when putting others in, all because the previous bozo's left the wiring very jammed and spring loaded.
I've found the large wire with strands cut off to fit the breaker alot I change the breaker to a larger one and put a fuse able disconnect in to make it safe
With a 2016 outdoor unit, it should be running R-410, while the original air handler would have been R-22, and would have required replacing the indoor coil to avoid mineral oil in the R-410 system. In California we normally do not shut off the outdoor unit due to low outside air temperature. Glad that you removed the old thermostat on the outdoor unit, and the wiring was not connected the right way anyhow. When it is -10, the homeowner can switch off the outdoor unit by switching the thermostat to "Emergency Heat". In southern California, at least the areas within 40 miles of the ocean, they do not get below about 20F in the winter, mostly stay above 30F. My heat pump in Portland Oregon, it is very rare to reach 20F, and usually it is above 30F. I never connected the electric heaters when I installed my 48,000 Btu heat pump in 2014. It is 14 SEER R-410 and provides plenty of heat at 30F. Normally they would put a 2.5 ton or 3 ton unit on a 1,800 square foot house, and it would cool the place just fine. I went with 4 tons because I wanted it to provide 28,000 Btu's of heat at 23F outside air temperature, and it does. Ohio would require the back up electric heaters! I am happy that it does not reach 15F here, or colder that you get every winter! I agree that they should not have used metal foil insulation in the electrical compartment! How stupid is that! Great video! Thanks again.
Yikes. After what I've seen helping friends and family, I'm amazed there aren't more electrical house fires out there. From poor design decisions in appliances like you found with the insulation to hack wiring jobs - it's a nightmare!
It is amazing how some just don't care and it does go to show how the minimal safety standards do help prevent bad situations from becoming worse. Breakers and metal boxes.
@@HVACRSurvival Just help upgrade a couple of thermostats at my church. They need the C wire for power and of course it wasn't hooked up. Found they upgraded the unit at some time and the low voltage wasn't long enough for the new unit - so they just ran it into the disconnect box and spliced in a new low voltage - running along with the power in the same conduit from the disconnect. Ugh. Another thing on the clean up list. And it was "professionally" installed by a company too - even more infuriating.
I'm impressed that you took the time to do the whole job including replacing the disconnects and breaker. Not mentioning any names but there are a few other HVAC YT channels that would have simply told the homeowner to call an electrician.
In some parts of the country, like Oregon, the inspectors will not allow a replacement part to be installed unless by a Union trained and licensed electricrican. Sad we can not install a disconnect or circuit breaker without the electrician approval.
@Kagen like I mentioned earlier that's why we're certified in all the areas that we need to do any repair. We even have gas certified welders, auto mechanics, we have over 100 employees total. I'm just a small member of puzzle, we have 12 service technicians and I live in the middle of flipping nowhere.
Also I had the Payne version of this AH in a house, it had the same problem of pulling the aluminum paper down onto the electric heat terminals and blowing fuses at 4am. Of course it took a few times for it to blacken the paper to where I could see it. When the fuses blew the blower stops and the paper pulls away.
Thank you for these videos!!! I don't work on HVAC that much... mainly residential refrigeration and kitchen appliances, but all of your videos/service calls are awesome!
Thanks Jake! This is one of the most diverse technical fields available. It’s been a great choice but has taken a lot of dedication to continue to learn more and strive to be better every day
I’ve had several of those fan boards fail and the NC contacts don’t open when the NO contacts close and it back feeds the circuit and cause one bank heat strip to run. The overloaded circuit generally melts the relay like you saw it
That outdoor unit is only 24,000 Btu's at 47F outside air, while at 23F, the heat output drops to only about 12,000 Btu's. It is not very energy efficient to have such a small unit, and then rely on the electric resistance heater to run almost all the time during the days below about 30F. The 15 KW electric heater is 51,000 Btu's so they should have installed at least 36,000 Btu unit to provide a decent amount of heat in the winter. At 5 amps, the compressor is drawing about 1,250 watts, and likely only about 9,000 Btu's of heat, maybe less! My home is in Portland Oregon, and we had record breaking cold nights of 23F a few days ago. I never hooked up my back up electric heater, and I installed the heat pump in 2014, it is a 48,000 Btu Goodman 14 SEER unit. My place is 1,800 square feet with decent insulation. It only puts out 28,000 Btu's at 23F, that is why I installed such a large unit, so it would keep up with the heat load at 23F. Most equal sized homes in my area are using a 24,000 or 30,000 Btu heat pump. They run their electric back up heaters all the time. Now Carrier sells a variable speed heat pump that can put out it's full rated Btu's at -5F by speeding up the compressor on cold days.
Great service call! You are a great tech! I agree with it all. Looks like a cheap change out that wasn’t cheap! Nice products. All of the burnt issues were all caused by the electrician! Who most likely didn’t understand what was required. I saw stuff like that all the time.
Peter that's awfully nice of you, I just like to make sure things are done right, I ain't nothing special, and I make mistakes just like everyone else. Thanks for watching the video and the feedback!
That panel has a lot of issues: The damaged bus where you put the lower amp circuits will still continue to burn out...once a bus is damaged like that it will NEVER make a solid connection. Two, the mix of breaker brands in the Bryant Panel. The SqD homeline in the lower left is NOT listed for that panel. That 40 amp breaker looks like it is also the wrong brand. Good job on the repairs to the unit though, and good catch on the undersized breaker that created the mess in the first place.
Brilliant video Rick really enjoyed it 👍 These installers man , I dunno how some of them manage to sleep at night ... Your videos are very very helpful Rick , sounds weird but it literally picks up my moral when I get a notification for a new one mate , thank you very much for the time and effort , truly appreciated sir 👍👍👍
Rick, I must fall between the two categories you mentioned. I neither am young, nor do I know everything, but it's good entertainment, and since I'm knowledgeable in electrical parts and systems, it's good to keep fresh on this information. Thanks for the video
While I understand that historically heat pumps needed to be shut off below a certain temperature, a modern unit like that one doesn’t. If it can’t run, it won’t. It’s also a myth that those modern units should be shut off for efficiency purposes in very cold weather. As long as the COP is above 1, it’s worthwhile to run the heat pump along with the strips. Would have to be below -20F before the strips alone are more efficient. Only when it’s a dual fuel should the heat pump be locked out.
Love watching another Know-it-all. Your sarcasm comes from years of experience and dealing with idiots and idiotic designs. I appreciate your attention to detail and to fixing things that will be broken soon. Keep up the good work!
I have gotten in a lot of trouble for my sarcasm from a young age till today but its just who I am. I don't mean to sound like a smart ass and I definitely don't want to be thought of as a know-it-all... because you cant know everything in this field if you spread out your scope of work to cover all the different types of equipment like I do. There's to much to know.
My first call was cleaning and ice machine! This time of year we've got a lot of maintenance to do. That's why I'm scraping along trying to find video work. I appreciate the feedback have a great weekend!
If it is heating up that bad and your load is over 60 on a 60 Amp breaker you got worse problems that 60 Amp feed breaker should have been tripping out
damn dude. what a cluster font! i agree, those crimp “slippy fist” connectors are the scourge of the earth! I have a 480v 250kva UPS in my facility that has something like 90 battery modules. I bought refurb batteries and the company didn’t check those slippy connectors. The first power failure, and i lost a couple strings of batteries; the loose connections caused the 60amp onboard fuse to blow in the modules. tight connections are important when pulling continuous dc current (or any current, really)!
i might wrong but they installed a infinity condenser with regular air handler 🤕 wondering why all rat nest and poor heating performance. good troubleshooting!
Looking back, if I had noticed all the other problems prior to leaving for parts I would have. If it was available. In this day n age a lot of things are not.
What an annoying and dangerous call. Today you were an electrician for sure. Real question, though: since you are an electrician now did you leave all the scraps of wire and insulation all over the ground? If not, you're still an _apprentice_ sparky.
@@HVACRSurvival for me it’s always at the end of the day with this kind of thing. Thinking about the way you followed that wire size all the way to the breaker panel and re evaluated everything. My service manager would do that exact same kind of thing. Never accepting or taking for granted that what he finds is correct until it’s been proven. This is one of the marks of a great technician!
Great work. They do make a single circuit to double 2pole breaker adapter for these situations, instead of that wiring mess in the plastic junction box mounted on the side of the air handler. If the evaporator coil had a piston in it, that’s not a great match at all. Your follow through on the entire call is the sign of a great tech. Our company does it the same way. The male spade connectors on the bottom of the original strip heat breaker should be removable by loosening the bottom screws of the breaker.
Great video, I liked how you doubled checked your work and kept looking until all the issues were solved, not just the obvious problem that brought you there. Professional work sir👍
ive seen those breakers melt down when aluminum wiring was used with no contact grease / no alox i think its called. Friend almost had a fire with his electric furnace.. There was a two wire to four adapter, same brand as the disconnect on the furnace..... it heated up really good. Not to mention that there was 20 extra feet of aluminum wire just laying under the mobile home. Was some scary stuff....
You keep all those different parts on your van? The company you work for must be licensed to do high voltage as well. The call would've stopped at the breaker box for me. We don't carry those type of relays on our van, I will replace them with a contractor. Wire them up like trane does there heat strips. I appreciate the time you take to make these videos, I have learned alot from your videos. You can tell you have been doing this for a long time. 👍👍
I wish we stocked more things on my truck but we do not. I left to picked up the relays then found the the bad connections and disconnect. I actually had to leave twice 🤦🏻. This call took good portion of the day. Thank you for watching James and I appreciate the feedback! (Yes to the other question, my company offers everything, electrical plumbing, installation, service, refrigeration, HVAC, residential, commercial, industrial, welding, fabricating and rental refrigeration equipment.)
@@HVACRSurvival wow!, yea we do residential and light commercial. Mainly residential. We have a couple guys that will run parts if needed. Anyways preciate the response. And thanks again for sharing your knowledge. Your videos show alot of your trouble shooting process, that's what's really helpful to us new guys.
Those people are darn lucky they didn't have a fire. Even in the face of knowing they need heat, the moment the service panel was involved, I'd have said they needed an electrician. I am a little surprised you didn't go back with insulation shrouded crimp connectors in the air handler. Whatever engineer thought it was a good idea to use relays with DC coils and add the complexity of those rectifier boards should have been smacked with the cluebat and told NO.
I'm still waiting on the back order limits. The crimp connector wasn't a normal size, I had to enlarge it to fit or I would have considered insulated crimp females.
Quick question do You ever worry about overloading the fan motor while the door is completely open and you are working on the machine I normally put the door just on the lower section when working on the upper,
I'm not worried about the fan motor, I'm worried about the pressures on the heat pump if the air is not being pulled through the coil. Motors don't burn up in a couple minutes.
Sorry, these videos are intended for new technicians to pick up information to help them along the way, but for everyone else it's just something to watch for fun.
buss bars cooked/burnt/overheated = instant referral/bid for a new panel and breakers. the whole setup as is direct to the recyclers. as tarnished as everything is in that unit, probably the whole heat-strip kit, breakers and harness. those are breakers inside the AH, if there's a rating on the handle it's a breaker, not just a disconnect/s.
I've heard both ways that it's a disconnect just like the 30 amp so-called disconnect is really just a switch that they use outside at the condenser from square d.
@@HVACRSurvival those specifically have no current rating on them and are labeled "non-current limiting device" on the switch case. they also have a notch on them and matching tab sticking out in the disconnect housing so you cannot plug a breaker into the housing(without cutting or great force) and a breaker still wont sit fully inserted. the housing is too small for the heat generated by a breaker, hence the tab/notch on them. actual breakers will always have the current rating on the handle and other locations with stickers stating maximum current breaking capability. there may be some other differences I'm forgetting about, been a lot of years since I was a new construction sparky. lol
Never use a 25 cent part where a 3 cent part might work. Bronze phosphor crimps cost more that plane tin or brass. Damn the reliability, keep the no accounts happy.
also measure across the breaker. the voltage you measure between the in and output is a great indictor breakers are going bad. also: has nobody in america heard of ferrules and torquing down screws on breakers? this entire service call would not exist if everything was installed proper. shit like this does keep us employed tho. so there is a silver lining. unless it burns the customers house down before you get there.
I agree on checking across the breaker or any switch like a contactor for the voltage drop. I already talk to much in these videos compared to others so it's hard to cram everything in. I also agree improper installs makes for future work but pisses me off. I had to erase a few choice words I said in the video. Not everything is a total fluster Fk here, I might only get one or two videos worth showing after running 30 call through the week.
Thank you heating was the worst class i had in HVAC school 6 different teachers in six weeks you really help me with one i am working on now in Phoenix we don’t do much heat
Those wires cut down just to make them fit into an undersized breaker makes my blood boil, Imean who does that & then sleeps at night? that could have easily caused a fire. Thanks for taking the time to make these videos Rick I always enjoy them and I appreciate all the work involved.👍🙏
Wow. One problem after another. Wouldn't someone figure that if they have to cut strands off the wire to fit it in the breaker.... somethings off somewhere? I mean... it doesn't really take a rocket surgeon, or a brain scientist... does it?!
I didn't think it took that,? I don't know if it was inexperience or if it was laziness? There's too much power needed to do something silly like that.
Bravo! Good job Rick, I can tell you done your homework, with code and basic electricity. Your right about running only 80% of the circuit breaker rating, which is 20% less than the maximum output. And you got skills when you switched the breakers in the breaker panel to make it safer. Job well done.
@@joeshearer1247 to the best of my knowledge I thought it was just for copper to aluminum. But according to idea it's for copper to aluminum or aluminum to aluminum.
@@HVACRSurvival i seen a good amount of aluminum wires used on range circuits from 60s-70s homes and a paste wasnt used back then causing oxidation and overheating, it takes a while to occur
True that. Your awesome man. It was a serious question because I've been doing this work for awhile and the owner always tells me to say call an electrician
That's very nice of you to say but I'm just passionate about doing the best work I can. Does your company have there state electrical license? He might not. I work for a larger company with around 100 employees, we offer electrical, plumbing, heating, refrigeration, hydronics, cooling and we even have certified wielders. Heck we even have two ASE certified mechanics for our trucks and equipment repair.
@@HVACRSurvival looks more like 1975 lol. Yeah I guess I'm just used to seeing gas boilers used for heating, living in the UK it's the norm. A 60A, 80A or 100A fuse is normally fitted on the incoming supply cable to protect the whole house. We do have 240v single phase though so naturally draw less current.
I have never seen a/c to d/c converted at a relay. What is that all about? The other relay has an extra time delay circuitry built on top of a/c to d/c conversion? HUH?
I don't understand the reasoning either but Generac does the same thing with the solenoids in there transfer switch, they have a rectifier built into the coil. 🤷
You must first know where the heat is coming from and why. Good crimping procedures and quality materials help to make a reliable connection. Not always the terminals fault.
good job ,you are doing great work for your customer's -i don't think it would have been to long before something would have really cooked in there,is it worth putting the txv in at evaporator on this job? thanks
I don't think the customer would want to spend $1,000 to install a TXV in place of the working expansion device, especially if they only save 1 KW power each week. Might save less power
I forgot to ask that when I was making her dinner. lol I would guess the highest would be $250-300 a month in the coldest of winter. We live in Ohio not the Communist state of Cali-fornication where electric bill is sky high like everything there.
@@HVACRSurvival yea i live in new hampshire i was thinking electric would have been higher running on those electric strips.i installed 200 of those systems in apartment building 1.5 ton with 5kw.but most houses up here have gas or oil.great job digging in to breaker most hvac guys would have said call electrician.
Try again Bud! It's call government regulation and the Dems did everything they could to screw over anyone that uses fusel fuels as soon as Brandon took control. The gas prices today are a DIRECT effect of cutting oil drilling permits, the pipe line and reinstating the regulations that were removed by the yellow guy that hurt peoples feelings with the mean tweets..... elections have consequences!
It might have been cheaper 👍👍 I didn't notice all the other things before leaving for parts the first time. I'm still waiting for the limits, there back ordered from the factory.
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Advice from an old retired electrician. Use a hammer handle to push on breakers when there is some concern they might trip. It might save your hand from an arc flash if the breaker were to trip under a short condition. Turning your head away is always a good idea.
Thanks Larry, that makes sense. 👍👍 The panel is still dead while I was shoving them in.
Good man, definitely will try that out as I’ve had a breaker crumble on me and pop when I tried to flip it back on
I like to keep the replacement breaker off until it's seated.
great tip thanks Larry
I usually do that anyway, it's easier and incase of a hand slip, you wont stick your hand onto bare buss bars if there's no other breakers in there.
over the years, I've had adjacent breakers pop out when putting others in, all because the previous bozo's left the wiring very jammed and spring loaded.
I've found the large wire with strands cut off to fit the breaker alot I change the breaker to a larger one and put a fuse able disconnect in to make it safe
Excellent video. I'm just a homeowner, but I really enjoy watching your troubleshooting method. And I always learn from you. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback 👍. I don't cover all the safety precautions in my video so please don't attempt anything you see me do.
With a 2016 outdoor unit, it should be running R-410, while the original air handler would have been R-22, and would have required replacing the indoor coil to avoid mineral oil in the R-410 system.
In California we normally do not shut off the outdoor unit due to low outside air temperature. Glad that you removed the old thermostat on the outdoor unit, and the wiring was not connected the right way anyhow. When it is -10, the homeowner can switch off the outdoor unit by switching the thermostat to "Emergency Heat". In southern California, at least the areas within 40 miles of the ocean, they do not get below about 20F in the winter, mostly stay above 30F.
My heat pump in Portland Oregon, it is very rare to reach 20F, and usually it is above 30F. I never connected the electric heaters when I installed my 48,000 Btu heat pump in 2014. It is 14 SEER R-410 and provides plenty of heat at 30F. Normally they would put a 2.5 ton or 3 ton unit on a 1,800 square foot house, and it would cool the place just fine. I went with 4 tons because I wanted it to provide 28,000 Btu's of heat at 23F outside air temperature, and it does.
Ohio would require the back up electric heaters! I am happy that it does not reach 15F here, or colder that you get every winter!
I agree that they should not have used metal foil insulation in the electrical compartment! How stupid is that!
Great video! Thanks again.
Yikes. After what I've seen helping friends and family, I'm amazed there aren't more electrical house fires out there. From poor design decisions in appliances like you found with the insulation to hack wiring jobs - it's a nightmare!
It is amazing how some just don't care and it does go to show how the minimal safety standards do help prevent bad situations from becoming worse. Breakers and metal boxes.
@@HVACRSurvival Just help upgrade a couple of thermostats at my church. They need the C wire for power and of course it wasn't hooked up. Found they upgraded the unit at some time and the low voltage wasn't long enough for the new unit - so they just ran it into the disconnect box and spliced in a new low voltage - running along with the power in the same conduit from the disconnect.
Ugh. Another thing on the clean up list. And it was "professionally" installed by a company too - even more infuriating.
I'm impressed that you took the time to do the whole job including replacing the disconnects and breaker. Not mentioning any names but there are a few other HVAC YT channels that would have simply told the homeowner to call an electrician.
Some of these smaller companies don't have all the licenses required. Our company is licensed for plumbing, electrical, HVAC and general contracting.
In some parts of the country, like Oregon, the inspectors will not allow a replacement part to be installed unless by a Union trained and licensed electricrican. Sad we can not install a disconnect or circuit breaker without the electrician approval.
@Kagen like I mentioned earlier that's why we're certified in all the areas that we need to do any repair. We even have gas certified welders, auto mechanics, we have over 100 employees total. I'm just a small member of puzzle, we have 12 service technicians and I live in the middle of flipping nowhere.
Also I had the Payne version of this AH in a house, it had the same problem of pulling the aluminum paper down onto the electric heat terminals and blowing fuses at 4am. Of course it took a few times for it to blacken the paper to where I could see it. When the fuses blew the blower stops and the paper pulls away.
Got to love that 🤦🏻
Thank you for these videos!!! I don't work on HVAC that much... mainly residential refrigeration and kitchen appliances, but all of your videos/service calls are awesome!
Thanks Jake! This is one of the most diverse technical fields available. It’s been a great choice but has taken a lot of dedication to continue to learn more and strive to be better every day
Well, at least my neck moves freely now. I just kept sitting here shaking my head and muttering "no..." from about 5 minutes into this. :-)
You and me both, there's no good excuse for that 🤦🏻
I’ve had several of those fan boards fail and the NC contacts don’t open when the NO contacts close and it back feeds the circuit and cause one bank heat strip to run. The overloaded circuit generally melts the relay like you saw it
Interesting, I didn't think of that🤦🏻. That makes sense as to why it melted the relay
That outdoor unit is only 24,000 Btu's at 47F outside air, while at 23F, the heat output drops to only about 12,000 Btu's. It is not very energy efficient to have such a small unit, and then rely on the electric resistance heater to run almost all the time during the days below about 30F. The 15 KW electric heater is 51,000 Btu's so they should have installed at least 36,000 Btu unit to provide a decent amount of heat in the winter.
At 5 amps, the compressor is drawing about 1,250 watts, and likely only about 9,000 Btu's of heat, maybe less!
My home is in Portland Oregon, and we had record breaking cold nights of 23F a few days ago. I never hooked up my back up electric heater, and I installed the heat pump in 2014, it is a 48,000 Btu Goodman 14 SEER unit. My place is 1,800 square feet with decent insulation. It only puts out 28,000 Btu's at 23F, that is why I installed such a large unit, so it would keep up with the heat load at 23F. Most equal sized homes in my area are using a 24,000 or 30,000 Btu heat pump. They run their electric back up heaters all the time.
Now Carrier sells a variable speed heat pump that can put out it's full rated Btu's at -5F by speeding up the compressor on cold days.
talk about a never ending call, these will test your patience
You're correct👍👍I had to edit some of the things I said.
Great service call! You are a great tech! I agree with it all. Looks like a cheap change out that wasn’t cheap! Nice products. All of the burnt issues were all caused by the electrician! Who most likely didn’t understand what was required. I saw stuff like that all the time.
Peter that's awfully nice of you, I just like to make sure things are done right, I ain't nothing special, and I make mistakes just like everyone else. Thanks for watching the video and the feedback!
That panel has a lot of issues: The damaged bus where you put the lower amp circuits will still continue to burn out...once a bus is damaged like that it will NEVER make a solid connection. Two, the mix of breaker brands in the Bryant Panel. The SqD homeline in the lower left is NOT listed for that panel. That 40 amp breaker looks like it is also the wrong brand. Good job on the repairs to the unit though, and good catch on the undersized breaker that created the mess in the first place.
Thank you very much!
Had a few of these this week.... Been a long week
Brilliant video Rick really enjoyed it 👍
These installers man , I dunno how some of them manage to sleep at night ...
Your videos are very very helpful Rick , sounds weird but it literally picks up my moral when I get a notification for a new one mate , thank you very much for the time and effort , truly appreciated sir 👍👍👍
Mr Archer that is extremely nice of you to say! I could really use that! Thank you sir I hope you have a good weekend!
@@HVACRSurvival Happy Friday to you sir and have a great weekend yourself !
What a mess, I am surprised it lasted as long as it did on that 60 amp breaker.
A. I’m going to do the same job as you!😊
Good one Rick 👍
Sounds like my problem on my air handler !
Rick, I must fall between the two categories you mentioned. I neither am young, nor do I know everything, but it's good entertainment, and since I'm knowledgeable in electrical parts and systems, it's good to keep fresh on this information.
Thanks for the video
I appreciate it Bryant! I don't feel any older than I did when I first started when I was 19 but I think I'm accumulating a few years. 😳🤣🤣
While I understand that historically heat pumps needed to be shut off below a certain temperature, a modern unit like that one doesn’t. If it can’t run, it won’t.
It’s also a myth that those modern units should be shut off for efficiency purposes in very cold weather. As long as the COP is above 1, it’s worthwhile to run the heat pump along with the strips. Would have to be below -20F before the strips alone are more efficient. Only when it’s a dual fuel should the heat pump be locked out.
Love watching another Know-it-all. Your sarcasm comes from years of experience and dealing with idiots and idiotic designs. I appreciate your attention to detail and to fixing things that will be broken soon. Keep up the good work!
I have gotten in a lot of trouble for my sarcasm from a young age till today but its just who I am. I don't mean to sound like a smart ass and I definitely don't want to be thought of as a know-it-all... because you cant know everything in this field if you spread out your scope of work to cover all the different types of equipment like I do. There's to much to know.
@@HVACRSurvival I just re-read my comment. Know-it-all seems harsh, should have said something like "experienced tech".
its common for the fan relay to weld together and feed the heater.thanks for sharing.
Best Intro on the RUclipss…
Highly agree. Simple, but kind of pumps you up. Also short. Stellar intro.
Thanks guys!
Ahhh another good video to help me pass time on my lunch break
I’m Cleaning Ice Makers today joy joy!
Thanks Rick
My first call was cleaning and ice machine! This time of year we've got a lot of maintenance to do. That's why I'm scraping along trying to find video work. I appreciate the feedback have a great weekend!
Wow, I would have left, that’s toooo much trouble shooting
Great job my man! Being thoughtful and thorough makes for a professional job well done!
Thanks so much for the support Trey!🤜🤛
If it is heating up that bad and your load is over 60 on a 60 Amp breaker you got worse problems that 60 Amp feed breaker should have been tripping out
Wow.. unbelievable, great job Rick!
Thanks Steve. Have a good weekend!
Thank you sir for your time in sharing your videos
Your welcome!
damn dude. what a cluster font! i agree, those crimp “slippy fist” connectors are the scourge of the earth! I have a 480v 250kva UPS in my facility that has something like 90 battery modules. I bought refurb batteries and the company didn’t check those slippy connectors. The first power failure, and i lost a couple strings of batteries; the loose connections caused the 60amp onboard fuse to blow in the modules. tight connections are important when pulling continuous dc current (or any current, really)!
That would suck 👍👍 thanks for sharing!
What a mess, it's a wonder that anything worked...
The proverbial dogs breakfast, thank you for taking the time to show us all the needed repairs.
Your welcome!
i might wrong but they installed a infinity condenser with regular air handler 🤕 wondering why all rat nest and poor heating performance. good troubleshooting!
Downright dangerous electrical work previously.
I hate stab on connectors for anything! They always seem to loosen over time and get hot.
I have found out through the years that always replace the heat strip kit.
Looking back, if I had noticed all the other problems prior to leaving for parts I would have. If it was available. In this day n age a lot of things are not.
Great troubleshooting on this job and great solutions on electrical problems ... Thx for posting ...
Thanks E Dowg!
What an annoying and dangerous call. Today you were an electrician for sure.
Real question, though: since you are an electrician now did you leave all the scraps of wire and insulation all over the ground? If not, you're still an _apprentice_ sparky.
I try to clean up my work, not saying I'm perfect but I definitely don't want a reason for someone to call in. Thanks for checking it out!
If you ever get into a scrap with an electrician, pull out a broom, they will run for the hills.
Thank you for sharing!
👍👍🤜🤛
I wish I could shadow under you. You’re so good at what you do
Thanks Josh! You kinda do already when you're watching my videos🙂.
great job rick, great video
Thanks man!
Quality diagnosis Rick, great video!
Thanks Ryan! Have Fun this weekend!
@@HVACRSurvival thanks Rick!
Well done sir! Nice catch on the breaker size! Well done all around. This looks like the way a lot of my calls go lol
It kept coming at me like a wild dog😳
@@HVACRSurvival for me it’s always at the end of the day with this kind of thing. Thinking about the way you followed that wire size all the way to the breaker panel and re evaluated everything. My service manager would do that exact same kind of thing. Never accepting or taking for granted that what he finds is correct until it’s been proven. This is one of the marks of a great technician!
Great work. They do make a single circuit to double 2pole breaker adapter for these situations, instead of that wiring mess in the plastic junction box mounted on the side of the air handler. If the evaporator coil had a piston in it, that’s not a great match at all. Your follow through on the entire call is the sign of a great tech. Our company does it the same way. The male spade connectors on the bottom of the original strip heat breaker should be removable by loosening the bottom screws of the breaker.
Great video, I liked how you doubled checked your work and kept looking until all the issues were solved, not just the obvious problem that brought you there. Professional work sir👍
Thank you I appreciate your kind words!
ive seen those breakers melt down when aluminum wiring was used with no contact grease / no alox i think its called. Friend almost had a fire with his electric furnace.. There was a two wire to four adapter, same brand as the disconnect on the furnace..... it heated up really good. Not to mention that there was 20 extra feet of aluminum wire just laying under the mobile home. Was some scary stuff....
What a mess from start to finish Rick
You keep all those different parts on your van? The company you work for must be licensed to do high voltage as well. The call would've stopped at the breaker box for me. We don't carry those type of relays on our van, I will replace them with a contractor. Wire them up like trane does there heat strips. I appreciate the time you take to make these videos, I have learned alot from your videos. You can tell you have been doing this for a long time. 👍👍
I wish we stocked more things on my truck but we do not. I left to picked up the relays then found the the bad connections and disconnect. I actually had to leave twice 🤦🏻. This call took good portion of the day. Thank you for watching James and I appreciate the feedback! (Yes to the other question, my company offers everything, electrical plumbing, installation, service, refrigeration, HVAC, residential, commercial, industrial, welding, fabricating and rental refrigeration equipment.)
@@HVACRSurvival wow!, yea we do residential and light commercial. Mainly residential. We have a couple guys that will run parts if needed. Anyways preciate the response. And thanks again for sharing your knowledge. Your videos show alot of your trouble shooting process, that's what's really helpful to us new guys.
Thanks for watching them and your feedback, those things make it fun to see what comes back.
Those people are darn lucky they didn't have a fire. Even in the face of knowing they need heat, the moment the service panel was involved, I'd have said they needed an electrician. I am a little surprised you didn't go back with insulation shrouded crimp connectors in the air handler.
Whatever engineer thought it was a good idea to use relays with DC coils and add the complexity of those rectifier boards should have been smacked with the cluebat and told NO.
I'm still waiting on the back order limits. The crimp connector wasn't a normal size, I had to enlarge it to fit or I would have considered insulated crimp females.
Did the aluminum wire off the 100 amp terminate at the disconnect at the AHU?
Correct, it was a direct feed to AHU.
I have a 3yr old heatpump that makes a loud mechanical noise on start up. Is this normal? TIA
Nice video
Hard to say without looking at the system
Quick question do You ever worry about overloading the fan motor while the door is completely open and you are working on the machine I normally put the door just on the lower section when working on the upper,
I'm not worried about the fan motor, I'm worried about the pressures on the heat pump if the air is not being pulled through the coil. Motors don't burn up in a couple minutes.
A bit long but awesome video my guy🔥🔥❤️
Sorry, these videos are intended for new technicians to pick up information to help them along the way, but for everyone else it's just something to watch for fun.
buss bars cooked/burnt/overheated = instant referral/bid for a new panel and breakers. the whole setup as is direct to the recyclers.
as tarnished as everything is in that unit, probably the whole heat-strip kit, breakers and harness.
those are breakers inside the AH, if there's a rating on the handle it's a breaker, not just a disconnect/s.
I've heard both ways that it's a disconnect just like the 30 amp so-called disconnect is really just a switch that they use outside at the condenser from square d.
@@HVACRSurvival those specifically have no current rating on them and are labeled "non-current limiting device" on the switch case. they also have a notch on them and matching tab sticking out in the disconnect housing so you cannot plug a breaker into the housing(without cutting or great force) and a breaker still wont sit fully inserted.
the housing is too small for the heat generated by a breaker, hence the tab/notch on them. actual breakers will always have the current rating on the handle and other locations with stickers stating maximum current breaking capability.
there may be some other differences I'm forgetting about, been a lot of years since I was a new construction sparky. lol
Hack city! God was definitely looking out for this place a fire waiting to happen
The breaker was the largest hack but the components that failed were getting old and the induced voltage drop didn't help much.
Never use a 25 cent part where a 3 cent part might work. Bronze phosphor crimps cost more that plane tin or brass.
Damn the reliability, keep the no accounts happy.
Equipment today is made so poorly it’s almost criminal.
also measure across the breaker. the voltage you measure between the in and output is a great indictor breakers are going bad. also: has nobody in america heard of ferrules and torquing down screws on breakers? this entire service call would not exist if everything was installed proper. shit like this does keep us employed tho. so there is a silver lining. unless it burns the customers house down before you get there.
I agree on checking across the breaker or any switch like a contactor for the voltage drop. I already talk to much in these videos compared to others so it's hard to cram everything in. I also agree improper installs makes for future work but pisses me off. I had to erase a few choice words I said in the video. Not everything is a total fluster Fk here, I might only get one or two videos worth showing after running 30 call through the week.
Ferrules suck. The lugs will do the job just fine if you torque it down. Euros get overzealous with doodads and overcomplicate it.
@@etherealrose2139 call it whatever you want but its regulation and our wires dont burn out as a result.
Thank you heating was the worst class i had in HVAC school 6 different teachers in six weeks you really help me with one i am working on now in Phoenix we don’t do much heat
Awesome to hear that! thanks so much for letting me know 🤜🤛👍👍
On aluminum wire a anti oxidation compound must be used per code.
I'll be updating it when I go back.
10:10 isn't that a QOU260? If so, that /is/ a breaker.
This was something new to me until just recently in the last year or two, how sad is that.
why do carrier products use a dc relay and rectifier and not a normal relay with an ac coil ?
I'm not sure. It might be they wanted that particular relay and couldn't get it in ac?
If you set option 26 on the thermostat to 1, it won't be so quick to turn on electric heat.
I'll keep that in mind👍👍
Those wires cut down just to make them fit into an undersized breaker makes my blood boil, Imean who does that & then sleeps at night? that could have easily caused a fire.
Thanks for taking the time to make these videos Rick I always enjoy them and I appreciate all the work involved.👍🙏
I said this really pisses me off when I seen it but I cut it out.
Wow. One problem after another. Wouldn't someone figure that if they have to cut strands off the wire to fit it in the breaker.... somethings off somewhere? I mean... it doesn't really take a rocket surgeon, or a brain scientist... does it?!
I didn't think it took that,? I don't know if it was inexperience or if it was laziness? There's too much power needed to do something silly like that.
Bravo! Good job Rick, I can tell you done your homework, with code and basic electricity. Your right about running only 80% of the circuit breaker rating, which is 20% less than the maximum output. And you got skills when you switched the breakers in the breaker panel to make it safer. Job well done.
Thanks Mr. Walker👍👍
Great work! Just tip use a paste on aluminum wires connection
I always thought that was for when you had dissimilar metals, since it was aluminum and the bracket was aluminum I didn't worry about it?
I thought no alox was for any time you terminate aluminum wire
@@joeshearer1247 to the best of my knowledge I thought it was just for copper to aluminum. But according to idea it's for copper to aluminum or aluminum to aluminum.
@@HVACRSurvival i seen a good amount of aluminum wires used on range circuits from 60s-70s homes and a paste wasnt used back then causing oxidation and overheating, it takes a while to occur
Are HVAC guys allowed to do breaker work (changes) not at unit. But at the panel outside etc.???
I wouldn't post it on RUclips if I wasn't.
True that. Your awesome man. It was a serious question because I've been doing this work for awhile and the owner always tells me to say call an electrician
That's very nice of you to say but I'm just passionate about doing the best work I can. Does your company have there state electrical license? He might not. I work for a larger company with around 100 employees, we offer electrical, plumbing, heating, refrigeration, hydronics, cooling and we even have certified wielders. Heck we even have two ASE certified mechanics for our trucks and equipment repair.
@@HVACRSurvival small company. But yeah your probably right anyhow. Down here in 512 Texas
Wow! US electrics really is like stepping back in time about 40 years. All that aluminium wire and high current resistive heating! 🤦♂️
This is a system back from 2005 I believe.
@@HVACRSurvival looks more like 1975 lol. Yeah I guess I'm just used to seeing gas boilers used for heating, living in the UK it's the norm. A 60A, 80A or 100A fuse is normally fitted on the incoming supply cable to protect the whole house. We do have 240v single phase though so naturally draw less current.
I have never seen a/c to d/c converted at a relay. What is that all about?
The other relay has an extra time delay circuitry built on top of a/c to d/c conversion? HUH?
I don't understand the reasoning either but Generac does the same thing with the solenoids in there transfer switch, they have a rectifier built into the coil. 🤷
Great Video
Master Class!
Thank You,
So Much.
I wanted to donate
But Google wants Too
Much Personal information.😕
I appreciate the thought👍👍. What kind of information were they asking for?
They wanted my
Birthday.
Crazy Procedures!
That's weird, just make up a date 🤣. As long as you're older than 13 I think's the only thing they're worried about LOL
Hahaha
Good video
Thanks for checking it out!
Damm nice work
Thanks Bill👍👍🤜🤛
Does anyone make a good terminal spade that will stay tight and not overheat?
Open barrel connectors are the best I have seen. Usually something made by AMP is good but costly.
You must first know where the heat is coming from and why. Good crimping procedures and quality materials help to make a reliable connection. Not always the terminals fault.
Strange that the SquareD breaker is bad! They are supposedly the top brand. Are they QO or Homelite? Homelite are JUNK!
I don't remember. They technically weren't normal mounted breakers. Definitely not home line. It was something with a Q
good job ,you are doing great work for your customer's -i don't think it would have been to long before something would have really cooked in there,is it worth putting the txv in at evaporator on this job? thanks
Depends what the customer wants to spend.
I don't think the customer would want to spend $1,000 to install a TXV in place of the working expansion device, especially if they only save 1 KW power each week. Might save less power
What is there electric bill in January?
I forgot to ask that when I was making her dinner. lol I would guess the highest would be $250-300 a month in the coldest of winter. We live in Ohio not the Communist state of Cali-fornication where electric bill is sky high like everything there.
@@HVACRSurvival yea i live in new hampshire i was thinking electric would have been higher running on those electric strips.i installed 200 of those systems in apartment building 1.5 ton with 5kw.but most houses up here have gas or oil.great job digging in to breaker most hvac guys would have said call electrician.
Propane prices are determined by private businesses, not government.
Try again Bud! It's call government regulation and the Dems did everything they could to screw over anyone that uses fusel fuels as soon as Brandon took control. The gas prices today are a DIRECT effect of cutting oil drilling permits, the pipe line and reinstating the regulations that were removed by the yellow guy that hurt peoples feelings with the mean tweets..... elections have consequences!
They bought an infinity to basically be a 2 stage system instead of variable speed
I don't think it was infinity, just a optional communicating condenser control.
@@HVACRSurvivalcould be stand corrected lol
@@joshpearson1693 I'm trying to avoid residential. 🙂
I'd rather have a heat pump, DC Inverter, than natural gas. AC and heat in one unit.
thats quite ineffcient heatpump if it shuts down at 20f. i can run mine in -20f just fine with over double the efficiency
You have a inverter driven compressor?
Hindsight is 20/20 should have just replaced the whole heat kit
It might have been cheaper 👍👍 I didn't notice all the other things before leaving for parts the first time. I'm still waiting for the limits, there back ordered from the factory.
If your pulling 70 amps on that 60 amp breaker it should of trip at 80% of the breaker . If I followed you right .
What I was saying was you want your load to be at a maximum of 80% of the rated load. Or 20% Under the load. Exp. 100 amps - 80%=20 Amps of head room.
By the way, that is a great video!
Thanks my man👍👍
Contactor**
Would work but then I'll get a call saying it makes a loud click when the heaters come on. Plus there's that UL listing that goes away.
Nice
Top video
Thanks Tom!
not a fan of aluminum wire
Me neither! They should call it loose goose
Spaghetti Junction
Is it me or does it seem like half the videos I see on hvac of any sort is half assed when it’s installed and guys like you have to fix everything lol
A lot of installers hate me 🤣. We have good installers at our company, but previous companies I've worked at have been pretty bad.
@@HVACRSurvival lol
👍
Lazy electrician! Trimmed the 2/0 so that the conductors will fit on a 60 amp breaker?!?!?! WOW!
At least they used the proper gauge so he didn't have to re run wire. I guess. 🤦🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
Know everything already. Haha
There's always someone that thinks they know it all 😁. I used to think that until I started working here, now I crawl over to my hole 🤣.
You are very knowledgeable sir.
Thanks for the video
Yes there is…
Don't you just Love Hacks
Like Mikey Pipes says, "Hacks make me Stacks" 😂✌👍👍
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