Outside unit frosting over

[kilowatt]

I recently had to change the start/run capacitor and was low a pound of freon over the summer. We just switched to heat last week. I had changed the defrost cycle to 60min instead of 90min. My unit is frosting over really bad and doesn't seem to go into the defrost mode. The low temp last night was 26 and it seemed like my unit never cylced off. I went and checked the outside unit this morning and frost was all over the coils inside and out. Could the defrost thermostat be bad? Please help!

Kilowatt

[karsthuntr]

No DIY (Do It Yourself) help is allowed on this forum. Sorry

Your HP had problems last year with frosting did you listen to the advice given then and call for service. Your unit is now 7 years old, when was the last time it was serviced?

[Edited by karsthuntr on 11-04-2006 at 01:56 PM]

[beenthere]

Could be.

Could be low on gas again.

Could be alot of things.

Thats why you should call a service company ouot, before you lose your compressor and have a really big repair bill.

[kilowatt]

The unit was serviced by a professional. He replaced the capacitor and put in a pound of freon. The heat is working fine but not defrosting properly. I told the repair man about this and he changed the defrost cycle from 90mins to 50mins. This is the first time this year I turned on our heat. If no one can help me here thats fine. I'll go where I can get help. Thanks!

[karsthuntr]

Hey, you agreed to the rules when you signed up. Now you get mad at us when you break the rules and we call you out on it.

Come on now man, we would like to help a lot of people out but can't do to site rules. You don't have to get mad at us do you?

Call the tech out again he may have missed something, we are people to, we do make mistakes.

[bing0]

Originally posted by karsthuntr
Hey, you agreed to the rules when you signed up. Now you get mad at us when you break the rules and we call you out on it.

Come on now man, we would like to help a lot of people out but can't do to site rules. You don't have to get mad at us do you?

Call the tech out again he may have missed something, we are people to, we do make mistakes.

You know, after rereading this thread, your response to this man's request for information seems quite unfriendly and elitist. He never said he was trying to diy.

Bing0

[hillbilly tech]

If it was low of freon then did he fix the leak,if not being low can cause the problems you are stating,but cant tell if thats your problem,jmo,or you could have a low leak somewhere else on the system,the reason this is not a do it yourself sight is if you've never been trained in this line of work you will cost your self more money when ya mess with the stuff than it will if ya just call a pro out.

[docholiday]

Still, we cant properly troubleshoot that problem from a distance. Being that he adjusted the time, then it must be a time temp defrost, is it going into defrost after 60 minutes or not? If it is, then he could have a chage issue. Charged properly in heat may not be charged properly in cooling if there is a system airflow problem. Remember it is in cooling for defrost. He may have a bad defrost sensor, may be in the wrong place, may be a dead circuit. If it isnt going into defrost, maybe the sensor is loose, not making good contact, bad, or something else.

The only way to know is to have a compitent tech look at it.

[tinknocker service tech]

it would be best to call a tech and get the intire unit serviced. If it is low it would be a good time to find the leak and save you money in the long run
could be the defrost or low or a dozen other things
may also be the condersor coil is very dirty and not enough air going across it
very important to have a heat pump serviced so you can get the most from it and not spend the most to operarate it

[smokin68]

You can get upset all you want, something was missed and requires service, and noone here can service it on-line, or I'd be rich and never leave the house.

[emcoasthvacr]

The defrost relay wouldn't be a bad place to start, and also check the defrost sensing element.

Low charge also causes ice buildup on the outdoor coil -- also check whether you have the proper superheat setting on your outdoor expansion valve.

[hvac wiz 79]

lmao @ karsthuntr .. so true