Shutting off power

[Scotty58]

Forgive me if some of the questions that i ask on here are slightly retarded for awhile. haha just learning all this stuff. but in class my teacher was talkin about crank case heaters. he said that he has ran into people who turn the breaker to their outdoor unit off in the winter because they think they are savin money. but it shuts off that heater and when they go to turn it on in the summer, the refrigerant and oil in the compressor kinda foams up and clogs the discharge line. he said there were only 3 things a tech could do. let it run and hope it unclogs itself, cut the lines and flush it out but doin this you could lose alot of oil, or tell the customer they need a new outdoor unit. just wonderin what you guys would do and what you have done in this situation?

[DavyB]

Did he tell you that the furnace should be changed out if the air filter gets dirty?

[HeyBob]

What school you going too?

[HeyBob]

Did he tell you that the furnace should be changed out if the air filter gets dirty?



Now that I think about it, is that why my Dad always bought a new truck when the ashtray was full?

:LOL:

[HeyBob]

Turn the power back on at least 24 hours before start up.................or wait untill a 90 degree day.

[Scotty58]

its just a small tech school here in illinois...i think there are only 2 or 3 campuses and they are all located in illinois. haha were any of those solutions that i said right??

[SBKold]

You wont really see any failures like above described in the field. While it is very true serious damage can happen to a compressor with no crankcase htr, its not a sudden violent failure. First oil (clean oil) cant clog a discharge line. Oil naturally travels through system with the refrigerant. However with no CChtr when the compressor does come on the refrigerant trapped beneath the surface of oil starts to boil off making the oil all frothy. Its not a very good lubricant when its frothy. Also it can make the compressor pump excessive amounts out of the crankcase while its all frothed up in there. The damage comes from lack of lubrication. Its been that way for a long time if the compressor has failed. Its likely to find it stuck pulling LRA.

I know Trane had a large issue with a first generation CCHtr 98% of these 1st gen ones are bad. I would estimate more than half of these units out there are still working with no CChtr.

[Scotty58]

thanks for the help guys. i do remember him sayin it will cause a lack of lubrication and wont immediately show any signs of running differently.