No matter what Management says, it's not even close to right. Have they had a qualified service technician (not a hack) look at it?
We live in an apartment complex, and the AC just plain sucks. Our management says its because we live on the 2nd floor.
During the day it peaks at about 80 degrees inside and doesn't dip below 72 at night so the unit is constantly running.
Only solutions they offer is to close vents in other rooms. The air that comes out is cold, but you nearly have to put your hand against the vent to feel the blowing air. They keep telling is the unit is fine and working normally. Even the fact that the air handler shakes and knocks, they says its fine.
Our electric bill says different, along with the daytime sweats. Any ideas?
No matter what Management says, it's not even close to right. Have they had a qualified service technician (not a hack) look at it?
Apartment = dirty evap coil.
"Hey Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort." And he says, "there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice. - Carl Spackler
It's their in-house techs so they claim they're are real techs.
They've also said they've cleaned the coil
The way apartment maintenance techs clean a coil is they clean the front surface and the rest of the coil is impacted with crap ,then they put a thermometer in the duct and have a big delta t and think they acomplished somthing due to the lw output temerature .ill bet the blower wheel and coil are all clogged up
You may have to pay out of pocket to get it fixed right, the property management will not pay to fix anything right just cheap in most cases. It's either pay a tech to fix it or pay the power company every month
You said they cleaned to coil. Were you there, should have been obvious they were cleaning the evap. Ahu is in the closet?
Yeah it's in a closet, I was present during cleaning
+2. I once was an apt. maintenance tech, and I strove to be a good one, not the average fly by the seat of his pants type I would butt heads with (since I often had to go behind them to do the job right in order to get the tenant happy - which is what it should be about in the first place).
What catmanacman said is sadly so true. The last apartment I lived in was after I left the apt. maintenance field. Shortly after moving in it was obvious to me the a/c was not up to par...kept the place marginally cool but did not dehumidify well. This was a downstairs apartment, with only two windows and two doors. I could have called on-site maintenance, but knew it would be faster to just resolve it myself. Long story short...blower wheels filthy, evap coil filthy, system overcharged. Cleaned everything and recovered the refrigerant. Place was mighty comfy after that.
In your case it's likely the same thing...dirty indoor unit (the knocking could be from blower wheels out of balance) and possibly overcharged (that happens when someone comes to check it and goes by reading gauge pressures only. He sees low pressure and adds refrigerant, not realizing the dirty coil is responsible for the low pressures, not a loss of refrigerant). The end result is insult was added to injury.
Ever notice how many condensing units an apartment complex chews through in a year? Give me almost any complex approaching five years old and count how many original condensers are still there. Not a lot.
Psychrometrics: the very foundation of HVAC. A comfort troubleshooter's best friend.
Actually, I live in a large apartment complex and I'm always surprised at how many orginal condensing unit there still are. They must have built them tough back then. I know they do not maintain them at all. When I moved in I had to clean everything inside and out and then recharge.
An answer without a question is meaningless.
Information without understanding is useless.
You can lead a horse to water............
http://www.mohomeenergyaudits.com
What brand was originally installed at your place?
You may also have a shorter cooling season than we do here in TX. The complex I referred to in my last post did have a lot of the original Trane condensers (from 1989) left...those "Climatuff" recips are pretty hard to kill, apparently. Other complexes I've seen go through condensers pretty quick...variables vary as to how long they'll last.
Psychrometrics: the very foundation of HVAC. A comfort troubleshooter's best friend.
Goodman "Janitrol" 26 years old. I'd say about 75% of them are still left. I havn't checked, but I'm sure you have a longer & harder cooling season that us, but still, you should have seen how much dirt I washed out of that condenser. I know the rest of them are the same way.
An answer without a question is meaningless.
Information without understanding is useless.
You can lead a horse to water............
http://www.mohomeenergyaudits.com
the last apartment I worked in had mold issues. not caused by
anything other than copper lines in walls that insulation was missing
a 8" piece. after the wall was opened, line insulated mold remediated..
not a big deal since it was caught early enough.
just because I'm curious that way...
I took a look at the heating system & plenum in the upstairs closet.
ended up taking off all the ducts that I could access, mastic sealing the
take offs to the plenums, inner liner to take off and outer insulation jacket
to plenum.
there were 1/2" oversized cuts at every take off. closet was very cool!
all I could think was that when they cut the hole, they didn't cut for the
right size..or maybe misread where to set the hole cutter.
got 4 of 6 done..just cause I couldn't leave it like that. apt renter called
me later the next day to ask what I'd done. said it had never been so cool.
lots of things contribute. blocked/dirty coils, dirty filters, duct/air leakage,
unsealed returns, oversized openings at supply box behind supply grills.
usually apt matinence guys are jacks of all trades, which is what it takes
I guess. but there are times when an educated pro makes all the difference.
just difficult to convince apt managers of this!
best of luck op. maybe you can talk to your manager and get someone
to actually figure out what is going on.
The cure of the part should not be attempted without the cure of the whole. ~Plato
Haha, I work at a 2000 unit complex. I know what your talking about.
Outdoor coils need to be cleaned. Indoor maybe if they're changing the filters timely, we change our filters every 6 months. Yes, that's 4000 filters a year. The cheesy acid wash sucks. Best way,I do it is kill the cover and get a long skinny air.nozzle and compressed air.
Our maintenance schedual.wants them cleaned every 3 months. Like that's gonna happen.
And yeah, I do alot of a$$ wiping of my coworkers........
If its central and not a sleeve its gonna be a challenge to make management budge. I fight with my boss all the time trying to make people like you happy. I usually end up getting *****ed at or a write up. I tell him straight to his face no matter the payrate, I dont lie to people.
Good luck.
Unfortunately living in an apartment you are somewhat at their mercy. I agree with most of the previous posts as to probable issues. I would recommend the following coarse. Approach the mgr and offer to have a reputable service company come out and evaluate. If they find no problem then you will pay for the call. If they do find issues then they must pay for the repairs and the call. Would not have outside company touch anything without mgr approval, it's not your property and may cause alot of problems for all involved. Good luck. Btw if mgr refuses your offer move ASAP. Good luck.
I have pulled and cleaned many evap coils in apartments that maintenance had cleaned prior
Thanks. I'll try and get them to check these things.