it's too hard to diagnose from here. i would call someone before something bad happens
I don't know anything about HVAC and I haven't really done any maintenance on mine since I moved in back in 2006 besides weeding around the outside unit. This summer, when we turned it on, it wouldn't cool. It blew out hot air and froze up/iced over the filters. It also did this the year before but back then we simply removed and cleaned the filters, put them back in and it worked fine. This year, that didn't work. It just froze up the filters again. We were going to get it repaired but we've been hit hard by the economy and didn't really have the money to fix it. So, we bought fans and it was ok. Now, it's winter time and I turned on the heat and even though the heat works it makes this awful noise that I don't remember it making before. The inside unit also gets kinda hot to the touch after a while. It doesn't make this noise all of the time, it comes and goes. Can I still run it or am I going to damage it even worse? I've included a youtube link that shows the inside unit and you can hear the noise but you can also slightly hear it at the outside unit so I don't know which one it's coming from. I don't know anything about HVAC, we grew up with a fuel tank and delivery man. There's oil in the cabinet for it that I guess you're supposed to use regularly but I wouldn't even know how to use it.
Any help is appreciated.
Joey ~ Polk, NC
it's too hard to diagnose from here. i would call someone before something bad happens
Sounds like compressor noise. If it was freezing up in the summer, its probably not heat ing with the heat pump, but ith your electric aux heat, which is expensive to use. Get it checked. Continued use can cause more harm, and more expense to repair it.
Sounds like for starters, it's marginal on airflow. Clean those filters regularly, and/or use less restrictive filters. You may however have other issues as well.
as has been said filters they need to be cleaned and not just when it stops working its about the cheapest and easiest also most important maintenence for any system I tell my customers to change them the first of each month all year long once neglected then the money starts to flow in diferent directions to the power co. , to a contractor for teardown cleaning or replacement . free airflow is most important to to the life of the equipment at this point you should call someone in
If you're too lazy to change a 1" pleated filter regularly, then you can also get a media filter installed. Those can last up to a year in most cases (unless continous fan is used) and better airflow in all conditions up to that point.
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Last edited by jpsmith1cm; 11-15-2012 at 10:02 PM. Reason: non AOP member
gotfreon
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That sounds like a contactor buzzing.
The auxiliary heat package on the Trane AHU's (pre-Hyperion) had contactors. Those contactors get very corroded and rusty due to condensation.
The noise is when the contactor pulls in for a call during emergency heat. I've seen the problem be persistent and I have seen it intermittently.
Turn the system to "Emergency/E heat" or "Aux heat". Operate it a few times on and off. If the problem comes and goes as you call for on/off, then it is the aux heat contactor and it needs to be replaced.
Either way. Call a local service company. It needs to be examined. If this part is faulty, there could be others. DO NOT try to perform any other procedure other than thermostat operation. Failing to do so could result in harm to yourself or others.