New Heat Pump, completely frozen over- any concerns I should have?

[port111]

I just had a new American Standard 3 ton unit installed Wednesday, by Friday night it was making such a noise that I shut off, went to heat strips so we could sleep. I inspected on Saturday morning, had been raining for two days, temps in upper 30s, unit was covered in ice, in fact the fan blade froze to side of unit after I shut it off.

So, it is obvious the defrost cycle never triggered. Technician arrives to inspect my 3 day old unit, and yes, the wire 'came loose' on the connection under the house, no signal was sent to trigger defrost.

Now, understand, this isn't my first rodeo. I had problems with previous company on a unit install 10 years ago. This time, I went with a highly regarded company with a fair price, that advertises "its not the equipment that matters so much, but the quality of the install". So much for that. When paying my bill at the end of install Wednesday, I even let them know I'd be checking it out, as the previous company years back did a shoddy job of electric hookup, such that it was a fire hazard. (Not sure why inspectors never caught that). I realize that problems happen, and I didn't unload on anyone-we're all human, but hey, if you screwed up, you pay-no need to get emotional.

Question is, should I be concerned about with the complete ice over on my unit- the components on the side of the coil/condensor were solidly encased in 1/2 to 1" of ice. I do have a standard 10 year parts warranty. Thanks for any advice you can share.

[thermojohn]

Connection under the house not triggering defrost.... I can't relate to how that would cause it to not defrost. The defrost circuit is 100% inside the outdoor unit.

As far as damage caused.... I doubt it.

Need to figure out about the defrost circuit though. I'm not convinced. Where are you located? We've had rain the past two days too.

[port111]

maybe i heard wrong, but thought he said there are 3 wires to hook up under house, and one was loose. Either way, the install wasn't done right, even after certified tech showed up at end of day to ensure all was set up proper. Tech on Saturday had defrost cycle going in a matter of a few minutes-here in NC.

[heaterman]

I agee that the defrost function should be controlled by the board located in the condenser not by anything wired "under the house".

[beshvac]

Unless its power to the board.....

[tigerdunes]

The OP's issue suggests not only defrost issues but also a possible refrigerant leak, both probable install issues.

Upper 30s, raining with bad icing issues like OP describes. That in itself is highly unlikely. Not saying it couldn't happen but unlikely with Trane/AmStd heat pumps that have EDD.

Seems to me both defrost function should be checked as well as refrigerant charge.

Fan blade damage should be checked.

What is model of HP? Heritage series?

IMO

[superfittertech]

I agee that the defrost function should be controlled by the board located in the condenser not by anything wired "under the house".

this has nothing to do with defrost controls. If one of the 3 wires between indoor and outdoor units became disconnected then effectively this turned the outdoor unit into a straight a/c unit then the defrost controls would never be energized

[thermojohn]

this has nothing to do with defrost controls. If one of the 3 wires between indoor and outdoor units became disconnected then effectively this turned the outdoor unit into a straight a/c unit then the defrost controls would never be energized

And then it would be cooling instead of heating, and the outdoor unit would not be frozen up.

[BaldLoonie]

Should be 5 wires. If the 24v (red) wire is what wasn't connected, you would have heat pump operation but no defrost. Unless the blade was damaged by ice, I wouldn't expect any issues.

[beshvac]

Should be 5 wires. If the 24v (red) wire is what wasn't connected, you would have heat pump operation but no defrost. Unless the blade was damaged by ice, I wouldn't expect any issues.

x2

[port111]

Thanks for the replies- it's an AS Gold XI 15 heat pump. No damage to fan blades fortunately. The unit was functioning properly as Heatpump for the 48 hours I had it running, just no defrost mode. Tech checked all pressures yesterday after fix, told me all was good. I do have two free maintenance visits in next 12 months, so if anything comes up, I'll be paying attention.

[mark beiser]

Sounds like they got it fixed.

One question though, does water runoff from the roof fall on or near the heat pump, or is there a gutter/deflector to prevent it?

If rainwater runoff from the roof is falling on the unit, in the weather conditions you mentioned, the unit can ice up faster than even a properly functioning demand defrost can deal with.

[port111]

to answer above question, unit is on side of house with no water runoff from roof. I guess the main point in all of this is please check all electrical connections on installs, double, triple- an extra ten minutes on day of install would have saved the approx $200 in cost incurred by the company to come back. Do installers use a final checklist? I don't like to see anyone waste time and money, even if I'm not paying for it- I'm happy to do business with a good service company and want them to make a profit!