Intermittent Air Handler Failure

[justbrad]

Hi,

I wonder if any of you here will be able to help me with a mystery that has me and my HVAC service company stumped.

We live in Alabama and have a Goodman A24 air handler that was installed around early 1998. The heat pump outside is also a Goodman, put in at the same time and as far as I know it is running fine.

The problem: Every few days, intermittently, the blower will not come on to circulate the cool air. The inside coils seem to freeze up at the same time. It isn't low on freon so they believe the issue is somewhere in the air handler.

When it happens, if I shut off the thermostat I can hear popping and cracking sounds as (I assume) pressure is being released from the line. I can set the thermostat to heat and bump up the set temp just enough to get the heat blowing, and when it cycles off I can switch back to cool and it's good for another few days.

The techs think it may be the blower motor, which when "megged out" shows the windings are going bad; or the time delay relay, or even the thermostat. Of course, all this is all guesswork on their part because the problem won't show up when they have come out. Last year they replaced the blower motor capacitor, if that helps.

Anyway, they have given me the option of 1) replacing all the stuff mentioned, which may or may not fix the problem; 2) replacing just the air handler with a newer 13 SEER Goodman and keeping the heat pump until it dies; and 3) replacing both the air handler and heat pump with a Heil, Goodman, or Carrier system.

Is it worth it to try to keep our current one repaired for another couple of years? Is it okay to use a new air handler with an old heat pump? If we go new, is there any noticeable difference between Heil, Goodman and Carrier? Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

[forcryinoutloud]

The popping that you hear when you shut the system down is most likely the ice on the coil starting to thaw.

We have run into intermittent blower operation on several Goodman air handlers in our area. We have been changing out the fan relays now when a customer explains this same problem to us and everything else checks out fine.

We used to tell the customer to call us when it does it again, that everything checked out O.K., but very rarely do we get to catch the system when it is not operating properly.

We have not had a callback as of yet just changing out the relay, it seems to solve the problem. The customer, in this situation, is given a money back guarantee if this does not solve the problem.

Thats what it looks like from Florida. (and of course, I could be wrong)

[HVAC2B]

Hi,

I wonder if any of you here will be able to help me with a mystery that has me and my HVAC service company stumped.

We live in Alabama and have a Goodman A24 air handler that was installed around early 1998. The heat pump outside is also a Goodman, put in at the same time and as far as I know it is running fine.

The problem: Every few days, intermittently, the blower will not come on to circulate the cool air. The inside coils seem to freeze up at the same time. It isn't low on freon so they believe the issue is somewhere in the air handler.

When it happens, if I shut off the thermostat I can hear popping and cracking sounds as (I assume) pressure is being released from the line. I can set the thermostat to heat and bump up the set temp just enough to get the heat blowing, and when it cycles off I can switch back to cool and it's good for another few days.

The techs think it may be the blower motor, which when "megged out" shows the windings are going bad; or the time delay relay, or even the thermostat. Of course, all this is all guesswork on their part because the problem won't show up when they have come out. Last year they replaced the blower motor capacitor, if that helps.

Anyway, they have given me the option of 1) replacing all the stuff mentioned, which may or may not fix the problem; 2) replacing just the air handler with a newer 13 SEER Goodman and keeping the heat pump until it dies; and 3) replacing both the air handler and heat pump with a Heil, Goodman, or Carrier system.

Is it worth it to try to keep our current one repaired for another couple of years? Is it okay to use a new air handler with an old heat pump? If we go new, is there any noticeable difference between Heil, Goodman and Carrier? Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

very simple problem on that air handler,but cant discuss it on this forum
anyway just call another contractor,they will help you out

[dan247]

well, optimally i would get have another tech. come who could get it fixed but if it costs a lot of money (which i cant give you an estimate because of the rules on this site) i wouldnt do it, and i would replace the unit. And if your gonna replace your air handler your best off replacing the condensing unit as well.

[HVAC2B]

The popping that you hear when you shut the system down is most likely the ice on the coil starting to thaw.

We have run into intermittent blower operation on several Goodman air handlers in our area. We have been changing out the fan relays now when a customer explains this same problem to us and everything else checks out fine.

We used to tell the customer to call us when it does it again, that everything checked out O.K., but very rarely do we get to catch the system when it is not operating properly.

We have not had a callback as of yet just changing out the relay, it seems to solve the problem. The customer, in this situation, is given a money back guarantee if this does not solve the problem.
Thats what it looks like from Florida. (and of course, I could be wrong)

since you said it I will agree

[forcryinoutloud]

since you said it I will agree

Not trying to bash Goodman, just explaining what I have seen around here.