Weak breeze from vents

[york_hvac]

Central Services is very good. They have serviced our 2 units for 10 years!

[supremehvac]

I agree with what was said before about it most likely being a dirty blower wheel and/or coil. When you have the tech come out make sure he checks them. I have seen some condos where the design was so poor that all they got was a breeze, as you call it out of the registers under normal operation. But with a fairly new, thru the wall model using a ducted system I doubt that is the case in your situation. Ask your neighbors if they've had problems and what service companys they've had sucess with. That way you will get a good service company that is familiar with your building.

[stanthman]

Service Experts is a great company to cal on. Sounds pretty simple, pull the blower, inspect e-coil, clean everything.

[notcool]

Thanks for the advice everyone, unfortunately it looks like my problem isn't with the actual AC unit. I had a technician look at everything and like the first one, he could find nothing wrong with the AC unit. Freon levels were good, coils got cold, nothing was blocked.

However there was over a huge difference in the change in temp from the coil (58 degree) to the vents (71 degree). He thinks that there is a disconnect somewhere in the ducts and it may be drawing in warm air, but since he is just a "technician" and not an "engineer" he doesn't know for sure. He's had experience with other units in my condo and has never seen this problem before and unfortunately, he doesn't know what I should do next.

I'm just hoping that if it is a duct problem, this would be covered by the condo association, since repairing this would require tearing up the ceiling and infrastructure.

[dash]

If it has electric haet the heaters may be on.


A disconnect in the supply ,would be hard to imagine that great of a difference.Of course if all the ducted air is going in the attic,mixing with attic air ,then findinig its way back to the grilles,I guess it could be,air flow would be very weak in that case.

[Black Adder]

You are certainly picking up a lot of heat from somewhere, don't think a "disconnect" in the duct would do this. Where is your ductwork running? Is it in unconditioned space? Ie: the attic, check the insulation on the ductwork if it is in the attic, also check for ventilation in the attic. Adding some more roof vents to ventilate the attic can do wonders at clearing all that heat out of there. Also I wouldn't let the temp get up to 84 before turning on the air, set it to what is comfortable and leave it there.

[notcool]

I'm on the second level of a condo, so someone lives above me, so no attic. I have a hot water heater and the technician confirmed that wasn't the cause. This whole thing has me stumped, and more importantly, the technician stumped.

The ducts not being insulated properly is a good theory, although i can't find the answer unless I start tearing up the ceiling.

[Edited by notcool on 06-05-2005 at 11:39 AM]

[dash]

With a condo above,it's not likely insulation or duct leaks. What is the source of heating???

[Edited by dash on 06-05-2005 at 01:42 PM]

[notcool]

Originally posted by dash
With a condo above,it's not likely insulation or duct leaWhat is the source of heating???

I'm in no way totally knowledgable about AC/Heating and how the system works (although I'm tring), but here is my understanding about my place:

My heat comes from a hot-water heater. There are 2 valves that are controlled each by a switch (in and out for the hot water to the heating system). As per the instructions on the heater, I turned both switches to the OFF position. The technician verifed this and did not register any heat coming from the pipes that are connected to the the hot water heater at the AC unit end (the coils/pipes right above the blower of the AC)

Somewhere in between the exit of the motor/blower fan of the AC unit to the vents, heat is being added to the system and preventing the condo from cooling down.

[dash]

If he's sure it's not coming from the hot water heat,it's really a mystery.Might want to turn the hot water off for a day ,just to be sure he's correct.Maybe some one that works a lot with hot water heat(hydronics),will have an idea.

[notcool]

I've just noticed something. The drywall right above the AC unit is cold and pretty soft... I assume this is a sign of condensation and as someone eluded to earlier, a sign that the ducts maybe disconnected near the source (which explains the weak air flow at the vents, even the one that is 5 feet away from the AC unit)or that it is improperly insulated.

Is the cold and soft drywall a bad sign? With my luck so far, I'm going to assume its a really bad thing.

[Edited by notcool on 06-05-2005 at 01:13 PM]

[t527ed]

cold soft sheetrock a very bad sign. time to open up some sheetrock or get a duct cleaning co to send a camera down duct to see whats up.

[notcool]

well... here's another question for those in the know. The AC coils are at 55*. I friend of the family who's a technician (he hasn't looked at the system though) says it should be much colder, at 35*. Is this true? The technician who looked at my place said 55* is fine since the incoming air is at 80* and anything around an 18* delta is fine.