Compressor housing finish corroding and peeling off a big issue? PICS

[HeatPumpTN]

Hello Guys,

It was hard to look through the fan cover inside the heat pump, but I managed to take a few pictures of the compressor after I noticed this.

If you look at the pipe on the lower right, you can see how badly it is peeling off. It looks like it is deteriorating badly.
Everything works well and I have no issues, but was wondering if this is something to worry about and if this will actually end up corroding and damaging the compressor housing and ultimately the compressor unit?

Will the compressor continue to function properly for a while or is this a death sentence kind of deterioration?

Any insight is much appreciated.

Thanks

[kdean1]

The paint coating is breaking away. I see it often enough that it does not cause me concern. The shell of the compressor is very thick. I expect the compressor motor will fail before the shell leaks. In fact, I recall only one leaking shell during my 35 years in the trade and that was a defective shell.

How old is your heat pump? From the looks of the compressor I estimate it to be 12 years or older.

[HeatPumpTN]

The paint coating is breaking away. I see it often enough that it does not cause me concern. The shell of the compressor is very thick. I expect the compressor motor will fail before the shell leaks. In fact, I recall only one leaking shell during my 35 years in the trade and that was a defective shell.

How old is your heat pump? From the looks of the compressor I estimate it to be 12 years or older.

Thank you for replying. This compressor is the original and the unit is at least 18yrs old Heil heat pump.

After looking at the pictures more in detail I noticed that the fan motor is actually resting at the top of the compressor housing.
This might sound odd, but about 8 yrs ago the top plate that holds the fan motor in place started to crack near where the fan is bolted to.
So a contractor offered to use a bracket that would attach to the outer perimeter of the top plate and would hold the fan upside down.
There has never been an issue and it has run well for the past 8 yrs and still have no issues with either the compressor or fan, but I think the fan motor has gotten a bit lose and it may be resting, not completely I hope, at the peak of the compressor housing. Look at these pics and you can tell the sludge or brown water marks flowing down from the base of the motor into the corroded compressor area.

I guess the compressor housing is strong enough to support the fan motor a bit, but I am sure this is not ideal due to the vibration the fan makes.

Is this an emergency type of situation to get the fan motor lifted to clear the compressor?

Look at these pictures to see what I'm talking about. Thanks again.

[pecmsg]

Can you read the first few #’s in the serial #?

[HeatPumpTN]

Can you read the first few #’s in the serial #?

I have these numbers written down from back when a contractor had the top off and I managed to write this down:
Upka-035jaz
Serial 6510 m4402 11347
Compressor 19.4/19.4
Phase 1 hertz 60
Lra 105

Also, these too.
Hail 10 Model Number (Outside Unit)
NHP036AKA1
Serial number
L004041217

[kdean1]

I am more concerned about the fan motor resting on the compressor than the paint peeling.

[pecmsg]

Those braze joints don’t look factory.

[HeatPumpTN]

I am more concerned about the fan motor resting on the compressor than the paint peeling.

Me too. Is this an emergency? there is no telling how long the motor has been resting on the compressor since this was done so long ago, but for the paint on the compressor to be corroding because of this, it probably has been a long time right.?

What would be the proper solution in this case where the top plate has cracked? I guess it will be very difficult to find a replacement top for this old unit so maybe just have them just adjust the motor and lift it up a bit using the same mount that's there now?

[kdean1]

Perhaps the top could be reinforced to support the motor.
You should expect to replace the heat pump in the not too distant future as it is 18 years old.

[HeatPumpTN]

Perhaps the top could be reinforced to support the motor.
You should expect to replace the heat pump in the not too distant future as it is 18 years old.

Do you mean reinforce where the cracks are and flip the motor to hang blades down as originally was 8yrs ago? Or reinforce the top and continue to use the brackets that are installed now but lift the motor to clear the compressor? If I turn a motor that has been running in this position for the past 8 yrs upside down, would that potentially create any issues with the motor's longevity?

Also, I noticed that the slab it sits on has sunk a bit where it meets the house. Not sure if maybe this could be a big problem too it is not much, under an inch, but I don't know how to measure it. I just leveled it and put the measuring tape to measure end of the leveled level like this. Should this be addressed as well or first?

[Bazooka Joe]

I would raise the motor a little and off the top of the compressor. May want to peal off any flaking paint off the drier and spray it with a rust inhibitor paint, may need to do that yearly. Seen where driers have leaked as it got porous. The rest is not a concern but if you want to leveln it would not be to difficult just need to go slow and easy, ( OD unit not level ) . May want to consider a backup plan sooner than later for replacing your system in the future. More of a proactive instead of a reactive.

If you rehang the existing motor upside down with reinforced plate and even flip the blade will that give you a pull through proper rotation? The blade would be turning backwards yes no?? If you install the blade upside down ( motor hooked top reinforced top plate ) then wouldn't it pull air from the top into the inside and push out. I'm so confused..

To me your just better off lifting the motor slightly so it does not rest on the compressor. Worst case you can put a semi hard rubberized grommet material between compressor and motor.

When you had the fiasco with the blower motor when they did a PM no one mentioned the motor resting on the compressor or even painting the drier, or even saying they could comb the fins for you under the PM check?

[HeatPumpTN]

I would raise the motor a little and off the top of the compressor. May want to peal off any flaking paint off the drier and spray it with a rust inhibitor paint, may need to do that yearly. Seen where driers have leaked as it got porous. The rest is not a concern, ( OD unit not level ) . May want to consider a backup plan for replacing your system in the future. More of a proactive instead of a reactive.

If you rehang the existing motor upside down with reinforced plate and even flip the blade will that give you a pull through proper rotation? The blade would be turning backwards yes no??

To me your just better off lifting the motor slightly so it does not rest on the compressor. Worst case you can put a semi hard rubberized grommet material between compressor and motor.

I know at some point in the near future I will have to replace the units. I am trying to be proactive in whatever extra life I can get out of this old friend though. See where the air handler tune up lead me to... a lot of time and energy worrying about the replacement blower fan motor on my other thread.
The contractor did not do the tune up for the heat pump since he suggested it might be better to do it in spring since everything is working fine at the moment, but I noticed these things just by looking myself after he was gone today.

In any case, I appreciate the information I get from all of you guys here so I am prepared and informed and not to be fooled with expensive maybe unnecessary suggestions from contractors.

In this case for the heat pump it seems that maybe just lifting the motor off the compressor using the same makeshift 8yrs old bracket will work.
I wonder if some rubber vibration pads that can lift the unit at least half or 3/4 inch on the back by the lines will help the compressor and the angle the fan works at being that they are old?
Does this rust inhibitor paint withstand the high temps?

[Bazooka Joe]

I know at some point in the near future I will have to replace the units. I am trying to be proactive in whatever extra life I can get out of this old friend though. See where the air handler tune up lead me to... a lot of time and energy worrying about the replacement blower fan motor on my other thread.
The contractor did not do the tune up for the heat pump since he suggested it might be better to do it in spring since everything is working fine at the moment, but I noticed these things just by looking myself after he was gone today.

In any case, I appreciate the information I get from all of you guys here so I am prepared and informed and not to be fooled with expensive maybe unnecessary suggestions from contractors.

In this case for the heat pump it seems that maybe just lifting the motor off the compressor using the same makeshift 8yrs old bracket will work.
I wonder if some rubber vibration pads that can lift the unit at least half or 3/4 inch on the back by the lines will help the compressor and the angle the fan works at being that they are old?
Does this rust inhibitor paint withstand the high temps?

That drier is not much warmer than ambient surrounding temperature when running. Certainly if your OD coil is plugged then that drier will be a little higher but way below high temperatures.

IMO, He made a interesting comment to you about tune up, it was my understanding the initial PM by one of his Tech was pretty much completed " he suggested it might be better to do it in spring since everything is working fine at the moment" but yet he wanted to put upwards of 3 lbs of refrigerant to make it heat better.

I personally would not lift the motor much, just the very minimal amount, as you can see the band is close to the end of the motor body already.

[HeatPumpTN]

UPDATE:

The motor was lifted a few milliliters on the makeshift support brackets to the max that it can be lifted without having the band crimp the motor wires.

When it was put back, the motor was still touching the top of the compressor.

Since the motor cannot be lifted any more on that makeshift support bracket and after looking at ways to lift the motor a little more, I noticed that the cage that surround the coils and supports the top grill has long grooves where you screw the top grill to the cage allowing for positioning the grill higher or lower I guessed.
So as a temporary solution I screwed in another screw at the bottom so that the top grill is lifted a few more millimeters.

Screw were added to all sides, BUT the last 3 at the back which didn't allow for adding a screw.
Look at the pics, since this is hard to explain.

Doing this lifted the grill and fan motor just a bit more by the girth of the screws and now the motor is not touching the compressor.

It has just enough clearance after doing this, but now the top grill has a slight incline due to elevating the front and sides and not the back.
Will this slight incline, the size of a screw, cause any issues with the motor or any other issues?
Before, it appears that the top grill was resting on the top edge of the coils all around, now it is not.

Thoughts?

Also, look at the rust on the compressor after just peeling a bit off by hand.
Will you still advise spray painting all the rusted areas with rust inhibitor or just leave it alone?
Any restoleum rust inhibitor spray paint would do or it has to be one for certain material and would it be better to brush it on instead of spraying it?