Heat Pump Repair by Magnolia Services in Jonesborough, TN

I received a call from a new customer on Woodridge Road in Jonesborough, TN stating that their heat pump didn't appear to be heating very well and not cooling at all. They said that they had an old Janitrol R22 split system heat pump at their home and everything seemed to be running. I advised them to shut the system off until I was able to get over there in order to prevent any further damage to the system. I arrived at their home on the same day that they called for a heat pump repair.

I went to the outdoor heat pump and opened the electrical service panel. I verified that we did have high voltage to the outdoor unit. I hooked up my amp clamp to the compressor common terminal in order to take an inrush amp draw on the compressor. I had the customer who was standing there with me go inside and turn the system on into heat mode because it was still chilly outside and the temperature had fallen inside their home. The outdoor fan motor started spinning, but the compressor was unable to start. The compressor tried to start and drew high amps, but didn't turn on. I pulled the outdoor service disconnect to shut down high voltage to the outdoor unit. I discharged the dual run capacitor, removed the necessary wires, and checked the microfarad reading on it for the HERM and FAN terminals. The dual run capacitor was reading nano-farads, which means that it was dead. I verified the size needed for the capacitor, confirmed that I did have a USA made Mars dual run capacitor on my van in that particular size, and was able to quote a price to the customer for the repair with his military discount applied to the price.

I replaced the dual run capacitor, put my amp clamp on the compressor common wire in order to take an inrush amp reading on the compressor at startup. I applied some di-electric grease to the service disconnect pullout and restored power to the system. Both the compressor and outdoor fan motor started this time and the compressor's inrush amp draw was now well within factory specifications. I took amp draws of the compressor and outdoor fan motor while the unit was running and both amp draw readings were within factory specifications as well. I put the electrical service panel back onto the heat pump and replaced a missing screw on the door. I always have extra screws on hand to make sure that a unit is put back together properly. I also noted that their R22 heat pump had been converted by a previous company to R407C refrigerant and explained to the customer that it had been done on a previous refrigerant related repair which he was unaware of at the time. I went inside and performed a temperature rise test between return and supply of the heat pump running without the auxiliary heat strips. The heat pump was performing as expected in heat mode without the heat strips running and I was able to cycle the heat pump and confirm that the unit was turning on and off as it should as well.

I did make a note and inform the customer that the unit appeared to be oversized for the home and for the amount of ductwork that they had available. He mentioned that the unit had the compressor replaced within the past few years and that the installing contractor of the equipment had installed a half ton larger system on his house years ago and never did anything to match the ductwork to the unit he installed. I explained the importance of having properly sized ductwork to match up with the HVAC unit. I also explained that compressor failures are one of the consequences of having an oversized machine operating on insufficient ductwork along with a host of other issues that can arise.

I followed up with the customer after a couple of days and confirmed that the heat pump repair on Woodridge Road in Jonesborough, TN was still heating and cooling their home. If you need assistance with your HVAC unit and live inside our service area of Northeast Tennessee, please feel free to reach out. Stay safe and best wishes.

Location: Jonesborough, TN