Could I have a thermostat issue?

[Buckrub]

When we left for parts North last week, I turned the thermostat to 78 and 'hold' at that temp. It's a programmable thermostat set for 74 day and 79 night. When we go home house was over 80. I set it back to resume the program (meaning it was then set to 74) but it never got any cooler. The unit was (and still is) running, and cold air is coming out of the vent.

I just figured it was 98 and too hot to cool down, and I should have left it set at 74 while we were gone. I went to bed, turned on the ceiling fans, and this morning at 6:00 I checked thermostat. It read 74, and the ambient temp was 74. But the unit was ON. Hmmmm.

I turned it manually up to 75, and it went off, like it should. I waited a bit, turned it back to 74, and it came back on. We went to church, came home and it was/is 79 in the house again, and stuffy hot. But to be honest, I can't tell if it's 79 or not..........feels warmer than 74, but maybe not really 79.

The a/c guy that installed it (total new unit 2013) is a friend of mine, and I texted him to ask if he thought this was an issue, or was it just too hot (96-100 last few days) to get cool in this old house? I haven't heard back yet..........thought I'd ask the experts!

[Big Muddy]

Yes, it's been a hot mofo for the past week....but, if I set my heat pump to a certain temp, even down to 65, it is gonna operate until it reaches that temp., then it'll shut off....it will take a while in these temps, but it is suppose to cool down to whatever temp you set it, unless you got a problem.

My guess is: freon is a bit low ----or faulty pressure switch---or faulty capacitor---or bad thermostat

Have you replaced the filter, lately???....they clog up twice as fast, down here in the south.

[Buckrub]

Sumpin be's faulty. It's hot. It's working but barely.

Capacitor new 3 weeks ago. I'm guessing freon low, but that makes me wonder why.

Robert hasn't texted me back. He may be out of town. Could be tomorrow..........although that's a holiday!!!

[Big Muddy]

Even capacitors and such, new and outta the box, can be faulty....hope you get it fixed, and quickly!!!

[Thumper]

The big question is ... you've had this unit for two years ... did it cool down normally when you had similar weather before? If the answer is yes, I'd say you have a problem. I suspect low freon (Or I suppose that's Puron these days).

FYI ... I had a new unit installed quite a while ago and have had to add R-22 every two years since. That can only mean one thing .. a leak, but 4 different a/c repairmen (all from different companies) have never been able to find one over the years!

[Buckrub]

Yes, it worked much better than this. Much....

But it's working, which does give me pause. But it makes me think low freon. Or offon or whateveron. But why, is the issue.

Robert has not returned texts, so I'm figuring he has his 'work' cell completely off for the holiday weekend and is off someplace. May be hot till Tuesday.

[Buckrub]

Clearly out of freon. Well, I THINK it's clearly! It just runs and runs, and it's already 78 in the house....... and no answer from my guy. And it's Labor Day.

Probably be tomorrow before I can get this worked on.

[Buckrub]

Well dang. Finally heard from my buddy. He doesn't even live here anymore! Got a job teaching school (I'm guessing Vo Tech) somewhere and is out of the business. He referred me to another guy, and I called, but he can't get here till in the morning sometime. So, another hot night trying to sleep. Didn't sleep much last night!

[Thumper]

Yeppers, sounds like a good shot of Puron is in your future! (or I should say R-410A) Good luck. Maybe they'll find where yours went ... they sure can't find where mine goes!

[BarryBobPosthole]

It was all the way up to 78? Wow. My main unit thermostat is set at 81/50% humidity.

BKB

[Buckrub]

That was early this morning. Now it's 83. And I'd LOVE to have 50% humidity! NO way I got to do that without an a/c!!

It's 96, with heat index of 101 here. Humidity is 76%. If you think that is comfortable, then I'll trade houses with you.........(but wives have to go with the deal, no trading. I don't want yours).

[BarryBobPosthole]

If your unit is two stage, then the dehumidifier will run by itself. I never ever thought I'd ever be comfortable sitting in 81 degree temps but with the humidity low, it feels so much cooler that you set the temp higher. Its honestly COLD at 76.

BKB

[LJ3]

You fuckers would be really cold in my house.

[Big Muddy]

You fuckers would be really cold in my house.

Haha, mine, too, Len....I set mine to 72 in June, and pretty much leave it there until October....we didn't have any a/c, until I was about 12 years old, and I decided, right then, if I ever owned a house, it was gonna be cool inside it. ;)

[Buckrub]

If your unit is two stage, then the dehumidifier will run by itself. I never ever thought I'd ever be comfortable sitting in 81 degree temps but with the humidity low, it feels so much cooler that you set the temp higher. Its honestly COLD at 76.

BKB

I don't know 'bout all them 'if's', but it ain't dehumidifying none atall! It's hotter than the Devil's underpants.

And if/when I get this fixed, I'm stopping the night/day auto change thermostat dealy, and setting it on about 73 all day and all night and the end.

[Buckrub]

I don't have a Thermostat issue. Spent the day dealing with it, but all signs point to the Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV) being stuck.

He came this morning, and we spent an hour getting the ice off the lines. Thick........ which indicated freon leakage. But once that defrosted, he couldn't get much freon (410-A whatever that is, the new stuff) into the system........which means if it was a leak, it wasn't much of one. He said at that time, that he thought since it wasn't real low, that the TXV valve was possibly the culprit. However, it was running, and he had come to 'work me in' between other scheduled calls, so he left for a while to see if it would run ok......I went to town for a few hours, and came back about 2 hours ago.........the house was 80 and lines were freezing up again! Sigh.

So, I called him back, and he was close so came by. He said there was almost no doubt that it was the TXV valve, even if it did have a leak it'd be a slow leak.......but too late to go get a new one today. He said he had this same issue about 8 times in last few years, and there was a product called "A/C Re-New".....a lubricant of some kind.......that if you force it into the lines, often it freed up the valve. Since he couldn't get a new valve today anyway, he tried it. That was 20 minutes ago........and cold air is coming out of the vents, and it's draining out of the attic ok. I got his cell and will text him if it is ok later tonight, or not ok.........and if after 24 hours it's still running ok, he said that shot of stuff probably fixed it........and if not, he can replace the valve, and then do a system check for leaks.

This was just a kid, one of the techs in the company, but he seemed to know his stuff. Respectful, knowledgeable, prompt, efficient.......I told him I knew some kids in St. Louis he needed to meet...........:)

So, permanent status unknown, but cooling for now. It would be NICE to be able to sleep ONE night.......haven't slept in....well a week.....don't sleep well in hotels, and then 3 nights in a hot house............whew.

We're so spoiled. But it is what it is.

[Big Muddy]

Heck, you coulda just used(my favorite two words!!!)....SEA FOAM !!!!! ;)

[Buckrub]

You know what? I looked at this bottle of Re-New stuff that he put in.........no ingredients listed.........but I SWEAR it felt and smelled just like Sea Foam!! I coulda put that in there and made it work if I could have had a way to get it in the pressurized system.

It's raining and not as hot, but the unit is working.

[Bwana]

Glad to hear you have the A/C operational again, nothing worse than trying to sleep in the sweltering heat.