Home heat pump question

Joined
May 15, 2006
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2,556
Location
Lakeside CA and Lake Havasu City AZ
My home heat pump works fine in AC mode. But when I switch to heat mode the compressor does not run, only the air handler fan runs which results in no temp change. I am fairly familiar with AC only systems and have been reading about heat pumps but I don't know where to start with this one. Because it works fine in AC, I know the capacitor, compressor, contactor etc. should all be fine. The air handler runs so I suppose the thermostat is sending the signal to heat. What am I missing?

Unit is a Goodman package unit, probably a 3 ton unit. About 15 years old. Roof mounted. Outside ambient temp 50- 60's.
 
I'd take the thermostat out of the equation first and connect red to yellow and orange (assuming Goodman needs the reverser circuit energized for heat). I've had a few thermostats go bad and work for a/c or heat but not the other.
 
I changed the thermostat about 4 months ago to a wifi enabled one. It went bad after 4 weeks (seemingly after a self update) and I reinstalled the old one. When I installed the new thermostat I had to change some wiring...my note says Y and W were combined on the Y terminal and had to be separated. Luckily, I took a picture and just found it in my phone. I may have failed to recombine them when I reinstalled the old thermostat. I'll have to go up on the roof tomorrow and correct that. Hopefully that is it. Thank you for jogging my memory, if that doesn't do it I'll post back.
 
I remember mine did the samething it was the txv valve . See if it works in emergency heat .
 
I changed the thermostat about 4 months ago to a wifi enabled one. It went bad after 4 weeks (seemingly after a self update) and I reinstalled the old one. When I installed the new thermostat I had to change some wiring...my note says Y and W were combined on the Y terminal and had to be separated. Luckily, I took a picture and just found it in my phone. I may have failed to recombine them when I reinstalled the old thermostat. I'll have to go up on the roof tomorrow and correct that. Hopefully that is it. Thank you for jogging my memory, if that doesn't do it I'll post back.

I bet you got it.
 
Y and W should not be on the same terminal on the stat. Y turns on the compressor in both heat and cooling mode. W is for the electric back up heat in the unit. If you have W hooked to the Y terminal on the stat your electric heat will run anytime the compressor is running.

Sounds to me like a thermostat or wiring issue. To get heat mode on the heat pump you need power to the Y and G. There is also an Orange wire but for a goodman it should only be energized to get cooling mode.
 
I went up to the roof unit and indeed I did not reconnect the yellow and white wires onto the y terminal when I reinstalled the old thermostat. All seems well now. This exemplifies why it's always a good idea to take pictures and notes, at least for me! Thanks for all the replies.
 
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