any hvac/heat pump experts here?

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Apr 30, 2003
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austin, texas
i have a 7 year old carrier heat pump. tonight was the first night cold enough to turn heater on (about 40 outside). by chance, i happened to be near the outdoor unit when it came on. it turned on and fan spun for about 10 seconds then shut off for 5 seconds then back on, etc. i then turned thermostat way down and attempted to get it to output cold air instead of heat. this worked fine, the unit outside turned on and stayed on, no problems at all. i then retested heat mode and it once again started short cycling.

any ideas?
 
I would try resetting the breaker and see if it somehow resets itself. As long as you set a temp indoors that is high enough (higher than indoor ambient air, it should work. Im not a hvac tech though.
 
It's hard to diagnose from several states away.

Which of the two motors was coming on and going off? Fan or compressor? Or both?

If the compressor is coming on and staying on, and only the fan is cycling, it could be a motor problem (thermal overload tripping in the motor itself).
It could be a system problem (pressure switch not sensing, or low refrigerant for the HP cycle).
It could be a host of other small things.

I realize that's not what you want to hear; makes it hard to DIY this problem. But it's not easy to troubleshoot without being there to poke and observe.
 
The electric booster coils are in the air handler inside the house. You need an HVAC guy with a schematic. The heat pumps are sophisticated units. There is also some defrost that happens. Maybe that's happening.
 
In a defrost cycle, the compressor runs with the reversing valve in the cooling mode (to pump heat outside and thaw the outdoor coil) with the outside fan stopped. Also the electric heaters inside are turned on so cold air doesn't come from the vents in the house. This should only happen for a few minutes at a time then it will switch back to pumping heat inside.
 
What he described is not the defrost cycle. A defrost cycle does not turn on and off like that. When it turns on it continues for the prescribed time( usually a few minutes) then reverses back to heating. May be a reversing valve issue.
 
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just to close this thread. it was low on refrigerant. too low for heat cycle to work, but just high enough for cooling to work. cooling would have started to short cycled too as more refrigerant was lost over time.
 
Originally Posted By: mikeinaustin
just to close this thread. it was low on refrigerant. too low for heat cycle to work, but just high enough for cooling to work. cooling would have started to short cycled too as more refrigerant was lost over time.
Where did the refrigerant go?

I too have a Carrier heat pump. 6 years old and A/C wasn’t cooling that well this summer. Turns out the evaporator is leaking. 10 year warranty on parts so I’m working on that.
 
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
... or low refrigerant for the HP cycle).


Originally Posted By: mikeinaustin
just to close this thread. it was low on refrigerant. too low for heat cycle to work, but just high enough for cooling to work.


Well maybe I was a bit more accurate in diagnosis than I first imagined!

Glad it's working now.
 
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