Aboutjohn t. borgman Expertise I work days, so I can only answer early in the day or later in the evening, I live in Oregon. I have been so good at all the other area's of hvac, I am probably the only hvac guy that does not know oil. ( lol ) I am very well versed in gas, electric and heat pumps and will only answer residential applications. I have been known the past decade or so, by my employers as the guy you send when no one can figure it out. Trouble shooting is my special. I understand the physics behind air flow, refrigerants and electricity. I understand programmable t-stats, zone controls, economizers, fossil fuel kits and the engineering thought process in the wiring and construction of residential equipment
Experience I was lucky enough to start in this field over 25 years ago as an installer, for a company that installed the best duct systems I have ever seen, even to this day. The best ,as far as understanding the way air really flows through a duct system, from the return air to the very last supply register . They also had great pride and the duct work was put in, not only to last 50 years, but to look exceptional. Then as I started doing service work, I was again fortunate that I found a 3 year engineering class being put on be a man that was the educational director for the Entire united states for a society called " the Refrigeration Service Engineering Society " And for the next 3 years I schooled at night and practiced what I learned during the day, a great advantage over schooling and then trying to remember it years later.. Versed in duct design manual J heat gain/loss calculations. Also experience in wine rooms and indoor swimming pool hvac & humidity controls
Publications I have 2 inventions that have gone through the process and been recorded at the National Institute of Standards and Technology from start to finish and thus been invited to national innovation workshops by the dept. of Commerce and the dept. of Energy. They are waste heat recovery devices that N.I.S.T approved as valid and am currently looking for marketing partners to get this product into the hands of consumers and make a BIG difference in Energy savings for every Household and Eatery and take a big bite in the the peak hours power consumption that face our Utilities companies.
Education/Credentials factory training in Lennox ,Rheem, Ruud ,Trane, Tempstar ,Carrier, Day&Night, Payne, Bryant, Coleman, Intertherm, Ultra boilers, Unico, Mitsubishi,Sanyo, Taylor, Nicewonger, . Associates degree in Refrigeration Engineering. Certified with Energy Department, Check-me Program, have N.A.T.E. certifications in gas, a/c & heat pump. Teach and apprentice at every company I work at.
Question QUESTION: I live in the Phoenix Az area where most homes have a Heat Pump. Original Owner of my home for over 9 yrs. Last Aug I discovered that my air conditioner was running, but not the blower. Have had the HVAC repair guy out three times and they have no idea what is the problem. The system may work fine for a week or even two and then out of the blue the system is on and no blower. Oh yes this only happens on the cooling side of heat pump. Had no problem last winter with the system was in the heat mode. I can set the themostat in the on position and I have no problem. It only has a problem in the cooling & auto fan mode. One repairman said it was my thermostat. I did not think it was that, but I replaced the thermostat & approximately six to seven hours later the system came on and no blower. I turned the fan to on and of course the fan is running. My thought is it must be something with the compressor relying to the air handler. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
ANSWER: Marty,
That's a good one and I can tell you right now it will take some one there with eyes on and testing meters. Did you replace with the same type tstat? The only thing the tstat does in the auto mode is make that connection for the fan to come on with a call for cooling. In a situation as rare as yours, my instructions as the tech on site is the next time it does this, do not touch anything and leave the door switch on the furnace taped closed, so I can come immediately when you call and trace the loss of power and find the problem. That is the only way with one like that. The compressor doesn't even know what a fan is or a furnace. It gets 24 volts and turns on and off. The only signal it sends back indoors is during defrost to turn on the back up heat when it shifts into cool mode and turns off the outdoor fan, so nothing out there could cause this.
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QUESTION: I am confused. I have a Heat Pump not a furance. I have no way to leave the door switch on the furance taped closed. Also it seems everytime this happens it is after 5:00 pm or on the weekend. Also it is my understanding that there is relay switch on the compessor that talks to the air handler. The first thermostat I installed was a Honeywell CT3600 and the new is a Honeywell RTH7500. Everything works till all of a sudden the compessor comes on and not the air handler. I then can turn the air handler on by setting the fan to on and then maybe a few hours or days goes by and I put the fan back to auto and it may work for hours and even days before the problem starts all over.
Answer Sorry...furnace means you have either a gas back up or electric, both are called a furnace, the term for the unit is called an air handler. I already explained how it works...what signal goes back to the air handler, and if you cannot figure out how to wrap some tape around it then the next tech can. I have told you all anyone could possibly tell you over the internet. You have had techs on site that can not figure it out and not being there I have tried to tell you how to help them find it. It is your choice what you want to do next, but I cannot tell you anything different than how it works and why it does it and what you and a tech can do to figure the problem out. My question on the stat was if you were using a cheap tstat and you replaced it with the same one, you might consider that it was a brand that had a weak engineering flaw in the wiring of the fan circuit, but since you are using honeywell that is not the problem. And just for the sake of info, a relay switch simply opens and closes, it cannot communicate or talk to anything.
