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 broughta Trane 2TTX5030A1000AA heating and airconditioner unit from a local company in arkansas. i have had the unit for two years and have had the technicans out to my house at least 14 times, the unit doesnt cool properly. they have added antifree or freezon to the unit at least three times, moved the location(due to recircualtion of air)repaired/replaced the breaker(the unit wil ljust stop working.One of my questions is how often would you expect to add freezon and have you heard of similiar problems with Trane. The first year it was under warranty and they verbally told that the warranty would be extended until the problem was resolved.Yet they wanted to charge me $300 and the problem isnt resolved. THe unit doesnt cool , I set the thermostat at 70 and it reads 78-80 until early am a few hours then gradully increase back up. Do I have a lemon, have I been taken advantage of and what can I do about it.
ANSWER: Vernita,
There really is no lemons in this industry, just poor installation and service work. Have you contacted Trane corp. and told them of your issues? If they added freon, it should have only been if they did not charge it correctly in the first place or you have a leak. You mentioned changed the location? I assume you are talking about the outdoor unit?
Did they put it under something that recirculated the air? If so they were the ones who installed it and should not have put it there.
I can offer my service to you in this way.....If you have the tech come out and take all the physical data that I write down at the end of this response I can tell you if it is running correct and in that way you can have an advocate when you contact Trane.
First though I can tell you this. If you have a clean filter, all vents in your home open and it has been running for a while during the heat of the day, you can go to the outdoor unit and there are two copper pipes going to it. The larger one with black insulation around it, should be cold and dripping with water wet. Not dry or frozen.
So here is the data I need to tell you what is up.
high and low pressure
liquid line temperature
vapor line temperature
outdoor ambient temperature
air temperature leaving the outdoor unit
return air temperature
supply air temperature
amp draw of compressor and fan
RLA of compressor and fan
superheat and subcooling
These numbers will tell me what is going on and if they can even come up with these numbers will tell us a lot about these guys. But you need to go to Trane's web site and get ahold of them. They do not want their name trashed and because it is their equipment they can get involved and get this thing straightened out. I am sorry for the 2 years of frustration you have gone through.
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QUESTION: I did check with the Trane web site and they came out.
today after a 2week waiting period and they replied that I needed to TVX expansion valve replacement.I did ask the questions you posed and here is their reply.
high and low pressure 75/215
liquid line pressure 95
vapor line temperature 75.6
outdoor ambient temperature- he said he would guess 98
return air temperture - states he did not check
supply air tempertaure-states he did not check
amp draw of compressor and fan- states he did not check
RLA of compressor adn fan- states he did not check
superheat and subcooling 25/11
I did ask about the frequency of instilling freon and they replied that you shouldn't have to continue to add it, yet they have three times.i did check the cooper pipes and it was cold and wet.
ANSWER: I am sorry to inform you that the tech is lying to you. There is no physical way your equipment could have those numbers period, they are a lie and I will testify in court, by proxie to it.
The txv cannot be bad if you are getting water dripping off that line also. I suspect that you have a duct in the attic come apart and are drawing air from there. Or under the home and you are cooling under the home.
Either way I can not help you with the rest until you get real numbers, not ones made up by someone that doesn't even know enough
to give proper numbers.
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QUESTION: I did not get the duct replaced when I got the new unit, do you think that would help? If I went to court, how do I get you to testify by proxie, is there a fee, how i do i contact you. Thanks so much for your advice.
Answer I am assuming you might have a duct problem, as, the dripping copper pipe says that the air flow and refrigerant flow is very close to correct in order for that to happen. In reading your entire post again just now, I see that it sounds like this problem started when the new equipment was installed. Did the old equipment cool the home well? Was it replaced with the same tonnage? It might also be possible that they sold you a unit smaller than the last if it in fact worked well. Has to be one or the other.
And No, I would not charge you anything. What I can offer if it comes to that is to write a notorized report for the court with all my credentials and hundreds of ratings and comments from this web site from owners and techs alike as to my expertize.
Informing the company that sent out that tech about me and the numbers he gave you, might prevent that step being taken and get your home comfortable for no more expense to you.
Call the service manager and tell him/her to look at the pressure chart for R22 and they will see that even if the pressures were correct ( and they are not ) that it is not what the chart says. In other words the chart tells the superheat and subcooling number as it relates to the pressure and it is wrong. Also tell them that there is no way that your suction line can sweat at a number even close to that and that there is no way the head pressure at that outdoor temperature could be that reading.
And ask them to put down in writing what figures they are using to say that the txv is bad. I would venture to say they will not, because I do not think it is bad, nor do I think the tech has any idea how to test a txv. ask them to put that in writing also.
