Pipe frosted up

19 years ago

This may be moot because I think we decided on pre-emptively changing our 20 year old Trane system to a new 14i in the near futur but here goes. We never had a heat pump before so maybe I did something stupid. We keep it set on 70 pretty much round the clock in the summer. The unit appears to run ok, the house is cold in most areas accept one room upstairs. Vacation time came so I put themostat up to 80 or so and we left. I understand the temps were in the 90s while we were away and humidity was high. The night before our return I had someone pop in and move thermostat back down to 70 for us. When we got home the next day the pipe was frosted outside and in under that black pipe wrap and we saw drips on the floor (in the unfinished basement). The lower 3rd of the filter was frozen to the coil (?).

The house was cool though.

I turned the thermostat up a bit and the frost dicipated almost immediately. I turn the fan to the on position and let it run w/out the ac until the coil thing was completley defrosted. I put in a new filter and again set the ac to 70...so far so good but the temps have only been in the 70s since we got back.

So....would this be normal behaviour for a unit of this age or is something wrong with it...OR was I just a fool and should have left the thermostat alone while we went away?

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Comments (5)

tigerdunes
19 years ago
andre

This is not normal behavior but may be an aberation due to resetting thermostat normal setting from vacation setting. Usually this problem as described is indication of airflow issue or a refrigerant leak. Certainly I would monitor both inside and outside unit over the next several days as outside temps rise back to the normal range.

Did you finally decide on a new system and size?

IMO
andrelaplume2
Original Author
19 years ago
Yes, it looks like we are getting either the 2.5 ton American Standard Heritage 14 or Trane 14. I think both are the same systems from what I read. In the last Trane estimate, the dude looked at the original house plans to see if a 3 ton unit would be better. The estimate came back with a 2.5 ton for our 2200 sq ft 20 year old home.

The real determiniung factor will be the 10 year parts and labor warranty cost. Its included 'free' in the AS system if I purchase before 8/31. I currently do not have a cost for the warranty for the Trane system (I am awaiting a quote). The Trane quote currently is cheaper than the AS which leads me to believe 'free' is not so 'free' after all for the AS.

Any recomedations on the extended warranty or last minute opinions on Trane vs AS. The two compainies I am choosing from both appear to be very good, unless the TRane warranty puts me over the AS estimate, I have no preference....
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andrelaplume2
Original Author
19 years ago
just got my final Trane quote w/10/10 warranty. The warranty is $650. That seams a bit steep but likely worth it.

Interesting. He told me it was essentially a 2.5 ton outside with a 3 Ton air handler inside. He said the calcs called for a 2.5 ton but wanted to get me a bit more air movement upstairs. Ever hear of this? Maybe I'll start a new post.
daddo
19 years ago
Warranties aren't free, no matter how they state it. Depending on your area, if you get the XL14i Trane system with a qualifying control, you can get the warranty for about 200.00.
andrelaplume2
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks daddo....what is a qualifying control?