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Blower motor speed

19 years ago

When my house was built the duct system was very noisy at some of the return registers. The vanes would vibrate and hum. Each room has its own supply and return. To remedy the situation the builder changed the lead on the blower motors to a slower speed.

Its a Lennox system with a four speed motor. From the factory it was set to Cool-H Black lead, now it is Cool-H brown lead.

I am wondering if lowering the fan speed is having a negative effect on the systems ability to cool the house. While it seems to work OK, I wonder if it would cool better in the original position. If so I will find some other way to stop the vibration in the registers.

The house is 2500 sqft. Two systems.

These are some of the notes I found from my yearly system checks. I have no idea what all this means.

Upstairs 10ACB24-9P / BV124 30 10N19

CFM 728

Delta T 17

Return 86 degrees

Outdoor 86 Degrees

Suction 48 degrees

Suction pressure 80

liquid pressure 225

Downstairs 10ACB30 9P

CFM 925

ID Wet bulb 65

ID Dry bulb 80

Delta T 20

Any ideas?

Comments (6)

  • 19 years ago

    Anyone?

  • 19 years ago

    there shouldnt be any vanes in the return duct. if there is, you should remove them. sounds to me like your return ducting is probably too small as well. vanes in a low pressure return duct system is not needed and noisy. I would remove them and make sure the duct is big enough.

    oh and btw, from the looks of the data you provided your tech made some of those numbers up.
    48 degree suction @ 80psi = zero superheat.
    that 48 degrees is saturated temp.

  • 19 years ago

    The returns have grills over them, apx 8x12". Standard return grills like I see at home depot. Its the fins on them that vibrate.

    He put 48 degrees in the column on the form for Suction Temp, but there is no column for Saturated Temp.

    But back to the original question, is the slower blower speed reducing my systems ability to cool to its full potential?

  • 19 years ago

    The "delta T" is referred to as the split temperature - the difference in temp between the air before the a/c coil and after the a/c coil. Your split temps are good.

    The slower air speed will provide better dehumidification and cooler temps coming from the a/c coil.

    You can get the manual for the air handler from Lennox (or look at the wiring diagram inside the air handler) to find out what speed your fan is set on (low, med, med-high, high).

    I believe that the "24" in "10ACB24-9P" means that it is a 2-ton unit (24,000 btu). I think that a rule of thumb is 300 cfm (cubic feet per minute) of air volume per ton so 728 cfm for 2 tons looks OK. You can ask the builder to check CFM with the new fan setting. You can also ask him to calculate your "superheat" which tells you how the evaporator coil is performing with regards to refrigerant charge.

    My 3 speed Goodman air handler is set to low. I have all-metal ducts and a 2 story home so low speed works for me.

    I had to re-read your post to see that it was the return grills that are vibrating and not the supply vents. Has the vibration stopped with the lower fan speed?

    Best of luck to you.

  • 19 years ago

    Yes at the slower speed it does not vibrate. The blowers are on the brown wire, which according to the manual I have is one notch below full speed.

    So slower air motion over the coil makes the air colder? So what would happen if I slowed it even more?

  • 19 years ago

    The contractor who started up the system in my new house did a test for the CFM and adjusted the blower speed accordingly. I suggest that you have this done by an expert.