michsully

This unit must be at least 20 yrs old which is certainly past the average life of a HP system. As you may or may not know, the residential entity of GE HVAC was purchased by Trane and during their day, these GE HP systems were considered top of line.

When was the last time this system was serviced by a competent HVAC dealer? This should have been done as a condition of the home purchase especially if you were aware that "it did not heat last winter".

I would call a Trane dealer and have it serviced. Refrigerant charge should be checked, compressor should be checked, and heat strips should be checked. You don't say area you live but if this was mine, I would not spend more than $500 to at least get you through the winter. BTW, if condenser/compressor are shot, then it will cost you an arm and leg to heat exclusively with straight electric heat strips-not worth it. HVAC dealer should be familiar with these GE HPs-surprisingly there are still many in service-don't know about parts availability.

If you are not HVAC certified, then I would not recommend any attempt to repair yourself.

IMO

thanks for responding. We did not have the furnace inspected unfortunatley. The old owner can not remember the last service but said it worked fine in the past. The A/C worked during the summer.
I did have a local SW Michigan HVAC man come out a few days ago. He said that the elements were bad and that the contacter was shot. He did not get back to me with a follow up, I am not sure that he was familiar with how the unit worked. I was trying to see if the unit could be brought back to life with the help of this forum. I am lucky to have electrical engineers and electricians in the family so I thought we might be able to save it.

michully

SW Michigan area. I am surprised to see a HP for this part of the country.What have you been doing for heat up until now? Is this your first experience with a HP?

the statement that AC worked during the summer suggests that the compressor is OK. Reversing valve for heat mode should also be checked. If faulty, this is expensive and probably cost prohibitive to repair. Contactors, capacitors, heating strip element are relatively cheap- the labor would be more expensive. Again I suggest an HVAC dealer probably Trane or AmStd who are familiar with these units and have access to parts take a look at your system.

IMO
Good Luck!

IMO, for now we have the heat at around 50. A heat pump would not be my first choice if I were the original purchaser in this climate! It is a second home so for now we dress warm and move quickly while there. I was hoping that someone might share a methodical series of tests that might rule out any of the possible malfunctions one by one. We do have testers and are safe responsible workers just looking for an approach to diagnose and repair this old unit.Who knows there might be a burnt fuse but without knowledge of the unit we don't know where to look.

Tom

I am in agreement with everyone, the unit is old but as stated, was purchased by TRANE. However, the relays and other supporting parts are readily available. If I'm correct, I think Tigerdunes was pointing in the right direction. If you are not familiar with heating with heat pumps, then the air coming from the vents while in the heat pump mode alone, would feel cool to you. One thing you mentioned was that while it was in the heat pump mode, you did not measure voltage to the element. That would be normal. When the unit calls for AUX or Emerg. heat, then you would get a voltage to the heaters.

Here's what I think is happening....the reversing valve is stuck...it was common on the older units. The unit stays in the cooling mode and when the first bank of heaters comes on, the cool air overcomes the full effect of the heater. Check the air coming from the outside unit. If it is warm and that will confirm the possibility of a stuck reversing valve. As mentioned also by Tigerdunes, replacing a reversing valve is expensive and given the age of your unit, whole replacement of the unit would be a better choice. Now a professional should be called however, I'll give you one thing you can try, if indeed it is still in the A/C mode. You can force the valve to slide into the heat mode by doing this.....disconnect the blower at the condenser. Turn the unit on in the heat pump mode and let it run....Given your temperatures, the condenser will slowly build pressure on one side of the valve as the pressure drops on the other side. You'll know you are getting close when you hear the compressor staring to load up. You'll suddenly hear a whoosh and the reversing valve has now reversed. Let it run for about a minute to make sure it has fully reversed. Shut the unit downand hook the fan back up. When the unit goes into the defrost mode, the valve may work and the unit defrosts but may not switch back to heat mode (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.) If that's the case, you have to do it all over. This suggestion is just to get you some heat until you get someone out.

michsully

if the main idea is to get some heat without a service call(which I think is foolish), then this would be my approach. I will assume from your comment that you have resources that are comfortable around electricity.

Leave the outside condenser alone. check the heat strip element at your inside air handler. you want to know its size and whether it is operating or needs replacing. a 5 KW heat strip produces about 17 KBTUs. you also need to know the size circuit existing heat strip is connected to. that would be my advice but only if you/family members are qualified electricians. of course this will be expensive heat. not certain if you need some type of heat to keep pipes from freezing since this appears to be a vacation home not occupied on a regular basis. and there are always portable electric room heaters which I would not run in an unoccupied home.

IMO
Good Luck!

thanks guys, Yes I have qualified union electrical contractors to help. I want to do the research for the boys before they come to help. I am just the somewhat handy uncle.We did hire a HVAC man who told me today that parts are not available, where can I look?
We do not wish to run the heat pump rather just use the handler with as many elements as possible to keep it warm while we do our winter work up there.
As I said when on regular mode the elements do not draw any amps. Is there a way to disable the pump to run all four elements? Is there a possible fuse link keeping other elements from working? How do we check to see why only one works while on emergency?

michsully

first of all, you are not calling a qualified HVAC person.

The questions to ask are as follows?

1.are you qualified on heat pumps(there are probably not many due to your area)

2.are you familiar with the old GE heat pump systems from yesteryear(I would start by contacting Trane or Am Std dealers).depending on type parts required, they should be available if you know what to ask for.

now back to your system.

what type of thermostat do you have?

does it have an emergency heat setting?

disconnect the breaker at the outside HP condenser. if no breaker outside, flip the breaker at the inside electrical panel. AC should be on separate circuit by itself. Hopefully circuits are correctly identified on ID sheet on inside of panel box.

now cut on (hopefully) the emergency heat at thermostat. air handler fan with heat strips should come on. blower fan works? how many elements do you have? what size? how many work? if they don't then you have to troubleshoot. start with checking wiring from stat back to air handler. all this must be done by qualified electrician. beyond that, call a Trane or Am Std dealer and be prepared to give all mdl numbers of stat, outside and inside units.

IMO
Good Luck!

ok IMO, I called a HVAC man from town who told me that they were familiar with not only heat pumps but with my house.

there is a honeywell thermo with an emergency switch. I have been using this setting to get heat.

there is a box outside that I can turn the breakers off.

I can turn on emerg. heat but only one of four elements 5KW come on.

I need to know if the unt is designed to have more than one working on emerg and if so how to troubleshoot the elements not working

michsully

you can stage heat strip elements to come on based on demand from a working thermostat. however because of age of system, I doubt if they were wired/installed in that manner. a good electrician/ HVAC tech should be able to determine very easily. assuming the other three elements are getting juice but not coming on suggests they are faulty and need replacing. certainly heat strips are readily available. as stated previously, a 5KW heat strip produces about 17 KBTUs. what size circuit are these elements connected to?

and again as stated previously, I don't recommend messing around with electricity unless you are certified/qualified.

IMO
Good Luck!