Increasing the airflow via the blower speed will ultimately raise the discharge temperature at the vents during cooling. Low airflow would also cause he discharge temp to be high when in heating mode.

Is your A/C-furnace oversized? Was a Manual J calculation properly performed when the unit was installed? When was the house built? Square footage? Insulation levels? Window types? Location?

How long does the AC run during a cooling cycle? It is hard to believe your coil does not freeze up into a block of ice. The problem may be due to a low refrigerant level. An competent AC tech should be able to figure this out.

The house was built in 2005, the square footage is 2400. It has alot of windows all over the house and they are storm windows so its 2 windows technically. Is the pink insulation i know that. and i am from Louisiana. As for the test when it was installed I am not sure. We had a 3 ton and it wasn't cooling the house and kept freezing. The ac guy said that it was too small for the house and said my house recommended a 5ton. It runs for like 15 to 20 mins. Now I will say this the heater turns on and off real quick because after it finishes heating it turns the heating element off and blows cold air, well that cold air for like 1 minute and it drops the temp back down so the heater kicks right back on.i totally agree that an ac guy should be able to figure it out. The problem is the guy that installed wont answer my calls and the other techs dont wanna touch it because they dont wanna be liable if something breaks.

How old is the current unit?

Many in this industry fix problems by replacing everything. Part of the reasoning is not knowing who did what, when, why & where. The other part is they couldn't fix their way out of a paper bag. The other, *other* part is: there is more money in replacing everything.

Some people get this concoction in their mind that mfg. warranty on a unit some how gets them free repairs. If the unit is under a year old... well that changes things. Because you're buying something that can't simply just be plugged in to work. You're given time to certify the work was done to adequately heat or cool.

Warranty from a mfg. does not pay labor, refrigerant, freight etc. (You can purchase extended warranty to cover labor, but costs go up from there paying for things you might not need, requiring maintenance to be performed regularly or face the threat of extended labor coverage being void.)

So what is the real reason the guy that installed it won't take your calls... is it just that or is it about what you think is warrantied vs. not warrantied. Money is nearly always the reason. No one puts an HVAC unit in expecting to never get paid again for repairs / maintenance etc.

There's always a reason "why" and most of the time there's much more to the equation than "he just won't answer my calls." So what is the real reason?

If I am blocking / not answering calls from someone it's

A. telemarketer

B. dead beat who refuses to pay for servicing.

C. someone trying to "use me" in not so fun ways.

There are people who like to think they can "game" the system. Not saying that is what is going on here... but there's a reason for coming to a forum board to try to solve a problem. My guess is $money$.

The things we don't know? How many times this guy that installed the machine has come back trying to fix it. How old the machine is. Has maintenance been performed by the installer?

Air conditioning problems like these are an onsite job. It's not even worth a guess.

More reasons: the guy that installed it, was it a side job? Is he licensed for HVAC? Is HVAC his primary source of income? Why did you choose him to install it?

People get into this business, do this business because they think it's easy... what could go wrong?

So tell us the whole story... maybe we can find a pathway out of this mess. It's either that or start calling around realizing you're gonna have to fork out money to fix it.

I service the Katy, Texas area.

It sounds from your description this is a 5 ton heat pump and probably a single stage.

You can't increase the size of the heat pump from 3 ton to 5 ton without increasing the size of the duct work. A 5 ton unit for a 2400 sq. foot house built in 2005 in Louisiana is over sized in my opinion. Louisiana is very humid so the last thing you want to do is to have over sized equipment.

The duct work is too small to handle the air flow required for the 5 ton heat pump. The installer may have intentionally kept the air flow low in order to minimize the noise of the air rushing through the small duct work. Another possibility is the blower speed is set correctly, but the high static pressure of the small duct work is slowing down the air to a point it becomes too cold and too hot.

What is the size of the filter, and what filter are you using (MERV rating, etc.). A restrictive filter could also slow down air flow and cause the temperatures which are too low or high.

How old is the equipment and is still under warranty? If it is not longer under warranty then I suggest you call a Rudd/Rheem dealer, or a independent guy who knows how to fix bad installations and pay to have this fixed. If you are going to keep this 5 ton unit you will likely need to increase the main supply and return ducts.

The unit is a year and a half old. And no money is not an issue, the issue i am having is no one knows whats going on. Thats the reason I have came to the forums bc I cant find anyone here that can give me a straight answer. I hired 3 differnt ac guys that are licensed but the gave 3 differnt opinions. The full story on the guy that installed it was, he was suppose to change the ducts but didn't I found that out the last time I was able to talk to him. We were having a weird smell coming from the vents when the ac was turned on. He came over and said the duct had came loose and said he did a temporary fix that he would have to come back later and fix it. Well after about 2 weeks I called him back because the smell came back. I figured the duct came lost again. Well he told me he wasn't in town and that I need to call someone else because it would be awhile before he could get too it. Well I started having an issue with my floors getting soft around the vents and wear the ducts would pass. I hired an engineer, he came over and inspected the house and told me the ac was blowing to cold at 25 degrees and it was causing moisture issues around the house. I tried calling the person that installed it and thats when he quit answering my calls. I called one ac guy and he said everything looked fine I asked about the cold air he said that was a good thing. Obviously he wasn't a good one. I called another and he said he didn't wanna touch anything bc another ac guy had installed it and he didn't wanna get blamed for some going wrong. The last guy I called said the ac guy I called said it would cost me 2000 plus to take the ac out and clean it and check things in it. Thats the reason I am on the forums bc I don't wanna pay 2k and still have the issue I just wanted some opinions on the matter. Where I live the options for services are terrible. No matter what you wanna do. Roofers arnt good, repair men arnt good and now I know ac installers arnt good. All they care about is a quick buck.

The last guy I called said the ac guy I called said it would cost me 2000 plus to take the ac out and clean it and check things in it. Thats the reason I am on the forums bc I don't wanna pay 2k and still have the issue I just wanted some opinions on the matter. Where I live the options for services are terrible. No matter what you wanna do. Roofers arnt good, repair men arnt good and now I know ac installers arnt good. All they care about is a quick buck.

Ok, that does a better job of explaining the situation. It sounds to me the guy is busy doing jobs that are paying him rather than looking backward trying to fix previous jobs. One day that catches up with you if you're trying to be somebody in this business. I know that doesn't help you now.

The thing is with a system only 1 1/2 years old it's not going to be likely someone is going to touch it. If it is indeed blowing 25 degree air that points to refrigerant circuit trouble and due to age likely due to installation type issue. There is risk for whoever touches is. The risk is "the name of their company" for nothing because as you put it you don't want to spend $2000 and be $2000 poorer and still have problems. So because you hired someone else to fix it, if they don't fix it they get a bunch of bad press that sinks their ship of replace, replace, replace. There is no merit badge in fixing. This business is primarily sell, sell, sell. This has happened for a long list of reasons and exists elsewhere to various degrees outside Louisiana.

There's still a manufacture warranty on this machine. But that doesn't pay for improper installation. The other twist in this is that the unit in question worked for more than a year. That is your buffer to determine that the system was working properly.

So the original contractor can "legally" say he gave you what you paid for. If you didn't inspect the job and do your due diligence to check the contract as what was specified to be done was done. I know you shouldn't have to do this, but that's the nature of this business. There's an awful lot of unethical things going on.

If you have a contract from the original guy and can prove the contract was not fulfilled maybe you have a case to pursue in court, but the clock on that might be too far gone. 1 year is typically all you get. If it's no more than he said / she said probably not worth the time to pursue it. It's a lesson to learn.

You're between a rock and a hard place. You're going to have to trust someone to fix this mess. So it's risk the $2000 with some questions as to what kind of guarantee they will give you and or possible additional costs if they find something.

There has to be something in it for a new contractor to take over. This is why who you choose to do HVAC installations is critical.

---------------------- verification something you can do --------------------------------------------

Have you actually checked temp drop across coil? Take return temp where filter is, measure temp after indoor coil subtract = temp drop. You say someone did this, I would say check it yourself to verify it.

Return Temp - Supply Temp = temp drop. The number should be 15 to 20 degrees.

The guy that took this temp may have meant the temp drop was 25... not the temp coming out of the vent. If that's the case it's probably not a refrigerant circuit problem.

A higher than normal temp drop points to oversizing. Which can be a problem for a humid climate. This could be another reason why some want to replace it all again.

None of those guys would get 5 minutes of my time........... keep looking!

I'm throwing out the BS towel and backing it up with a $1,000 wager that everything op said is NOT TRUE . Namely "I have a Rudd 5ton unit in my home. The air coming out of my vents are at 25 degrees Fahrenheit. My air is set on 72. We have checked the freon and it's fine and the airflow is good no restrictions. And the unit isn't freezing." Science (and myself) say's it simply can not happen and responses show how much houzz expert armchair advisors know about refrigerated room air. Show me what you are made of and call my wager. If you want to give me 2 to my one I'll spot you 10f and say 35F discharge isn't happening either.

I have seen some odd ball things in the 26 years I've been doing this.

I think the 25 degree air thing might be misinterpreted. No ice on the coil parroted from who has been looking at the system.

Notice the main complaint is sweating duct work, not that the unit isn't cooling.

The engineer report will be back in 2 weeks if you dont believe me. I had hired an engineerong company to true and figure out what my issue was because the floor was getting soft in spots. I was at my whits end bc no matter who I would call no one had an answer and it kept getting worse. Everything i have stated is 100 percent true. I will post a copy of the report and a place where you can send me your 1000$ lol. The last ac guy said the same thing it can't be blowing 25 degrees. That he had been doing ac work for 20 years and he never seen that. When he came here he checked it and sure enough it was 25 degrees. I stood over the guy when he shot the gun into the vent. He could no believe it. He said he has never seen that. He immediately called his boss and thats when they told me they didn't wanna touch it because someone else put it in.

Well another ac guy just left and showed me this. The first ac guy put the ac in wrong. Thats why no one wants to touch it. This is how it is sitting.

There's more to it than that. The unit is 1 1/2 years old, no one's gonna touch it because there is nothing in it for them to do it.

You spent your money on a contractor that isn't answering his phone. Some people get this notion they can just pay anyone to do an install job for them on AC, then if something goes wrong we can always just call another AC company, the new company will come and fix it. (There is notation in every manufacturer warranty document that improper installation is not warrantable... this is why you do the heavy lifting up front and choose a good installer.)

The contract you signed tells you who is going to do and what they are going to do and what materials they will install. It doesn't say you're entitled for another contractor to take over.

The way this ends is that you probably wind up paying for a new HVAC system. OR you somehow get the previous contractor back to come fix it.

I've seen things similar to this and the rule I have is: If the unit is 2 years or less old, the house is older (not a new build): I collect my service fee, then refer them to who put the unit in.

OR I tell them I can give them a quote to replace it and do it right. I know it will be done right because I will be the one doing it.

It is not my job to fix 'suspected' unlicensed installs. Any company worth the the name on the side of their van will tell you that. (If the name is made up, maybe they don't care as much.)

If anything this goes in the learn column of what not to do. You're not the first to do it, you won't be the last... because "we want a really good deal". This is how long 'the really good deal' lasts... sometimes a bit longer, sometimes a lot less.

I service the Katy, Texas area.

Yeah I agree and what sucks is this guy is actually licensed and it wasn't cheap. This guys uncle had been doing work for my family for years with no issues. What I did find out is the guy that put the ac in had just started doing the work because the uncle wanted to start slowing down his jobs bc he was getting older. I also found out a bunch of other things he did wrong and I was able to get intouch finally with the uncle thanks to a family member of mine and he is suppose to come out and take a look at it this afternoon. So fingers crossed on that. But I appreciate all the help and the useful info. I just hope this all gets solved before it gets any worse.

We have seen many times on this forum an HVAC license does not require the person to be competent or ethical. Let us know how this is resolved.

Mike that is a fact. If license meant anything, licensed companies would be required to maintain standards in order to retain their license. To add insult to injury,90% of techs who come to your house are not licensed but are alowed to take your money because they know someone who is licensed. That's right, a contractor with a fleet of 20 trucks is only required to have 1 licensed individual on staff. How do you think it would go over if you showed the cop your dad's license # which you and your unlicensed brother drive under?

Sadly,this arrangement make's it impossible for an honest person to deal with homeowners while giving them the best service and price possible. What do I mean by that? The same job that require's 2.5 hours for a commercial account require's 5 hours for a homeowner. .5 hours for office staff to take call,dispatch tech and do paperwork "PLUS" .5 hours answering questions that internet buds advised homeowner to ask "PLUS" 2 hours travel time and on the job for tech :PLUS" .5 hours answering questions internet buds advised homeowner to ask "PLUS" 1 hour preparing bid to compare with other contractors plus .5 hours that boss spends listening to homeowner tell how job was done wrong according to internet buds.

So what do I have against homeowners? Nothing,most do the best they can but sadly internet buds cost them dearly. I read 3 times as much bad advise as I read sound advise. I hold this thread up as a poster child for what I claim. It started with OP posting information he didn't understand nor accuratly relate. That I totally understand,all of us do it when talking about subjects we are not familiar with. The problem didn't begin until wanna bes didn't question what op said but instead started passing out advice. The net and forums like this could potentially be very helpful and save folks time and money if there weren't so many flooding them with sorry ansewers and advice. How is one to know which to believe and which to discard? They can't. Many if not most on this forum earned a living doing something they understand,how many did it in the field of refrigeration and/or comfort cooling and heating? I am aware that A. Air is the real deal and he pointed out the fact OP misunderstood what he was told or had been lied to about. To A. Air's credit,he handled the misinformation alot gentelier than I but he did confirm there has to be much more to this than what we have been told. In reality one doen't need to be educated in all aspects of air conditioning to spot the problem with 25f discharge. They need only to understand "SUPERHEAT" which is a small but absolutly neccessary part of hvac. Most elements of refrigeration are based on laws,not opinions,wags or experience. Not powdered wig law,laws of science.

Kenny,I can not understand why so many have looked at this without telling you what is wrong and what it will cost to fix it. I don't for one minute suscribe to the idea you are stuck with total replacement at your expense. If it does and small claims court is like in Texas,I would use engineer's report and sue installer. Hopefully the engineer's report put's things on track to satisfactory repair. If not,I would contact Rudd Corporate. This doesn't sound like warranty but Rudd might have their rep reach out non the less.

Yes, thank you all. I am waiting to see what the guy says. He was suppose to come today but didn't show up. So I am going to have to wait and see.

I hope it's as simple as insulation missing on duct discharge boots. That is the most common cause of sweat on grills and is usually simple to fix.

Yeah I agree and what sucks is this guy is actually licensed and it wasn't cheap. This guys uncle had been doing work for my family for years with no issues. What I did find out is the guy that put the ac in had just started doing the work because the uncle wanted to start slowing down his jobs bc he was getting older.

Well the word cheap means different things to different people. Typically toward the upper end for new complete system is $10K an above depending on work to be done. If this install included new ductwork & new equipment $10k might be appropriate / might not. So who in here would think $10K is not cheap, but for this particular job that number might have been too cheap.

Does this mean every job I quote it's $10K? If you think that you're reading something that isn't there.

Every job has it's issues in terms of quoting a price.

Cheap doesn't put a number to it. Not cheap doesn't put a number to it either.

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So it's kind of a PITA when it comes to a former good company passed down to other family members. It rarely goes well. Obviously that would make it harder to know how well or not so well things will turn out. Regardless how much work you put into this decision it may have just been a perfect storm. Hopefully they will make it right.

I've gotten work from people who tell me that their previous guy is having the kid take over. Meaning that a kid comes out to the house. How much experience is a "kid" going to have? A long relationship I think would make the decision a bit more difficult.

Having confidence in who does the work is a big part of the job. Not that a kid couldn't do this with the proper training, edumacation etc. But most don't learn that way. Phosgene gas and hard compressor starts has been my experience with newbies.

If you have 25 degree air coming off e-coil as you've said (supply temp) It's not likely to be a "simple fix". If it were some other company would have already fixed it.

For those who think 25 degree air is not possible... how do you think a freezer works / refrigerator? Yeah I've seen to much in this business. For sure, no question. LOL.

I service the Katy, Texas area.