Subject: Air-Conditioning (FAQ)

From: [email-masked] (WILLIAM BAUMBACH)
Date: Wed, 02 Aug 95 16:50:00 -0500

The following are, tips tricks and a overall checklist that
    homeowners should know and use for (FAQ) "Frequently Asked Questions"
    to help assure that your Air-conditioning is working and cooling
    as efficiently as possible, while saving you money. The following
    information should help you decide if you need a professional to
    service your Air-conditioning unit.

(1)  Air filter(s) MUST be clean. They should be located near
     the return air duct adjacent to the air handler or in a
     return air grill(s). Check to see if the air filter is clean
     ever 30 days. Depending of the house, you may not need to
     Clean the air filter but ever 30 to 90 days or longer.

(2)  Flip the s witch on the thermostat for the fan setting to
     FAN ON, not AUTO. This will run the indoor fan nonstop.
     The out side A/C unit will still cycle with a call for cooling
     from the thermostat. The constant air moving will keep you cooler.
     You can probably keep the thermostat a degree or two higher then
     normal and still feel comfortable. You will also maintain a more
     even temperature between upstairs and downstairs. This will SAVE
     you MONEY because the outdoor condenser will not come on as much!

(3)  Make sure that you wash the outside condenser coil once a year.
     If it's dirty, the A/C will run hot and inefficient. A sign of the
     coil being dirty is the small exposed copper (pipe) (tubing) line,
     usually a 3/8" O/D connecting the inside unit with the outside
     unit will be HOT to the touch.

(4)  If the small exposed 3/8" copper pipe connecting the inside unit
     with the outside unit is hot to the touch there can be several
     reasons why; (a) A/C is low on refrigerant. (b) The outdoor
     condenser coil is dirty. Those are the two most common reasons for
     it to be hot to the touch.

(5)  "Warm Rooms" on the lower levels of the house cut back or cut off
     some vent registers (Diffuser) and make sure that all the ones on
     the upper floors are open all the way! Also, see paragraphs #2 & #9.

(6)  "Doors" if you close the door to a room make sure that there is about
     a 3/4" gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. You may have
     had carpet put down on the floor and now there is no gap. This is
     necessary so the return air ducts can pull the warm air from the room.

(7)  Never leave the house and turn OFF the A/C. then come  back home and
     turn it on and expect it to cool the house anytime soon. Doing this
     will cost you more MONEY to cool the house then if you had left it on.
     You can set the temperature up five to ten degrees but NOT OFF. This
     is because of a Latent heat buildup in the walls and furniture in the
     house and will make the A/C work harder to remove the heat, this takes
     a long time.

(8)  Never turn the A/C off then back on in less then five minutes, this
     will short-cycle the compressor and can trip  breakers, blow fuses,
     or cause permanent damage the compressor. You should have a time-delay
     install on the A/C to prevent this during power outages! Some setback
     thermostats have a time-delay built-in. Having a start capacitor and
     relay is a good idea.  This will increase the life expectancy of the
     compressor by starting faster thus keeping motor temperature down,
     using less electric to start.

(9)  Keep blinds closed, curtains drawn, window shades drawn, a working
     attic fan would be a good idea, plenty of insolation in the
     ceiling & walls, air tight storm windows, keep outside doors and
     openings close, etc.

(10) "Icing of the indoor coil or the large covered copper pipe"
     There are TWO main reasons for this. Lack of air flow or low on
     refrigerant. Lack of air flow can be a dirty air filter, dirty
     indoor evaporator coil, dirty fan blades, damper in duct restricting
     air flow.

(11) "Water in side around air-handler" see paragraph 10. The condensate
     line is a drain pipe coming from the indoor evaporator coil to a
     drain or to the outside. This can become clogged and cause water to
     backup and can produce about five gallons of water an hour. This is
     where all the humidity and moisture from the house goes.

(12) You should NEVER need to add refrigerant to a system, if you are
     adding refrigerant this means that there is a refrigerant leak in
     the system that SHOULD be fixed! "Why KILL the Ozone layer?"

(13) Checking the cooling with a thermometer. There should be a 15-20
     degree temperature drop across the indoor coil at the air handler.
     Check the temperature drop in the duct close to the coil, if air
     coming into the coil is 75 degrees then the air leaving the coil
     should be 60-55 degrees. If it is higher or lower there is probably
     something wrong. Too high of a drop. IE more then 20 degrees drop,
     could mean lack of air flow or low on refrigerant. Less than a
     15-degree drop could mean too much air flow, dirty outside coil or
     low on refrigerant.

(14) Never cover the A/C with plastic or an air tight cover, this will
     cause it to rust.

(15) Do NOT let animals (Cats) (Dogs) etc. Urinate on the outside
     coil. This will cause it to corrode (rust) and then leak refrigerant.

(16) Keep grass & weeds from blocking air flow on outside A/C.

(17) Do NOT build a deck close to the top of the outside A/C or any thing
     else that could cause the warm discharge air to be recirculate back
     to the unit.

(18) Fuses, Circuit Breakers or wires should never be hot to the touch,
     if they are hot you may have a sizing problem or a loose or bad
     electrical connection.

    When you need to have your equipment repaired/serviced make sure
    you use a licenced contractor who should be insured and obtain
    permits from city/county officials when required/necessary. Or a
    member of the (PHCC) Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors
    Association. PHCC contractors are professionals who adhere to a
    published code of ethics that improves the industry and protects
    your health, certified by the State Board of Contractors.  They
    also have licenses, bonds, insurance and obtain permits when
    required by local municipalities. The PHCC logo is your assurance
    of quality in this profession! Isn't your health & safety worth
    it? It should be! Call 1-800-533-7694 for more information about
    the PHCC.

    Air-Conditioners DO NOT add cool air. What they do is remove warm
    air and put it outside. R-22 & R-12 ETC.. Refrigerant is a
    manmade product invented by Dupont and given the trade name
    FREON. The temperature of refrigerant is directly relate to its
    pressure it is at and vise Versa, IE. R-22 at 0 psi is -144
    degrees below zero or at 60 psi it at 32 degrees. Keep in mind
    that heat goes toward cold and not cool to heat. All the A/C
    compressor does is to pump vapor to create a high and low
    pressure, IE. A low pressure at the inside coil for a low
    temperature for the refrigerant to absorb the heat in the house
    and a high pressure at the out side coil to give off the heat the
    refrigerant absorbed from the inside coil to outside. Over sized
    A/C will run short cycles and not remove the humidity and
    moisture from the house, a under sized unit will not be able to
    keep the house cool on a hot day. You MUST be careful to get the
    correct size A/C for your house. A/C's are sized by tons, there
    are 12,000 BTU'S to a ton of cooling. You need to move 400 CFM.
    of air per ton of cooling across the indoor coil 450 CFM. For
    Heat Pumps. Each CFM. (Cubic foot per minute) of air will carrier
    26.7 BTU's of cooling. You need a heat-gain calculation done per
    room to get the proper (CFM/BTUs) to be delivered to each room
    and the total (Tons/BTUs) needed to cool the house based on
    designed weather conditions in your area.

    The above is my opinion/advice and is based on 15 years experience
    in the Plumbing, Heating, Cooling business. Please fell free to
    obtain other opinions.

 William J. Baumbach II
 E-mail [email-masked]
 President. Baumbach Enterprises Ltd. Busy since 1928. 703-250-4200.
 Vice President. Nova. Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors Association.
 SYSOP of the PHCC BBS. 703-273-6580.
 President. Kena Computer Club. 703-573-4202.
 Seller of a Service, Dispatching, Inventory software Program called
 "THE SERVICE HELPER" 1-800-280-2820.
 MM. RA. KT. SR. SH.
**end file**

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From: [email-masked] (paul milligan)
Date: 2 Aug 1995 21:41:41 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
   [email-masked] (WILLIAM BAUMBACH) wrote:

[ spam deleted ]

	William, this is not a homeowners forum, nor is it the yellow
pages.  We do not need your spam, nor your advertising.

	I chased you away before.  Must I do it again ?

Paul

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From: [email-masked] (Gerry O'Brien)
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 00:25:42 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (paul milligan) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (paul milligan)
>Subject: Re: Air-Conditioning (FAQ)
>Date: 2 Aug 1995 21:41:41 GMT

>Paul

You must be the moderator.  What is the reason for this chasing away.  This is 
the alt.home.repair group and many people post A/C related questions.  This 
FAQ is a good way for them to recieve a lot of valuable info without having 
waste a lot of bandwidth asking teh same questions over and over.  Some don't 
know about the alt.hvac or sci.engr.havc groups.

Leave it be in my opinion.  Ask the readers what they think.

TTUL Gerry O.
[email-masked]