Fan only staying on for a few seconds and then shutting off- AC not cooling

[Ron Van]

Believe it or not, horizontal flow outdoor combination units are not unseen way up here in Michigan. Not common, but not unseen. They're most often found at houses with crawl spaces instead of basements.

Reading your post sparked a lot of memories! Our house has a crawlspace and the horizontal HVAC was added sometime after the house was built. The duct runs into the crawlspace and is so big that it effectively cuts the crawlspace in half.

I did a lot of projects on the house that required me to crawl, on my hands and knees, from the access hole, the length of the house, to go around the big duct and then crawl back the length of the house to get to what I wanted to work on.

I finally decided to cut an access hole in our closet to shorten the crawl time. First, I had to build the closet…



And then the access hole.

 

[PJB12]

Oh I Feel Your Pain! (Your project looks great, by the way!)

My friend's house that I mentioned in #20 also has the duct where I'd have to crawl to the end and go around it (then remember that I forgot a tool or part). Re-wiring that house took about 10 times as long as if it had a basement or attic.

My wife's parents' home in northern Michigan had such a short crawl that I'd have to take a little, folding shovel to dig a trench so that I could roll over. From about September through May the ground was frozen, preventing the digging.

Guess I'm spoiled with basements!

Paul

 

[havasu]

The problem you may be facing is that this little noise you hear today, may end up being a huge noise tomorrow, if in fact those bearings are toast.

 

[zannej]

I hope that isn't the case, Havasu. I'll have to see if my phone can record the sound later on. It is actually less noisy now than it was the day it was put in. It's still noisy, but not as noisy.

 

[havasu]

I read your A/C quit again? Do you think it was due to that noisy bearing?

 

[zannej]

I don't think so. I think there is a loose wire. Usually when I put in the thermostat to turn AC OFF, the whole thing shuts off, even the fan. But its not shutting off. The fan keeps running. The outside unit will turn on and off though. Twice now I've had to turn the power off and then back on and wait several minutes before turning it back to automatic or cool for it to start cooling again. I also discovered that the flap in my bedroom ceiling vent isn't open very far, but since the chain is missing and the vent cover is hanging down, I don't have a way to fix it and am not sure now. I pushed it with a back scratcher but it went back in place. I need to get a new chain on it, get the vent back in place, and get the vent flap to open. I also need to vacuum it out before I do anything because it looks filthy up there.

 

[PJB12]

That machine is giving you so much trouble, Zannej, I wonder if it's wise to bring in a different repair contractor to check the system out completely & get rid of all the problems.
Paul

 

[zannej]

Finding reliable people in this area isn't easy. But if it gives me more trouble I'll look into it. The outside unit now seems to be working fine. The inside unit might need some work at some point. It's 70°F in the hallway but hot and humid in my room- and I have my door open to let cooler air come in from the hallway. I need to fix the vent thingy on my ceiling.

I don't think the thunderstorms and power outages did any favors to the system. Last 2 days the power has been blinking on and off and it was out for a few hours this morning and afternoon. Wind and rain tend to affect the power because my power company sucks. They just raised the rates for all of the customers but all of it is going to the new CEO of the company who immediately doubled his pay when he took the job.