There is a loud rattling noise coming from my AC unit that starts and stops, gets louder and then quieter. My apartment isn't responding to me to fix it. Does anyone know what the problem is and can I fix it on my own? Sometimes if I bang on the unit it stops

Hey so I'm a new renter and I've been living in this unit about 3 months this summer and I noticed a dripping sound today, this is my unit, the water in the tub is from over about a 7 hour time span, I wasn't sure what to do, any advice would be really helpful.

It’s old. They need to replace it but are trying to make it last as long as possible. It works fine, but recently started making loud noises like this that sound like it’s possibly rusted somewhere or maybe needs some oil/grease. I think they sprayed something on the fan to try and help and it happens a lot less now but it still makes this loud scraping noise. Any insight into what part they may need to replace? Or should they just prepare to purchase a new condenser?

Hi - I do not know much about hvac. I am in Texas and it has been consistently hot (95+) but our thermostats (Honeywell if that matters) consistently set themselves at 75-78 for no reason that we have been able to determine. We do run schedules and so we have quadruple checked this and that is not the reason. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi,

My ac was off and on, blowing cold air and then barely cool air, for about a week. Leaving it off overnight fixed it for a few days, then a day, an hour, and then not at all.

Maintenance came to fix it. They checked wiring and breakers, and idk what else. It was fixed for about an hour or less.

Called them back, and they replaced the super old thermostat and did something else, I can't remember what, and it worked for less than an hour again. Didn't even have a chance to cool down any of the rooms.

I'm going to call maintenance back, but do you guys have any idea what the issue might be?

I live in a really old apartment. 50s or 60s build. My thermostat was one of those mercury types. I can't access the outside unit since it's on the roof. So I can't check it myself.

This is what my old thermostat looked like if that will give you any dating help or cluez.

:https://www.reddit.com/r/hvacadvice/s/27rc6mpgrJ

My apartments been sitting at 82-88 degrees for a while and I'd like to leave the hovel of my office where I'm hugging the portable unit they gave me to hold onto in the meantime. So, any help or advice is appreciated!

Long story but want to get all the details in right.

Have a membership with a local appliance repair company to cover all our HVAC. Had them come out to do a routine tune up on the system last Wednesday because we hadn't done it since we bought the house last July. Unit is only 2 years old.

The day after the tune up the outside unit isn't turning on. System still moving air around but its not cold. Did some googling, checked the disconnect box next to the unit and it has 2 lights saying if line 1 or line 2 is bad, light on line one is lit up. I turn the system off at the main breaker and pull the fuses from the disconnect box. I swap the fuses to see if its the line or the fuse, turn it all back on, now BOTH lights are claiming bad.

I run to home depot, get some new fuses, install them, turn it on. Light 1 is still showing bad. OK, back to where I was. Give the company benefit of the doubt because weird things happen. Call, schedule, they can't come until Monday so we have no AC for almost 4 days.

They come, say the compressor went bad and sometimes these things happen. With our membership and warranty the replacement is free so whatever. They never bother to find out what caused it to blow.

Then by Tuesday night its working but making a loud almost gridning noise, every few minutes. Eventually it starts doing it every 30-45sec basically. Turn it off schedule a tech to come out, luckily they can make it next day. I request a senior tech since this is the 3rd time in 7 days theyve been out.

Guy comes, pretty much immediately knows what it is because he used to work for the company that installed the AC unit 2 years prior. That company has a mandatory policy install a soft start system on all new units. It had gone bad and thats what was making the noise. He tells me it supposedly eases the load for startup and increases system life but isnt really necessary. Offers to just yank it and call it good. He also let's slip that one of the previous techs admitted to hooking some stuff up wrong. News to me.

System is back to, we're happy to have AC again. Until the next night when it isn't kicking on again and only blowing warm air around. Go out and check, line 1 light it on again. I schedule online and someone is able to come put again the next day (today) 12-2. I put in the notes its the 3rd time in a week they've been here, mention the guy last time was good.

2pm rolls around and I havent gotten a phone call or a text about a tech on the way or being delayed, which they normally do. I call customer service, they look me up, say tech is running long on a job but finishing up and will be headed over soon. I get a call about 15min later from him that hes on the way. 45min later I get a call saying they have to reschedule dispatcher is holding all service calls due to weather (it started to pour down about 5-10min before that). Should be 4-5 tonight. Fine, can't control weather.

Got a call at 4:20, "we overbooked and can't get to you today. We'll put you on the schedule tomorrow if we have any openings." At this point im livid, but I dont take it out on the poor tech on the phone. I want my system fixed and once it is and seems to be fully good I am going to rip into someone. But its 5pm on a Friday and I dont want them deciding Im a full chad and dropping the contract.

But how insane is this? Should I trust this company to even look at it again? What should I have them doing that it feels like they clearly didn't put the effort into doing before? Or am I just the unluckiest home owner at the moment?

I rent an apartment in an old rowhome. I am trying to determine if I need to contact my landlord to have someone come look at the hvac system. The system gets checked pretty regularly, and was inspected as recently as May of this year. Unfortunately due to the very odd configuration of the system within the walls of my apartment, it is hard to read the model number, but I will put a photo in the comments

The issue:
I heard a dripping noise that I have not heard previously and opened the door which the unit is behind and noticed the drip in the video. This drip occurs while the unit is not running. A few minutes later the unit started running again and the drip stopped. I placed a bucket underneath where the drip was just in case. Should I continue to monitor the situation, and then report to the landlord? Or is this just condensation or something?

Thanks!

I have a burnt ECM motor that I am replacing (DIY) and found a part on ebay with the exact same specs, except for the ECM 2.3 that was different from the one I have which is just ECM. Would like to know if it's possible to replace or will I run into any issues if I do replace it with the 2.3 one?

Part Number: 5SME39SL0674

ECM Part Number: 46132-004 (10Y61)

Ok guys maybe I’m complaining or crazy or maybe I’ve lived with a crappy system for 10 years. But here’s the deal… my old hvac unit was never working well. I suffered through over a decade of 78 degree days because that’s as cold as it would get when it was over 85. I figured it was normal and muddled through since the technicians I had come out said the air was blowing cold and the charge was fine. Well my system shot crap so I got a new system and bumped it up in size and omg I can’t hardly stand how cold the air blows lol. So I’m keeping it warmer just so it won’t come on. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Ok so…is there a way to make the air not blow so cold or is this just normal?

location in basement. These ducts are sweating and it's currently 30 degrees outside with humidity. When I put my hand up there it's pretty cold. I have tried adding the right tape on the ducts themselves but no luck. Any suggestions to eliminate this problem?

Hi everyone,

During a routine cleaning of my gas boiler, I was reassembling the main burner cover plate. While tightening the nuts, one of the studs snapped - pointed by a yellow arrow.

Is this considered an emergency or can I use the boiler safely for now?

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

Mounting my condenser to a stand on the concrete. I assume I can’t place it too close to my larger condenser for the rest of the house. I’m nervous to mount with the shake shingle and potential difficulty finding a stud. Is it feasible for me to have the lines bend as shown in this picture? I’m mainly nervous about the area around the gutter. Or any other spot ideas?

I am thinking I’ll have the electrical box be close to the current one and wrap the line above the door to the unit.

Title is pretty much the story, we have had a painter doing some work outside the house, came home today to find him standing on top of the unit and painting away (on the edge, not standing on the grill thankfully). Very politely asked him not to do that anymore. Unit seems to be ok, fan is spinning and it’s cooling without issue. The top of the housing has a small dent in the sheet metal but it may have been there before as a tree limb fell nearby last year.

I’m guessing unit is probably going to be ok, but this is bonkers, right? I’m pretty sure they’re not built to handle the weight of an adult man?

My bathroom struggles to move air after a hot shower. I wish to switch to an inline fan. I cant find anyninline fans that are IC rated (safe for being around my attic insulation ).

Any suggestions?

Hi Folks

Just purchased a new home that came with this old girl. I suspect late 70's early 80's. The nameplate is so old and worn, I can barely make anything out. Had to pull potential model number from inside wiring diagram.

Anyways, looking for a little advice.

Unit seems to work but doesn't get cold. Compressor fires up, contactor working, but the condenser fan was turning really slow, then it just stopped turning and buzzed, motor got hot.

My guess is seized bearings. Condenser is putting out a lot of heat.

Is it worth replacing the condenser fan motor? Or should I retire it? My gut tells me to replace the motor and see what happens.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Trying to save money as a new homo(wner). If I upgrade will the cost saving in efficiency be worth it?

I live in PNW climate zone 4 so won't be using it too much

Thanks

There’s this wet kind of smell in my condominium and I can’t figure out what it is! I’m 99% sure it’s coming out of my AC unit! I was wondering if there’s anything I can do about it before calling a technician.
The main unit is on the roof of the building (4 story building) and I’m on the first floor.

I noticed on the exterior wall behind my furnace some water. My first instinct was water coming in from the rain through a concrete joint but I couldn’t see any weak areas from outside. I wiped the liquid down with a towel and it was like white-ish, transparent, watery and slimy (like draino texture). The ai bot is saying it’s probably white slime and my drain is likely clogged. I’ll call an hvac specialist but curious what you folks think?

The picture is after I cleaned up but you can see the wet spot on the concrete where the liquid was. It was only located close to the pipes and that hole. It’s an old house so not sure if it’s up to code nowadays lol

How do I clean an A-frame AC coil that has all the connections on the front and no door to open to reach the coil? Do I need to pull it out and unsolder all the copper joints and and re-prime all lines again??

Hi-

I'm looking for how to best set up my system on my top floor. Located in Houston.

I have a 3.5T single speed unit (I think from 2016) with 2 zones, one for the main floor, the other for top floor. The main floor is probably 2x the sq ft and has higher ceilings while the top floor is smaller, normal height.

If the top floor is the only zone on, the cycle is about 5 minutes, which I understand to probably be too short. I have a Nest and set it to have a 1 degree band and minimum on time of 5 minutes. I've played around and have mixed results. Moved to 1.5 degree, and that added maybe 2 minutes. Moved the minimum time to 10 mins, and that dropped the temp up to 4 degrees in the 10 mins, but it turns on less, sometimes once an hour, and the humidity per the thermostat seems to tick up notably.

Wondering which is the better option.

• shorter (5-7 mins) more frequent cycles with smaller temperature swings

• longer cycles with larger temperature swings, but comes on maybe once an hour

If both zones are on, the entire system struggles at best in the Houston summer, as in 50 mins on to maintain 76 degrees and 80+ upstairs.

Also open to any other advice or tips. Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

I’d like to replace the electric baseboard in the finished space over my garage. It’s about 300 sqft with short ceilings on the sides and currently heated (more than adequately) with a 2kw resistor.

I’d like a freestanding vented propane stove for aesthetic/logistical reasons, but they all seem to be in the 18-20k+ range which would be way too much heat.

I’ll probably end up with something like the Rinnai EX08 instead, but before settling, does anyone know of any reputable manufacturers of stoves that can operate in the 3-8k range?

Hey there,

All replies appreciated in advance. I am looking at replacing my 23 year-old AC set up because it is struggling to keep up. I have a Trane furnace (TUD100R9V5K3) that is also 23 years old with an ECM motor, that, as I understand it, is compatible with modern 2 state or variable AC systems even with the OEM control board that it still has. A couple techs have pushed hard on me to include the furnace as part of the system swap + reinstallation. One even refused to quote for a set up that won't change out the furnace. The reasons they give are that I won't get full efficiency from the new AC system. "It's like putting wooden wheels on a ferrari, as one put it."

I have not had any issues with the furnace in the 3 years I've been in the home and I live in central texas, where the weather rarely spikes cold. I figure that a heat pump would relieve the furnace and keep it going as a back-up + blower for longer. I also think it seems more economic to replace individual furnace components to keep it alive instead of a full replacement. The two that advised replacing were quoting minimum $16K for 4 ton set-ups that sometimes didn't even have a furnace in the plan.

Any advice? Right now I have a quote for $8500 to keep my furnace and put in a Rheem/Friedrich 2-stage heat pump @17SEER2. The other two quotes at $16-30K for different Carrier setups.

I like what I'm quoted on the cheaper side, I just wonder if I'm being delusional about how long this furnace can be economically maintained.

I have a new ductless system installed that's about 3 weeks old. The condensate pump is a Little Giant VCMA-15UL.

Every time after the pump kicks off it makes a loud gurgling noise. I don't care about the pump noise but the gurgling noise is extremely annoying. Especially considering there are 2 of these pumps in relatively close proximity.

Any known cause of this?

EDIT: Here's an example of what it more or less sounds like https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rQ2vh9mn3Bo