On Mar 28, 6:40 am, "Stormin Mormon" cayoung61-
wrote:
I think I'm going to report you to the Society for Prevention of
Cruelty to Parenthases.

As to your questions. yes, it sounds like the evaporator coil is
dirty. The air flow difference with the cover off is a
signifigant test.



With the cover off, the air is still flowing through the same
evaporator, dirty or not. What it's not
flowing through is the return air duct. It's much harder to pull air
through return
ducts, than it is to pull air from the wide open air handler with the
door off. That's
why air flow increases and it's normal.






The performance is hidden in the model number, most have the BTU
rating as part of their model number.

Depending how long ago was the home sale and the other work done,
you may be out of warranty. But you'll have to try to find out.

The large line is the return line. The small line supplies the
refrigerant to the evaporator. And, yes, the large line should
get cold. Definitely should get cold if the air flow through the
evaporator is reduced.

Different units have different physical size for the same BTU
rating.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

"Mike Mills" wrote in message

...
: Hello,
:
: We bought a house a while back, and part of the deal was to fix
the air
: conditioning unit (heat pump), on the advice of our home
inspector.
:
: The outside unit was replaced, and it is physically quite a bit
larger
: than the previous heat pump. (I couldn't find any performance
: information on the stickers, just part numbers, and I plan to
look that
: up tomorrow.)
:
: Fast forward to now: Spring has arrived (Northern Kentucky),
and the
: house is in the low to mid-80's inside with the air conditioner
on.
:
: I've been doing some homework, and think I understand the
components
: better now (compared to when we bought the house.)
:
: I took the panel off of the air handler unit (located in our
basement),
: in order to have a look at the evaporator coil. The coil has
rust on
: the copper tubing, and it looks like the fins are dirty on the
inside
: (it is hard to get a good look though.)
:
: Notably, the air blows considerably harder through our vents
with the
: panel off of the air handler - I assume that this is a sign
that the
: evaporator coil is "dirty"?
:
: I also wonder if there might be a refrigerant leak, as the big
copper
: intake tube does not feel very cold at all.
:
: Having said that, I have one important question, as this
pertains to
: whether the people who installed the new heat pump did their
job right:
:
: 1. Everything I've read in the last couple of days says that
you should
: replace the evaporator coil unit at the same time you replace
the
: outdoor condenser / heat pump. The installers did NOT do
this - they
: just replaced the heat pump. SHOULD they have replaced the
evaporator
: coil? Is there a strong enough reason to do this that I would
be
: justified in demanding that they replace it now?
:
: 2. I've also read that it is important that the evaporator coil
must be
: carefully matched in size to the condenser / heat pump.
Unfortunately,
: neither of my units have any performance information on them,
but I do
: have the model numbers, and so I will try to find that
information out
: soon. But, I can tell you that the new heat pump is
considerably larger
: (physically, at least) than the old one. Assuming that the new
one is
: (significantly?) larger (in capacity) than the old one, and
that the
: existing evaporator coil was in fact matched to the old,
smaller, heat
: pump - does this also justify me in demanding that they (the
installers)
: replace the evaporator coil with a new (matched) unit?
:
: When we bought the house, I didn't understand how the whole
: heating/cooling system really worked. They said they would
replace the
: heat pump, as the old one was making strange sounds. However,
it would
: seem to be a bit negligent to blindly hook up a larger heat
pump to an
: old (rusted & dirty) evaporator coil. If this is the case, I'm
also
: concerned that this may affect the life of the new heat pump
(being
: mismatched.)
:
: Anyway, I would appreciate any comments on this, particularly
on what
: the installers _should_ have done (if different), as well as
any
: suggestions on what to do next.
:
: Thanks for any help!
:
: Mike