Apartment AC cuts on and off every ten minutes

Posted by compquest on June 6, 2007, 10:41 pm

I was wondering if someone would have an idea as to what might be
going on with my apartment's AC! :) First if the temp was 84 and I
set the AC for 78, it would not stop until the thermostat registered
around 72. Maintenance corrected the reversing valve. Now, it will
cut off at the temp it should, but once it reaches the temp it needs,
it cuts on and off about every ten minutes to maintain the temp. I
called them to see if they could look at it again and they said this
was normal. I do notice some gaps near the doors when they are closed,
and I do live on the top floor of the building, but nothing that
should make it lose cool air that fast. Any ideas would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

Posted by Noon-Air on June 6, 2007, 10:46 pm

>I was wondering if someone would have an idea as to what might be
> going on with my apartment's AC! :) First if the temp was 84 and I
> set the AC for 78, it would not stop until the thermostat registered
> around 72. Maintenance corrected the reversing valve. Now, it will
> cut off at the temp it should, but once it reaches the temp it needs,
> it cuts on and off about every ten minutes to maintain the temp. I
> called them to see if they could look at it again and they said this
> was normal. I do notice some gaps near the doors when they are closed,
> and I do live on the top floor of the building, but nothing that
> should make it lose cool air that fast. Any ideas would be greatly
> appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like its normal.... but I can't see it from here. Maybe if your not
happy with the maintenance guy, you could either pay out of your own pocket
to get a *competent*, licensed, insured, professionally trained, HVAC
technician to come check the system... your other choice is to move.

Have a nice day.

Posted by udarrell on June 7, 2007, 11:01 am

compquest wrote:

>I was wondering if someone would have an idea as to what might be
>going on with my apartment's AC! :) First if the temp was 84 and I
>set the AC for 78, it would not stop until the thermostat registered
>around 72. Maintenance corrected the reversing valve. Now, it will
>cut off at the temp it should, but once it reaches the temp it needs,
>it cuts on and off about every ten minutes to maintain the temp. I
>called them to see if they could look at it again and they said this
>was normal. I do notice some gaps near the doors when they are closed,
>and I do live on the top floor of the building, but nothing that
>should make it lose cool air that fast. Any ideas would be greatly
>appreciated. Thanks.
>

It sounds a though the AC is a bit oversized, or the thermostat cooling
anticipator is keeping the temp differential too narrow.
You would get much higher SEER if the room TH had a differential setting
that might vary the room temp by several degrees but result in longer
Off & On Cycles.
It takes close to 5 minutes to reach optimal cooling operation, so half
the cycling is lowering (seer) efficient conditioner operation. - udarrell
http://www.udarrell.com/air-conditioner-capacity-seer.html

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Posted by hvacrmedic on June 7, 2007, 11:49 am

> compquest wrote:

> >I was wondering if someone would have an idea as to what might be
> >going on with my apartment's AC! :) First if the temp was 84 and I
> >set the AC for 78, it would not stop until the thermostat registered
> >around 72. Maintenance corrected the reversing valve. Now, it will
> >cut off at the temp it should, but once it reaches the temp it needs,
> >it cuts on and off about every ten minutes to maintain the temp. I
> >called them to see if they could look at it again and they said this
> >was normal. I do notice some gaps near the doors when they are closed,
> >and I do live on the top floor of the building, but nothing that
> >should make it lose cool air that fast. Any ideas would be greatly
> >appreciated. Thanks.

> It sounds a though the AC is a bit oversized, or the thermostat cooling
> anticipator is keeping the temp differential too narrow.

While that is possible, it isn't likely in this case. The indoor/
outdoor differential is only 6 deg. The load isn't that great.
10 min doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

> You would get much higher SEER if the room TH had a differential setting
> that might vary the room temp by several degrees but result in longer
> Off & On Cycle.

> It takes close to 5 minutes to reach optimal cooling operation, so half
> the cycling is lowering (seer) efficient conditioner operation. -

udarrellhttp://www.udarrell.com/air-conditioner-capacity-seer.html

That isn't true for all systems, e.g. hard shut-off TXV. Regardless,
you shouldn't pick a number out of thin air. The stabilization times
of systems isn't a unviersal constant of nature.

Posted by Zephyr on June 7, 2007, 2:29 pm

Close all the windows? :)

--
Zyp

> > compquest wrote:

> > >I was wondering if someone would have an idea as to what might be
> > >going on with my apartment's AC! :) First if the temp was 84 and I
> > >set the AC for 78, it would not stop until the thermostat registered
> > >around 72. Maintenance corrected the reversing valve. Now, it will
> > >cut off at the temp it should, but once it reaches the temp it needs,
> > >it cuts on and off about every ten minutes to maintain the temp. I
> > >called them to see if they could look at it again and they said this
> > >was normal. I do notice some gaps near the doors when they are closed,
> > >and I do live on the top floor of the building, but nothing that
> > >should make it lose cool air that fast. Any ideas would be greatly
> > >appreciated. Thanks.

> > It sounds a though the AC is a bit oversized, or the thermostat cooling
> > anticipator is keeping the temp differential too narrow.

> While that is possible, it isn't likely in this case. The indoor/
> outdoor differential is only 6 deg. The load isn't that great.
> 10 min doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

> > You would get much higher SEER if the room TH had a differential setting
> > that might vary the room temp by several degrees but result in longer
> > Off & On Cycle.
> > It takes close to 5 minutes to reach optimal cooling operation, so half
> > the cycling is lowering (seer) efficient conditioner operation. -

udarrellhttp://www.udarrell.com/air-conditioner-capacity-seer.html

> That isn't true for all systems, e.g. hard shut-off TXV. Regardless,
> you shouldn't pick a number out of thin air. The stabilization times
> of systems isn't a unviersal constant of nature.

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