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Central Air Problems (electric consumption, water leak)? Dejola 02-15-2007
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Posted by Dejola on February 15, 2007, 9:28 am
My daughter had a central air-conditioning installed about six years
ago. It has performed fine until now. Two problems have surfaced which
have caused concern. One involves how much electricity the system is
consuming - even when it is not in operation, and the other involves a
leak of water that has permeated the bathroom wall in her master
bathroom on the second floor of her two story home. These two problems
may or may not be related.

Electric consumption. My daughter's electric bill has for some unknown
time (possibly dating back to when the AC system was installed) been
about twice that of her neighbors who have similar homes. This
recently prompted her to do a breaker test which revealed that the
breaker dedicated to the AC, when turned off, significantly slowed the
rotation of the electric meter disk EVEN THOUGH THE AC SYSTEM WAS NOT
TURNED ON. This seems to indicate that even when the AC system is
turned off it is drawing significant electricity!

Water leak. It has been discovered that a device in the attic that I
will call a condensation device has a defect in the way it is attached
to some sort of piping or ductwork such that water has leaked down
inside her master bathroom wall and over time created a widespread
mold problem.

My daughter called a plumber thinking it was a plumbing problem. The
plumber said that the leak was related to her AC system so she called
the AC vendor/installer. His response was disappointing. He asked why
the plumber just didn't fix the leak. Finally he did send a serviceman
who found a problem with how the condensation device wa attached to
the pipe/ductwork. He applied silicon as a temporary measure but said
that a more permanent correction was needed. I'm not sure if he said
there was a defective installation insofar as the condensation device
is concerned. My daughter seems to be faced with having to rip out the
sheetrock to correct the mold situation. She has no idea what the
warranty is on the AC system and is not confident that the vendor/
installer will correct the problem without cost to her.

Can anyone here address either problem and help us figure out what is
going on?

Should she call in some sort of independent professional to evaluate
the situation? What type of professional should she seek?

Sorry if my description os the problem is a bit weak. I hope that
those of you who are HVAC professionals will be able to figure out
from this meager description just what the problem(s) may be.

Thanks.


Posted by Noon-Air on February 15, 2007, 9:57 am
Call a competent tech to check, service, and correct any problems with the
system. No its not going to be free.

> My daughter had a central air-conditioning installed about six years
> ago. It has performed fine until now. Two problems have surfaced which
> have caused concern. One involves how much electricity the system is
> consuming - even when it is not in operation, and the other involves a
> leak of water that has permeated the bathroom wall in her master
> bathroom on the second floor of her two story home. These two problems
> may or may not be related.
>
> Electric consumption. My daughter's electric bill has for some unknown
> time (possibly dating back to when the AC system was installed) been
> about twice that of her neighbors who have similar homes. This
> recently prompted her to do a breaker test which revealed that the
> breaker dedicated to the AC, when turned off, significantly slowed the
> rotation of the electric meter disk EVEN THOUGH THE AC SYSTEM WAS NOT
> TURNED ON. This seems to indicate that even when the AC system is
> turned off it is drawing significant electricity!
>
> Water leak. It has been discovered that a device in the attic that I
> will call a condensation device has a defect in the way it is attached
> to some sort of piping or ductwork such that water has leaked down
> inside her master bathroom wall and over time created a widespread
> mold problem.
>
> My daughter called a plumber thinking it was a plumbing problem. The
> plumber said that the leak was related to her AC system so she called
> the AC vendor/installer. His response was disappointing. He asked why
> the plumber just didn't fix the leak. Finally he did send a serviceman
> who found a problem with how the condensation device wa attached to
> the pipe/ductwork. He applied silicon as a temporary measure but said
> that a more permanent correction was needed. I'm not sure if he said
> there was a defective installation insofar as the condensation device
> is concerned. My daughter seems to be faced with having to rip out the
> sheetrock to correct the mold situation. She has no idea what the
> warranty is on the AC system and is not confident that the vendor/
> installer will correct the problem without cost to her.
>
> Can anyone here address either problem and help us figure out what is
> going on?
>
> Should she call in some sort of independent professional to evaluate
> the situation? What type of professional should she seek?
>
> Sorry if my description os the problem is a bit weak. I hope that
> those of you who are HVAC professionals will be able to figure out
> from this meager description just what the problem(s) may be.
>
> Thanks.
>



Posted by Dejola on February 15, 2007, 10:55 am
> Call a competent tech to check, service, and correct any problems with the
> system. No its not going to be free.
>
>
>
> > My daughter had a central air-conditioning installed about six years
> > ago. It has performed fine until now. Two problems have surfaced which
> > have caused concern. One involves how much electricity the system is
> > consuming - even when it is not in operation, and the other involves a
> > leak of water that has permeated the bathroom wall in her master
> > bathroom on the second floor of her two story home. These two problems
> > may or may not be related.
>
> > Electric consumption. My daughter's electric bill has for some unknown
> > time (possibly dating back to when the AC system was installed) been
> > about twice that of her neighbors who have similar homes. This
> > recently prompted her to do a breaker test which revealed that the
> > breaker dedicated to the AC, when turned off, significantly slowed the
> > rotation of the electric meter disk EVEN THOUGH THE AC SYSTEM WAS NOT
> > TURNED ON. This seems to indicate that even when the AC system is
> > turned off it is drawing significant electricity!
>
> > Water leak. It has been discovered that a device in the attic that I
> > will call a condensation device has a defect in the way it is attached
> > to some sort of piping or ductwork such that water has leaked down
> > inside her master bathroom wall and over time created a widespread
> > mold problem.
>
> > My daughter called a plumber thinking it was a plumbing problem. The
> > plumber said that the leak was related to her AC system so she called
> > the AC vendor/installer. His response was disappointing. He asked why
> > the plumber just didn't fix the leak. Finally he did send a serviceman
> > who found a problem with how the condensation device wa attached to
> > the pipe/ductwork. He applied silicon as a temporary measure but said
> > that a more permanent correction was needed. I'm not sure if he said
> > there was a defective installation insofar as the condensation device
> > is concerned. My daughter seems to be faced with having to rip out the
> > sheetrock to correct the mold situation. She has no idea what the
> > warranty is on the AC system and is not confident that the vendor/
> > installer will correct the problem without cost to her.
>
> > Can anyone here address either problem and help us figure out what is
> > going on?
>
> > Should she call in some sort of independent professional to evaluate
> > the situation? What type of professional should she seek?
>
> > Sorry if my description os the problem is a bit weak. I hope that
> > those of you who are HVAC professionals will be able to figure out
> > from this meager description just what the problem(s) may be.
>
> > Thanks.

Thank you. Of course that is an option and a fairly good one at that.
But I was looking more for an answer that begins something like, "It
sounds like what is happening is that..."


Posted by Noon-Air on February 15, 2007, 11:19 am

>> Call a competent tech to check, service, and correct any problems with
>> the
>> system. No its not going to be free.
>>
>>
>>
>> > My daughter had a central air-conditioning installed about six years
>> > ago. It has performed fine until now. Two problems have surfaced which
>> > have caused concern. One involves how much electricity the system is
>> > consuming - even when it is not in operation, and the other involves a
>> > leak of water that has permeated the bathroom wall in her master
>> > bathroom on the second floor of her two story home. These two problems
>> > may or may not be related.
>>
>> > Electric consumption. My daughter's electric bill has for some unknown
>> > time (possibly dating back to when the AC system was installed) been
>> > about twice that of her neighbors who have similar homes. This
>> > recently prompted her to do a breaker test which revealed that the
>> > breaker dedicated to the AC, when turned off, significantly slowed the
>> > rotation of the electric meter disk EVEN THOUGH THE AC SYSTEM WAS NOT
>> > TURNED ON. This seems to indicate that even when the AC system is
>> > turned off it is drawing significant electricity!
>>
>> > Water leak. It has been discovered that a device in the attic that I
>> > will call a condensation device has a defect in the way it is attached
>> > to some sort of piping or ductwork such that water has leaked down
>> > inside her master bathroom wall and over time created a widespread
>> > mold problem.
>>
>> > My daughter called a plumber thinking it was a plumbing problem. The
>> > plumber said that the leak was related to her AC system so she called
>> > the AC vendor/installer. His response was disappointing. He asked why
>> > the plumber just didn't fix the leak. Finally he did send a serviceman
>> > who found a problem with how the condensation device wa attached to
>> > the pipe/ductwork. He applied silicon as a temporary measure but said
>> > that a more permanent correction was needed. I'm not sure if he said
>> > there was a defective installation insofar as the condensation device
>> > is concerned. My daughter seems to be faced with having to rip out the
>> > sheetrock to correct the mold situation. She has no idea what the
>> > warranty is on the AC system and is not confident that the vendor/
>> > installer will correct the problem without cost to her.
>>
>> > Can anyone here address either problem and help us figure out what is
>> > going on?
>>
>> > Should she call in some sort of independent professional to evaluate
>> > the situation? What type of professional should she seek?
>>
>> > Sorry if my description os the problem is a bit weak. I hope that
>> > those of you who are HVAC professionals will be able to figure out
>> > from this meager description just what the problem(s) may be.
>>
>> > Thanks.
>
> Thank you. Of course that is an option and a fairly good one at that.
> But I was looking more for an answer that begins something like, "It
> sounds like what is happening is that..."
>

OK.. it sounds like it was installed by the lowest bidder, and you have had
problems with it since day one, its never been checked or serviced since,
and now that the warranty is expired, you want it fixed for free. Beyond
that, I can't *SEE* it through the computer screen, you need to call
somebody that actually knows what they are doing. Its pretty obvious that
the installing company either doesn't know what they are doing, or wants to
wash their hands of it, or both.

You never mentioned the make or model numbers of the equipment or whare your
located.... I can only assume that the equipment is some low end POS
10SEER(maybe) builders model from Goodman, Janitrol, Coleman, Nordyne, or
Armstrong.

BTW... why did the tech(?) only do a temporary fix with RTV on the leak and
not do it right??....oh yeah, I forgot... lowest bidder. never mind.



Posted by on February 15, 2007, 11:27 am
wrote:

>> Call a competent tech to check, service, and correct any problems with the
>> system. No its not going to be free.
>>
>>
>>
>> > My daughter had a central air-conditioning installed about six years
>> > ago. It has performed fine until now. Two problems have surfaced which
>> > have caused concern. One involves how much electricity the system is
>> > consuming - even when it is not in operation, and the other involves a
>> > leak of water that has permeated the bathroom wall in her master
>> > bathroom on the second floor of her two story home. These two problems
>> > may or may not be related.
>>
>> > Electric consumption. My daughter's electric bill has for some unknown
>> > time (possibly dating back to when the AC system was installed) been
>> > about twice that of her neighbors who have similar homes. This
>> > recently prompted her to do a breaker test which revealed that the
>> > breaker dedicated to the AC, when turned off, significantly slowed the
>> > rotation of the electric meter disk EVEN THOUGH THE AC SYSTEM WAS NOT
>> > TURNED ON. This seems to indicate that even when the AC system is
>> > turned off it is drawing significant electricity!
>>
>> > Water leak. It has been discovered that a device in the attic that I
>> > will call a condensation device has a defect in the way it is attached
>> > to some sort of piping or ductwork such that water has leaked down
>> > inside her master bathroom wall and over time created a widespread
>> > mold problem.
>>
>> > My daughter called a plumber thinking it was a plumbing problem. The
>> > plumber said that the leak was related to her AC system so she called
>> > the AC vendor/installer. His response was disappointing. He asked why
>> > the plumber just didn't fix the leak. Finally he did send a serviceman
>> > who found a problem with how the condensation device wa attached to
>> > the pipe/ductwork. He applied silicon as a temporary measure but said
>> > that a more permanent correction was needed. I'm not sure if he said
>> > there was a defective installation insofar as the condensation device
>> > is concerned. My daughter seems to be faced with having to rip out the
>> > sheetrock to correct the mold situation. She has no idea what the
>> > warranty is on the AC system and is not confident that the vendor/
>> > installer will correct the problem without cost to her.
>>
>> > Can anyone here address either problem and help us figure out what is
>> > going on?
>>
>> > Should she call in some sort of independent professional to evaluate
>> > the situation? What type of professional should she seek?
>>
>> > Sorry if my description os the problem is a bit weak. I hope that
>> > those of you who are HVAC professionals will be able to figure out
>> > from this meager description just what the problem(s) may be.
>>
>> > Thanks.
>
>Thank you. Of course that is an option and a fairly good one at that.
>But I was looking more for an answer that begins something like, "It
>sounds like what is happening is that..."


         It sounds like what is happening is that there is something
wrong with some equipmetn up there, and there is water in the walls,
and mold, and something funny going on with your electric usage.
Happy now ?

        It sounds like what NEEDS to happen is what Steve told you.

        Do you think you're capable of understanding more than that ?
I think your question makes it clear you are not.

        You do not check the electrical consumption of a device by
'turning the breaker off and watch the little spinning disk outside',
there is no such thing as 'a condensation device' in your attic, and
you have no earthly clue what it's called.

        If you don't own an electrical meter and know how to measure
amps, if you don't know what a piece of equipment is called nor even
the most fundamental aspects of its operation and purpose, then you
are in possession at this moment of the only advice you need and can
use : Call someone to come fix it.



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