might have to replace a 3 year old HydroTemp unit!
Last Post 12 Jun 2015 12:37 PM by ChrisJ. 15 Replies.
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stlouiszUser is Offline
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26 Aug 2014 09:18 PM
This is a combination venting / plea for advice. I live in St. Louis MO and have a 6 ton dual compressor HydroTemp unit which is only 3 years old. The compressor will not run because of a low pressure fault. A local HVAC company looked at it and replaced the thermostatic expansion valve and the filter drier. The filter-drier is obviously bad and rattles (new one doesn't). The valve is completely plugged up with material. The contractor thinks it might be filter material (I agree). After repair, unit still shuts down with same problem. So, the thought is this junk is probably throughout the system. There's no reason why it wouldn't be. It's just waiting to plug up again regardless of which part we replace next! A technician from hydrotemp called us back after hours and suggested replacing the valve and filter again. None of this is covered by warranty. I'm not going to pay another $900 with the "hope" that it works! Tomorrow I'll be calling HydroTemp to find a solution. I hope they do right by their "customer". It's 100 degrees and the wife and 3 kids are NOT happy!
joe.amiUser is Offline
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27 Aug 2014 08:37 AM
That stinks. I would suggest however if the technician had the system open, found loose debris and did not make sure all was clear, that's not a good job either.
A unit that is 3 years old and not under warranty would not have qualified for the tax credit.
Joe Hardin
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stlouiszUser is Offline
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27 Aug 2014 10:08 AM
Posted By joe.ami on 27 Aug 2014 08:37 AM
That stinks. I would suggest however if the technician had the system open, found loose debris and did not make sure all was clear, that's not a good job either.
A unit that is 3 years old and not under warranty would not have qualified for the tax credit.


Debris was lodged in the valve, and they flushed as best they could with nitrogen. I did get the tax credit. I'm not sure of your point. Is it supposed to be warranted longer for the tax credit?
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28 Aug 2014 09:40 PM
minimum manufacturer warranty time for refrigerant component equipment to qualify for energy star, which then is the requirement for the tax credits, is 5 year labor and material


http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/product_specs/program_reqs/geo_heat_prog_req.pdf
www.buffalogeothermalheating.com
ChrisJUser is Offline
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03 Sep 2014 04:29 PM
I feel your pain. I have a 4 1/2 yr old Hydro-Temp that cost me over 3K to fix earlier this year.

I asked myself the same sort of questions, Will it last very long after the fix? To replace it was going to be 9K or more.

I thought about replacing it with the Synergy 3d, but I don't think they can do DHW and radiant as easily as HT units.

The 5 yr warranty thing must have been added or clarified within the last few years.

Chris

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05 Sep 2014 08:03 PM
Posted By ChrisJ on 03 Sep 2014 04:29 PM
The 5 yr warranty thing must have been added or clarified within the last few years.

Chris



Energy Star specification v2.0 implemented in 2001 required manufacturer warranty to qualify. 2yr P&L all / 5yr P&L Major refrigeration components.

http://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/specs//private/geo_heat_Prog_Req_v2.0.pdf

Current version 3.1 has the same requirement as does all versions in between.
ChrisJUser is Offline
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06 Sep 2014 09:30 AM
Thanks G.O. Joe,

Interesting, my paperwork from 11/09 says 1 yr P & L, 5 yr on compressors part only. I guess they don't care about the rules down in Arkansas.

Original Poster should have been able to have his TXV replaced, Hydro-Temp will probably pull the BS that "has to replaced by an authorized HT tech". Or some other excuse.

Chris
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06 Sep 2014 11:59 AM
Posted By ChrisJ on 06 Sep 2014 09:30 AM
Thanks G.O. Joe,

Interesting, my paperwork from 11/09 says 1 yr P & L, 5 yr on compressors part only. I guess they don't care about the rules down in Arkansas.

Original Poster should have been able to have his TXV replaced, Hydro-Temp will probably pull the BS that "has to replaced by an authorized HT tech". Or some other excuse.

Chris


Excerpt from Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2009-19 May 11, 2009 Notice 2009-41 Credit for Residential Energy Efficient Property

http://www.irs.gov/irb/2009-19_IRB/ar08.html#d0e699

(2) Taxpayer Reliance . Except as provided in section 3.02(7) of this notice, a taxpayer may rely on a manufacturer’s certification in determining whether property is eligible for the credit under § 25D. A taxpayer is not required to attach the certification statement to the return on which the credit is claimed. However, § 1.6001-1(a) of the Income Tax Regulations requires that taxpayers maintain such books and records as are sufficient to establish the entitlement to, and amount of, any credit claimed by the taxpayer. Accordingly, a taxpayer claiming a credit for residential energy efficient property should retain the certification statement as part of the taxpayer’s records for purposes of § 1.6001-1(a).
joe.amiUser is Offline
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10 Sep 2014 10:42 AM
Stlouisz, if your product was sold to you as energy star compliant and it wasn't, this is grounds to motivate your installer to act on your behalf.
Joe Hardin
www.amicontracting.com
We Dig Comfort!
www.doityourselfgeothermal.com
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stlouiszUser is Offline
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10 Sep 2014 05:26 PM
UPDATE:

After calling Hydrotemp and explaining the situation, they offered to either ship me additional parts for free or have one of their employees come to repair it. Obviously, I opted to have someone come to my home. The HT repairman was at my home by noon the next day and within 3 hours, the unit was up and running. The replaced TXV again was plugged up with the same debris. The repairman told me he has never had to replace the TXV and flush the system more than twice, in order to clear out all the debris.

Some interesting facts: Apparently, this is an issue that Hydrotemp is aware of and relate it to the filter drier breaking up and embolizing in the system. They now use a different manufacturer of filter driers in their units. So, I don't know if it is engineering fault on Hydrotemps part, or as they suggest, that the original filter drier manufacturer did not adequately test and spec out their products.

Either way, I am very pleased with Hydrotemp's response to my situation. Even though the unit was 3 years old, they recognized that the problem with my unit was something that they should be responsible for, even though the "warranty" didn't really cover it. However, I really hope that I won't have problems in the future!
stlouiszUser is Offline
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10 Sep 2014 05:42 PM
UPDATE:

Just thought I'd add some background info on our hvac. We built a very tight house made with ICF for the basement and main floor. The second floor is 2x6 with blown foam insulation. The roof is unvented and insulated with blown foam on the undersurface of the roof deck. I didn't want to "oversize" our hvac. I hired Energywise to perform an analysis of my needs, and I think the max cooling need was around 6.5 tons for the basement, main, and upstairs. This still seemed oversized to me, but (it is the max based on calculation).

One of the reasons why I went with hydrotemp, was because of their dual compressor units. All our local installers wanted to install two separate units, or a large two stage unit. The problem was, I thought a single 6-7 ton dual stage compressor would have been way too big running in first stage for most of the year. Having two units, would have been better, but I liked the idea of being able to have one unit for the whole house for efficiency. It would have been nice to have two units around two weeks ago though!

Anyway, even though my unit is a 6 ton (I think a 2 and 4, or 2.5 and 3.5 ton compressors), it has been running in stage 1 100% of the time. At least in the future, I have real life experience with what our cooling needs would be.
ChrisJUser is Offline
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10 Sep 2014 08:43 PM
Glad you got a positive outcome!

Chris
joe.amiUser is Offline
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11 Sep 2014 08:08 AM
Glad to hear they fixed it for you.
Joe Hardin
www.amicontracting.com
We Dig Comfort!
www.doityourselfgeothermal.com
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vanman2004bUser is Offline
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11 Jun 2015 08:49 PM
I also have a Hydrotemp unit. Mine has failed for the third time in about 3-4 years. The first time my coil had multiple leaks and was replaced out of warranty. They did give me a discount on the coil. The second failure was BOTH compressors failed at the same time. The compressors were under warranty but installation and materials were not. The HVAC contractor that installed the unit will be here in the morning to look at it. I hope that it is nothing serious this time, but I expect something bad and expensive not covered by warranty. Gary
vanman2004bUser is Offline
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12 Jun 2015 09:48 AM
Tech looked at it this morning. He added 3.5 lbs of Freon. It only holds 6.5. He could not find a leak after looking for about an hour. I guess I really should start a new thread.
ChrisJUser is Offline
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12 Jun 2015 12:37 PM
New thread is a good idea.

They can't find the leak in my Hydro-Temp 4ton unit.

ChrisJ
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