My very first question is: Is the air filter clean? When was it last cleaned?

Next, does the ground loop need purged?

I'm betting on one of the following:

1) Compressor isn't running at all in cooling mode - perceived coolness of air from registers is only from its movement. That the downstairs is at all cool comes from the unit upstairs.

2) Compressor is running but evaporator is frozen solid owing to dirty air filter (most likely) or lack of freon (less likely)

I'm betting on zero cooling since reduced cooling would allow the unit to catch up at night.

Frozen evaporator clues: water in odd places, very reduced air flow. Run unit in fan only for hours needed to melt ice, change filter, clean evaporator if necessary.

If the compressor isn't running, there are way too many possibilities there - too many to diagnose over the 'net - find and pay a tech

Never, I've never cleaned the filter. On the other hand it doesn't have filters, it the system uses some kind of electronic zapping filter thing. On the on hand I never have to worry about filters, on the other I really have no idea weather it's working or not. When I first purchased the house, and the inspector turned on the system you could hear it zapping all the dust running thru it since it the house was empty and they were not running the system, but I really haven't heard it zap anything recently. 

  

I looked at the unit last night after posting, and it seemed to me that the compressor wasn't running. So I turned the system off and on and I could hear the compressor turning on, but it was much louder then it normally is when heating. After a while it seemed to settle down and it cooled the downstairs to 75 F degrees before I went to bed. The system was off in the morning and it was 74 F degrees downstairs. Now I'm not sure it that more a result of the temperature dropping at night or weather the system is working now. 

Can someone educate me about the filter. I can understand when a filter becomes clogged and reduces air flow, but what is the harm of running the system without any filter at all, besides the fact your blowing dust around inside your house. Is there any negatives to the unit when not running with a filter? Although I do have those electronic filters, I'm not sure if they are still working and how would i test them?

All of the pipes were soaked with condesation downstairs, but very little dripped onto the basement floor. I would think this is the effect of running cold water thru the lines for an extended period of time. 
 

 

 

Inside of your heat pump is the heat exchanger that heats and cools your air. This looks very much like a car radiator. The openings are very small. If this heat exchanger gets plugged with dust and lint from your house then it severely impacts the ability of your heat pump to work.

If you can get access, look at the house side of the heat exchanger. It will be right behind your electronic air filter. It there is any dust or lint on the face of the coils, then you have a problem.

Get a probe thermometer and measure the air temp coming off of the top of you heat pump, also the temp coming out of your registers. This will tell you if the compressor is running.

Good luck

In the cooling mode, that heat exchanger (called the air coil) gets wet from condensation. The wet coil will more readily collect dust. Electronic air filters still have a sort of air filter to catch particles. If this is not in place, you're looking for a problem. The #1 reason air conditioners/furnaces/forced air systems stop working is that nobody will keep their air filter clean. WHY? It's so easy and cheap!

I'm guilty of this. I thought since the air filter was electicstatic that i didnt have to touch the filter ever. But from what I'm reading, even they have to be cleaned time to time. I'm going to completely check out the units filters tonight when i get home.
 
Thanks!

If a conventional filter was not installed, plan on a thorough cleaning of the evaporator / air coil.

I just spent 2-3 hours at a neighbor's. She's 8 months pregnant, its 92 degrees and humid, - hubby in navy off Africa.

Evaporator held an iceberg the captain of the Titanic would have steered clear of. Compressor (outside - regular air source unit) was sheathed in an inch of ice.

Why? They've been in the house a year and never found the filter.

Y'all gotta love this extra detail - 4 ton unit breathing through a 16x20 filter, of which only about 14x16 was exposed to air flow.

Manual D anyone?

I found the same thing at a friend’s house last summer. His AC was weak so I went over to take a look. He had an electronic filter as well, he washed it monthly and really liked it. I pulled it out and stuck a light in there to see if I could see the coil and guess what I saw a nice cheap 1 inch filter after the electronic filter and before the furnace and it was as solid as cardboard. I had to break it to get it out since it must have been stuck in when the furnace was installed 3 years earlier. Then the AC worked like a charm.

After seeing the amount of dust / dirt on that post filter I am no longer a fan of electrostatic filters. I told him he was lucky he had that filter in there though to protect the coil. We found another slot he can stick a 1 inch filter in pretty easily and added one and will replace it regularly.

Took the air filter off and you right the air coil has dust in it. I used a Vacuum with a brush attachment and was able to get most of the dirt off of it. Looking inside, I didnt see any dust inside the unit on the blower side and no evidence of ice build up. I bent a few of the fins a little, but I believe they make a comb to straighten them out. I took out the prefilter and cells and washed them off with a hose. I let them dry for 4 hours and left the unit off during that time. I reinserted the prefilter and cells and restarted the system. It seems a little stronger, but I can't really tell is the air it's blowing is any cooler than before. As for the Trion Electrinic Air Cleaner i havent determined weather or not its working at all yet. Interesting enough, I was able to easily find a complete operation.service manual online for my 20 year old $600 Air cleaner, but no manual for the 10K geothermal system.   

This weekend I will do a more indepth check of the air filter, see if its putting out the right voltages to the cells and properly clean the cells according to the manual I found. I can get any part i need to fix it online if I need to.  i need to check the upstairs unit next, it uses the same kind of system as a air filter system. If all else fails, I'll just disable the electronic air filter and replace the cells with standard air filters that fit onto it.  

I don't know if its the same on your friends unit, but I can add an optional carbon filter after the cells to remove odors from the air that needs to be replaced monthly, I wonder if that what you had to break thru.

Glad you are making some progress. What is the air temp coming out of your registers?

Good job on vacuuming the coil. However, it's disheartening to have to tell you that it's not as clean as it should be. While it may continue to work just fine for the rest of the life of the equipment, it still has dust where you can't get to. Usually, this means it's not quite as efficient as it could be. (It may only mean a few dollars more per year in operation costs, but it could be hundreds more per year in some situations)

I just want to point out something for anyone who might encounter the following situation with their geothermal conditioned house.

Too often, general contractors expect the home's heating system to keep the house warm during construction in the winter. This is a BAD idea. All manufacturers of furnaces, air source heat pumps, and geothermal heat pumps say not to use them as construction heat. Most will void the warranty if used as such.

The general usually says, "We'll make sure and clean the filter every day. I promise."

Unfortunately, they don't. One of the days, their son had a basketball game, they didn't get there, and the other construction workers don't care. Or, the filter has gotten so dirty in a matter of 30 minutes, and it sucks into the blower, leaving it wide open to dirt/dust to get by.

There are a few issues that will affect the system's performance for the rest of its life if used as construction heat. First, it will get dirty, no matter what. Normal use/living in a house is NEVER as dirty and dusty as during construction. Dust will collect in the duct system. It will collect in the coil, blower, etc... Now, what has happened is that the system will NEVER run as efficiently as it could have. The only way to get it to is to remove the coil, the blower, the heat exchanger, clean them extensively, have the duct cleaned, etc.

Now, since it was run for who knows how many hours, how much of its life has been used? How much harder is the blower working because of the increased static from dirty duct and coil? If it's a heat pump, has it overstressed the ground loop? That could--not necessarily will--mean it runs on strip heat until next heating season. The system was designed for normal house use, not construction house use. It isn't big enough for construction heat.

Finally, who stands the warranty? All the general contractor cares about is that they get their money, and it lasts at least 1 year for their required 1 year warranty of the home. They unfortunately don't care about what they are doing to the homeowner's home. They wouldn't expect the cooling system to keep the workers comfortable in the middle of the summer, right? They wouldn't install the carpet before painting, and then just have it cleaned before the homeowners move in, would they? Nope.

If there are any newbie's to this forum, DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN! Make the general contractor find his own heaters. He knew he'd be building on your house in the cold winter.

One unfortunate point, too, is that many manufacturers and installers just look the other way. I installed Lennox furnaces for years before giving up gas work. Their own rep told me they just basically let it happen. They'll still honor the warranty, when in fact, things have been done to void it. EarthLinked DX will void the warranty if this happens. Hats of to any other manufacturers who don't just turn a blind eye to this practice.

Good job on vacuuming the coil. However, it's disheartening to have to tell you that it's not as clean as it should be. While it may continue to work just fine for the rest of the life of the equipment, it still has dust where you can't get to. Usually, this means it's not quite as efficient as it could be. (It may only mean a few dollars more per year in operation costs, but it could be hundreds more per year in some situations)

I just want to point out something for anyone who might encounter the following situation with their geothermal conditioned house.

Too often, general contractors expect the home's heating system to keep the house warm during construction in the winter. This is a BAD idea. All manufacturers of furnaces, air source heat pumps, and geothermal heat pumps say not to use them as construction heat. Most will void the warranty if used as such.

The general usually says, "We'll make sure and clean the filter every day. I promise."

Unfortunately, they don't. One of the days, their son had a basketball game, they didn't get there, and the other construction workers don't care. Or, the filter has gotten so dirty in a matter of 30 minutes, and it sucks into the blower, leaving it wide open to dirt/dust to get by.

There are a few issues that will affect the system's performance for the rest of its life if used as construction heat. First, it will get dirty, no matter what. Normal use/living in a house is NEVER as dirty and dusty as during construction. Dust will collect in the duct system. It will collect in the coil, blower, etc... Now, what has happened is that the system will NEVER run as efficiently as it could have. The only way to get it to is to remove the coil, the blower, the heat exchanger, clean them extensively, have the duct cleaned, etc.

Now, since it was run for who knows how many hours, how much of its life has been used? How much harder is the blower working because of the increased static from dirty duct and coil? If it's a heat pump, has it overstressed the ground loop? That could--not necessarily will--mean it runs on strip heat until next heating season. The system was designed for normal house use, not construction house use. It isn't big enough for construction heat.

Finally, who stands the warranty? All the general contractor cares about is that they get their money, and it lasts at least 1 year for their required 1 year warranty of the home. They unfortunately don't care about what they are doing to the homeowner's home. They wouldn't expect the cooling system to keep the workers comfortable in the middle of the summer, right? They wouldn't install the carpet before painting, and then just have it cleaned before the homeowners move in, would they? Nope.

If there are any newbie's to this forum, DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN! Make the general contractor find his own heaters. He knew he'd be building on your house in the cold winter.

One unfortunate point, too, is that many manufacturers and installers just look the other way. I installed Lennox furnaces for years before giving up gas work. Their own rep told me they just basically let it happen. They'll still honor the warranty, when in fact, things have been done to void it. EarthLinked DX will void the warranty if this happens. Hats off to any other manufacturers who don't just turn a blind eye to this practice.

I figured as much, I'm going to use an air compressor on the blower side to try and dislodge more of the dust from the coil. I'm going to pick up a 20x25 inch filter today and install it on the unit until I can determine the problem with the the electonic filter. I have to buy a tempometer to measure the temperature coming out of the registers, although it's cool, I still think it's not a cold as it should be. I have doubts that the compressor is working at all.     

Same applies to construction cooling. Of particular concern is drywall mud sanding. That dust, extremely fine, turns back into mud upon encountering water on the evaporator. That can't be vacuumed up

This is a good thing to keep in mind for any type of remodeling project. Things you never think about.