Basement Heat Pump

[BigDaddy1951]

Help! For three days we ran our Coleman heat pump on heat with no issues. We moved to a new location yesterday. Last night the heat pump made so much noise we switched to gas. This has happened before at other campsites. I use a surge protector that shows over and low voltage. Lights all green. Using 50 amps. Need advice. Would a lower voltage cause starting/running issues? I think my protector won’t shut off until about 100 volts. Air conditioning works fine any time. Confused. Thanks in advance.

[dougrainer]

BigDaddy1951 wrote:
Never heard of cheated 50 amps. That might be it. Up to date KOAs and nice Corps of Engineers parks work well. Problem occurs at older parks. Can I check amps with my little volt meter?

NOT amps---line voltage. Connect your voltmeter between the 2 HOT legs. TRUE 50 amp will show 220/240 volts. IF NOT, then you have cheated 50 amp service. Doug

PS. I call it cheated, because most parks charge extra for 50 amp hook ups. IF NOT true 50 amp, then the customer is cheated. Charging for 50 amp but not supplying 50 amp.

[DutchmenSport]

Is your heat pump also the air-conditioning unit? If so, run it in air-conditioning mode a few minutes and see if you get the same noise. If so, it's not unique to just the heat pump, but to the entire machine.

With that said, considering it started when you moved to a new location, could it something simple as a loose screw, or a loose wire vibrating, or perhaps something is just resting against the machine causing a vibration? Check to make sure nothing is touching the machine causing a rattle. It could be something just that simple.

Our on-board water pump started making a very strange noise some time ago. It didn't sound right. I finally found the source. I attached an elbow to the winterizing inlet in the wet-bay. The outer ring that attaches to a garden hose was rattling. Inside the camper, that little rattle vibrated and amplified, sounding very strange. Now, I just put a piece of black electrical tape on the elbow connection and it doesn't rattle any more. Problem solved.

Your's may be just that simple... let's hope so. Good luck.

[BigDaddy1951]

Being from Florida, that could be it. Heat rarely used! Thx.

[rgatijnet1]

Sometimes a heat pump that is not used regularly will have issues with the reversing valve not opening completely. This is the valve that causes the reversal of the refrigerant to produce heat instead of cold air out of your unit. The valve, like any other mechanical valve, should be exercised from time to time to insure that it remains trouble free. If the valve is not fully opening/closing it will make some weird noises. Occasionally just cycling of the AC unit from heat to cool will correct the problem and sometimes the valve needs to be replaced. If the AC works fine(same compressor), it is not a voltage issue. It sounds like a sticky reversing valve.

[BigDaddy1951]

Never heard of cheated 50 amps. That might be it. Up to date KOAs and nice Corps of Engineers parks work well. Problem occurs at older parks. Can I check amps with my little volt meter?

[dougrainer]

Heat Pumps---The compressor operates the EXACT SAME as in COLD mode. ALL a Heat Pump does is REVERSE the flow of coolant to remove cold that results in heat by a REVERSING valve. What is the outside(ambient) temp where you are located? HP's do not function well in temps over 65 degrees. It will cause the compressor to work harder and pull more amps. What type of noise is it making? IF on TRUE 50 amp service(which is actually 100 amps), you should have no issues or voltage problems. IF you are on CHEATED 50 amp service, then you will have voltage problems. True 50 amp is a total of 50 amps on each leg. Cheated is 25/30 amps on each leg. AND if Cheated 50 amp service you should not be paying for 50 amp service as they are not giving you true 50 amp. Doug

[BigDaddy1951]

Thanks for the quick reply. True, not an AC man. Heat pumps have always seemed a mystery! LOL. When outside the AC makes a little start up noise and runs fine. Not even noticeable inside. Normally the heat does the same, but when it acts up it will make noise starting and stays noisy. It will wake the neighbors. I don’t think it has heat strips. We have gas backup and the Winnebago Energy Management System. Took it to my RV guy earlier this year in Florida, he ran the AC for about a week and found no issues. But on a trip to Montana we had no problem at some parks and the same problem at others. Odd to say the least.

[MountainAir05]

Yes low voltage will cause starting issues. Heat pumps use the same compressor as the Air Condition. Do you have a heating strip also. If so low voltage would cause a lot of issues. It seems you do not understand how your Air Condition/heat pump works.

Simply put, a heat pump is a device that uses a small amount of energy to move heat from one location to another. Not too difficult, right? Heat pumps are typically used to pull heat out of the air to heat a RV, home or office building, but they can be reversed to cool a building. In a way, if you know how an air conditioner works, then you already know a lot about how a heat pump works. This is because heat pumps and air conditioners operate in a very similar way.



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