Geothermal HVAC Blog

The Outdoor Temperature Sensor created a fault about 13:45 on the 29th of January causing a lot of inaccurate readings through out the Geothermal System. The problem was not noticed until about 11:30 on the 31st of January. The fault has knocked out most of the One Wire sensors. I have gotten most of the Ground Temperature Sensors back on-line. The 11 Foot sensor is still out as are the Outdoor Temperature Sensor, all other interior temperature sensors and the Thermostat output monitor. The Runtime monitors and the Electric consumption monitors are still operational. I am hoping to at least have the rest of the sensors on-line sometime on the 1st of February with the exception of the outdoor temperature sensor. That one may take a little doing to fix.

UPDATE 2/3/12: OK, I thought it was the outdoor temperature sensor causing this issue. It turns out that it is one of the ground loop temperature sensors. 2/3/12, all sensors are back on-line except for the two ground loop sensors.

Link: http://www.duanesworld.net/duanesworld.net.geothermal.WEL.live.htm

Well, since the replacement of the heat pump there have been a couple issues.

T6, the temperature sensor for the desuperheater hot water output was periodically not working. The T6 sensor has now been replaced.

The RunTime sensor for the Desuperheater has not been working. I checked the wiring today and the sensor is connected properly. The sensor is still not operating. Can’t tell if the Desuperheater pump is actually operating. Too much vibration from the compressor.

T2, the ground loop solution return is not still not operating. The wiring connections are proper. I will need to do some further troubleshooting and may need to replace this sensor.

My WaterFurnace Heat Pump is now having problems. It started two nights ago, the system went into FAULT mode. Troubleshooting I found that when the system went into the 2nd stage heat, the system would go into FAULT mode and basically shut down. I shut the system off at the thermostat and then turned off the circuit breakers for both the Heat Pump and Air Handler. I waited two minutes, turned the breakers back on. A minute later I turned the system back on at the thermostat. The system came back and was generating heat once again.

The next morning I found the system in FAULT mode again early in the morning. I reset the system as I did the previous day and it operated for about half an hour before going into FAULT mode again. Resetting the system does not work any more. The system now goes into FAULT mode immediately when Stage 1 powers up.

My system is now in Emergency Heat mode. I had an appointment scheduled this morning with my Geothermal installer. I am awaiting the arrival of the Tech for the repair.

Link: http://www.duanesworld.net/duanesworld.net.geothermal.WEL.live.htm

Ok, Maybe I spoke too soon after Optimal Energy replaced my thermostat. Yes, they were prompt. Yes it works. Yes, I am satisfied.

I had them back to do a checkup on my system before the cold weather of winter hit. I wanted them to come in and check the Heat Pump, ground loop pressure and freon pressure. I wanted this since it bit me in the back side a winter or two ago.

I did not want their heat pump / geothermal system check. I am capable of 90 percent of what is included for $300.00, and I do the maintenance as required.

Ok, they were supposed to come in at $1xx.xx per hour and check freeze protection, loop pressure, freon pressure, and general heat pump. What actually took place was the heat pump was checked, freeze protection was checked and the loop pressure was checked. Freon loop was not checked. The tech was pretty strong in that “as a rule we don’t check the freon pressure". The freon pressure is calculated from the ground loop pressure and the temperature. Then, a problem with my system was discovered. This took another hour and a half. Spinning wheels for an hour and a half including spending about 45 minutes on the phone with the manufacturer. The issue I have with this service, there was no problem that needed this troubleshooting to start with. However, I gave the tech the benefit of the doubt since this is his area of expertise.

Well, after an hour and a half, I had to go. I pulled the plug on the tech and told him nicely to leave. Then I get the line “15 more minutes and I’ll have it fixed". Well, magically the issue was resolved.

I still feel strongly that there was no issue. There was a lack of data from my monitoring system since I had disconnected a portion of it the evening before, in anticipation of the tech pointing the finger that the monitoring system is to blame for the economy. I will think twice or three times before placing a call to Optimal Energy.

I have added a new device for my Geothermal HVAC monitoring system. I had ordered an HVAC8S device from ourcoolhouse.com that will monitor the HVAC calls from the thermostat.

This addition was prompted by the thermostat not operating correctly. This past winter the Humidifier was not working, see previous posts in this blog. But what was also not working was the 2nd stage call from the thermostat. That meant that instead of a multi-stage heat pump / air handler system, this last winter my system was operating as a single stage installation. This undoubtedly has cost me more in electicity this last winter.

The HVAC8S is intalled and operating. I have not yet added this new data into my real-time monitoring page. I now have the ability to track the daily run time, monthly run time, and current status (on/off) of the Fan, Stage1, Stage2, and Auxiliary/Emergency Heat. I already have Auxiliary/Emergency Heat monitoring on my monitoring page but that is ok.

I will be updating the blog when this new data is being displayed on the real-time monitoring page.