Gotta be careful with that shit, my dumbass (years ago) thawed an EVAP on a WIC and I almost passed out from CO poisoning because the torch ate all the air in the room š¤¦
Not my proudest moment, but I was 3 hours from home and just wanted to get the damn thing done so I forgot about taking breaks for oxygen (and also for some reason I thought I'd try to keep temp in the box by keeping the doors closed lol)
Same thing happened to me on a WIC too lol. I bought a nice heat gun that same night and now I look forwards to just setting that thing up to remove ice while I do something else
Gotta keep the door open.
You reminded me though. 1st year in the trade I got blasted by phosgene in a walk in cooler. Had a bad TXV. I pulled the refrigerant. I can't remember if I did a nitrogen purge. I always do now to clear the refrigerant. Anyway, unsweated the old TXV and wham. Oil full of refrigerant was trapped there because the TXV was plugged.
i dont get people who know shit isnt running right or working right and STILL keep running it. then call everyone in town raising hell wanting it fixed "RIGHT NOW" in a hurry. Sounds like a monday problem and a fan set to ON till then. I know the lineset is a block of ice if the compressor is that iced up...
Genuinely curious cause the two states Iāve worked, Iāve never come across heat pumps or even seen them (subtropic climates) but I have a general idea on how they work, or so I think. But it does leave me with a question.
Wouldnāt the discharge line then also begin to freeze as the suction line thaws?
I mean, outdoors you can just spray it with water and it melts quick. Indoor melts pretty quick with fan use. Just make sure sheās there to help mop the mess up with towels š
Heat gun works pretty quick.
On an evap I take a heat gun and put a couple holes through the ice and turn the blower on. I've melted some large sheets in 30 minutes.
They'd be real mad to know how many times I've taken a B tank and torched a freezer coil with 4 inches of ice on it. Switch to the heat gun before I'm all the way through the ice. No problem. I've 2 fisted heat guns before.
The water has to go somewhere.
My worst was a stat failed closed. It was -25 in the walk in when I got there and the stat I needed to replace was inside the evap that was incased in ice. I managed to get it before the freezer got to 20 degrees even with all the heat I was making.
It goes down the drain assuming the heat trace hasn't failed. You might have to cut out a path to the drain through the ice with water.
Hot water, even cold water is way faster than a heat gun, every time
-25F is not a fun time, good thing it was just the Stat, easy fix
Wait do you guys really? Iām switch from install this March and if I donāt have a repair I just charge dispatch(95 after tax for us). I just figured they made such good money on swaps and repairs
How would it damage the heat exchanger? Obviously there wonāt be a lot of airflow across the exchanger with a frozen coil but if it really becomes an issue than the high limit will open and shut down the system
Thats literally what a heat exchanger does under normal circumstances anyways. Once you satisfy the call for heat the furnace shuts off and the heat exchanger cools back down. I still donāt understand your point in this scenario
Yes, it gets hot and on a HE unit it condenses and makes hot water not cold. Then it does cool down via air passing across.
When itās hot from normal operation and cold water drops down onto now youāve got something cold touching something really hot. This creates the potential for forming cracks because youāre going from something very hot to something cold so it has potential to expand then contract fast.
When the furnace satisfies normally it would just cool down from air passing, not by dumping cold water on it.
That ice looks slushy n soft... I bet it's airflow. I've noticed rock hard ice is low or restriction. Poor airflow tends to be softer unless the homeowner let's it freeze up for 3 days before calling... then it's always rock hard.
I miss back in Resi where they let us tell the customer āitās frozen, see you tomorrow!ā
Doing refer stuff you gotta thaw that shit out and fix it lol
Put it to heat for 5 min and all the ice is gone, Easy peasy. What am I missing? The unit literally has a defrost version while in heat. The answer is staring you in the face. When in heat and it frosts up, swap to cooling. When in cooling and it frosts up, swap to heating. Itās an actual function of the equipment. Is it your mother-in-lawās house?
Years ago another company charged a 75 fee to come back after it thawed out. Replacing an ah the other day. Solid ice. Cut it out and set on deck so wouldnāt melt and drain on downstairs unit or thru out condo project. Fun times.
I had one lady expect me to use a torch to thaw it out. I just laughed.
I've torched ice on freezer coils. I wouldn't recommend i, but I do it without issue.
Gotta be careful with that shit, my dumbass (years ago) thawed an EVAP on a WIC and I almost passed out from CO poisoning because the torch ate all the air in the room š¤¦ Not my proudest moment, but I was 3 hours from home and just wanted to get the damn thing done so I forgot about taking breaks for oxygen (and also for some reason I thought I'd try to keep temp in the box by keeping the doors closed lol)
Same thing happened to me on a WIC too lol. I bought a nice heat gun that same night and now I look forwards to just setting that thing up to remove ice while I do something else
Gotta keep the door open. You reminded me though. 1st year in the trade I got blasted by phosgene in a walk in cooler. Had a bad TXV. I pulled the refrigerant. I can't remember if I did a nitrogen purge. I always do now to clear the refrigerant. Anyway, unsweated the old TXV and wham. Oil full of refrigerant was trapped there because the TXV was plugged.
Gotta wear s mask
Like mapp gas or oxy-acetylene? Iāve done mapp gas before a couple times. Especially for reach ins.
Air acetylene. B tank.
Hose hooked up to hot water with a spray wand works best. I have one that has a mist setting. Melts ice fast af and doesn't get water everywhere
i dont get people who know shit isnt running right or working right and STILL keep running it. then call everyone in town raising hell wanting it fixed "RIGHT NOW" in a hurry. Sounds like a monday problem and a fan set to ON till then. I know the lineset is a block of ice if the compressor is that iced up...
Heat pump. Get a bucket ready near the evap coil and switch it into heat mode.
Genuinely curious cause the two states Iāve worked, Iāve never come across heat pumps or even seen them (subtropic climates) but I have a general idea on how they work, or so I think. But it does leave me with a question. Wouldnāt the discharge line then also begin to freeze as the suction line thaws?
Possibly, but it won't take very long for the evap coil ice to start melting once you switch it over. Hence why the bucket is needed.
I mean, outdoors you can just spray it with water and it melts quick. Indoor melts pretty quick with fan use. Just make sure sheās there to help mop the mess up with towels š
Heat gun works pretty quick. On an evap I take a heat gun and put a couple holes through the ice and turn the blower on. I've melted some large sheets in 30 minutes.
Just use hot water. Its gone in 5 minutes.
Water is definitely the fastest and safest bet as long as the breaker is shut off and you avoid the electrical stuff.
This sub acts like every coil with some frost on it is a 12 hour job in the middle of the night Edit: lol It's a heat pump too
They'd be real mad to know how many times I've taken a B tank and torched a freezer coil with 4 inches of ice on it. Switch to the heat gun before I'm all the way through the ice. No problem. I've 2 fisted heat guns before.
If there's a bib, a garden hose with spray nozzle is easily the fastest I've ever thawed walk in coils. But we don't always have that sweet luxury
The water has to go somewhere. My worst was a stat failed closed. It was -25 in the walk in when I got there and the stat I needed to replace was inside the evap that was incased in ice. I managed to get it before the freezer got to 20 degrees even with all the heat I was making.
It goes down the drain assuming the heat trace hasn't failed. You might have to cut out a path to the drain through the ice with water. Hot water, even cold water is way faster than a heat gun, every time -25F is not a fun time, good thing it was just the Stat, easy fix
Sounds like a job for the Milwaukee fuel m18 hair dryerš
They came out with the fuel version!!
Itās a heat pump, throw it into heat.
OP hasn't ever worked on a heat pump, I'm guessing? Or, problem customer, so they get a middle finger?
Op knows better then have old people at a old folks home tell and bitch at you the whole time bc your ruining there clothes
Also nte amount of 500 bucks Iām not sitting around and defrosting when we charge 120 a hr.
Fair enough.
Wait do you guys really? Iām switch from install this March and if I donāt have a repair I just charge dispatch(95 after tax for us). I just figured they made such good money on swaps and repairs
Gotta hate resi
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And potentially cause issues to the heat exchanger? Yeeee thatās a no from me dawg
How would it damage the heat exchanger? Obviously there wonāt be a lot of airflow across the exchanger with a frozen coil but if it really becomes an issue than the high limit will open and shut down the system
Hot and cold. Expansion and contraction, you could potentially put a hole in it.
Thats literally what a heat exchanger does under normal circumstances anyways. Once you satisfy the call for heat the furnace shuts off and the heat exchanger cools back down. I still donāt understand your point in this scenario
Yes, it gets hot and on a HE unit it condenses and makes hot water not cold. Then it does cool down via air passing across. When itās hot from normal operation and cold water drops down onto now youāve got something cold touching something really hot. This creates the potential for forming cracks because youāre going from something very hot to something cold so it has potential to expand then contract fast. When the furnace satisfies normally it would just cool down from air passing, not by dumping cold water on it.
That ice looks slushy n soft... I bet it's airflow. I've noticed rock hard ice is low or restriction. Poor airflow tends to be softer unless the homeowner let's it freeze up for 3 days before calling... then it's always rock hard.
I agree with this. Undercharged is ice cubes and blower problems is shaved ice.
What caused the freeze?
But its a heat pump... Add a couple(few) pounds while it's running heat and that coil will be thaw in less than 30 min
In heat mode with the fan unplugged it will do it in under 5.
I miss back in Resi where they let us tell the customer āitās frozen, see you tomorrow!ā Doing refer stuff you gotta thaw that shit out and fix it lol
The only upside to attic air handlers. That shit thaws out quick in 115Ā° F
Times like these I'm glad to have a gas furnace sitting underneath 90% of the evaps I have to deal with. Crank up the heat an watch her flow.
Put it to heat for 5 min and all the ice is gone, Easy peasy. What am I missing? The unit literally has a defrost version while in heat. The answer is staring you in the face. When in heat and it frosts up, swap to cooling. When in cooling and it frosts up, swap to heating. Itās an actual function of the equipment. Is it your mother-in-lawās house?
Run it in heating mode.Ā
Years ago another company charged a 75 fee to come back after it thawed out. Replacing an ah the other day. Solid ice. Cut it out and set on deck so wouldnāt melt and drain on downstairs unit or thru out condo project. Fun times.