Originally Posted By: srowe This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Just need an opinion.
A new a/c was installed, now all the doors have swelled and are sticking. Would this be due to the unit being too large for the house (maybe short-cycling) and not removing the moisture from the air?
Originally Posted By: jpeck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
srowe wrote:
Just need an opinion.
A new a/c was installed, now all the doors have swelled and are sticking. Would this be due to the unit being too large for the house (maybe short-cycling) and not removing the moisture from the air?
Input from others would be helpful!! Thanks!
"Would this be due to the unit being too large for the house (maybe short-cycling) and not removing the moisture from the air?
COULD be. Without knowing anything other than what you stated, IT COULD be, but it might not be. That is indeed one of the result of installing an a/c which is much (not just a little, much) too large.
Originally Posted By: Bruce King This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
If the units condensate trap does not have a prime, on some units, the condensate will be blown all over the coil and put lots of moisture into the house. A trane unit I know of had to be primed at start of cooling season.
Seems like it would take awhile to swell doors though.
Bruce King
edit: without trap being primed, unit will suck air and splash condensate water all over the coil. also assumed solid wood doors, now I see they are hollow core, must be a major amount of humidity in that house, and 5 tons is way too big a unit for that house.
Originally Posted By: srowe This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Details are:
1972, BLOCK, located in Ft. Lauderdale on canal, A/C hasn't been working well, changed out some of the ductwork I believe about two months ago, new condenser put in about 1 month ago, 2500 sf, 5 ton unit.
Doors are original hollow core. Just about all of them are sticking, and I mean sticking good.
Originally Posted By: dedwards This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Did you check the humidity level of the indoor ambient air during your inspection? You also stated the “condenser unit” was replaced with a larger unit but did not mention anything about the evaporator unit. If it isn’t very closely matched that could cause a problem. If the evaporator unit is clogged with poor air flow then if will not dehumidify the air inside as it should. Lots of folks make the mistake that bigger is better whereas in a high humidity area like Lauderdale you want a unit that will run longer to dehumidify the air. This is called “latent” heat and can represent up to 20% of the heat felt but will not register on the thermostat.
Originally Posted By: Joe Healy This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Doug, you are partly right. The evaporator coil and the condensor should be a match or the coil could be one half ton larger and things should work properly. That is if a few other factors are considered and this is something that should be done by an HVAC tech. The charge may be incorrect or the unit may be oversized. The evaporator coil being dirty would affect the efficiency of the unit, but if it is too clogged the coil would ice up and totally restrict air flow more than just dehumidification. Hope this helps.
Originally Posted By: dedwards This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Joe,
I agree completely. Unfortunately I see poorly installed and/or maintained systems all the time. Poorly designed ductwork and insufficient return air or everything you mentioned can cause an otherwise good system to run like a three legged dog.
