[Corysxj88]

Wife was at home and called me to tell me something is going on at the house. She said she heard this noise inside the house that sounded like electrical sparks and then a smell that was similar to something electrical burning. She never saw anything, but as soon as she heard it she turned the ac off. She called the fire department and they came by and checked it out and one of the guys told her to turn the ac back on and when she did the guy smelled what she was talking about and told her to turn the ac back off. They then took the paneling off our heat pump/fernance????? (Sorry, not to familiar with the ac jargon. We have a small room with a big contraption in it that has a pilot light) they didn't see anything but noticed that the filter inside this contraption had moisture on it and just didn't look too good. Again, this is my wife trying to explain this to me, so this is all i have to go by.

There is a little box towards the bottom that has wires going to it.....

Just trying to get somewhat of an idea on things I can check or what it could be.....it's already freakin hot in this house.....

Also...firemen turned the pilot light off.

 

[fieldgrade]

Not sure what would cause the burnt wire smell, which is the biggest concern, but if a filter is wet you may have a condensate drain plugged up. It can be blown out.

Maybe some condensate water leakage from an overflowed pan under the cooling coils (due to a plugged drain) dripped on some electrical connections and caused the short that caused the burning smell.

Wild guess.

 

[Tailhunter]

A guy on here does ac work in your area: noveske13

 

[Corysxj88]

here are some pics of my setup

 

[fieldgrade]

Is there any water present other than that wet filter? You've probably got a plugged condensate drain which maybe causing problems as referenced above.

It looks wet on the bottom left of your bottom picture.

 

[Dcgallim]

Change your filter every 3 months, that thing looks clogged up. And I just had to put a whole new unit in my house to the tune of $4k, we went 2 weeks without AC. It's awful I came to the conclusion that AC is the greatest invention of the last 100 years.

 

[Corysxj88]

Is there any water present other than that wet filter? You've probably got a plugged condensate drain which maybe causing problems as referenced above.

It looks wet on the bottom left of your bottom picture.

Yeah that seems to be water...now when I walked into the house, I could smell a very weird smell...didn't smell a burning smell...more like a chemical/freon smell to me...but I dunno

 

[fieldgrade]

Yeah that seems to be water...now when I walked into the house, I could smell a very weird smell...didn't smell a burning smell...more like a chemical/freon smell to me...but I dunno

I'm getting out of my paygrade here. At your thermostat, turn it from "auto" to "fan". Does air even come out of your vents? Wonder if your coils have frozen up. They would be like a block of ice if that happened with no air flowing past. I'm just spit ballin' here.

 

[Tailhunter]

I came to the conclusion that AC is the greatest invention of the last 100 years.

Now if they could just invent some really good ac repairman/installers.

 

[fieldgrade]

Now if they could just invent some really good ac repairman/installers.

I have a guy I trust implicitly, and he's become a personal friend, but everybody else likes him too, so getting him here in a panic is a challenge because he is in such demand. Danny Sears in Fuquay, DRS Services is his solo operation.

Edit- I should say that he hopped right to it for my mother-in-law a few weeks ago so I can't really complain.

 

[Windini]

I just had a 3-month nightmare with a heat pump system. Had 2 Maytag units installed w/new house & paid extra for the "10-year all parts and labor warranty." Upstairs unit compressor crapped out after 5 years. The original installation company made one phone call, turned it over to someone else, and turned their backs on us. Took the other guy 2-1/2 months to get a new unit from the distributor. About a month into it, the A/C on the downstairs unit failed (this is where my gripe may be relevant to your situation).

It turned out that the A/C coil was freezing up, and water was condensing on the outside of the air-handler and dripping on the basement floor. I had to squeegee the puddle into the floor drain 2-3 times a day, and the musty smell is still there. (it was a lot of water over several months.)

I found out the usual cause of the A/C coil freezing is low refrigerant--the Freon/r-22/r-410a (whatever refrigerant your system has) has leaked out. So you can add more refrigerant, but it'll leak out eventually if you don't find the leak & fix that. The guy who did ours had a "sniffer," a hand-held device that beeps and whistles when it senses the refrigerant outside the system. Once he fixed the leak, he recharged the system and it's been working for the last week.

I'm afraid I can't tell you what the cost of the A/C repair specifically was. The total cost to us was $430, and $280 of that was just for the refrigerant (for both units). We have an R-22 system and that's been phased out, so replacement refrigerant is expensive compared to 410a.

Hope the info is useful to you somehow and that you get yours fixed inexpensively soon!

 

[fieldgrade]

And this is why I won't change out my system. My Trane 4 ton unit was installed in 1986. I have the capacitors checked out every two years since the cheap Chinese capacitors are the new failure mode, and mine are odd and hard to find late in the summer. My AC tech can "check" to see if they are in spec and I change them out before they fail. Not expensive. Never had the system go down in 8 years, and when I had new systems quoted, they said the payback would be 8-10 years in my specific situation.

 

[Windini]

And this is why I won't change out my system.

Yep. If it ain't broke... I also heard that the compressor failure may have been because of a shoddy original installation. If the installer/tech didn't purge the moisture/condensation out of the lines properly, then that water gets into the compressor, which wears it out prematurely. So I can take my pick: cheap Chinese junk, or Bozo installer. Considering the installer's response to our warranty claim, I'm leaning towards B. Not much consolation either way...

Anyway, sorry Corysx; didn't mean to hijack your thread. I do think the water is significant, and fieldgrade's thought about a wet electrical short sounds reasonable. I'd check the condensate line 1st as suggested (start with the easiest & cheapest DIY fix), then look for evidence of the coil icing up. A dehumidifier near the unit will start the drying process--sooner is better for that.

If there is ice, you might try running the heat for a little while to thaw it out (reverse the process temporarily), then turning th A?C back on and seeing if it works for a while before freezing up again.

 

[Tailhunter]

You are one of the lucky ones ....

I have a guy I trust implicitly, and he's become a personal friend, but everybody else likes him too, so getting him here in a panic is a challenge because he is in such demand. Danny Sears in Fuquay, DRS Services is his solo operation.

Edit- I should say that he hopped right to it for my mother-in-law a few weeks ago so I can't really complain.

 

[jjwestbrook]

Now if they could just invent some really good ac repairman/installers.

there are some good ones out here , the problem is too many half assed ones . also so many people like to go the cheaper route and use the fly by night techs.

 

[jjwestbrook]

here are some pics of my setup

I would take a close look at the molex plugs ( the white plugs where all the wires plug into the metal box) those have a bad habit of burning up and they cause a terrible smell. other possibility id fan motor going bad.

 

[Krabba]

there are some good ones out there

Amen, because you are certainly one of them!

 

[jjwestbrook]

Amen, because you are certainly one of them!

thanks bud .

 

[ColbyJack]

Could be one of few things. Low refrigerant, lack of airflow, fan issue, and clogged drain. Low refrigerant or poor airflow can cause the indoor coil to freeze. When the tstat satisfies, the coil will thaw and possibly run over the drain pan. If so and being that your coil is on top, it could have shorted the fan motor. Same situation if the drain was clogged. I always recommend cleaning monthly with a small snake or vacuuming from drain exit on exterior wall penetration. After cleaning pour a cup of white vinegar down the drain prior to the trap to maintain the drain. And last, yes the crappy Chinese capacitors that are Installed these days. If it goes out or gets weak the fan will overheat and or burn out. Call a technician from a reliable company. I highly recommend getting on a maintenance program or having a friend who works in the hvac field maintain it. I've been in the industry for 8 years and can always spot an unmaintained system. Your equipment runs more than your car and Is the most expensive appliance in your house. Not to mention it is a gas furnace with age. Have the heat exchanger checked for cracks and rust. Flu is also extremely important. Good luck and hope this was helpful

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[jjwestbrook]

Could be one of few things. Low refrigerant, lack of airflow, fan issue, and clogged drain. Low refrigerant or poor airflow can cause the indoor coil to freeze. When the tstat satisfies, the coil will thaw and possibly run over the drain pan. If so and being that your coil is on top, it could have shorted the fan motor. Same situation if the drain was clogged. I always recommend cleaning monthly with a small snake or vacuuming from drain exit on exterior wall penetration. After cleaning pour a cup of white vinegar down the drain prior to the trap to maintain the drain. And last, yes the crappy Chinese capacitors that are Installed these days. If it goes out or gets weak the fan will overheat and or burn out. Call a technician from a reliable company. I highly recommend getting on a maintenance program or having a friend who works in the hvac field maintain it. I've been in the industry for 8 years and can always spot an unmaintained system. Your equipment runs more than your car and Is the most expensive appliance in your house. Not to mention it is a gas furnace with age. Have the heat exchanger checked for cracks and rust. Flu is also extremely important. Good luck and hope this was helpful

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

great advice ColbyJack