Another Appliance Up In Flames

[exploder3211]

Check this out
There where several fire trucks here the other night and we couldn't figure out why.. Today we did... Heres why: Another one of the 20+ year old Carrirer A?C units caught fire after the mantince guy tried to fix it.. Thats why we gave up on them fixing ours and bought a window a/c unit and cut the main a/c up to 75 degrees and it can keep it at that not running 24/7... Heres the pics
Toggles what do you think caused it?

 

[exploder3211]

Heres the unit its self, very tiny to cool the 700-1000 sq ft apartments here.. The indoor units are about this size of a 35 gallan trash can

 

[toggleswitch]

Incompetence.

 

[toggleswitch]

oh, and keep the maintenance man OUT OF YOUR APT at all costs.
Even if he is Mason --rr

 

[exploder3211]

I try.. LoL.. I usualy ask for the one who knows us (as in my self and my bf).. He is very nice to us and such, but they dufus who fixes this stuff is not, hes very cold and out there.. They told us ours was working fine and nothing was wrong with it and told me to quit tryin to fix it my self, even though it will run 24/7 if set below 75 degrees..No it doesn't ice over either, i just think its low on refirgerant and the evap coil is dirty like others said. But yes i will try... Then again we still have plugs that don't work, but i would never use them either...
I still wonder what he did to make the beast goup in flames

 

[andrewinorlando]

Back when those units were installed (you said 20+ years old), it was common to size them so that in hot weather, they ran continuously. Remember, electric was cheaper back then. The constant on operation helped keep humidity down. The standards over the years have changed substantially, as far as how a unit is sized for a particular application. Here in Florida, they have been modified to require 1 ton/per 400 sq. feet. Years ago, 1 ton/600 sq feet was not uncommon. And that's just not enough to keep up with upper 90's and high humidity. Many times, people change the outdoor units without installing a new indoor coil. The coil should match the outdoor unit, or you can potentially lose substatial cooling and efficiency. If your A/C can maintain 75 or 76 degrees in your place, it is most likely working as it was designed. The room A/C is a good idea...it will help it a great deal, and cut your electric bill in the process, since it will run less. I'm sure at 20+ years old, it is not exactly energy efficient any more, as this declines as the unit ages. When I replaced my 29 year old Whirlpool central A/C last May, my mid-summer electric bill went from $270 to $105. It had steadily climbed each summer over the last 7 years. It had no leaks, was maintained, but was old. It would run continuously on hot days to maintain 76 degrees. It was working fine, but at that age, the compressor valves are wearing, and the internal pressure cannot build to normal. More freon won't do the trick. My new unit is 3 tons, the old one was 2.5 tons. Huge performance difference.

In the case of the fire, all it takes is a relay to overheat, or, a loose electrical connection to arc and cause a fire. They draw high currents, especially on start up. No mystery to it. Poor maintenance will help that along.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I would be worried about having something that could go up in flames that close to wood.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

This is what happens when you bypass the thermal overload on the compressor.

Ken

 

[maytagbear]

Yes, and it happens

"even in our best families."

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[toggleswitch]

It's not the heat it's the humidity

Life, it can be said, is best handled in STAGES.
Low, medium, high and "mega" (all at once) capacities.

When I added central air-condtioning to my home, I went with a 2-ton unit instead of a 2.5 or 3.0 ton unit(where one ton = 12,000 BTU/h). One normally sees 4 to 5k BTU/h per room in this area with window-rattlers, less with central air.

I already had two-through-the wall units, which I chose to leave installed. So the one on the upper floor in the large loft guest room is 10k Btu. I let it run nearly constatntly to dehumidify. That room is at the top of the stairs just under the roof and with no door so the cool, dry air tumbles down by natural convetion.

The central sytem delivers cooled cosnditoned air to all three floors, including the basement.

The through-the wall 220v (Read: large) living room unit is used during parties, cooking, extreme heat-waves and quick cooling.

Of course the basement dehumdifier runs from 10pm to 10am keeping the basment dry and mold-free. The heat it generates rises up the basement stairs to trigger the thermostat found in a central hallway at the top of the stairs. This helps the A/C run to further dehumdify on cool but moist nights.

 

[exploder3211]

What a complicated system

 

[toggleswitch]

Sing it girls: It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes.

Two timers and a clock-thermostat.
Little, if any, user intervention required.
The big A/C is manually fired-up as needed.

 

[andrewinorlando]

Toggles...that's an ingenious setup! I'll bet it does a very nice job keeping the house comfy during those hot and humid Long Island summers.

 

[exploder3211]

That is good leave it to Toggles to find the best system

 

[toggleswitch]

Ingenious?

It's being cheap, ok ok frugal/careful!
Didn't want to pull out the all units and patch the holes. LOL

Thank you boys.

 

[andrewinorlando]

Oh honey, I'm the president of the Frugal Faggot Society!!

 

[exploder3211]

No, i think i am the presidant... I won't spend money for anything unless i have too.

 

[stevet]

Why do people use dehumidifiers in basements? I learned early on that if youa re going to run a Dehumidifier in a basement, you might as well put a window unit in and cool the basement while dehumidifying it. I lived on Long Island for years and years and it saved alot of money to do it that way. In addition, you weren't adding the heat load to the upper floors with the dehumidfier making the upstairs unit run longer to cool the area. And there are no water buckets to empty!!!

Today,the EER's on these small units are incredible.. some use less electricity than the dehumidifiers and make almost no noise, are programmable and do a great job.
I am sure Keyspans keeps pushing rates up so why give them the money?

 

[selectomatic]

Good point, stevet.

If you have the option of running an air-conditioner in your baseme

nt, it'll dehumidify just as well as a similar size dehumidifier, and it'll cool things while it's doing that.

Up here in the North, however, many people have basemsnts with windows too small for standard A/C units, and almost all of us have a drain in the middle of the basement with an outlet nearby. Besides, it's already cold and clammy down there, so why cool it?

My house is a 'Raised Ranch,' which is to say that it's a two-story house with a finished basement. Or is it a two-story house with no basement, but with the lower level half-buried?

Anyway, it'd probably be a better idea for me to get a small air-conditioner to remove the humidity from the lower level than to replace my old dehumidifier.

I don't have an air-conditioner upstairs because it costs too much, and besides I (like some) like it hot!

-kevin