OT : Heating Unit

[eGoCeNTRoNiX]

Ok Guys.. I know there are a few of you out there that know about this stuff.. I'm currently living in a 1983 Coleman Mobile Home.. I moved in late winter.. I didn't even bother using the heater because it only seemed to blow "luke warm" air. My cousin said their electric bill was like $300 a month and that's rediculous.. I'm guessing that they kept it running non-stop to try and keep it warm in here. I'm not too worried about it being warm, but the g/f doesn't like it cold. And now that I have a while before I'll need it again, I want to know if there's anything I can do to check it out/possibly trouble shoot it? It's a :

Coleman Central Electric HeatPump Model 3400-815....

If you need more info, let me know..

Thanks!

eGo

[NascarFool]

You most likely have an air handler with electric strip heat (huge toaster elements) inside and a Heat Pump unit outside. The heat pump will provide heat to about 35ºF outside. If it is warm out, I would recommend having the operating pressures checked. Coleman equipment rates slightly better than Junk-A-Trol. . . . .ummmm . . . Janitrol. I knew the previous owner of Coleman in Wichita. He sold the company to York. One year he had all the Coleman equipment replaced with Trane. By the way, a heat pump cools in the summer and heats in the winter. They do not put off the greatest heat either. Coleman mobile home equipment are known for piss poor air filter set ups. If you turn it on cooling, check the large line at the outdoor unit. If it is ice cold (below 40ºF), chances are the indoor coil is dirtyor the filters are dirty. If the line stays warmer (60ºF or higher) it is most likely low on refrigerant.

[Karchiveur]

Hey i'll ask my dad!
He has every permit there is for dealing with these... top of the trade

He'll figure it out.. I'll talk to him about it...

EDIT : he says he needs all the info. ya got

[eGoCeNTRoNiX]

I appreciate the info Carl.. It cools just fine, but I will go check the line as you've recommended (tomorrow before work). There is a until outside as you've mentioned I'm sure you're spot on with your diagnosis. And the Junk part is right.. But hey.. lol.. I didn't pay for it.. ha ha.. Any idea what kind of a replacement cost I'd be looking at? Or would I be better off installing propane heaters? Sorry to ask such noobish questions.. lol..

Appreciate your help too J.. .

eGo

[smb]

If it's a heat pump, it won't put out as much heat as a normal heater. They use those in places like Arizona and Texas when it get frosty out. Maybe it need a servicing.

[NascarFool]

Originally posted by smb
If it's a heat pump, it won't put out as much heat as a normal heater. They use those in places like Arizona and Texas when it get frosty out. Maybe it need a servicing.

Go to Wichita Kansas. There are heat pumps all over the place. There was nothing worse than going on a service call at 0º and finding it was an improperly set up system with a heat pump and gas backup. $30 later and I'd show them how to click the stat to "Emergency Heat" for the cold days. Surprisingly you don't see many heat pumps in the Denver area. They would work pretty good here too.

[eGoCeNTRoNiX]

Thanks again for all the little tidbits. I'm actually in Louisiana as most of you know.. heh.. So we rarely get any snow here. But we do get plenty of frost (only in the mornings). So what kind of cost would I be looking at for a general/routine (though it's probably NEVER been checked before) check and cleaning? I'm going to make my dad pay for it because it's his trailer, but I'd like to have some kind of an idea in advance. I did look around a little bit as I'm somewhat mechanically inclined just to check obvious things, i.e. diry rad/clogged rad fins and so on. A few things I found I'll be fixing this weekend. There are pine needles built up around the outside unit which need be cleaned up. The inside rad has a slime on the part closest to the access panel. Only for about 1" or so. I imagine this is just build up from condensation and dust. I changed the filter (god it was fuggin' dirty) and that made things quieter.. ha ha.. The filter was actually so dirty that it had sucked it down into the unit because it wasn't getting sufficient air flow. I cleaned off all of the instructions and metal around the blower (I couldn't read any of it before) and in the process of doing so, I knocked a wire loose and didn't realize it. So I closed it all up and went back to the puter and heard the A/C kick on and it was quieter than usaul. So I got up opened the back door and saw that the outside unit wasn't on. Freaked out, turned it off, found and reconnected the loose (A/C relay?) wire and it fired right up. I have no idea how to, nor will I attempt to (unless the guages are cheap and it's easy to do) check the pressures. I don't think the freon is low at all though.. As it has no problem keeping things nice and cool. But, I am afraid that I'll be replacing the whole thing before long as there is about a 3-4" spot at the bottom of part of the outside rad where I can see the skeleton.. I assume this is from years of dogs peeing on it or something fun like that.. There is also, what I would describe as a calcium build up, on the fins. Is there something that I can do to clean this?

Sorry for all the questions about this and for not finding a better forum to post them at, but I know you guys dont' mind helping..

eGo

[NascarFool]

The "calcium" build up is from the dog pee. It is time to replace the old unit.

[sandeep]

Sorry to go off topic here, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have a heating/AC guy on the board when something like this goes wrong

I kinda want my furnace to fall-apart, just so I can ask nascar.

[DoPeY5007]

Just run a few computers in there and let them heat the place

[eGoCeNTRoNiX]

Originally posted by DoPeY5007
Just run a few computers in there and let them heat the place

LoL.. I already have 4 (well 5 if you count the dually) running.. There are two in each room I use them in at this point in time.. hehe.. I'm just gonna keep using it until it dies.

Carl, I went outside and felt the larger pipe, it was VERY cold. When the A/C is on, the air that it blows is about 49-52*F (per my thermal probe). So A/C not a problem.. If I really need the heat, I'll just use space heaters for now, but I rarely ever use heater myself..

eGo