Tru Air icing up in heat mode

[FDchief]

I am in a Northern CA valley town which is experiencing thick fog. Temperature is 40 degrees. I have ice a third of the way up the condenser fins. I had the interior T-stat set at 72. It ran fine all night this way, but this is the first time in 7 years I have noticed the ice. I shut down the unit, and will use the furnace when encountering high humidity conditions.

Last year in FL, the A/C worked fine in the high humidity, so I am guessing it is a cold weather thing.

I cleaned both interior and exterior condensers and believe I have good air flow.

My question to the group is; do we have defrosters on our condensers like home units do? I am guessing not. Does anyone else experience icing problems in cold temps and high humidity?

[Finhawk]

I have found that under those conditions, ice will form. So my solution is start the furnace before it happens and stay warm.

[autofish]

FD...I have had this happen in Reno seems to be normal just turn unit off and let ice melt off then use furnace. Our units do not have deicers like home heat pumps do so they ice up under some conditions.

[FDchief]

Thanks for the replies. Even when it was iced up it was still blowing warm air so I am confident that this wasn't a low refrigerant issue. I will just take a peek during these conditions and at the first sign of icing, I will switch to furnace.

[a k]

Flip it on AC for about 5 minutes and it will defrost and then start over.

[FDchief]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a k Flip it on AC for about 5 minutes and it will defrost and then start over.

A good suggestion, I will try this next time.

[DancinCampers]

I would let it run, it should shut down if the outdoor coil gets to cold.

The outside coil, along with the indoor coil, have separate circuits for each compressor. Your icing on the bottom half is from compressor #1.

These basement units do not have defrost capability, other than ambient air.

[Finhawk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a k Flip it on AC for about 5 minutes and it will defrost and then start over.

I'm curious! How does the AC come on when the temp in the coach is low already? You must have a different system in your coach

[KIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finhawk I'm curious! How does the AC come on when the temp in the coach is low already? You must have a different system in your coach

Just set the set temp lower than the room temp. If the eat pump is working, even if partially frosted, it should be warmer inside than the outdoor temp.

[Finhawk]

Ok, I'll take your word for it. I won't have a chance to check it out for a while. It doesn't get cold or damp enough in Vegas to have the frost problem. By the time I get back home to Western Washington, it will be too warm to frost up. Guess I'll never know!

[KIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finhawk Guess I'll never know!

There's always next year.

[Finhawk]

Naw, KIX, no more cold weather for me. Had enough in my day. Being a Snow Bird is great!

[Finhawk]

It was down to 26 in Vegas last nite and no icing. One of the advantages of getting out of cold, damp weather

[FDchief]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finhawk It was down to 26 in Vegas last nite and no icing. One of the advantages of getting out of cold, damp weather

Cold and dry here too at Lake Tahoe, CA. I believe that the magic numbers are damp with temperatures just above freezing up to around 40 degrees. I can't wait to be a snowbird starting spring of 2012!