Frosty heat pump

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I have a Colman Evcon Cooler X Heat Pump w/EB20A furnace. The other night I noticed the heat pump was all frosted and the fan could not blow any air up towards the sky. So I turned it off. It was about 35* to 40*f outside and kind of foggy/wet.

The next night it was 29*f and dry, heat pump did well and the defrost was working about every 40 minutes.

The brochure says it has a high pressure and temp. safety switch. Should it not turn itself off? And do I need service to check the freon?

Also the A-coil is warm up top, yet cold on the bottom. Is that normal? I blew the dust out with an air hose and vacuumed from the top of the A-coil too.

Does it need a real cleaning? I tried to find the cleaner stuff, but Home Depot did not have it.

Gilles

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You mentioned that the unit did not defrost by itself and you had to turn the power off for awhile to get it to defrost. Then you said the next day it worked. If there is a problem you want to get it serviced before the really cold weather get here. You also mentioned about the coil being warm in one spot and not at the other. This could be normal since the blower is removing some heat but the only way to check is by taking pressure and temp readings on the outside unit. This is why I mentioned calling a professional for service because this type of work is beyond the average home owner skill level and it also takes a certification from the EPA to tap into a refrigerant system.

hvac1000

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Gilles1..rest assured I am not a service man but have helped install heat-pumps and A/C units for about 15yrs. I'm the guy that did all the real grunt work. (cut the holes, ran the flex-lines, hung the air-handlers..etc. etc. etc.) Anyways..to make a long story short...99% of the time when an outside unit freezes up it is on account of the filter where the intake air comes in is dirty. Simple as that. The next likely problem is there is some obstruction in the intake air tract. Perhaps a piece of debri. paper, pair of sneakers hanging in the way..someone moved a piece of fruniture and covered the intake tract...something like that. Check it out and make sure the intake side of the air-handler is clear and unobstructed. Hope this helps...YMHS..Audie, the oldfart!

oldfart

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Well, what I meant was it frosted solid before the 40 minute defrost time came on. From what I've read (just heat pumps in general) the defrost is time generated, or does it somehow sense that it is frozen to cycle the defrost more often? The hot and cold spots I referred to is the A-coil. I know about having to have a the EPA license for the refrigerant. By the way, if it is low, does that always mean there is a leak. the unit is from 1995 and I have no idea if it was ever serviced. Thanks, Gill

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The intake is right over the furnace and I just put a new filter, so no blockage there. How about if the A-coil is dirty. I blew it out with compressed air and vacuumed it. I didn't use any cleaner on it though. I guess I'll just call a tech now just to be sure. Thanks, Gill

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A low charge (leak) or a faulty defrost component will do this as much as a low airflow, so calling a Tech is best.

Take care and best wishes,
Robert

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OK, thanks all. Had a great HVAC guy look at the system and all that it needed was a little charge. Even as we chatted waiting for the needle to level out, I could see all the frost go away He checked off all my handy work (I fixed a low voltage short that burned a defrost board and a 24VAC step down transformer.)all is well. Think I can trust them for an annual check now.

Gil