FYI Heat pump trick

[Neal]

While my heat pumps aren't bad the one over my bed can get into a "grind" mode where there is some vibration and it becomes obnoxious, otherwise it's not bad. Of my two roof unit setup typically my rear unit does the work probably due to poor placement of the sensor (thermistor) at the half bath wall so it's being heated/cooled by the rear unit. Due to the way Newmar runs the duct work where either unit covers the entire coach, last night I ran up the front temp 2 degrees higher than the rear so it would run. In fact the rear unit never had to run and I was comfortable in the bedroom and I didn't have to deal with the noise. So the lesson learned for me may be to leave the rear HP off and just use the front HP and it will adequately heat the bedroom as well without the overhead noise.

 

[Richpatty]

I agree. We have also used this method to help with noise. We run a front unit (usually #2) during the night, the bedroom unit (#3) during the day ( when we are up front most times) and we run number #1 mostly when driving.

Certainly when it is very warm or cold, we will run what is needed.

And with the Micro-Air thermostat I can adjust without getting out of bed.
Rich

 

[Dona40]

I had one unit that started making more noise than the others. It had one loose rubber mount causing the fan to hit the frame and cracked it. Tightened the mount and replaced the fan blade. All good now. Something I will check on my yearly service from now on.

 

[docj]

I had one unit that started making more noise than the others. It had one loose rubber mount causing the fan to hit the frame and cracked it. Tightened the mount and replaced the fan blade.

I don't know what model heat pump you have, but one of my Coleman Mach8+ heat pumps just had a similar situation. In my case the motor had literally gotten free of its mount and destroyed the fan blades. The replacement motor has a redesigned mount.

One thing I did notice after the repair was that the air flow, in general, had improved. I think the fan had been out of position even before the catastrophic damage had occurred.

 

[JRS]

Have you or anyone else tighten the HP to the roof? The gasket will depress over time and leak.

 

[docj]

Have you or anyone else tighten the HP to the roof? The gasket will depress over time and leak.

My HP's were just installed <2 years ago. That wasn't the problem. The water issue went away as soon as the fan motor and squirrel cage was replaced.

 

[JRS]

Glad it was resolve Joel. Was actually thinking of Neal's issue with the vibration issue because mine needed a slight bit of tightening when I served them last August.

 

[Neal]

I definitely need to get up there and check security of the unit and components. When I started this trip there was a strange vibration noise as if something was in it which has gone away. An inspection is in order.

 

[RandyB]

To expand on the same “trick”, you can reverse the logic in the evening by heating/cooling with the rear units while occupying the front area. Then, to get real fancy, program your thermostat to do the swap-over for you!

 

[AbdRahim]

I had a piece of loose metal tape making a racket in mine. I found it with the endoscope camera. The solution was to ope the A/C on the roof and reach down in the duct to remove it.