With aluminium wire , it is always recommended to use deox , tighten the terminals, wiggle the wires, re tighten , do this three times . This prevents cold flow ( the aluminium wire becoming loose later. )
Hey I installed a surge protector with my mini split but it seemed like it had stranded aluminum wiring- I'm not sure but it certainly wasn't copper. Any install procedures for the small guage stuff like that? Nothing mentioned in the shitty instructions
@@Total6666 So I was doing some reading on Nolox (or similar) and the reasoning. The main difference between copper and aluminum at the connections is the copper oxide remains conductive but aluminum oxide becomes resistive. So de-oxide used at the junction coats the aluminum to slow/prevent oxidation and includes an abrasive to etch through any existing oxide. Since aluminum will expand more you also really need to torque the crap out of any lugs.
@@Mike80528 yes and Besides torquing the aluminium and copper stranded wires, wiggle the wires back and forth, then tighten . Do this at least 3 times and this will prevent cold flow also.
I have a heat pump. Work up one day to a cold house. Found the 50 amp breaker tripped. It has two breakers, one 50 amp with one 10kW heat strip and one 60 amp with the other 10kW heat strip plus the fan. Or at least that's how it was SUPPOSED to be wired. The installer swapped the feeds for the 60 amp and 50 amp breakers, so the 50 amp breaker was powering the 10kW heat strip and the fan. That's why it tripped. I swapped the feeds around so they are correct and it hasn't tripped since. A little attention to detail from the installer and it would have been done right.
That was great preventative maintenance! It was Shitty to use aluminum wire for that application in an attic and under rated to boot. You probably saved them from a fire 🔥 Thanks again for a great video! 🇺🇸 👍
This is also why aluminum wire is no longer approved for residential buildings. The loose wire at the breaker is extremely common due to heat and contraction/expansion issues and it is also common to come loose and burn up using bolt connectors, especially when connected to copper wiring. Of course the fact it was carrying too much amperage made it much worse.
I could be wrong, and i know code varies pretty broadly by location, but i would double check the ampacity for aluminum cable. Type UF would be direct burial cable rated at 60C as well as NM-B (Romex as most of us know it). This appears to be type SEU which is essentially service entry cable, rated for 75 or 90C depending on its insulation make up, so technically rated up to 50/55A. That being said with it running through the house and how much more you have to baby AL wire i completely respect the decision to de-rate the circuit given the choice to just swap a breaker and a couple parts!
It’s strongly advised to use the noalox or any brand of antioxidant on stranded aluminum wires. Also, get a torque screwdriver to make sure the breaker is torqued to the manufacturer’s specs. That will help insure a tight connection. Those aluminum wires can be easily under torqued or over torqued. I think it was a good call to replace the breaker with right size.
I really enjoyed this fix. As I recall, that 40 amp breaker should see a max of (80%) and that would be your 32 amps. How nice. As other commenters have said: "They could have had a fire." Thanks.
I noticed that you have the NATE certification logo on your van door.I just passed my Core exam and Gas furnace installation exam last week through my employer.Im looking forward to doing the heat pump installation test as well as some of the service related tests in the future.
aluminum is such a pain because of how it expands and contracts; you should get a torque screwdriver so you can tighten breakers to the specified torque. also, looks like one of the trussing webs is starting to split. you should let the homeowner know to have someone check it out.
We gotta HVAC Guy some new wire cutters!!! Thanks gor the upload brother. MUCH APPRECIATED!!! Happy Holidays to you and and family. Stay WARM this weekend!!!! Its gonna hit 22 this weekend where im at in Gainesville FL 🥶
Had a service call at a sports clothing store. Both (twinned) gas furnaces were on one circuit breaker (20 amp). And the breaker would sometimes trip. I had to recommend that they call an Electrician. (I still work 4 days a week...been doing service calls since 1973).
I wouldn't use aluminum on anything less than a 100 amp service just due to the fact, smaller aluminum wire expands and contracts too much. The wire has to be larger and every termination needs anti-oxidant. Ive seen dryers, ranges, and water heaters melt down because of the wire failing. The wire expands and contracts so much and a lot of lugs don't accept aluminum wire anyways, it backs the set screws out causing a loose connection. Once you get down to #2 aluminum required for a 100 amp service, the expansion and contraction isn't as great and doesn't pose as much of a problem that multi-wire branch circuits do.
Pretty much every electric stove in any house around here built in the last 40 years has aluminum wire feeding it. I've never heard of any problems with it.
@@brianleeper5737 ... no problem provided it's big enough. It takes #4 Al to do a 50 amp feed.... and even then there's no fudge factor. A 50 amp breaker is maxed out.
@@rupe53 It's a tad more complicated than that. According to the ampacity tables, if you are using type USE cable, 6 AWG aluminum, and 75C rated terminals, the rated ampacity of that 6 AWG aluminum is 50 amps. It is only when you use using 60C rated terminals with TW or UF cable (and I don't even think aluminum TW or UF is even made anymore) that you are limited to 40 amps. Because circuit breakers have 75C rated terminals and so does the range outlet, use of 6AWG aluminum USE with a 50 amp breaker is allowed.
@@brianleeper5737 ... you are correct in that using the different temp tables will get you different numbers, but I see this WAY too often and people are cutting it too close. BTW, if you use wire that's big enough then you can stop looking at that temp chart. #6 Cu is good for a minimum of 55 amps and stranded THHN can push a bunch more than that.
Aluminum wire needs to be checked everything serviced. You will find lose on high amp draw. That's why it terrible on that application . Also treat all connections with the treatment . Found that a lot when copper wasn't available or so costly. Have a great day.
A friend's house had a fire because of the aluminum wiring in the house (thankfully it was a small fire)so he just had the whole house re-wired from top to bottom to eliminate all the problems created with the aluminum wiring
it looks like that wire was allowed and passed inspection back then, going by the age of the panels interior and house construction. it wouldn't pass code today though, as it has changed. used as an actual service entrance wire, the aluminum 6-6-6 SE(U) is rated 60 amps at 90C temperature. used indoor as feeders to something would use the 60C wire rating column now due to code changes, so 40 amps max as you stated. it already being there would be OK as is, just replace the panel breaker and re-terminate the ends getting rid of any thing overheated, it probably was never retorqued after the original install and either heat cycling loosened it or someone worked in the panel "moving" it around causing it to loosen further. of course downsizing the heat kit is the best quick fix solution, as long as it's enough to heat the home.
There can also be a Bad Contactor on heat strips called a ghost short. It only pops Breaker when the emergency heat strips are activated. The 24v coil is shorted. Keep that in mind. Good catch. Also power companies knowingly have to much Dirty power going to the Entire House over amping Everything in the house. And with the New appliances they all have boards and Boards don't take over amping. EMP Shield is the only thing you can do to protect the entire house and they are really reasonable. Power companies are in on it...
I just took an emergency Amana PTHP call from a hotel in Lancaster, they've installed both the spare units, they're totally booked, and this "tundra blast" begins at 08:00 Hrs (in 2:00 Hrs). I'll wind up installing a new heat strip set, new blower wheel/end bearing, and "Broad-Ocean" fan motor. The weak point is the fan motor, I've had three "totally locked", straight outta the box; from (both) Supply House, and NorthStock. This turns an hour job into 90 minutes minimum, and requires that I carry at least 4 Broad-Ocean motors, just to be certain that two will function properly. Stay warm, everyone...
Yours is the first post I have seen about a Broad Ocean I assume ECM? I have two Carriers one with a Broad Ocean going on 2.5 years. My other Carrier has an X-13 didn't make it 2 years. Up until 6 months ago (haven't checked since) there wasn't a rescue motor for a Broad Ocean. I called the rescue motor company and they said the BO hasn't been reversed engineered yet. Have you heard anything different?
@@scotts4125 Sorry, Scott, these are Amana Goodman PTAC Indoor Evaporator Fan Motor 0131P00054SP's sourced from Supply house; the replacement stock just received is a OEM Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co. part # ZWK465A00301, 0131P00029, D1410100300397; and requires a control board upgrade, as it's a 4-speed versus 2 speed. This HVACR business was spawned from a Motorola Two-Way Comms Dealership, and was initially Carrier/ICP Comfortmaker. My former business partner, also named Scott, and I both are capable of doing Surface Mounted Device repairs at the component level. He tells me the Vietnamese-made ECM motors aren't his problem, it's the MOSFET's in the silastic-potted control circuitry inside the top part of the motor. Any type of static seems to fry them "open", and repairing them is damn near impossible because of the toughness of the conformal coating they use. Hope this helps!
@@AMStationEngineer Wow I used Motorola two ways for years. I even had one that was an HDX phone before cellular. I had these devices called converta comms (sp) to put the radios in to charge and use a standard mic. The system I was on used repeaters all over So. Fl. The system always broke down in one way or another. Fun times. Now we are on tablets and apps and I can almost say the old system probably worked better when it worked. lol Don't get me started on Salesforce. I didn't realize Broad Ocean had an entire line I thought it was just ECM's. It's always mosfets going in board repair also. Thanks for the info.
if they get banged too hard in shipping, the housing ends can pinch down against the bearing washer and rotor ends. making it not turn or very stiff, holding them by the shaft, using locking pliers or a bench vice better yet, you can pry/hammer with wood block or pull/push at the outer housing parts and probably loosen them back up. alternately, support the bottom housing by the outer diameter and drive the shaft inwards. probably voids warranty and I'd only do that in an emergency short term repair.
I worked on a commercial building a while back. They were having electrical problems, air compressors not starting, some appliances burning up. They called me in to work on the compressor, after several hours, found there was nothing wrong with the 120 VAC compressor. Some of the longest runs in the building were well over 300 feet. They had 20 amp circuits for the outlets. They had 10AWG wires connected to the 20amp breakers.. It gets worse, eight feet away in a large junction box, the 10AWG wires were wire-nutted into 12AWG wires, which ran the entire lengths. Most wire tables I've seen show 12AWG for 20amps. For your average home that's probably reasonable. They don't seem to show the maximum lengths you can run. I believe the maximum voltage drop under load should be 3 percent. That was the problem, too small of a wire gage. I believe my calculations indicated it should have been 6AWG for that length for the maximum allowable drop. 8 would probably have been OK, but certainly not 12. The cost to rewire this building would have not been acceptable, so I informed their handyman to limit what plugs into where. If they have to run a compressor, plug it into an outlet closer to their service panel. I have an app on my phone from a company called "south wire." It calculates the various lengths allowed at various wire gages. You can even put in the maximum allowable voltage drops. Power quality is an entirely different subject, reactive loads, computer switching power supplies, etc. I also noticed the aluminum connections were dry, eventually connections will go bad, need re-tightening. Jim
When ever I replace a breaker in a panel I leave the wires in when pulling the breaker out and the same when I’m putting it back in, prevents me from getting too close to that big L1 and L2..⚡⚡
I would have taken a little different approach…I would have disabled one set of the two strips already there then gave a price on changing the wire to a 6-2 CU like it’s supposed to have…that way they would still have heat until a time available to change the wire
I would have pulled a new no.6, and a no.10 and put 15 kw heat strips in it, I haven’t seen many houses that I couldn’t pretty easily run a new wire into the breaker box.
I have questions: Why downgrade the customer’s heating capacity just to match the load on the wire and breaker? Why not leave the heating coils as they were and have an electrician upgrade the circuit with new wire and breaker? Are the existing breakers rated for aluminum wire use? Did you use an antioxidant on the terminals?
Just a heads up Curtis, Rheem will continue to make the heater kits with breakers. The Rheem heat kits are the same part number with -1 at the end. My local Ruud dealer (Dealers) has them coming in soon. Worry not!
Good video. Have a question or 2. Do you only use your torque screw driver on certain types of wires in panel. And why did you stop using the boot protector on your drill. Thanks
What’s up Curtis? Great job as always brother! Can you do me and the community a favor and turn on CC for every video? I think there’s a setting that you can do that so they automatically show up, on a lot of your content it doesn’t show up it’s says CC not available for this video. Thanks in advance keep up the good work and keep cranking out the videos and doing excellent work!
AL is a nest of hornets. If you are carefull you can get along but 1 bad move and all the hive is on your face (and the property on fire). IDK the code at your place but in HU wago-s and copper are standard like 1990 and still are house fires due to overloadel AL wires and improper al-cu connections. AL is still used in aerial powerline due to small weight and good connectivity but there is code how to terminate such wires, at the meter and only copper is allowed in post 2k installations. Take care and use thick copper :D
its funny every home i had wiring was wrong. breaker , 14 wire sb 12. too much on 1 circuit. jennair wrong breaker toaster oven.. and i have had 12 of them.. like bathrooms shower doors always leaked, failed tap test..
So you were going off of KW not amps? 🤯 You would think the higher the amps you should be good.......as I write this I figured it out it's over amping and running causing the system to run in high amps when it should have been tripped and stopped it from running so high in amps. Lol I hope I make sense and I'm correct? Please let me know if I'm wrong I would really like to know 🙏
If you read the manufacturers instructions you cannot leave aluminum going into the air handler, only into disconnect. also a violation of florida building code
hey Curtis that alum wire will loosen over time because alum expands and contracts more than copper, but some use it because it is cheaper. You must put the No Ox grease on the ends and tighten it over the years for it to work correctly. I usually recommend having bigger wire ran over de-rating the equipment.
Alright, Curtis thanks for the video as always have a question for you or someone in the chat. 7200 (your kw of heat strips) divided by 240 amps gives you what? What are you looking for, I know the answer for the math is 30 but 30 what?
@@raygunsforronnie847 Alright, amps is what I was going after, thanks. I am still learning this trade and appreciate people's knowledge helping me out.
Are those breakers even rated for Aluminum, if not might explain the loose connections due to expansion/contraction! Even if rated for Aluminum loosening due to just normal expansion/contraction causes breaker connections to need checking and tightening during annual inspections!!
Exactly, the manual states that all aluminum connections need to be re-tightened and inspected for corrosion yearly, that's why we never run aluminum on anything less than service wire.
Do you ever recommend to the homeowner to have an electrician come out to do a check? Seems like if there’s one major problem there’s pretty likely going to be more..I’m paranoid now due to a recent electrically caused attic fire, I had an old Federal panel, too..
@@HVACGUY I think everywhere else too, except no one bothered to tell me, I found out by looking it up on the net..I was getting rid of it and as much of the 1950’s wiring as I could, but the insurance never sent an agent to the house, never requested any investigation whatsoever, and wasn’t going to pay for any of the replacement costs until I said that this was my direct response to the fire, and trying to make the house safe. I had a new service installed, new panels/breakers, and a surge protector covering the whole house and one in the sub panel too, it has a circuit that goes back outside to my chicken coop, so I figured why not protect that too..
@@craigerickson8712 not at first..Farmers never even sent an agent to examine the fire damage. It was only after I wrote a letter saying the panel change out was a safety issue in direct response to the fire damage, then the agent several states away said he’d put it on the estimate..
Quick question though. How were you reading an amp draw but not reading voltage when you were checking the breaker at the main panel? Is your meter not working correctly? Thanks for the videos you provide by the way!
So correct me if I'm wrong but at 240v, drawing over 40 amps is ~10kw? Isn't that *really* high for a heat pump? Or was it powering resistive heating strips due to cold temps?
They called in an electrician which went the extra cheap route. We would always run copper and add a service plug and a light. It is code in many places to have a service plug and light to service the equipment.
use a dial caliper for thickness look at chart this wasn’t just installed so how can it run fir so long with no problems just now tripping hmmm lose connection cause over heating i would cut and strip it if its burnt
Usually on the electric heat kit it said use copper conductor only. The right way to take care of the problem is run a new wire number 6 copper with a 60 amp breaker if there were to to a fire he is responsible
Filming with a GoPro strapped to your chest (or in this case at times stuck to or set on a metal surface), in an attic, by yourself, while trying to stay safe and get the job done efficiently is not an easy task!
@@Kevin-mp5of he is not filming videos for likeness....he is sharing a little bit of what he does for a living!!! And many of us are thankful for that.
With aluminium wire , it is always recommended to use deox , tighten the terminals, wiggle the wires, re tighten , do this three times . This prevents cold flow ( the aluminium wire becoming loose later. )
Hey I installed a surge protector with my mini split but it seemed like it had stranded aluminum wiring- I'm not sure but it certainly wasn't copper. Any install procedures for the small guage stuff like that? Nothing mentioned in the shitty instructions
@@chrisE815Use deox and use the same process as I posted. No issues with aluminium wiring if the proper preparation is done.
agreed!
@@Total6666 So I was doing some reading on Nolox (or similar) and the reasoning. The main difference between copper and aluminum at the connections is the copper oxide remains conductive but aluminum oxide becomes resistive. So de-oxide used at the junction coats the aluminum to slow/prevent oxidation and includes an abrasive to etch through any existing oxide. Since aluminum will expand more you also really need to torque the crap out of any lugs.
@@Mike80528 yes and Besides torquing the aluminium and copper stranded wires, wiggle the wires back and forth, then tighten . Do this at least 3 times and this will prevent cold flow also.
I have a heat pump. Work up one day to a cold house. Found the 50 amp breaker tripped. It has two breakers, one 50 amp with one 10kW heat strip and one 60 amp with the other 10kW heat strip plus the fan. Or at least that's how it was SUPPOSED to be wired. The installer swapped the feeds for the 60 amp and 50 amp breakers, so the 50 amp breaker was powering the 10kW heat strip and the fan. That's why it tripped. I swapped the feeds around so they are correct and it hasn't tripped since. A little attention to detail from the installer and it would have been done right.
That was great preventative maintenance! It was Shitty to use aluminum wire for that application in an attic and under rated to boot. You probably saved them from a fire 🔥
Thanks again for a great video! 🇺🇸 👍
Yeah, that would be Ruud awakening...
Zero Appliances of this demand allow aluminum wires to directly feed…
All require copper conductors be attached.
Did you just say aluminum UF is romex?
UF is direct burial NMcable… I think what you had was SE…
panel run is now what 1k..maybe more
This is also why aluminum wire is no longer approved for residential buildings. The loose wire at the breaker is extremely common due to heat and contraction/expansion issues and it is also common to come loose and burn up using bolt connectors, especially when connected to copper wiring. Of course the fact it was carrying too much amperage made it much worse.
this is my first time i get to kick back and have no heat calls im retired this year lol you guys will be slammed for weeks good luck and stay warm
On Aluminum conductors you really should be using Noalox or Ox-Gard to prevent oxidation on them . i do agree with the 7.2 kw on that tiny wire .
It’s a Good thing you’re a Contortionist up in that attic. Enjoy your videos and Respect you even more for being a Small Business Owner. 👍🙏
You have a very high work ethic. That is also something very rare these days.
I could be wrong, and i know code varies pretty broadly by location, but i would double check the ampacity for aluminum cable. Type UF would be direct burial cable rated at 60C as well as NM-B (Romex as most of us know it). This appears to be type SEU which is essentially service entry cable, rated for 75 or 90C depending on its insulation make up, so technically rated up to 50/55A. That being said with it running through the house and how much more you have to baby AL wire i completely respect the decision to de-rate the circuit given the choice to just swap a breaker and a couple parts!
It’s strongly advised to use the noalox or any brand of antioxidant on stranded aluminum wires. Also, get a torque screwdriver to make sure the breaker is torqued to the manufacturer’s specs. That will help insure a tight connection. Those aluminum wires can be easily under torqued or over torqued. I think it was a good call to replace the breaker with right size.
also should you only use 80% of the wire rating for heat of ac ?
Curt if you keep up at this your gonna make a good tech one of these day's 😂😅🤣 Thx as always for posting ... Good job ...
I really enjoyed this fix. As I recall, that 40 amp breaker should see a max of (80%) and that would be your 32 amps. How nice. As other commenters have said: "They could have had a fire." Thanks.
I noticed that you have the NATE certification logo on your van door.I just passed my Core exam and Gas furnace installation exam last week through my employer.Im looking forward to doing the heat pump installation test as well as some of the service related tests in the future.
God bless you for doing the right thing..... most guys would keep moving on to the next call. Excellent !!
Not everyday you get to work with a nice clean panel 😌⚡️
aluminum is such a pain because of how it expands and contracts; you should get a torque screwdriver so you can tighten breakers to the specified torque.
also, looks like one of the trussing webs is starting to split. you should let the homeowner know to have someone check it out.
We gotta HVAC Guy some new wire cutters!!! Thanks gor the upload brother. MUCH APPRECIATED!!! Happy Holidays to you and and family. Stay WARM this weekend!!!! Its gonna hit 22 this weekend where im at in Gainesville FL 🥶
Wow!
here in florida codes is pull disconnect at a/h and condenser
Had a service call at a sports clothing store. Both (twinned) gas furnaces were on one circuit breaker (20 amp). And the breaker would sometimes trip. I had to recommend that they call an Electrician. (I still work 4 days a week...been doing service calls since 1973).
Good job Curtis Ty
That wire is called 6 seu and it can be put on a 50amp breaker
I wouldn't use aluminum on anything less than a 100 amp service just due to the fact, smaller aluminum wire expands and contracts too much. The wire has to be larger and every termination needs anti-oxidant. Ive seen dryers, ranges, and water heaters melt down because of the wire failing. The wire expands and contracts so much and a lot of lugs don't accept aluminum wire anyways, it backs the set screws out causing a loose connection. Once you get down to #2 aluminum required for a 100 amp service, the expansion and contraction isn't as great and doesn't pose as much of a problem that multi-wire branch circuits do.
Pretty much every electric stove in any house around here built in the last 40 years has aluminum wire feeding it. I've never heard of any problems with it.
@@brianleeper5737 ... no problem provided it's big enough. It takes #4 Al to do a 50 amp feed.... and even then there's no fudge factor. A 50 amp breaker is maxed out.
@@rupe53 It's a tad more complicated than that. According to the ampacity tables, if you are using type USE cable, 6 AWG aluminum, and 75C rated terminals, the rated ampacity of that 6 AWG aluminum is 50 amps. It is only when you use using 60C rated terminals with TW or UF cable (and I don't even think aluminum TW or UF is even made anymore) that you are limited to 40 amps. Because circuit breakers have 75C rated terminals and so does the range outlet, use of 6AWG aluminum USE with a 50 amp breaker is allowed.
@@rupe53 If you think I'm wrong, ask someone with an electrician's license to explain it to you.
@@brianleeper5737 ... you are correct in that using the different temp tables will get you different numbers, but I see this WAY too often and people are cutting it too close. BTW, if you use wire that's big enough then you can stop looking at that temp chart. #6 Cu is good for a minimum of 55 amps and stranded THHN can push a bunch more than that.
Nice 👍🏽, doing the right thing !
Good job! Someone forgot to check the gauge size/max amp chart when the system was installed & compare it to the air handler & heat strip amp draw
Aluminum wire needs to be checked everything serviced. You will find lose on high amp draw. That's why it terrible on that application . Also treat all connections with the treatment . Found that a lot when copper wasn't available or so costly. Have a great day.
A friend's house had a fire because of the aluminum wiring in the house (thankfully it was a small fire)so he just had the whole house re-wired from top to bottom to eliminate all the problems created with the aluminum wiring
Thanks for an interesting, educational video
Merry Christmas Curtis
Man those terminals looked loose. Great video
Well done Curtis, have a Merry Christmas 👍🍷
it looks like that wire was allowed and passed inspection back then, going by the age of the panels interior and house construction. it wouldn't pass code today though, as it has changed.
used as an actual service entrance wire, the aluminum 6-6-6 SE(U) is rated 60 amps at 90C temperature. used indoor as feeders to something would use the 60C wire rating column now due to code changes, so 40 amps max as you stated.
it already being there would be OK as is, just replace the panel breaker and re-terminate the ends getting rid of any thing overheated, it probably was never retorqued after the original install and either heat cycling loosened it or someone worked in the panel "moving" it around causing it to loosen further. of course downsizing the heat kit is the best quick fix solution, as long as it's enough to heat the home.
There can also be a Bad Contactor on heat strips called a ghost short. It only pops Breaker when the emergency heat strips are activated. The 24v coil is shorted. Keep that in mind. Good catch. Also power companies knowingly have to much Dirty power going to the Entire House over amping Everything in the house. And with the New appliances they all have boards and Boards don't take over amping. EMP Shield is the only thing you can do to protect the entire house and they are really reasonable. Power companies are in on it...
I just took an emergency Amana PTHP call from a hotel in Lancaster, they've installed both the spare units, they're totally booked, and this "tundra blast" begins at 08:00 Hrs (in 2:00 Hrs). I'll wind up installing a new heat strip set, new blower wheel/end bearing, and "Broad-Ocean" fan motor. The weak point is the fan motor, I've had three "totally locked", straight outta the box; from (both) Supply House, and NorthStock. This turns an hour job into 90 minutes minimum, and requires that I carry at least 4 Broad-Ocean motors, just to be certain that two will function properly. Stay warm, everyone...
Yours is the first post I have seen about a Broad Ocean I assume ECM? I have two Carriers one with a Broad Ocean going on 2.5 years. My other Carrier has an X-13 didn't make it 2 years. Up until 6 months ago (haven't checked since) there wasn't a rescue motor for a Broad Ocean. I called the rescue motor company and they said the BO hasn't been reversed engineered yet. Have you heard anything different?
@@scotts4125 Sorry, Scott, these are Amana Goodman PTAC Indoor Evaporator Fan Motor 0131P00054SP's sourced from Supply house; the replacement stock just received is a OEM Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co. part # ZWK465A00301, 0131P00029, D1410100300397; and requires a control board upgrade, as it's a 4-speed versus 2 speed. This HVACR business was spawned from a Motorola Two-Way Comms Dealership, and was initially Carrier/ICP Comfortmaker. My former business partner, also named Scott, and I both are capable of doing Surface Mounted Device repairs at the component level. He tells me the Vietnamese-made ECM motors aren't his problem, it's the MOSFET's in the silastic-potted control circuitry inside the top part of the motor. Any type of static seems to fry them "open", and repairing them is damn near impossible because of the toughness of the conformal coating they use. Hope this helps!
@@AMStationEngineer Wow I used Motorola two ways for years. I even had one that was an HDX phone before cellular. I had these devices called converta comms (sp) to put the radios in to charge and use a standard mic. The system I was on used repeaters all over So. Fl. The system always broke down in one way or another. Fun times. Now we are on tablets and apps and I can almost say the old system probably worked better when it worked. lol Don't get me started on Salesforce.
I didn't realize Broad Ocean had an entire line I thought it was just ECM's. It's always mosfets going in board repair also. Thanks for the info.
if they get banged too hard in shipping, the housing ends can pinch down against the bearing washer and rotor ends. making it not turn or very stiff, holding them by the shaft, using locking pliers or a bench vice better yet, you can pry/hammer with wood block or pull/push at the outer housing parts and probably loosen them back up. alternately, support the bottom housing by the outer diameter and drive the shaft inwards. probably voids warranty and I'd only do that in an emergency short term repair.
I worked on a commercial building a while back. They were having electrical problems, air compressors not starting, some appliances burning up. They called me in to work on the compressor, after several hours, found there was nothing wrong with the 120 VAC compressor. Some of the longest runs in the building were well over 300 feet. They had 20 amp circuits for the outlets. They had 10AWG wires connected to the 20amp breakers.. It gets worse, eight feet away in a large junction box, the 10AWG wires were wire-nutted into 12AWG wires, which ran the entire lengths. Most wire tables I've seen show 12AWG for 20amps. For your average home that's probably reasonable. They don't seem to show the maximum lengths you can run. I believe the maximum voltage drop under load should be 3 percent. That was the problem, too small of a wire gage. I believe my calculations indicated it should have been 6AWG for that length for the maximum allowable drop. 8 would probably have been OK, but certainly not 12. The cost to rewire this building would have not been acceptable, so I informed their handyman to limit what plugs into where. If they have to run a compressor, plug it into an outlet closer to their service panel.
I have an app on my phone from a company called "south wire." It calculates the various lengths allowed at various wire gages. You can even put in the maximum allowable voltage drops. Power quality is an entirely different subject, reactive loads, computer switching power supplies, etc.
I also noticed the aluminum connections were dry, eventually connections will go bad, need re-tightening.
Jim
400 amp service to home resident upgrade. Power company does not increase
size of Service Drop to the property.
When ever I replace a breaker in a panel I leave the wires in when pulling the breaker out and the same when I’m putting it back in, prevents me from getting too close to that big L1 and L2..⚡⚡
I would have taken a little different approach…I would have disabled one set of the two strips already there then gave a price on changing the wire to a 6-2 CU like it’s supposed to have…that way they would still have heat until a time available to change the wire
Whats the part name of the clear box you affixed over the power switch on the unit? I would like to get a couple of those.
I would have pulled a new no.6, and a no.10 and put 15 kw heat strips in it, I haven’t seen many houses that I couldn’t pretty easily run a new wire into the breaker box.
Nice work
I have questions: Why downgrade the customer’s heating capacity just to match the load on the wire and breaker? Why not leave the heating coils as they were and have an electrician upgrade the circuit with new wire and breaker? Are the existing breakers rated for aluminum wire use? Did you use an antioxidant on the terminals?
You would have run a new wire with no access to most of it, better to match what you have already.
Just a heads up Curtis, Rheem will continue to make the heater kits with breakers. The Rheem heat kits are the same part number with -1 at the end. My local Ruud dealer (Dealers) has them coming in soon. Worry not!
Do they use alot of aluminum wire in Georgia
Good video. Have a question or 2. Do you only use your torque screw driver on certain types of wires in panel.
And why did you stop using the boot protector on your drill. Thanks
What’s up Curtis? Great job as always brother! Can you do me and the community a favor and turn on CC for every video? I think there’s a setting that you can do that so they automatically show up, on a lot of your content it doesn’t show up it’s says CC not available for this video. Thanks in advance keep up the good work and keep cranking out the videos and doing excellent work!
Just turned it on. It’s not always available to me
Thanks 🙏 keep up the good work
AL is a nest of hornets. If you are carefull you can get along but 1 bad move and all the hive is on your face (and the property on fire). IDK the code at your place but in HU wago-s and copper are standard like 1990 and still are house fires due to overloadel AL wires and improper al-cu connections.
AL is still used in aerial powerline due to small weight and good connectivity but there is code how to terminate such wires, at the meter and only copper is allowed in post 2k installations.
Take care and use thick copper :D
Working with attic and rooftop installs puts us a few steps above the rest.
Why do they put the attic unit so far away from the attic access in the south? In AZ they are couple of feet away with a sturdy floor
Hey Curtis, from Albany Georgia
That wire appears to be SE cable which is rated for 50amps.
its funny every home i had wiring was wrong. breaker , 14 wire sb 12. too much on 1 circuit. jennair wrong breaker toaster oven.. and i have had 12 of them.. like bathrooms shower doors always leaked, failed tap test..
You are AWSOME!!!!!!
So you were going off of KW not amps? 🤯 You would think the higher the amps you should be good.......as I write this I figured it out it's over amping and running causing the system to run in high amps when it should have been tripped and stopped it from running so high in amps. Lol I hope I make sense and I'm correct? Please let me know if I'm wrong I would really like to know 🙏
If you read the manufacturers instructions you cannot leave aluminum going into the air handler, only into disconnect. also a violation of florida building code
Georgia not Florida.
Hes not in Florida. Codes are different everywhere
I've been in situations like y9
Check your Contactor that you pulled out of old Heat strips I Bet it's Bad
hey Curtis that alum wire will loosen over time because alum expands and contracts more than copper, but some use it because it is cheaper. You must put the No Ox grease on the ends and tighten it over the years for it to work correctly. I usually recommend having bigger wire ran over de-rating the equipment.
Alright, Curtis thanks for the video as always have a question for you or someone in the chat. 7200 (your kw of heat strips) divided by 240 amps gives you what? What are you looking for, I know the answer for the math is 30 but 30 what?
Uh... 7200 Watts divided by 240 Volts will give the Amperes (30).
@@raygunsforronnie847 Alright, amps is what I was going after, thanks. I am still learning this trade and appreciate people's knowledge helping me out.
Are those breakers even rated for Aluminum, if not might explain the loose connections due to expansion/contraction! Even if rated for Aluminum loosening due to just normal expansion/contraction causes breaker connections to need checking and tightening during annual inspections!!
That breaker panel looks too new to have any breakers so old they aren't rated for aluminum.
It's from lack of pm. Connections should be checked at least yearly like you said.
Exactly, the manual states that all aluminum connections need to be re-tightened and inspected for corrosion yearly, that's why we never run aluminum on anything less than service wire.
Do you ever recommend to the homeowner to have an electrician come out to do a check? Seems like if there’s one major problem there’s pretty likely going to be more..I’m paranoid now due to a recent electrically caused attic fire, I had an old Federal panel, too..
FP panels are outlawed here
@@HVACGUY I think everywhere else too, except no one bothered to tell me, I found out by looking it up on the net..I was getting rid of it and as much of the 1950’s wiring as I could, but the insurance never sent an agent to the house, never requested any investigation whatsoever, and wasn’t going to pay for any of the replacement costs until I said that this was my direct response to the fire, and trying to make the house safe. I had a new service installed, new panels/breakers, and a surge protector covering the whole house and one in the sub panel too, it has a circuit that goes back outside to my chicken coop, so I figured why not protect that too..
@@johncspine2787 i have fpc too . Did you get help ( coverage ) with your panel change out ?
@@craigerickson8712 not at first..Farmers never even sent an agent to examine the fire damage. It was only after I wrote a letter saying the panel change out was a safety issue in direct response to the fire damage, then the agent several states away said he’d put it on the estimate..
Quick question though. How were you reading an amp draw but not reading voltage when you were checking the breaker at the main panel? Is your meter not working correctly? Thanks for the videos you provide by the way!
Disregard. I watched the video once more and saw that you shut-off the breaker.
i thought that ws a good idea , going with a 7.5kw. I would have been like, you need a electricians..
I've seen too many fires with aluminum indoors
So correct me if I'm wrong but at 240v, drawing over 40 amps is ~10kw? Isn't that *really* high for a heat pump? Or was it powering resistive heating strips due to cold temps?
This was just the resistive heat strips.
It’s surprising that whoever installed this Furnace Setup didn’t Add an Outlet for a Light Bulb up above the Area that you’re working in. 🤔👍
They called in an electrician which went the extra cheap route. We would always run copper and add a service plug and a light. It is code in many places to have a service plug and light to service the equipment.
use a dial caliper for thickness look at chart this wasn’t just installed so how can it run fir so long with no problems just now tripping hmmm lose connection cause over heating i would cut and strip it if its burnt
What is that 6_2 se cable?? Al
I believe others have noted that, so I think so yes.
Over a Decade ? Do some people down South never have to use use their Heat Switch on the Thermostat ? 🤔😬
Not much
@@HVACGUY Thanks for confirming. Keep up the Strong 💪 Effort. 👍🙏
Some winters yeah!!! Its usually pretty warm down here (for the most part) lol
Already said need deox with aluminum wire but why even bother with aluminum so bad for smaller wire.
Utube needs to fix the screwed up CC.
Romex is not UF. UF is underground feeder.
Electricians seem to love it.
👍👍👍👍
Hey man, if you could verbalize more what you're doing?!? Explain it to me like I drive alone in my car with a mask on lol
That noalox myth will NEVER DIE!
Myth?
Usually on the electric heat kit it said use copper conductor only. The right way to take care of the problem is run a new wire number 6 copper with a 60 amp breaker if there were to to a fire he is responsible
a fuse?
Out of curiosity, are HVAC techs allowed to work in electrical panels where you are? Or are you an electrician as well?
No, im not an electrician, but we are allowed to work on anything from main panel to the unit.
You are not suppose to use aluminium wire on electric strip heat or on outdoor condensor units read manufacturer instructions copper wire only
831 thumbs uP
Don't put your tools on customer's appliances.
Poor camera work - you need to film the work not the side of your arm and head
Filming with a GoPro strapped to your chest (or in this case at times stuck to or set on a metal surface), in an attic, by yourself, while trying to stay safe and get the job done efficiently is not an easy task!
@@Kevin-mp5of he is not filming videos for likeness....he is sharing a little bit of what he does for a living!!! And many of us are thankful for that.