Trane XV95 Furnace XB14 AC

gporter1970

10 years ago

Over winter had a 60k btu XV95 and 2.5 ton XB14 installed. Dealer quoted unit with new thermostats, wires pulled, additional zone added, Honeywell Zone Control Board, and Honeywell Electronic Thermostats. That's what they did on install.

At start up furnace cycled on and off repeatedly. Checked thermostat set up and paper work finding I had a single stage Tcont600 thermostat (trane) and CPH was at 5. >90% is listed as 3cph in set up. I was also disappointed to find out I was using a single stage thermostat for my fancy new furnace. New zone is basically one room and the air velocity in stage 2 is high with whistling noise.

Last week the hot weather came and the AC didn't work. Owner came out and found loose wires in the zone control panel. AC came on and ran all night non-stop. The next day the temp in the house again rose to 80. This was Friday afternoon and they said they couldn't return until Monday.

Over weekend I checked the dip switch settings and found the AC size was set to 2.0 ton and 400cfm per ton but unit is 2.5 ton. CFM was 800 vs. 1000. Also noticed Comfort-R was off. Noted the heat settings were at Medium Low instead of normal.

Owner came out and I talked to him about the settings. He set to 2.5T and moved the heat to Normal cfm. I asked about the staging control and my concerns for the furnace going to 2nd stage with only 2 ducts calling for heat in the small zone. He said don't worry you can't damage that blower or heat exchanger. The dats will shut it down and Trane has a good warranty. I asked about controlling from thermostat or zone control and he said it wasn't necessary. Zone panel is HW311 which is 1H1C. He upped the delay from 10 minutes to 15 minutes for stage 2 heat, set the AC size correctly, turned on Comfort-R, and checked the refridgerant charge. Before he left I recorded the dip switches and found he again set them wrong so he set them again.

He felt my cooling problem was due to low air flow with the switches set wrong. He thinks the heat staging is OK. I am worried about damaging the blower or H/E when the small zone calls for heat alone. By the contract, he gave me what he said although it isn't really optimal control. Do you think it is worth trying to get these guys to bring the controls up to speed or just move on and either live with it or get someone else to do it? I don't want to have warranty issues down the road so I will stick with a trane dealer. I don't have much confidence in this companies ability to set up a system after so much trouble already. I understand mistakes happen but the controls aren't optimal and set up wrong multiple times.

Any recommendations on how to proceed?
GP

Comments (6)

mike_home
10 years ago
Your story is an example of how a bad installation can ruin a top of the line furnace. In my opinion why you have described is unacceptable and not honest mistakes. I would be suspect of any contractor who tells me not to worry about his mistakes because Trane has a good warranty.

My recommendation is to keep calling the contractor until the system is operating properly. You could try bringing in a Trane Comfort Specialist with zoning experience to review the installation. Sometimes the second contractor does not want to get involved in these situations. Perhaps at some point you may have to cut ties with this guy and go with someone who knows what he is doing. It would make sense to do this after the one year labor warranty has expired.
tigerdunes
10 years ago
gptj

Mike offers good advice.

Most distributors of Trane and American Std HVAC in larger cities/markets have in house residential specialists. They do make house calls. That would be my starting point.

Also there are independent HVAC consultants who could give you an analysis. Of course, that would come with a fee.

Zoning small areas can be problematic. It does not sound like your installing dealer is up to the task. Is he an authorized Trane Comfort Specialist dealer?

IMO

This post was edited by tigerdunes on Fri, Jun 7, 13 at 14:10
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gporter1970
Original Author
10 years ago
I contacted a trane comfort specialist to have the system reviewed. I will get a price from him to correct what has been done already. I have absolutely zero confidence in the other company. I don't think they understand the system or are simply not used to people wanting the system optimized. I paid good money and don't want this thing set up to ruin it.

The installing dealer is not a trane comfort control specialist.

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I didn't get notifications of the repsonses. I'll have to keep checking back.

GP
gporter1970
Original Author
10 years ago
I had the other guy come out. He wants to put a bypass duct. He said a new zone board and one new thermostat for the main house with the duct work will be $1-2K.

I still can't keep the AC going. The dats keeps tripping, even with both zones calling for cool. The compressor keeps cycling on/off. It is just above the coil - about 3" above. Is it too close?

It is on the branch from the plenum to the main house zone but very close to the coil.

Thanks
GP
mike_home
10 years ago
Your first contractor did not do a good job on the basic installation. I am not surprised the zoning works poorly. Even good contractors are challenged when it comes to designing a zoning system that works well.

Have you explained these problems to the second contractor? Has he explained to you how his fixes will solve the problems?

As a temporary fix try closing the vents nearest to the thermostat. This may help reduce the amount of cycling.

I would be very annoyed if I had to pay a second contractor to fix the first contractor's problems. The some of the money is going to the bypass and the better thermostat so you will be getting something you don't have. The rest is labor and materials to fix the mistake.
gporter1970
Original Author
10 years ago
When the second contractor came out we focused on zoning and making it work with "smarter" controls. I would prefer staging control by thermostat or zone board, not furnace timer. The bypass is to reduce the pressure and air noise in the small zone. Not sure I want to spend that kind of money on a brand new system.

The AC is cycling off due to low temp limit on the DATS. It is doing it with one or 2 zones calling for cooling so it may not be an airflow problem. The thermostats are not making the unit cycle.

GP