Late Friday Night

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This installation was on a 4-story home, and the tech had not yet gone to the basement to troubleshoot the “infinity” water source heat pump, as he was told he by the homeowner. He was in the attic at the infinity furnace above the 4th floor. He was getting his dcv in the proper range on his A and B green plug on the air handler, 3 to 4 vdc. His indoor board ohm reading was in range, 28k to 32 k. The tech ohmed out the A and B thermostat wires on the water source heat pump from the upstairs. His ohm reading was not in range of a normal infinity board. His reading was around 64.4k. The tech then made the long walk to the basement where the “geothermal heat pump” was located. Bingo.

It’s late one Friday night and you are on a call with a bad OFM (outdoor fan motor). The OFM has seized bearings and you don’t have a replacement on your truck. What do you do? How can you get the customer going?

As field technicians, there isn’t always a by-the-book solution to solve a problem. I want to encourage all techs to think outside the box when solving problems in the field. There is an emergency temporary solution to this; HOWEVER, I caution to only use this as an emergency solution. If you receive a call regarding a bad OFM which is seized and need to buy a day or two to get the correct OFM, here is a trick that may help the customer and you.

Most likely the bearing has dried out and seized. You may be able to do this without completely removing the OFM. Start by removing power from the unit. Next, remove the OFM from the unit. Drill an 1/8” hole in each bearing cap on each end of the motor.