hvac
One line IS insulated in the exposed basement ceiling, so I am supposing this frosted & dripping line is the smaller return line? Have a dehumidifier running but the problem remains. What can I do to stop this, it's dripping all over the run of the pipe across 1/2 of the basement.
Thank You.
I looked all over the internet and this line isn't the one discussed.
I'm almost certain any occupied space is required to have a supply and return duct for HVAC.
Not quite sure if you can say it's a common plenum in the basement if the furnace is in another room.
Also - I've never seen a return in the floor. On the wall and in the ceiling. This is speaking from experience working as an HVAC controls field service engineer in my previous life. Running a return should be easy, you could get some flex ducting and run it above your t-bar ceiling.
The suction line (the larger pipe) should never be iced up during normal operation. By the time the refrigerant gets to the end of the evaporator coil, it should be completely boiled off (in a gas state). The bottom few coils may frost up, but the top ones should only be sweating at most.
If the suction line; or more than the bottom third of the coil, is frosted up. You either have an overcharged system, or you're not getting enough air flow over the coils.
Make sure all registers and returns are open, and unobstructed. Check all filters, to make sure they're clean. If you have a multi-speed blower, make sure it's set to run at the proper speed. And make sure it's actually running at, or near the speed it's supposed to be running at.
If none of that helps, have an HVAC technician check the refrigerant level.
Temperature and pressure are the same thing in a refrigeration system, so based on the pressures shown above you can easily determine the temperature of the refrigerant . Assuming this is an R22 system, you'll see that the refrigerant enters the evaporator at 26°F, and leaves above freezing at 43°F. The suction line in this system is above freezing, so no icing will take place. The temperature may be below the dew point, so there may be sweating (condensation).
In this example you can see that the refrigerant enters the evaporator at 26°F, but it leaves the evaporator below freezing at 31°F. Since the suction line in this case is below freezing, there may be frosting/icing of the line. If the temperature of the line stays below freezing all the way back to the compressor, you'll see icing all the way along the line.
In this case, there's not enough air flowing through the evaporator. Because of this, not enough heat is being transferred to the refrigerant.
Sorry, I don't have an image for this. In this situation, you'll see that the temperature of the refrigerant entering the evaporator is so low. That even with good air flow, enough heat cannot be transferred to bring the refrigerant above freezing.
While icing due to low refrigerant is rare, and often requires other problems, it can happen. Because the pressure in the evaporator is so low, the boiling point of the refrigerant is well below 32°F. This causes the coils closest to the metering device to be very cold, which causes moisture to freeze. As the coil freezes, air flow is restricted. As air flow is restricted, less heat is removed from the refrigerant. The freezing slowly creeps through the coil, and eventually makes its way back along the suction line to the compressor.
Best Answer
Temporarily turn off the power to the condensing unit to be certain it's not running at times. You should have a breaker for it in your electrical panel, or a local disconnect box mounted near the condenser itself.
If it's a heat pump the insulated line may freeze for short times normally or if the switchover valve is stuck for longer times.