The low pitched whine stops when fan is in high speed. How exactly could I test this? Can I retrofit a 2-speed or variable speed blower on a Payne PG8UAA forced air furnace? Luci is a contributing writer for DoItYourself.com. Another key difference is that the circulate . During the awake hours I Hold the fan speed at either low or medium. Available from Trane Dealers in select locations. According to the manufacturer's documentation, your furnace should have a 3 or 4 speed blower motor. Dave. The following list refers to each adjustment starting from the bottom and moving upward. How to Convert a Furnace Blower Fan Into a Stand Alone Fan, What to Do When a Furnace Blower Fan Won't Start, How to Replace the Resistor on Air Conditioner Blower Fans. Solution: Install a new sequencer AND a new fan relay, just to be safe. A 90 percent-plus furnace needs 150 cfm per 10,000 Btu of input. There is no humidistat. You will need to look at what the programmed speed designations are for M1/M2/M3/M4/M5 on the wiring diagram of the HVAC unit. 81K views 2 years ago In this video, we are changing the blower speed on a Trane XR 95 furnace so that the forced air furnace circulates more air on heat mode. how to change fan speed on furnace to get more heat from your unit HVAC STARTUP TECHNICIAN 4.6K views 1 year ago Trane XV80 or XC80 Variable Speed Motor Blower Fan Not Working - $9. and our These adjustments can be made by pulling the single wire connector and moving it to another single tab positioned horizontally in each row. low would be 350 CFMs/ton, medium 400 CFMs/ton, high 450 CFMs/ton. But the 'real' one will be the one connected with a twist on cap to the fan motor. Home House & Components Systems Heating & Cooling System Air Conditioners. Its not advisable to slow your furnace blower speed. You need to find the wires that determine blower speed inside your furnace. I have posted an inquiry under the Air Conditioning forum. So the blower motor is dead. Check out our free Quizzes to test your knowledge here! This will allow you to access the control board. Only swap these two wires. Does Nest utilize all the benefits of a communicating furnace, Low speed furnace fan blower motor will not shut off, How to calculate efficiency of old Westinghouse furnace VS new variable speed Furnace. Additionally, they can be identified by the presence of a removable module/bell on the end of the motor. Which thermostat wires control the furnace fan? It is important to know that you cant go by a normal color code to determine the speeds. Batch split images vertically in half, sequentially numbering the output files, Using indicator constraint with two variables. However, they are limited based on the total external static pressure (TESP) in the duct. My main questions are. That will give you the most reliable results for your particular system. The question is would the trade-off be in favor of less blower energy consumption and more loss through exhaust, or more blower energy consumption and less loss through exhaust. I just had a Trane system installed last week and I've been very happy with it! There are also red and brown furnace speed wires. So I continued to play around with different combinations tonight. Design Engineer/Project Manager for injection molded plastic company rev2023.3.3.43278. A 1.5 ton AC unit may not be large enough to cool the . Here are some of them: Better circulation of heated and cooled air. The automatic feature rarely kicks in once at set point. He is experienced in wood and metal construction, having designed and built several houses and metal buildings. I miscalculated. HVAC filters help remove dust, dander, and harmful particles from the air inside your home. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? I'd like to get some second opinions. Typically the colors are: White = neutral speed Red = low speed Yellow = medium speed Black = high speed If you remove the common and place it on another terminal, it can burn out your motor not how you want the new furnace season to begin. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Press Apply to save and exit. But I'm reasonably sure it uses less to run on high vs low then it uses to run on low vs OFF. You have to switch the wires to the blower motor. When you open the panel, it kills the power to the furnace. enjoys making jams and jellies during fruit season along with cooking meals. Comfort R should be off if you are using . They have a built in or attached capacitor that will allow the motor to turn on, turn off and run at a constant speed when running. The house cools off quick - too quick - and feels humid (not sure of the rh%). Most of these are on the bottom left of the control board. Being an bms/controls guy I rarely have enough cfm in large buildings. They do this by coupling a sophisticated, programmable thermostat to a variable-speed motor. These blower motor speeds are programmed at the manufacturer's factory for the specific equipment model number unit it is installed in. This will help prevent injury and damage to the furnace fan. For homeowners who want to upgrade rather than replace an existing furnace, Emerson Electric offers an exclusive replacement blower motor called the Mark Z that can be set by the homeowner on a continuous, slower-than-normal speed. This is NOT a user servicable item. ago. You may freely link There are often five wire colors coming from your blower to your IFC. There are two types of fan motors found in furnaces: 1.) These blower motor versions can be found in furnaces, air handlers, and packaged units. You will also see the red E icon under Emergency . The blower/fan seems to be running way to fast. When the humidity is high for what its set at. In terms of heat pumps, running the external blower faster may reduce i2r copper losses and hysteresis iron eddy current losses. If the instructions are not with the furnace, you can look up the model number of the unit and search for the installation manual via a google search. All Logos & Trademark Belongs To Their Respective Owners, Maintaining temperature over a longer period of time is more efficient than getting a room to temperature quickly, A lower fan speed ensures your heat pump will run for longer periods of time which is required for the system to go into whats called a defrost mode (. The problem is, the furnace control module doesn't use a separate speed when the unit is running in continuous FAN mode. DoItYourself.com, founded in 1995, is the leading independent 01 - Trane Furnace Control Board. I can unsubscribe and opt-out from future communications at any time. *Based on third party testing of particle removal efficiency down to 0.3 microns (2005). Changing the fan wire connection between the fan-on relay and the fan motor, selecting a high, medium, or low speed right on the fan motor itself Changing jumper positions on the control board (printed circuit board shown below) in the air handler Changing a dip switch or small slider switch position provided on some air handler control boards During the awake hours I Hold the fan speed at either low or medium. The boiler is feeding a DHW sidearm and furnace plenum HX. A dirty air filter can cause your HVAC system to go into overdrive and result in costly energy bills. (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=2ba02a33-c319-4410-bba7-f8321a13bed3&cid=877050e7-52c9-4c33-a20b-d8301a08f96d'; cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: "2ba02a33-c319-4410-bba7-f8321a13bed3" }).render("00499ba9282e4d1b985fa8af14d29c2b"); }); On my furnace IFC, the black (high speed) wire is connected to the air conditioning (cool) terminal, and yellow (medium-high speed) is connected to the (heat) terminal. She has experience researching and creating a wide range of home improvement and garden projects, and especially enjoys learning about fireplaces and exterior design. Check out www.acservicetech.com/store. At night with an even lower set point I switch the fan speed to automatic. Air filters are measured by Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values (MERV). Usually there will be three "speeds" ranging from 40 to 100% of airflow. For more information, please see our Remember that a heat pump in heating mode will need to run with roughly the same airflow speed as during AC mode even though it may not be comfortable for the building occupant. Iappreciate all the comments, questions, and responses that Ireceive from each of you. The most important factor is temperature differential - the difference between the inside temperature and outside temperature. This X-13 model shown above designates the speeds taps as numbers, not as colors, to denote each speed. and as I recall, you have the HW VP IAQ stat. Remove the air handler. Each is associated with a different blower speed. Home Improvement Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for contractors and serious DIYers. Most of these are on the bottom left of the control board. However, during the time period while the compressor is not engaged I need to circulate more air on the second floor or it becomes stale. AC Service Tech HVAC Training is made possible by continued support from our visitors, customers, and support from these Sponsors! Put the air handler back. Many gas-fired, high-efficiency furnaces also save on the electricity required to power the blower motor, though this savings is not factored into the AFUE rating. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Most homes have a standard split-system air conditioning unit with two main fans. 3 of the wires will likely terminate with just a twist on cap. If the ohm meter comes back with an open line reading, the switch is bad and needs replaced. With heating oil at $4.50/gal I can assure you without measuring anything that running my blower on low is NOT more efficient from a $$ perspective. The installation guide clearly describes how to set airflow for heating mode and cooling mode. You should now see a red E icon in the System Mode screen next to Auto and Heating modes. homininet 8 mo. The arrow should face the direction the air is flowing. The MERV scale rates filters from 1 to 16. The airflow adjustments on this board are pictured below. If 1600 CFM is too high of an airflow volume and only 1200 CFM is needed because the system is a 36,000 BTU/HR air conditioner, we can swap the yellow with the black wire on the motor module. After understanding what speed each tap is programmed for, we can make proper airflow adjustments. The continuous fan is marked SW3. Also related, with for instance a variable speed furnace, since it runs continuously and reduces "cold spots" you might find you can set it at a lower degree setting than the off/on kind. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. All information is provided "AS IS." In the example of an ECM 3.0 with a 4 pin connector, the wires are not switched or moved to adjust the airflow settings. Step 2: Remove the panel cover of the furnace. -The "AUX Heat" makes sure that there is enough airflow when elect strip heat is called. ECM Multi-Speed Blower Motor (Genteq X-13). By Pressing submit, I consent that my information be shared with Trane approved affiliates and third party partners, including connecting me with a local Trane dealer to be contacted about products and services. Please note that mounting bracket consists of top and bottom brackets joined by 6 metal screws (fig.6.9). Yes you can change it, how to do it is in the manual, yes there can be downsides, no it probably won't fix your air balancing issues. Step 3. Can this be adjusted The NET difference of the above two figures is your savings or cost. bean. How do I check if this furnace switch the blower to second speed. I have a Trane Variable Speed Air Handler (TWE049E13FB2). I recently had have a trane xl 90 want to adjust speed of blower fan blower motor has 4 wires white going to neutral black unhooked blue to high speed yellow to I have a Trane Indoor Air Handler Model No. The wire's color will determine the speed settings that the motor will run at. The blower is set for 400 cfm for a 4 ton outdoor unit, and comfort-R is not enabled (all factory). Divide the rated Btu input by 10,000. Here's what to record, in order of importance: The last two (5 and 6) aren't as important, but more data is always better. In order to determine or change the speed, check the wiring diagram of the furnace/air handler/package unit that the motor is installed in. These three are connected to the "Cool", "Heat", and "Fan" terminals on the control board. I suppose I probably won't do so it, but out of curiosity what kind of downside might one run into? Therefore for anybody thinking to adjust their blower speed to a low setting be mindful and use caution and listen carefully as to how the system is running. Changing your HVAC and furnace air filter is a vital part of home maintenance. I'm not in enhanced mode. Tied from R to BK in air handler. home improvement and repair website. Using a hammer, lightly tap out the blower motor shaft (fig.6.7) to loosen the blower motor from the fan shroud (fig.6.8). Mine has a wall switch. video below! Well, it does make sense that lowering the blower speed would reduce its electrical consumption. He is also an HVACR Contracting Business owner of 16 years and holds an NJ HVACR Master License. *NOTE* If you attempt this, be absolutely sure that you have no power going to your system, especially before changing wires. Should I upgrade to a pcm br compatible thermostat? To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. The same is true when changing the air duct filter. Cookie Notice Air Filter - Be sure to check the air filter and replace if necessary. The arrow should face the direction the air is flowing. Here's hoping for some good answers. After a bit of research, (translated: "mad google skills") I found an article claiming that lowering the blower speed may increase efficiency. Before you begin this process it is a good idea to make sure that no power is going to the fan. The MERV rating is typically printed on the filter packaging, but not necessarily on the filter itself. Turn off power at the main electric panel. Run a jumper from "R" to "Y2" and the blower will run continuously at the second-stage cooling speed. Cut the wire's terminal connector off with wire cutters. The automatic feature rarely kicks in once at set point. Select your preferred wire with the warm temperature and connect it to the 'heat' port. Identify those arcade games from a 1983 Brazilian music video. Switched it to heat (in which case the furnace board is in control of the fan, not the stat) - got fire, no fan. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Once you have located the panel, remove it. At night with an . Our Privacy Policy governs the use of your information. If power is getting to the blower motor, but the motor does not run, the motor may be burned out. Top 10 Spots! The heat exchanger warms up the incoming air and a blower or air handler sends the warm air throughout the home. Its a common occurrence in the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter one room doesnt get as warm or as cool as the others. Typical setups include these wire colors with associated blower speeds. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. #3. Standard blower motors operate at a single speed and cost around $450 to replace, including parts and labor, while variable-speed motors cost $600 and up. There is no mechanism to change this. On this motor module, the speed wires are red, orange, blue, yellow, and black. One fan is inside the house, and one is outside the home. If you are having problems, find your fans users manual and use it as a guide. You need to follow the wiring diagram inside the HVAC unit. Typical setups include these wire colors with associated blower speeds. (FYI Filter was clean and furnace was recently serviced all prior to my initial investigation of the short cycling). Warmup.com mentions that it was the original design of radiant floor heat systems by the Romans. Variable Speed Blower Motor ( Genteq 2.3, 16 pin connector). Cross country truck driver -- over dimensional freight For business related inquires email us at. Connect the black wire to the manometer. CFM stands for "cubic feet per minute." Radiant floor heat web sites are mysteriously silent on this simple and cheap modification of pre-exisiting systems to accomplish the same goal. The fan speed is very low when not heating/cooling. These two losses comprise the magnitude of heat losses. Remove both of these wires and wire nut them together. He farmed commercial garden produce for several years. - Answered by a verified HVAC Technician . On this board, pins 3, 4, and 5 on the SW1/1 through SW1/8 dip switch block have to do with air flow. Step 4: Take out the inducer motor. However, I like the continually run the fan to even out air temperature in the house. I think the best bet would be to actually test it for a few months and see. The video will also explain other safety measures, as well as some for a demonstration which I will show. Questions of a Do It Yourself nature should be Example: Rated Btu Input = 60,000 / 10,000 = 6 x 150 = 900 cfm of required furnace airflow. Usually there will be three speeds ranging from 40 to 100% of airflow. If the pressure switch is functioning properly . The remaining colored wires are the speed selectors for this blower motor.). He maintains fruit and nut trees along with helping his wife with a vegetable garden. I hope this helps you understand how to adjust the airflow speed on ECM Blower Motors! There are several tutorials on Youtube about how to do this step for specific inducer motor brands. On the motor, only one of the 5 numbered taps has 24v power at a time based on the speed desired at the control board. My question was whether the efficiency of heat transfer thru the exchanger would be somewhat compromised due to the reduced airflow. Running your furnace fan all the time isn't exactly a bad thing. The blower fan on this blower has four speeds. If the blower motor is burned out, replace it. A properly fitted filter can also trap unwanted, and oftentimes unseen, pollutants from the air in your home, including: Start with the return vent. Choose the Trane owner guide thats specific to your unit for detailed instructions on locating and changing yourairfilter. He currently has a home shop where he sharpens and rebuilds saws, repairs lawn mowers, mobility scooters, hydraulic jacks, and anything else that comes along. If there isnt one in your home, turn it off at the breaker box. in this thread in this sub-forum in the entire site. Remove both of these wires and wire nut them together. Adjusting the Airflow Speed on ECM Blower Fan Motors! If a clear distinction between the blower speeds isn't obvious in the data, then you're probably not going to save much money either way, so go with what's most comfortable for you. Thanks for the reply. Website operating The line voltage and 24v common are connected at the top and are labeled as C, L, G, N. The 24v common is C and the ground wire is G. For a 120v unit, the L is the 120v hot and the N is the 120v neutral. Realizing this after a very long period of investigation, I eventually turned up the fan speed dial; this seemed to correct the problem initially, until one night a week later lying in bed I heard it do the same thing but but after a much longer run time. So How Do We Adjust Fan Speed? Helm is an accomplished DIY craftsman. All rights reserved. Can you increase the speed of an ECM AC blower? He built every permanent building on his current homestead and did all the plumbing and electrical work. It can happen for lots of reasons, from improper furnace sizing and dirty filters to air duct insulation failures to the room being farthest from the furnace. I assume you are speaking about dip switch settings. Available Monday Friday from 8am to 6pm CST, We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. Only 3 of the 5 colored wires may be used at a time. My gas furnace has two options for the blower speed: MED, and MED-HI. ASE Certified Master Auto Technician This is done so that the maximum amount of heat is gained in the building from the refrigerant. 4TEE3C10A1 That is excessivly loud. Thanks for all your continued support! Now that its gotten cold, we've noticed that several of the heat register barely have any air coming out of them. I've already had a few HVAC vendors give me some specious arguments about moisture buildup, another even told me he'd "lose his license" if he touched the job. When the system calls for heat and the inducer fan begins to run, check each pressure switch terminal. Since I first posted this thread, my installer called Trane to get an answer to my original question. . If your home has multiple HVAC systems, there will likely be at least one air filter for each unit. This is a follow-up to our other article on "Adjusting the Furnace/AC Airflow Speed on a 120v PSC Blower Motor". With a one-gallon-per-hour burner nozzle that saves me AT-LEAST 30% on fuel oil plus another 20-30 min of blower run time or at least 30-50% run time savings. Variable speed furnaces only operate at . Fortunately, theres a simple fix if you look at your furnaces Integrated Furnace Control (IFC) board. You can verify the actual CFM by measuring the TESP of the system and comparing it to the manufacturer's airflow data sheet. Tools that we use: www.amazon.com/shop/acservicetech. I could imagine possibly fewer "warm up cycles" (which also include having to power on the fan) might save something (as well as lower fan speed=less electricity)but as others have noted, while its running (esp. -The BTU/HR size is selectable between 48,000 42,000 36,000 or 30,000 BTU/HR. In the pictured example above, if the #5 speed tap is programmed for 1600 CFM and #4 is programmed for 1200 CFM and #5 is presently connected to the "Cool" terminal on the control board via the black wire, we know that the unit is running at around 1600 CFM as long as the TESP across the unit is not too high. Most furnaces have a relay switch on the door cover. Slowly flashing shows your furnace is on and does not need heat. On my furnace the schematic showed there were three speed settings. See our Privacy Policy for more information. one room doesnt get as warm or as cool as the others. This furnace features the common White-Rodgers Intell-Ignition circuit board. Top Ten Interview Tips to Land that HVAC/R Job! Can a furnace with a variable speed blower be used in a multistory house? I have a Trane XV90 propane furnace with a variable speed blower. Your AC or furnace is designed for a specific type of filter. BarnArtist, locate the wiring schematic on your furnace. Inventor with two patents (weight training – anti-rollback for manual wheelchair) There are often five wire colors coming from your blower to your IFC. http://www.inspectorsjournal.com/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8998&, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. The constant air turn over at a lower set point keeps the house comfortable. Mine. Secure the old speed wire by twisting a wire nut over the end. Not every AC or furnace filter will have an arrow printed on the frame, but when it does the arrow indicates the direction the filter must face. Especially with a high efficiency furnace, however, it may be that the decreased electric bill saves enough to offset the "loss up the flue" not sure. American Standard air handler troubleshooting -The "AC/HP CFM Adjust" is the airflow volume to be set for system, efficiency, comfort. This will show what speed each numbered tap is programmed as. Because the slower air velocity over the heat element is transferring fewer BTU units into the circulated air and they simply go up the exhaust pipe. Variable Speed Blower Motor (Genteq ECM 3.0, 4 pin connector). You could also use the Temp Rise Formula which you can learn about in our "HVAC Temp Rise Formula used to Measure Airflow CFM" video. The fan speed is controlled on the control board for the furnace. thanks in advance. (Without enclosing my house in a climate-controlled bubble). To recap: The service technician might be able to increase (or decrease) the blower speed, but that would probably lower the AC's cooling efficiency. Copyright Usually, gas furnaces have a temp rise of 50F. Sometimes you have to add more ducts to achieve the proper pressure and velocity. It is about 1300-1400 sq feet, but then the basement was finished at some point, more or less doubling the square footage. If the control board is at fault, replace it. There are only a few steps required for most units and having the control will allow you to get your unit to give you the service you need. We have been heating the crawl space in our house for several winters because the ductwork was all torn up from rats. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer). I'd go with logging temperature differential (inside temp - outside temp) vs. energy consumption every day for a month with the blower on high and then for a month with the blower on low. The hot air will rise and heat the floor from beneath, a DIY form of radiant floor heating. In other units, it may be 2, 3, and 4 that are programmed. The noise is there in heat or AC. The house has a 3 ton trane xl20i and an xv80 (4 ton max). You will need to find the main cover panel on your fan. He also builds custom tools for metal working. Example: 1200 CFM is needed for a 3 ton 36,000 BTU/HR system. Note: (High voltage is always going to your blower motor along with the common for the 24 volts. Now, I haven't done the measurement to learn how much electricity my blower uses on low vs high. STEP-BY-STEP REPLACEMENT GUIDE Turn off air conditioning / heat from the thermostat. Cockroaches and waterbugs coming in through the vents was my big clue there. Thanks for contributing an answer to Home Improvement Stack Exchange! I think that when it is in enhanced mode the fan only runs at 50%, you can try changing your dip switches to see.