A/C Crankcase Heaters (on a Trane)

[jadnashua]

Well, it still tripped, so I replaced the cb this morning with a 20A one, which was the limiting factor for the supply wiring. So far, other than the drain plugging up and leaking all over the carpet, it's been working...hopefully for a long time.

I did search out a condensate trap to replace the pieced together one that's there that can't be cleaned easily. I bought one of these http://airtec.rectorseal.com/condens...trap/cleartrap from an e bay vendor pretty cheap. Looked a little around town, but couldn't find anything and didn't want to waste gas looking further.

BTW, looking inside at the compressor, the heater thermostat and body of the compressor and wiring was pretty pristine - not bad for 7-years. I usually do shut the breaker off over the winter - the 40W heater, probably continuous over the winter, still adds up.

Thanks to all that responded - I don't deal with these things too often other than as a user - adjust the thermostat!

Now, the (25-year old) power protector I had in the system died a month ago, and I bypassed it. I can buy the same model, but the replacment is this one: http://www.patriot-supply.com/files/icm491_ss.pdf. I have an ICM490 in there now. Question is, is it worth installing a new one? Biggest advantage to me, seems like during a power outage, and reapplication of power, it would prevent the system from operating until things stabilized - cheap protection. I had it interrupting the 24vac circuit so neither the air handler nor the compressor would turn on until the power stabilized. Not sure if it ever kept things off from a severe brown-out - I didn't have the low-level cutout adjusted very low. The 491's price is lower than the old 490, so seems like that would be the better choice.

[DonL]

Found a Fluke clamp-on ammeter that I liked, model 324 - true RMS a/c current with the ability to check capacitors. It's a new model, and not that many places have it yet, so there's not much competition on the pricing. Just didn't want to spend money on a tool that wouldn't get used very often. Amazon has the older version (without the cap check) for a fair discount, but it's also not RMS. Guess that really doesn' tmatter that much if you're just doing comparisions, but prefer RMS capability. Don' twant to spend the premium to get one that can do DC current, too. The price almost doubles!

I hope you have things working Jim.

If you need a good Meter that works and do not need to do a drop test, then take a look at this one.

The Fluke has been overrated for years.

Compact True RMS Clamp Meter
Perfect for general purpose applications, this compact clamp meter measures AC/DC voltage, AC/DC current, resistance, frequency and duty cycle.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/72-7226

It is not a Fluke but it gets the job done for us poor folks. I take care of my test equipment and have had no problems with this brand.

MSRP is $119 and it can be had for $49.99.

PM me if you need a code to get that price.