Carrier heat pump code 82 - thermal lockout

Woke up the other day and the furnace fan was running, but the house was cold. The heat pump should have been running as the OAT was 41 degrees. I found the 50 amp breaker in the panel for the heat pump tripped so I reset it. The heat pump ran, though it did seem to sound a little different, and heat was coming into the house. About 10-15 minutes later, the breaker tripped again. No error codes from the furnace. I checked the outdoor pull to shut off fuse and the wiring inside, all good. I then pulled the capacitor and checked it. It is rated to 80 nU and 7.5 nU +\- 6% and tested at 78.5 and 7.6, so it is good. I reset the breaker and let the heat pump try again with the same result and this time noticed the heat pump flashing code 82. I then tested the windings for the outdoor fan motor, but am not sure if I did it right. It is a single phase with three wires, brown, yellow, and black. I got a reading from brown to black, but nothing from yellow to brown or from yellow to black. I didn't unplug the wires, I just put the leads on the contacts where they were plugged in. Does that mean one of the windings in the motor is bad and would that cause this problem? The unit is 5.5 years old. I also tested the same three wires for voltage when the heat pump was running. I think it was 240 between yellow and black, 207 between brown and black, and 270 between brown and yellow, but I can't quite remember.

"It is rated to 80 nU and 7.5 nU +\- 6% and tested at 78.5 and 7.6, so it is good."

Where do you live ? . Sometimes the language barrier may convert things different.

That may be a Flux Capacitor and needs to be replaced with the exact value.


Good Luck.

Whoops. I meant 80 and 7.5 mF not nU. microfarads. I'm in western Washington. 78.5 is well within the 6%.

Update: It is fixed. It turns out the wires to the breaker itself weren't screwed in tight enough. Strange that suddenly after five years it would consistently trip after 10 minutes or so but that is what it was.

Great that it was a easy fix.

I bet your compressor is happier.


Enjoy.