Helpful articles from ARS/Rescue Rooter http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/ http://www.ars.com/images/ARS_RRLogo.jpg http://www.ars.com/ Helpful articles from ARS/Rescue Rooter 290 85 en-us Copyright 2008 ARS/Rescue Rooter http://backend.userland.com/rss 60 My heat is blowing out cold air for the past 12 hours or more. The hot water works fine. The gas company said my pilot light may be out. HELP, WE ARE COLD! http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Cold-air--Please-help.aspx Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT How does a thermostat timer work? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Thermostat-timer.aspx Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT I just moved into an old house and the standing shower, toilet, and sink must be linked because the shower and toilet fills up if the sink water runs. I pulled out some crap but unsure what else I should do. Help! http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Everythings-linked.aspx Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT Two days ago my air conditioner quit blowing out cool air and the fan did not spin. If I go back and flip the circuit breaker it will come back on, but only for about 30 minutes, then you hear it pop. (The breaker never actually flips over.) I turn off the breaker and then I wait 2 to 3 minutes, flip it and it comes back on. Then I start all over again. Will replacing the breaker fix it? (I put in new fuses.) http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Replace-the-breaker.aspx Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT My husband and I are buying a house. The home inspector gave us a list of electrical problems, but we need an estimate quickly in order to stay within our option period on the purchase. If I send you a copy of the list, can you give me a ballpark estimate by looking at it? I can't have access to the house for an extended period of time to wait for a technician to come and do an estimate. I'm really in a bind!My husband says to just send you the list: 1-Whirlpool combo microwave/oven replace bulb in oven (it's under a wired dome), replace analog temperature control display ring, 2-vent hood - replace transition flex flue with solid duct fron overhead cabinet to attic to exterior 3-panel box - tie split 30 amp breakers together at throws for range top, reduce 50 amp breaker to 35 0r 30 amp for microwave/oven 4-install 8' ground rod 5-replace kitchen disposal power cord 6-kitchen outlets not currently GFCI protected (2), nor is garage outlet (1) 7-replace defective wall switch in breakfast area 8-correct polarity of GFCI switches in master bath (2) and on front porch (1) 9-replace wiring cover on outside breaker box for pool 10-properly tape wiring lead to pool pump 11-repair GFCI to pool. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Buying-house;-need-estimate-on-electrical-problems.aspx Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT I’m having a problem with my air conditioning running constantly. What could it be? Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot this issue? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Air-conditioning-running-constantly.aspx Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT Last night it started getting warm in my house, I checked the vents and room temperature air was coming out, I checked the unit outside and I could hear it humming but the fan blades were not turning. I have a 2.5 ton 13 SEER Amana Heat Pump RHE 30c2A which is still under warranty for parts. Would the labor be too much to fix this thing or should I just get a couple of window units (single mother of two on public assistance)? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Fix-heat-pump-or-buy-window-units.aspx Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT I have what appears to be a leaky backflow preventer valve that is attached to my outside spigot. Not even sure if I am using the correct terminology, but all my Internet searches have indicated this is a "non-removable" backflow preventer. The water flows out only when the faucet is turned on (I usually attach a hose to this spigot for watering the lawn), and when I turn the water off, just at the point "before" the pipe is fully off, the water sprays out everywhere. Is this something that I can fix or does this require the services of a professional? (Wish I could upload pictures) http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Leaky-backflow-preventer.aspx Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT My outside fan was not working on my air conditioner. I had a HVAC technician come out and he said the condenser fan motor was bad. The motor was a GE 5kcp39gf 1/4 hp 825 rpm 208-230v. I called and ordered a replacement. The new motor is an AO Smith 4MB33 1/4 hp 2 speed 1075 rpm 208-230v. We installed the new motor (which had 5 wires) to the unit using only three wires per the old set up. The AC works but the fan blades are spinning slowly on the outside unit and the motor seems to be running hot. We were unable to install the new capacitor that came with the new motor because we can't figure out how to switch the wires from the three-prong capacitor to the new two-prong capacitor (which has no markings on it). What I would like to know is what is causing the fan to spin so slowly. Is it the difference in the rpm's of the two motors and, if so, should I return the motor to the company and tell them they gave me the wrong replacement part? Or is the problem our inability to hook up the new capacitor? If the problem is the capacitor, can someone please explain how to hook up the three wires from the old capacitor to the new two-prong capacitor? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Why-does-fan-spin-so-slowly.aspx Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT My air conditioning is not cooling very well in the house. There is air blowing out of inside vents but the air conditioning unit is not working (the fan is not turning) on the outside unit. Is this a serious and costly problem? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Fan-not-turning-outside.aspx Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT The outdoor air conditioning unit will not run though the indoor unit runs. The outdoor unit will only run if you manually push in the contactor. There are two flashing red lights on the defrost board on the outdoor unit. What is the problem and what can I do? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Flashing-red-lights-on-defrost-board.aspx Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT My inside air conditioner unit comes on, but the thermostat is saying 82 degrees even though I turn it down low. The outside unit is not coming on at all. When I turn on the inside unit the outside makes a clicking sound. Thank you for helping me with this issue. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Outside-unit-makes-clicking-sound.aspx Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT The house is extremely hot during the day and it does not actually cool off until the sun goes down. It feels as if the air conditioning is not even on, even though you can hear it running. As soon as the sun goes down and especially at night the temperature in the house is where it should be in the middle of the day. The thermostat is set at 69/70 degrees. There is one room in the house that is the hottest of all the rooms and it is the smallest room in the house. My house is one level. Any suggestions what could possibly cause this? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/House-hot-all-day.aspx Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT My house is four years old and I have two levels with two HVAC units. The air is running good on both levels. The only problem is master bedroom (downstairs) and one room upstairs are always at least two degrees hotter than outside or any other room (no one lives in other rooms). It gets hotter if we turn on the big screen TV in our rooms, and it could be as much as six degrees hotter with the TV on. Can I just move the thermostat inside the room so it can blow out cold air while the TV is on to keep the room colder? Or is there anything else we could do at this point? Like install one more control in the room? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Uneven-cooling.aspx Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT We had an Energywise device installed by Progress-Energy last October. We've lived here since July of 2006 and had a Preventive Maintenance Inspection from you on 2/23/09. The heating & cooling units were inspected on 3/16/09 and 9/4/09 respectively. We have the thermostat set for cooling at 68 degrees. The unit runs, but the temperature in the house gets to 78 during the day. It never gets down to 68 degrees until the evening. What can be the problem? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/House-not-cool-enough.aspx Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT Whenever my air conditioning unit starts up it makes a loud drowning sound as if metal were humming but very loudly. After it is running for a while the noise either dies down or goes away. But it always returns whenever it kicks on again. It basically sounds like the unit is working harder than it should. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/AC-makes-loud-noise-at-first.aspx Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT My air conditioning doesn’t seen to be too cool. I have noticed that the expansion valve and evaporator freeze, and the AC is running all the time. I try to set the thermostat down to 78 degrees but instead the temperature goes up. I was wondering what kind of problem my system may have? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Lower-thermostat-but-temperature-climbs.aspx Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT I have two HVAC (heat pumps) in my home and one of them has stopped working today. The copper pipe inside has ice accumulation and there is of course cold coming out of the unit while the working one has neither ice nor cold air. What's my course of action to get the nonworking unit up and running? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Ice-accumulation.aspx Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT I’m not sure if this is an air conditioning or plumbing question as it deals with the condensate line on our AC unit. We have a unit in the attic and the condensate tray is overflowing and leaking inside the house. We have manually vacuumed the drain pipe outside to remove the water but it just fills back up and starts leaking again within a few hours. We have been manually vacuuming the hose for days and still it leaks. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Condensate-tray-overflowing.aspx Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT My sink was clogged and nothing seemed to work so I finally bought an auger. We put it in the sink and it seemed like it unclogged because the water is not coming back up but now the auger is stuck and we can’t get it out! We have pulled it so hard and nothing...we would push in and pull out and we got a good part of it out but now there’s a good amount of it in. It just won’t come out and the auger has even stretched a lot! How can I get it out?? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Auger-stuck.aspx Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT