Any ClimateMaster Tranquility owners to swap maintenance issues?

We are working on our DIY site and support. Eventually we will have u tube presentations of many of these tasks.

 

My climatemaster in Oklahoma

Had a contactor go out in about 18 months. No problems getting it replaced.
I do not use any antifreeze. Lowest EWT is 40 with record cold in Jan or Feb of 11. Okie is cooling dominated, the summer puts plenty of heat in the ground for use in the winter, Love it, way cheaper than propane!

 

Climatemaster Owner

cscigu,

This is a bit off your original thread but I too am a ClimateMaster Owner located in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. My units are a 4 ton tranquility 27 and a 3 ton Tranquility TMW. The 27 has been in service since last December and the TMW went into service back in June. So far both units are working fine but I do have some concerns. First a little background. The house is a 2150 sq. ft. bungalow with a full basement. The basement is built with ICFs and the rim joists have 5" of medium density spray foam all the way around. Upstairs the exterior walls have 3.5" of medium density spray foam and 5" of the same foam covers the entire roof deck. All windows are triple glass with two layers of gas. All in all it should be a fairly well insulated house and sevon tons of geothermal should be capable of keeping it warm. So far we are just getting into winter with daytime temp at -1 to -6 C. Nightime drops down to -5 to -10 the past few days. The house is keeping warm but my concern is my thermostat shows the 27 unit is running 12 hours a day. I can only eyeball the TMW but I'd say that it too is running 12 hours a day if not more. This seems pretty high to me. You or anyone else have any comments? Thanks.

 

Sounds high for a very well-constructed home, although perhaps necessary so far north

Was a load calc performed?

Run times seem high for what sounds like mild weather relative to what's coming. You probably need boots on the ground to verify operating parameters are within spec.

What is "medium density" foam? What is its aged R-value and density in pounds per cubic foot? The reason I ask is that the foams we use come in low density, open cell 0.5 PCF R 3-ish per inch OR high density, closed cell 2 PCF, R-6-ish per inch

Is your foam either of those or something different?

 

2 units

It is also possible the one unit is trying to satisfy more than its design zone. I've seen basement radiant units being run to try and heat upstairs for example. When there really wasn't a way to do this based on how things were built.

I am assuming you have two units for different zones.

 

What is the supply temp for the TMW and do you have an outdoor reset? What kind of radiant system do you have?
Keep in mind that the Tranquility 27 is two stages, so running for 50% in 1st stage sounds more than normal at outside temps between -1 to -10 celsius, which should be 50% of your load.

 

ClimateMaster Systems

Thanks to Engineer, Earthbuoy and Docjenser for your input. Engineer, what I have is Walltite Eco. They refer to it as a medium density foam but it's probably close to what you call high density.

Earthbuoy, the water to air unit is heating the main floor level. The water to water unit is feeding 5 different zones in the basement and garage. I do have to be careful about keeping my zones separated. The water to air unit has outlets in the basement for air conditioning so if I don't keep them closed during the winter then the one unit diverts a lot of heat to the basement and the basement hydronics don't have much need to run. I do have them separated so we should be OK.

Docjenser, the water temp in my mass storage is about a 100. The mass storage tank feeds 5 zones controlled by Stratos Eco Valves. Temp drop across the manifolds is about 20 degrees.

The more I talk to people the more I am hearing that 12 hours a day in 1st. stage is probably normal as Engineer suggested. I've been going around the house and there are a few small leaks here and there that I will close up and this will probably help. Again, thanks for your input.

 

20F delta T is too high, you should try to get the flow higher in order to be able to lower your ELT (=buffer tank temp) by 10 or more degrees F. 10 degrees lower buffer tank temp will increase your efficiency by about 15%.

 

I have had two air coils go bad in three years on my Tranqulity 27 4 ton unit. I instsalled my unit in 2012, replaced first coil in 2014 and just got another coil from CM this on the 21st Sept 2015. Why are these coils leaking? What could I be doing wrong to cause them to leak?

Thanks everyone!
Steve