[Rocksnap]

Originally Posted by Ham_and_Cheese

Forgot to mention - we must have had a power outage over night - the microwave's clock needed to be reset. Neighbors reporting similar.

We do have the SECO surge protector on our meter...

It also blinked out for a second or two around 8:30am
.

If your house was built over the last 3? years, you already have a Code required surge protector on your electrical service panel, below the meter. The Ring is/was not needed.

[JRcorvette]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

A friend had a blank screen on their thermostat when their drain line filled and tripped the switch to stop the compressor. That might be a very quick thing for you to rule out.

Correct… that happened to me. Once I cleared it everything came back on but it takes about 10 minutes.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

In The Villages, the condensation does drain downhill. I have never seem a pump used in The Villages. There is also an electronic float switch in the evaporation drain pan which is designed to shut down the HVAC system when the condensation drain is clogged. If you have an HVAC technician perform periodic maintenance, I would suggest that you require the technician to test the float switch for proper operation.

My float switch is at the top of the drain line, outside the air handler unit. The float is within clear plastic so I can see if there is any water present.

Are there systems where the float and the switch are within the air handler and not visible? If that was the case then it would be possible that the line outside the house is clear but a plug has formed within the unit where it would not be noticed.

A post above this mentioned no obvious clog but vacuuming the line corrected the issue. If the float was not visible then perhaps there was a clog above the flush-out connection on the drain line. The line would appear clear, flushing would not help, but vacuuming might dislodge the clog and fix the problem.

[Andyb]

Originally Posted by Ham_and_Cheese

Anyone else wake up to this treat this morning?

Completely blank screen, phone app can't connect, no breakers are tripped

Called TV Warranty dept and was told that multiple people have called in for this issue this morning

Will update thread once we find out what happened
.

Your drain line is clogged, overflow switch cut it off.

[Isinkdk]

It happened to me yesterday. I reset both breakers and the thermostat came back on. The A H or air handling breaker is the most important.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

My float switch is at the top of the drain line, outside the air handler unit. The float is within clear plastic so I can see if there is any water present.

Are there systems where the float and the switch are within the air handler and not visible? If that was the case then it would be possible that the line outside the house is clear but a plug has formed within the unit where it would not be noticed.

A post above this mentioned no obvious clog but vacuuming the line corrected the issue. If the float was not visible then perhaps there was a clog above the flush-out connection on the drain line. The line would appear clear, flushing would not help, but vacuuming might dislodge the clog and fix the problem.

My float switch is also located outside of the air handler unit. But the only way to effectively test it is to block the drain line and to add water to the drain pan to see if the switch actually works and shuts down the system. If I were paying a company more than $100 per visit to inspect and maintain my system, I would expect the technician to do this periodically to verify that the float switch actually works.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Rocksnap

If your house was built over the last 3? years, you already have a Code required surge protector on your electrical service panel, below the meter. The Ring is/was not needed.

The Seco surge protector mainly protects you from power surges from the power utility and as such their warranty doesn't cover any devide that has an electronic chip installed. The Type-2 surge protection you are referring to in newly built homes protects you from induced surges from everything else. Unfortunately, these surge protectors are the bare mininum to meet the electrical code. You need both surge protectors and I would also call Lenhart or Pikes electric and have a whole house surge protector installed at the circuit breaker panel and at your HVAC and pool and Spa equipment in addition for the best protection.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

My float switch is also located outside of the air handler unit. But the only way to effectively test it is to block the drain line and to add water to the drain pan to see if the switch actually works and shuts down the system. If I were paying a company more than $100 per visit to inspect and maintain my system, I would expect the technician to do this periodically to verify that the float switch actually works.

If your are careful, to test this switch, open it and you should see a ring or plunger. Move it up and your system should turn off. When you release it, your system will turn back on. Yes, as part of your maintenance the tech tests this overflow switch.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by jrref

The Seco surge protector mainly protects you from power surges from the power utility and as such their warranty doesn't cover any devide that has an electronic chip installed. The Type-2 surge protection you are referring to in newly built homes protects you from induced surges from everything else. Unfortunately, these surge protectors are the bare mininum to meet the electrical code. You need both surge protectors and I would also call Lenhart or Pikes electric and have a whole house surge protector installed at the circuit breaker panel and at your HVAC and pool and Spa equipment in addition for the best protection.

I would just add that none of these surge protector warranties will cover anything that is already covered by your homeowner's insurance. So, the only thing they will ever possibly pay for is your insurance deductible.

[Altavia]

Here's an option to keep the drain line clean, especially if you're not around to do the monthly hot water flush.

iFLO | Home

Some microbiology geeking out:. The snot like slime in an HVAC system, is a biofilm (Zoogloea) that forms from a combination of dust, moisture, and microorganisms.

This was not a problem when the coils were copper since that material inhibits microbial growth. Copper is effective at very low concentrations.

Some options for adding copper to a system discussed here:

https://youtu.be/5VOffWjmWkk

Copper sulfate is often used in tablets or crystals placed in the drain pan but they only last a few months.

To avoid opening up the system, 1 oz of copper sulfate (fungicide) can be added to the drain after monthly flushing as a preventative to help deactivate/prevent any remaining mold in the drain line.

https://a.co/d/aGPNbrg

[BFISHER54]

Try turning the circuit breaker off and back on to reset it.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by jrref

If your are careful, to test this switch, open it and you should see a ring or plunger. Move it up and your system should turn off. When you release it, your system will turn back on. Yes, as part of your maintenance the tech tests this overflow switch.

Two points:

1. That will test the electric part, but it will not ensure that water will flow to the switch and activate it.
2. The Sunkool 21-point tune-up says nothing about the float switch. I suspect that some technicians never test the switch.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Two points:

1. That will test the electric part, but it will not ensure that water will flow to the switch and activate it.
2. The Sunkool 21-point tune-up says nothing about the float switch. I suspect that some technicians never test the switch.

I’ll have to look again but I don’t think it is a simple process to test mine. I don’t remember a plunger ant it is situated where it would be difficult to flood it.

I do know that it works though, at least at 4am.

[Ham_and_Cheese]

Originally Posted by GregR

Although the furnace breakers did not show tripped (ie, "middle" position between on and off), turning the air handler breaker (labeled A/H) off then back on "rebooted" the furnace and everything came back up. Also worth noting that on my new build, the A/C and A/H breakers are labeled backwards, so it wouldn't hurt to try cycling both of them off and back on again.

After thinking about it while waiting, I had only cycled the AC breaker - went back out and cycled both AC and AH and that did the trick.

Thanks everyone for the help - hope this thread helps someone else in the future

[jrref]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I would just add that none of these surge protector warranties will cover anything that is already covered by your homeowner's insurance. So, the only thing they will ever possibly pay for is your insurance deductible.

Correct. The insurance they provide is secondary to your homeowners insurance. But you don't buy surge protection to collect on the insurance. You purchase them to avoid having destroyed appliances, devices, TVs, computers, etc, so you don't need to make a claim with your insurance and go through the negotiating process and risk getting a rate increase.

Interesting, we investigated a case where the Villager's dishwasher was destroyed from the surge along with a lot of other stuff but the rest of the appliances were OK. They made the insurance claim only to fine out the refrigerator failed a month later but the insurance case was closed so they lost out. Was the refrigerator electronics effected by the surge or was it coinsidence? We will never know for sure.