Atwood Air Command Heat Pump ducted

[Bob Vaughn]

Any one who has one of these heat pumps enlighten me on the operational sequence ....mine will run approximately 2 minutes then the compressor shuts off. Atwood says that is normal.....but at 50 degrees outside temp it will never bring the inside temp up to 70 degrees....mine will not run long enough to raise the temp....

[Duckogram]

Here you go: http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ml#post1747619

[cavie]

Last week there was a post stating that Atwood admitted that was not how it is supposed to work. Which is very true of a heat pump system. It should cycle no differently than any AC system.

[Randyman64]

Originally Posted by Bob Vaughn

Any one who has one of these heat pumps enlighten me on the operational sequence ....mine will run approximately 2 minutes then the compressor shuts off. Atwood says that is normal.....but at 50 degrees outside temp it will never bring the inside temp up to 70 degrees....mine will not run long enough to raise the temp....

Bob,
I have the Atwood heat pump and I like it, however it does have some quirks.

First, in heat pump mode, it will run the fan and "sniff" the temperature of the incoming Air. If it is at setpoint, unit doesn't run. However, heat rises, so heat is near the roof and meanwhile you are chilled sitting on the couch.

The temperature sensor is not mounted on the wall as you expect but in the ceiling unit. A little adjustment is required to get the desired room temperature requested due to this. Also, and this is important, that the unit is set with the low temperature shutoff (outside limit). IIRC, the default is 44 degrees. So, about the time you really want heat, the heating shuts down. Not to worry, this is adjustable but outside the scope of this post.

Ok, once the outside limit is adjusted down so it will run in temperatures lower than 44 degrees, it will put out heat.

If you change temperature a large amount, (5-7 degrees above ambient) or if the heat pump detects no change in Air temperature after while, it will engage the furnace.

If this happens 2-3 times, it will lock out the heat pump because it thinks it is unable to keep up.

After the desired room temperature is reached, it will shut down. It WILL cycle the fan every very few minutes to check the temperature.

If for some reason it is not heating properly, the unit may need checked. If it won't heat, it may not cool when you need it.

Directions for adjusting the limits on the heat pump are in the manual or in lieu of that can be found online.

Something else of note. A ceiling fan can be run in reverse to blend the air in the coach to allow the unit to check the true air temperature a little more accurately.

The unit will also turn on the compressor a bit before the inside fan to allow it to preheat the coils.

Hope this helps!