Heat pump snow / ice

[tmshort]

Just went out to check on my two mini splits since we’ve had some snow last 24h. This is my first winter with the units.



Do I need to do anything with this? Looks like all the sleet / ice we had yesterday before the snow built up In there. The bottom of the unit is fine, drain holes are open. Obviously it will impact efficiency but I’m wondering if I should bother trying to hit it with the heat gun or a hair dryer.

Funny, we had an air to air heat pump for years before switching to geo 5y or so ago … I never really checked on that unit during the winter. The shop is clearly more important

 

[gmcgeo]

Throw it in ac mode and it will defrost, or put it in defrost mode

 

[65ranchero]

my Fujitsu has a self defrost mode when needed. I ran it all last winter to test the performance and it worked , but I found the heat to be not to my liking and switched back to hydronic heat

 

[tmshort]

It goes into defrost mode on its own periodically, but the defrost mode doesn't handle this volume of ice (or ice that is outside / away from the coils like this).

 

[mike93lx]

A/c mode will generate a lot of heat at the coil. Plenty to melt that ice

 

[Phuckin' Jim]

Ours does that.
After a few days the ice disappears on its own.

 

[kelpaso1]

Mine does that sometimes. When I see it that bad I shut it off and drape a heavy blanket over it with a small 1500 watt heater under the blanket for an hour. Ice will be gone. I find the auto defrost on mine not to work very well.

 

[jkeyser14]

It will auto defrost, but try to keep it clear of snow if possible so it can maintain unblocked air flow.

 

[tmshort]

They have both been trouble free all winter, I think the issue is that we had a bunch of sleet / freezing rain yesterday and ice built up from that. Plus this is the first big snow we’ve had, and snow has been sucked in by the airflow and along with the ice cause more blockage.

There isn’t any snow build up around them, they are pretty clear of obstructions.

I tried the cooling mode, it didn’t work much (funny, I had the 10kW resistance heater going in here and had both remotes under incandescent bulbs to trick them into thinking it was warmer in here since the min setting for cool is 62F). The outside fans barely ran despite good cold air blowing inside, OAT is in the teens.

I’m gonna try the 1500W heater trick tomorrow, I need to get them cleared up before single digits / subzero this weekend.

 

[fitter30]

Do not throw it in cooling mode. Cooling mode isn't defrost. Defrost turns off indoor fan motors and the processor is looking at certain temps and pressures.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Mine does that sometimes. When I see it that bad I shut it off and drape a heavy blanket over it with a small 1500 watt heater under the blanket for an hour. Ice will be gone. I find the auto defrost on mine not to work very well.

Lmao. The things some people do.

 

[Bretny]

I would be looking to cover that next year. A small metal roofed cover would help alot.

 

[Showkey]

I would be looking to cover that next year. A small metal roofed cover would help alot.

cover or roof will not stop the freezing and icing.

 

[brianh]

cover or roof will not stop the freezing and icing.

Actually it will help, it stops direct freezing rain to contact the coils. I put roofs over mine after a lot of weather that was just above freezing when it rained the units iced. putting the roofs on helped, still get some icing from air humidity but not nearly as much. The defrost cycle has a much easier time getting rid of it.

 

[kelpaso1]

Lmao. The things some people do.

What's the problem? Can you suggest another way to thaw an iced up condenser?

 

[justinjoyal]

Do not throw it in cooling mode. Cooling mode isn't defrost. Defrost turns off indoor fan motors and the processor is looking at certain temps and pressures.

Still works well if you're looking to defrost the outdoor unit rather quickly. Of course it'll blow cold air inside the house meanwhile.

Lmao. The things some people do.

What's the problem? Can you suggest another way to thaw an iced up condenser?

See above. Or let it do its thing, 9.5/10 times it'll be just fine. Although there are exceptions, maybe as in OP's case, with freezing rain/storms.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

You can put your hands above the part where the fan is on the outdoor unit and warm them up when it's in defrost mode. You can also see the heat coming off. Let it do its thing and quit trying to burn the house down.