Vanee 50H unable to balance air flow on fresh

Started by brad_monty10, January 23, 2019, 06:21:09 PM

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brad_monty10

Today got sent on service call to replace flex on hrv flex fresh air ,insulation was wet and dripping. Got that repair done. Went to try and balance hrv. Check pressures with dual port manometer was reading .80"w.c on fresh and .17"w.c on exhaust witch is 70cfm based on chart . The chart stops at .30"w.c.
I try and close fresh air damper and the pressure reading increases to over 1 inch. Removed the fresh air ducting flex off unit and with nothing connected was reading .60 "w.c same thing with closing damper the number increases . Ensured defrost damper was correct . Removed and inspected core in good condition. Inspected the testing ports - clear of obstructions . Called tech and did all these checks as well and then got hung up on ironically. Any help with this would be great. This is driving me nuts that I can't figure it out.  Sorry for the terrible grammar I'm sure, hopefully auto correct did not mess this up to much on my phone.

Admin

Usually wet flex means you have a breach somewhere on the outdoor intake duct.  Either the flex was torn somewhere or it was not properly sealed to the exterior thimble or vent.  Also some areas, like Ottawa, require R8 insulation for the first 10'.  Most people use R4 insulation which doesn't prevent condensation as well.

I'm assuming your fresh is the one that increased over 1".  Did you remove the outdoor exhaust duct and check the readings?  Did you check the outdoor exhaust vent duct for blockages?  Is all the flex accessible?  And make sure the correct vents are installed outside.  Open intake vent and flapped exhaust vent is normally what I see installed.  Make sure the flaps are opening and not frozen shut.

brad_monty10

The exhaust side is all good it's only the fresh that is giving issues , I removed the fresh air
Flex. The thing that is confusing me is with no duct and closing the fresh damper the pressure drop across core increases and with that happening based on the air flow chart should be an increase in air flow but realistically I shouldHave little to no air flow with the damper closed off

I did inspect the hoods and the flex and hoods are correct .
I feel like something weird is happening with in the hrv.
I also adjusted the exhaust to confirm I wasn't incorrect via the pressure drop going down with less air flow and it did what I expected

Admin

Did you disconnect both intake and exhaust ducts and make sure one port is sucking and one port is blowing?  And you checked the manual and made sure the correct ports were used and not mixed up?  I know the ports are labelled but I would still double check the manual.

Are both indoor ducts connected to the return air, and does the furnace fan run when the HRV is on?  Maybe the "fresh air to building" duct is connected too close to the furnace fan. 

I have this problem with Lifebreath and their half dampers, so I install volume dampers on both indoor ducts and adjust those to properly balance the system.
 

brad_monty10

I left the stale air piping alone since it was working fine . I removed the fresh air to building duct and fresh air from outdoors and still had the same issues. I did this to eliminate the furnace or any blockages in the flex or duct