RDM

You are very welcome. To your question... and there's no dumb questions here - I'm a novice at best with HVAC. Learned what little I know from some honest technicians and from living overseas a lot where harsh environments push systems to the limit. To survive you have to figure things out. The blocks of ice you describe can very well be because of a blocked condensate drain. Yea, it's hot as blazes in the attic - probably hotter than 125F. The thing is, in the enclosed HVAC air handler, it's all relative. Your attic unit is likely totally insulated too, which helps with the efficiency rating for heating and cooling. Many basement units are not as well insulated because most basements are environmentally conditioned, where attics aren't (in most cases). Once the condensate water pools up in the drain tray and touches the evaporator coil, the water freezes and then the water dripping down from above freezes on top of that, and more and more... it builds up quickly and on a humid day can freeze up a coil surprising fast. We have 2-zone HVAC in our house. A couple years ago the basement 4 ton unit froze up. Was a clogged condensate drain. Open up the drain with compressed air and left the cover off the side of the air handler where the evaporator coil is and it thawed out pretty quickly. It's pretty easy to tell if the coil is iced up - there's no air flow from the HVAC vents. You can hear the blower running, but there's no air flow. Many of today's newer systems use a variable speed blower too compared to older systems where the blower is only on or off. With the variable speed blower, when the system ices up, the blower will be on high, but still no air flow. Same exact thing happens in automotive AC systems. Although the evaporative coil is much smaller, the cooling principle is the same. If the condensate drain clogs up even partially, the condensate pools up, the coil freezes and there's no air flow coming out of the HVAC vents. Went through this recently with our SUV. Front AC froze up while the rear AC was working fine. The culprit is/was the combination of a partially clogged condensate drain and driving through an intense t-storm where the excess humidity was too much for the system to drain off. It froze up in about 5 minutes - just like a house AC system, but a house unit is of course much bigger. With many attic units, the condensate drains via a PVC pipe to a vent stack as vent stacks are typically the only access to a drain that penetrates the attic. The pipe should be at least 3/4" to be large enough in diameter to flush out small debris that will accumulate in the drain tray. Some drains may run out the wall of the house. Try to trace the drain and see where it runs. If you can see the end of it, watch when the AC is running to make sure the water is coming out. On a humid day the condensate may actually pour out in a constant trickle. If it drains into the vent stack, it may be difficult to tell how well it's draining. If you can access the attic air handler, pull off an access panel near the evaporator coil. You'll know where the evaporator coil is by where the freon supply (small line - high pressure) and return (larger diameter line - low pressure) enter and exit the air handler. Check the condensate drain tray for debris and/or mold. What often happens is the drain tray is level which prevents the condensate from totally draining off in between cooling cycles. Over time, mold can start growing in the tray. Once that happens it's just a matter of time until the condensate drain clogs up with the mold. The drain tray should have a slight slope to it so the condensate totally drains out the drain line during cooling cycles. This helps prevent the growth of mold. Sorry this is so long - hope it helps with your troubleshooting.

If the evaporator coil (the coil in the air handler) is frozen suggest checking the condensate drain. If it is very humid and/or there is a partial clog in the drain the condensate water may pool up in the condensate tray. Once the water touches the cold coil, it will immediately start to freeze up. It does not take long for the coil to become a block of ice and totally restrict the air flow. Same thing can happen to a car AC system too. Most attic units have 2 preventive measures that help protect against damage from a clogged condensate drain. By code newer attic units must have a high water alarm and a high water AC shutoff float switch that will shut off the air handler when the condensate tray fills up. Older systems may not have this safety cutoff. If your's doesn't, they are typically not complicated to install as a DIY weekend project. The concept of an AC having a slight leak is largely a myth. If there is even the slightest leak in the system, it is typically at the high side filler port next to the outside compressor/condenser unit. Once they start leaking even the slightest amount, the pressures will drop and the system will quickly trip the pressure shut off switch to save the compressor. Unfortunately, there are many less than scrupulous HVAC technicians out there that make a killing from "topping your freon off". They hook up a gauge set, say it is low, connect the R-421 and appear to be adding freon, but they aren't. With R-22 no longer available, even the replacement freon R-421A is outrageously expensive. But to completely fill a system with R-421A is expensive (can easily be $500-$1000 for the freon alone). R-421A is the one-for-one replacement for R-22, but before making the switch from R-22 to R-421 the system should be evacuated first by pulling a vacuum for an hour or two. Then leak tested to make sure the vacuum holds. If the vacuum does not hold solid for an hour or so, there is a leak somewhere.

Have a bunch of locust trees on our property and can relate. They are tough as nails, but brittle too and have a tendency to snap off. Lost two trees to high winds during a "rotation event" that came through Oakton/Vienna about 8 years ago. Snapped off both trunks about 10 feet above the ground. Each trunk was about 20" in diameter. Watched it happen from our front door about 50 yards away. On the good side, locust is one of the few woods that can be direct buried in the ground and is nearly impervious to insects. It splits easy and burns great if you happen to have a wood burning fireplace.

Coming down in buckets here NW of Vienna. .80+ in last 15 mins. Round one around 1730 was "fun". Torrential rain, wind and then hail from the cell that popped up on Reston and headed east. Was outside transplanting when it hit.

That was it. Just far enough away the rain and low cloud deck obscured the flash. The "bang" was pretty intense. What app are you using? I check this one and it didn't show any lightening strike IVO our area at that time. http://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en

Had an extremely loud crack of thunder IVO our house NW of Vienna about 5 mins ago. Much louder than a normal "crack" of thunder associated with a nearby lightening strike. Wonder if there's a temp inversion aloft with the inbound cell that amplified the sound? The stranger thing was we didn't detect any flash. Wasn't a transformer breaker popping - had a long echo to it. Really odd.

Agree. If the NWS radar forecast is even close to correct, the eastern part of the DELMARVA from Richmond east is going to get nailed this evening. It shows the cells developing near the VA/NC border are going to really get going the next couple of hours.

30 for the low here at 05:11 NW of Vienna. Up to a balmy 33 now.

The effects of the solar radiation with the increased sun angle are in full force on the 50x70 asphalt parking pad next to our house near Vienna. Plowed the 2" of snow and slush off this morning so it wouldn't free up tonight. The entire area has stayed wet ever since even with temps hovering around 24/25. No stickage at all with the latest band that went through.

First flakes now in Vienna - 33F - down from 39 at 0610.

Pingers here in Vienna - 34F Down from 39 an hour ago...

Think something is wrong with your thermometer. We're at 36F here in Vienna (dropped 3F in 20 mins) and you gotta be colder out there. Enjoy the snow.

Please keep the PBP coming!!!

Yup - I certainly didn't click anywhere in the body of the email. The sender's email name and domain appear legit... but it has a .org extension instead of .cn Dunno why they zeroed in on me too. Strange.

Randy/all, Anyone else receive an email about registering the americanwx domain in China? Below is the text of the email I just received... ----- Begin Text -------- (Please kindly forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please ignore it. Thanks) Dear CEO, We are the domain name registration service company in Shanghai, China. On February 18, 2022, we received an application from Hongxiang Ltd requested "americanwx" as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names (americanwx.cn, americanwx.com.cn, americanwx.net.cn, americanwx.org.cn). But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China? Best Regards Peter Liu | Service & Operations Manager China Registry (Head Office) Tel: +86-2161918696 Fax: +86-2161918697 Mob: +86-13816428671 6012, Xingdi Building, No. 1698 Yishan Road, Shanghai 201103, China ----- End Text --------

XVI was an interesting game, albeit not with the outcome I hoped for being from Ohio. But neither team really played to their potential. Stafford did pretty good, but the Bengals D totally shut down the Rams running game. And on the flip the Bengals only had a couple bright moments in their passing game, which is normally a strength. Agree with the earlier comment about the Bengals having a bright future. They've invested a ton on their starting D the last 2 years and they are nearly all very young. Some missed calls and/or questionable calls on both sides by the refs. The first pass interference call against the Bengals near the end was petty given the circumstances. Happy for Cupp and his MVP. That guy has a knack for just being in the right place. Runs great routes.

Just drove from Stafford to home in Vienna. Was 54 at Stafford, 48 at the Occoquan, 41 at the Spfld interchange, 38 at 495 & 50 (where the snow mix started) and 37 at home with mix.

Somewhere behind the scenes is a programmer leaning back in his chair with his arms raised in victory above his heads screaming with elation... "Yes!!!!, I got the Mid-Atlantic crew to take the bait again!!!

We're awaiting the pbp with unfettered anticipation!

Any sign of what happens to the ULL that was off Baja in the UL maps a few hours ago? It appeared to be at the end of the fetch from this upcoming boundary wave.

Oh no. That sound ominous... Recall the post you made when earmarked the need for a response.

Yea - I hit send about a half second too quick... My family in Ohio is going nuts with pbp via text... Even though I'm watching too

Indeed. The Bengal's D has done an incredible job in the 2nd half. OMG - just missed an interception in OT.

Suspect many of us had similar experiences. My parents used to say I was going to be a weather man when I was barely old enough to walk. I recall one April 1st in when we had a big hail storm in Ohio when I was about 12. Called my mom at work to tell her about it and she could not hear me from the racket outside. Had tons of golf ball sized hail. She thought I was playing an April Fool's joke and had someone near the phone banging on a bucket until her and dad got home from work. I had evidence in the freezer. They'd already grown tired of my affliction by then... I've often wondered when they finish mapping the human genome if they'll ID the "weather gene" we all share. If so, sure hope they DON'T create a cure for it in the future efforts to cure all "diseases"!

Congratulations to you AND the team! Swimming is both an individual and a team sport (as you know all too well). As a freshman, you'll capitalize on the experience and only get better in the coming years. Share your talent with the others on the team and help raise everyone's performance. People rise to the expectations levied upon them! Good luck in the Regionals!