I’m trying to determine if there are any wiring differences between the two AC options Vanleigh offered (heat pump & non heat pump). We have three non heat pump units on ours and have thought about upgrading one or two of them to heat pump models. If it’s just a straight swap that would be ideal.
Does anyone know if that might be feasible, or if there are other pieces to the puzzle? I know I’d have to enable the heat pump option in the Spyder controls.
Thanks!
Straight up swap. Spyder will need to be told, but that’s not difficult.
Thanks for the info, exactly what I was hoping to hear!
My middle (of 3) AC’s went out a month after the warranty ended. It was barely used since our 370GB was in the shop most of the 3 years we’ve now owned the unit. The good news is we moved the rear AC to the middle and replaced the rear including a heat pump. Bought it on Amazon and took it to the dealer saved enough to pay for the install and then some. Spyder was fantastic, helped all the way through (great Canadian Company). If you have the correct Spyder panel they’ll talk you through it in 5 minutes. Just got it out of the shop this week, haven’t used it yet. Always felt the heat pump should have been in the lounge area, like our first 5er, fireplace in the bedroom and I use hot water to shower.
Replacing AC units can be expensive. Our middle unit went out a few years ago, and we ran with just the two others. When the rear went out I replaced both myself and the help of a neighbor with a tractor to get the new units up and the old ones off the roof. Wish I had ordered our unit with the heat pump option, but that was the one option I didn’t select lol.
I think our middle AC just died again since I can see oil coming from it (just like the last two), so I have to get a mobile tech out to replace it and this time time I’ll be getting one with a heat pump.
Copied this from Stewart as it tells you all you need to change the setting in Spyder.
There isn’t a whole lot to configure with the codes for the spyder system outside of changing to a different unit or enabling some functions like when adding an additional AC. You do this by going into settings, holding “coach model” for 7 seconds and entering the code 1478.
Yep… enter code and toggle on the heat pump feature for the ac unit you desire. My rear ac had the heat pump toggled on, but it was ac only… so I turned off the heat pump option for rear ac.
We had the new AC installed Monday. The old one had sprung a leak in the refrigerant lines. Looks like they had been rubbing together and eventually rubbed clean through allowing the refrigerant to all leak out. The replacement unit uses the new R32 versus the R410A the old one used. They say that is supposed to be more efficient.
I also got the new unit with a heat pump and am curious as to the expected behavior and operation. I enabled the heat pump option in the Spyder system so I now see that option for that AC. When selecting heat pump, the icon changes to a 3 vertical wavy lines and turns red if there is a call for heat. It just doesn’t seem to do anything. I don’t hear the compressor or fan running and don’t feel any air coming out warm or otherwise.
Before calling the mobile tech back out, I was wanting to know if there might be anything else that was needed to do other than the setting change in the Spider system.
Thanks
I am not recalling any other settings in the Spyder for it. Danny installed our unit and I did the Spyder portion of it and since the heat pump was a new option I enabled and tested. You are spot on the call for heat operates the fan and compressor.
Been thinking about this and now wonder if maybe the control box on the roof in the unit has to be setup to enable a heat pump unit. The control box on my 3 units all look like this -
So maybe that last unlabelled slot was for a heat pump control wire? I think the GL & GH are the fan speed control wires, the B- might be the compressor and the Y common. (Just guessing lol)
If anyone has a working AC with heat pump and knows or has a pic of their control box it’d be nice to confirm if I’m missing a connection. It does look like there is an extra green wire bundled with the other 4 that is not connected to the control box, so not sure if that is part of the puzzle or not.
Thanks
I dug a bit more and found wiring diagrams on the manufacturers website and think I answered my question.
Wiring diagram for the control box installed. All 3 have this model control box and is referenced as a cool only control box.
This control box looks to be the one I need as it has additional wiring for heat options. Now I just need to confirm with the manufacturer and purchase if it’s not too expensive.
