Ultimate Air Recoupaerator 200DX ERV noise
Hello All,
I purchased a UltimateAir Recoupaerator 200DX in late 2014 but never got around to installing it. It was more an impulsive purchase at that time made in appreciation of a locally made High Efficiency product after watching Mr. Jason Morosko’s videos. But I happened to dilly-dally on the actual installation because I was in the process of going from a central AC to a mini-split situation; I have since installed 2 mini-splits, one on the main level and one in the basement. I have now become serious about adding an ERV to my home, but when I fire up the brand new Ultimate Air Recoupaerator 200DX (stored in my conditioned basement all these years), I find it’s noisy. Although the fans are noisy, I am most bothered about the thumping noise coming from the wheel, which is more like a motorcycle’s “da-da-da-da”. You can hear the noise in the second video in the below; I can actually feel the thumping when I lay my hand on the unit. When I do turn the wheel back and forth by hand, there’s noise as well, which can be heard in the first video. Are these noises, especially the thumping noise, normal?
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_nOI51V8gG1oAbjsKWOyPut1ohPsEz1a?usp=sharing
I sent emails to UltimateAir over 10 days back, so far no response. Their voice message says they are operating with reduced staff due to covid-19. I am thinking about selling the thing to someone that knows the Recoupaerator and knows what they are getting into. I have the PressureGuard accessory and 2 additional sets of pies (one of them low-moisture transfer) as well.
Thanks in advance,
venkat
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
Are you running the unit in an approved orientation? Some equipment wont run well on it's side. The noise in the second video sounds like rotating the core is taking up the slack in drive mechanism.
Core type ervs will generally have a bit more noise from each time the endseal passes over the core slice as it spins. These are normally set a bit tight and wear in to a better seal over time.
All units tend to be quite loud when operated without ducting. A 150cfm unit will sound like a small jet taking off running on boost with no ducting.
Mouting the unit on spring hagers or rubber mounts would also significantly reduce noise transfer.
Thanks for your comments. I have the unit in the standard upright position and it's not yet installed, so no ducts involved. I have checked the wheel motor, belt, etc., and found no slack there. There's a slacky noise in the enthalphy wheel itself (wheel bearings?) as shown in the first video.
I am hoping someone that has the same ERV model is able to check if there's a similar thumping noise and slacky noise from the enthalpy wheel in theirs, so I know if these noises are normal.
Regarding Warranty, the unit is NOT registered for warranty yet because per the manual, warranty registration follows installation and commissioning, which hasn't happened yet in this case.
Just to update everyone, Jason Morosko got back to me. With the unit sitting unused for an extended period of time (in this case 5+ years), the small friction roller that rolls the enthalpy wheel must have developed a flat spot causing the thumping noise. He mentioned that if the noise doesn't go away after a week of running, I should replace the small friction roller.