Heat Pump Repair · Bay Area

What we do

Heat pumps are the system the Bay Area is moving to, and they are the system most general HVAC techs diagnose poorly. A heat pump is an air conditioner that runs in both directions, so it has everything an AC has plus a reversing valve, a defrost board, and on modern units an inverter-driven compressor. Each of those adds a failure mode, and each needs a tech who understands the refrigerant cycle, not a parts-swapper.

We are EPA Section 608 Universal certified and carry a digital manifold, recovery machine, and charging scale. We diagnose with superheat and subcooling, we recover and weigh in refrigerant by the nameplate, and we read inverter fault codes against the manufacturer service data instead of guessing.

A Heat Pump We Installed and Service

Common issues. Typical repair.

Cools fine, will not heat (or the reverse). This points straight at the reversing valve or its solenoid. A stuck valve or a failed solenoid coil traps the system in one mode. We meter the solenoid and check the valve operation before condemning the part, because a low charge can mimic the same symptom.

Outdoor unit ices over in winter. A heat pump is supposed to frost and then defrost. When the defrost board, sensor, or reversing valve fails, the unit ices solid and loses heating capacity. We test the defrost cycle on a service call rather than telling you to pour warm water on it.

Inverter unit throws a fault code and shuts down. Daikin, Mitsubishi, and modern Goodman inverter systems report specific faults: IPM overcurrent, sensor drift, communication loss between indoor and outdoor boards. We read the code, follow the manufacturer flowchart, and replace the actual failed component. These are the systems where guessing gets expensive fast.

Weak heat on cold mornings. Often a low charge from a slow leak, sometimes a failing compressor. We measure rather than assume, find and repair the leak, and weigh the system back to spec.

Auxiliary or backup heat running constantly. The electric heat strips or backup are carrying the load because the heat pump is not. That shows up as a high PG&E bill before it shows up as no heat. We find why the compressor side is not keeping up.

Why the right tech matters on a heat pump

A heat pump diagnosed as “the compressor is bad” is often a $300 reversing valve or a $40 sensor. The reverse is also true: a tech who keeps adding refrigerant to a leaking inverter system burns through your money and the compressor. We diagnose to the failure, give you the repair-versus-replace numbers honestly on older units, and stand behind the work.

Our HVAC division

Heat pumps are the focus of our sister brand, Bay Area HVAC Service, including Title 24 and Manual J work on replacements. Same owner, same trucks, same credentials.