Help with Nest learning Thermostat 3rd gen Heating issues PLEASE

[thekennymiller]

I have the 3rd Gen Nest that I took with me from my apartment to a new Modular home I purchased. 
I had it hooked up at the apartment... worked perfectly for a year. 
Hooked it up here as straightforward as it seemed... and the heating doesn't seem to work properly. (side issue... the battery "charges" but drains almost faster than it charged. I know C wire is recommended- but this is a secondary complaint as it only seems to effect remote control via app)

Set up:
 Y to Y1 (heat/cool)
G-G (fan)
O to O/b (Heat pump)
W-W1 (aux heat)
R-Rh (power)

Cooling works fine. Fan works perfectly. 
Heating only blows hot air if I have the Nest set up to Aux heat. I set the Aux pump balance Manually to get it to heat the home. I set the Manual temps to Always for both... That got hot air blowing finally. 
The remaining issue is 
A) I don't know if that's the correct or "best" way to do things...
B) once the thermostat reads within a degree or two of my desired temp it kicks back to normal heating...which blows colder air and "seems" to be causing a frost buildup issue in the furnace. 

More info-
Furnace is all electric. No gas on the home. 
Model info I can find...E7 Series Intertek Electric Furnace, Coil cabinet says for use with E2 series tho...
Don't know if this helps... another home I own from the same company - the Thermostat had an Emergency heat function and a normal heat function on the interface. The company said ONLY use the EMH function as the normal wouldn't work. One of the reasons I'm updating to Nest.

I'd really just like to know what settings are best to use to make this work properly and efficiently. Thank you. 
Any more info that could help- just point me in the right direction and I'm sure I can find it.

@CoolingWizard I've seen you help the most people on the forum... Don't know if you could offer any insight.
 

[CoolingWizard]

@thekennymiller ,

If you are frosting up on heat, your heat pump is a B-type and the Google Nest is currently defaulting to O-type.  Additionally the Google Nest requires the heat pump auxiliary heat to be on W2.  Here is what you should try:

On the Nest display, select SETTINGS , then rotate to EQUIPMENT, then choose HEAT, and you will see a setting for the reversing valve with a checkmark in O, change the checkmark to B. Next move the wire you have in W1 to W2

Lastly, test your heat. 

AC Cooling Wizard

[thekennymiller]

Ok @CoolingWizard thank you! 
I changed the Heat Pump Setting from O to B and switched the wire positions. Should I change the settings for the aux heat back to factory or keep them both as Always?
Under the test for Heat Pump (Y1 and G wires) - I'm still getting pretty cool air. Not COLD per se... but not warm. 

If it kicks to Aux- I get hot air. 

[CoolingWizard]

@thekennymiller ,

What is the outdoor temperature at this time? There are two pipes feeding the indoor coil.  In heating mode the larger should be hot to the touch and the smaller one cold.  In cooling mode, it would be the opposite.  Little one hot, larger one cool.  

The Auxiliary heat is not changeable.  With a heat pump, the W2 is the auxiliary heat terminal.

When Heat pump starts up, it takes about 15 minutes fir the system to stabilize.  Heat pump air feels cool at first but will turn warm like said, after approximately 15 minutes.  

AC Cooling Wizard

[thekennymiller]

Its about 40 outside... 
I understand it takes a bit to heat up. That's the main reason I'm confused. I had it on last night... and woke up to the interior home temp at 52degrees. It had been running all night with the heat set that way to 64. It was then that I messed with the aux settings in the nest and finally got the home to heat to the mid to high 60s. However... it only heats when the NEST says Aux heat. IF it just says HEAT... its blowing cold air no matter the outdoor temp or time to "warm up". 

As for the pipes - in HEAT mode. They're both freezing. 

[thekennymiller]

@CoolingWizard 
Turned on just heat again to check the pipes... and within 2 minutes the larger of the 2 was frosted over again. 
I forced Aux heat by turning the temp up higher... and that caused it to defrost the unit again. 

[CoolingWizard]

If both pipes cold then you have a problem with your system.  This sounds like it perhaps you have a leak in your system and is currently low on refrigerant

AC Cooling Wizard

[thekennymiller]

I had that question for the installer on my other home... they said there was no issue... just DON'T use normal heat (on the original interface) - instead they recommended using Emergency heat mode only. At all times. 

[CoolingWizard]

They are not correct.  When a heat pump is not able to produce heat it is due to low on refrigerant.  Most heat pumps use electric heat strips inside the air handler as their auxiliary heat. These same heat strips are also used for emergency heat. The bottom line is it’s electrical heat strips and they’re very expensive to use to heat your home. Your heat pump itself is low on refrigerant so there’s a leak in the system somewhere you can spot this leak by looking around for oil stains on the coils. I highly recommend you hire an HVAC service company to come to your home and perform a leak search. 

AC Cooling Wizard