New systems just installed, air leaks?

[XaeroR35]

I just had new AC systems install in my house. I went to look over the installation and found cool air blowing out of the the 3 holes in the coils. This doesn't seem right to me. ?


http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/5318/img51461.jpg

[Cbssteve]

It should be simple, plug the holes.:grin2:

[Roadhouse]

There are USUALLY rubber grommets in the two holes where the copper lines connect. Perhaps they were removed so as to prevent them from melting upon brazing in of the lines and were not replaced or they were not there at all to begin with, I don't know, but either way it is nothing that a piece of tape can not fix. As for the condensate, eh.

Call your contractor out.

[skippedover]

If you really want to find the leaks in an HVAC system, you need to hire a company that has a duct blaster, preferably one that can also introduce theatrical smoke to show the leaks. Many systems leak up to 30% of the system capacity into untreated air spaces and the air handlers are among the chief leak locations. If you can find the leaks, you can easily plug them using various methods but often locating them is difficult.

[XaeroR35]

I found the rubber grommets but what concerns me is the amount of air flowing out of those holes. Is it like a hole in a duct or could it just be bleed off from something?

[skippedover]

A 1-inch hole increases to the equivalent of about a 10-inch hole when the blower comes on. So yes, there's a lot of air escaping there. It's not a defect in anything except the humans who forgot to put the grommets back in place. But each leak in the system is contributing to loss of capacity. Many are small but the total can be large. We test ducts and it's not uncommon for us to find 400 CFM or more leaking from a duct system. FYI, 400 CFM is equivalent to 12,000 Btu's or 1-ton of cooling capacity.

I often make the analogy that if a person's plumbing system leaked as much as their AC duct system, they'd need a Scuba tank to walk around their house!! You can easily see water leaking but air leaking, while just as damaging to the budget, is invisible and more often than not, gets zero attention.

[BadgerBoiler MN]

Good one on Cicero Skipped and scuba hehhehehee

[XaeroR35]

OK I can see the rubber grommets plugging the two round holes, but I am sure there are no grommets for the oval shaped hole on the right.

[skippedover]

55% of the leaks we find in duct systems are in the air handler or connections to the air handler. Return air filter openings, refrigerant lines, drain lines, poor fitting cabinet covers, plenums that don't fit properly, all contribute to lost capacity. But we also find branch take-offs unsealed, duct connections with gaps and holes, supply boots that aren't sealed to the sheetrock, the list is almost endless it seems. A high quality installation is the only way to do it right and that means sealing of the system needs to be done from the first fitting installed. That costs a lot more than the average citizen is willing to pay. So until they're forced to do it, most won't and most companies won't bother to try and sell a high quality duct system. I hear your pain but absent having it thoroughly tested and sealed professionally, I don't have any other answers for you. Sorry.

[youngtech]

OK I can see the rubber grommets plugging the two round holes, but I am sure there are no grommets for the oval shaped hole on the right.

overflow that should be plumbed but rarely is

[billygoat22]

I tape up a/h door w/ painter's masking tape so can remove it later. and caulk lineset holes, wire connections.

on ht pump air handlers w/ negative pressure, this prevents condensation damage to the elec parts inside the unit as well.

energy loss and rust, adding insult to injury.

[catmanacman]

call the installer back and tell him to come back with some thumb gum and seal it up