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Most air source AC/Heat pump units I've seen are similar. No insulation on the suction line once the suction line entered the cabinet. I have seen insulated suction lines on water source Heat pump units.
Rubber foam insulation will help efficiency a small amount and reduce rusting of the base too. The most important thing to stop rusting is to remove the debris from the bottom of the unit. I've removed several inches of compost from the interior of condensers, most of those condenser bases were badly rusted.

I have met nutty old retired guys who laid screening over the top of a straight AC unit. They really weren't so nutty, it kept the leaves out. Of course a Heat pump with the same screen could be prone to icing over in cold rainy weather.

Originally Posted by Control Man

You sound to be a lot like an apprentice that " USE " to work for me. He was never in the mood to clean things, cost him his job at the company he left us to go work for.

Was to look over 35 RTU's on a shopping mall , had he cleaned them up as he went through them , the owner ( who had inspected them prior to servicing ) would have believed him that he actually did the work.

I'll have to post another pic once I do the work. I'm usually one to go above and beyond the work of the job. Hm, maybe I should chrome the pipes.

You sound to be a lot like an apprentice that " USE " to work for me. He was never in the mood to clean things, cost him his job at the company he left us to go work for.

Was to look over 35 RTU's on a shopping mall , had he cleaned them up as he went through them , the owner ( who had inspected them prior to servicing ) would have believed him that he actually did the work.

Originally Posted by Control Man

I'll also clean out the debris from the inside soon.

Why did you not clean it out when you were in there the 1st time, worried about performance but leave the trash .

Heh, just wasn't in the mood for cleaning. I'll do that when I put some tubing on. I measured the temperature of the circulating air, seems to be about 126 °F while the piping is around 40-50 (didn't measure that).

I'll also clean out the debris from the inside soon.

Why did you not clean it out when you were in there the 1st time, worried about performance but leave the trash .

If you are going to do it, make sure you get the correct type of foam. Cheap pipe/tube insulation will get brittle over time. There is a good amount of air flow inside there and you don't want chunks flying into the fan blades.

But as was mentioned earlier, don't expect to gain much of anything.

It wouldn't hurt, but I always discourage ANY homeowner from even taking the panels off. It would probably be a waste of time and a few bucks. If thats the price for piece of mind for you have at it!

Originally Posted by SoFlaDave

Insulation on the suction line is not needed inside the unit because there is no issue with condensation. Whatever the heat gain is on that short run of pipe is marginal.

So if I added some insulation it wouldn't screw anything up? Just trying to gain little bits of performance here and there.

All the little bits should be able to add up to something. From the the repaired water buildup in the coil box to the replaced compressor motor and the fixed air leaks in the attic and garage. I'll also clean out the debris from the inside soon.

Insulation on the suction line is not needed inside the unit because there is no issue with condensation. Whatever the heat gain is on that short run of pipe is marginal.

No balancing going on.
The debris covering a drain hole is a problem.

Missing insulation? Or by design?

Opened up the inside of my outside compressor. Found this pipe without any insulation, about 32 inches long. It's the cold pipe, as you could probably see from the condensation. Shouldn't there be something to cover this pipe? It's exposed to outside moving air from the fan. Though it's insulated as it leaves the compressor box.

Is it uncovered on purpose for some type of cold balance in the piping?