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This is west of Tucson, half way to Ajo.
This was installed by fully legal, fully licensed contractors.
Homes built up until the mid 1980's would still commonly use asphalt shingles.
The photos...

Of all the populated areas in Arizona (based on population, not land area), for R&R HVAC, about half require permits and about half do not. The contractor confused this location with the latter.

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You know, I'd never heard of this before.
But you are the second person today to suggest this solution. The other one was in person, over the phone.


a) if it's sooted up, it had incomplete...

Well, if you're in a fairly steady climate area, and homes are all fairly identical, rules of thumb can work. But let me throw a wrench in this for ya:

Arizona.

Yuma, AZ: 400 ft above sea...

The last time I had to check the City of North Las Vegas for a permit, their requirement read as follows "Manual J is required, and if the result is not 400 sq ft. per ton, you must explain why in...

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Well it's a low voltage safety switch in series with all the other low voltage safeties. What it does exactly and why it was installed are some of...

No combustion air and combustion area under negative pressure.
Flames will reach back into the burner compartment.
Originally not converted for Propane (ran all last winter). Recently someone...

First, a propane tank. And no, the furnace was not originally converted for propane use. I got a call because "the manual reset switch keeps tripping".
...

One of the tricks with the Infinity Control is:

a) it does check duct static pressure every time it runs. If it thinks the reading is high, it will assume you need to change your filter. If the...

If you do your manual J load calculation on a computer, you can see the effect on the cooling load by simply changing the factors.

1) Change your attic insulation from R30 to R49 and see what...

The question I answered related to fuel consumption.
Yes it's more comfortable with a 2-stage system.

You would not believe the difficulty people in general have in believing that a 2-stage...

First, here is a quote from the manual:
"The FB4A is the standard fan coil. It comes in a prepainted galvanized steel casing with foil-faced insulation and has a 3-speed motor in the full range of...

There has been a study done on this already by the University of Berkeley. The .pdf currently resides on the Department of Energy website. The Government of Canada has acknowledged the results (I...

Yes.

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Funny enough, there wasn't enough air for combustion.
Remember, fuels have a lower and upper combustibility limit.

With natural gas, it's about 4.3% and 14%. Fuel-air mixture outside that range...

Yep the Carrier furnaces (like this one) can automatically stage themselves.

IF you set the jumper correctly on the furnace board (see manual).

Otherwise it's a multi-stage furnace and you may...

A very old/unusual residence for Arizona:

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The new Propane tank that was installed for our Dual-Fuel setup:
...

I force my installers to pull permits now.

The inspector called me from the home. Along with his electrician that he called out for the special occasion.

My installers, (AND I QUOTE) state...

That was the second nicest house in the town.

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This is totally unrelated but I found it very amusing...
This is NOT a Federal Facility FYI:
...

This is the ENTIRE electrical panel:

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The 50 AMP breaker is powering the...

I suppose you aren't referring to the little window unit on the white house?

In most places in Southern Arizona the cooling load is so much higher than the heating load that a heat pump does not require heat strips. That's also because of the winter design temperature being...

When I first started posting here it was a matter of sheer shock at what I was seeing.

Then it was more of a celebration of understanding complex technical issues... "WHY" things happen badly....

Mold is pretty hard to grow in Arizona. It's just too dry here.

Since it's so hard, I thought I'd put this step-by-step tutorial together.

FIRST, consult your favorite manufacturer's...

...I wonder it looks like INSIDE that 180 degree turn.

...are fan coils rated for outdoor installation?

Oh, please note this wording here:

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not exactly.
to either point...

... oh right, I forgot to mention the new special Arizona Gas Flex that you can just turn off the gas by turning the shutoff by the flex and not cap off the gas line... (look at the first pic...

PROBLEM: LOW AIRFLOW!!!
I wonder why...

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PROBLEM: MORE LOW AIRFLOW!!!
Hmm....

SPECIAL NEW ANTI-STATIC FLEX DUCT SYSTEM:

I guess I never get tired of this issue.

It shows a basic lack of understanding of gravity.


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...

Actually my three recent posts are from completely different cities, all in AZ. Done by totally different contractors.

The need-for-training problem is wide-spread.

Dude, this is Arizona. Old West. Same attitude still applies that you see in Westerns.

The HVAC installer put in the 40 amp breaker in this sub-panel to power a new condenser.

Yes that's a 30 AMP breaker on the left.

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I'll give you...

Hey Payson - good to see you still hanging around. I thought you'd like that Goodman in the other post.

What I can figure:

a) the original secondary drain pan filled with water, and both drain lines were pointed uphill. So it flooded the house.

b) the installer went back and tried to figure out...

This is a condenser with a customer-invented "keep dirt out" device.

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This is...

The original problem:
Ceiling collapsed due to water damage.

Solution: Send guy to fix installation.
Next: the Inspection.

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This is...

Why is an air vent required after a P-trap?
Not knowing that is exactly why -- over the years -- I've had to fix so many water leaks on other people's installs.

I've done it myself. I once...

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There is no "T" after the P-trap, the unit does not drain when it's humid, and the condensate overflows into the Return. It then follows all that nice long, waterproof Return ductwork into the home....

You know......
....


...... I saw this bumper sticker recently. It simply said "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" and it's really become my favorite slogan. It kind of explains everything. Took me a...

H2O

The damage wasn't that great.
But. What drywall company in their right mind is going to cut that ceiling down and let the insulation fall all over the house.

(Think Asbestos)

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Funny thing is, I just inspect now.
But you learn so much from seeing things done incorrectly.
A lot of what I see is top notch.
But it's not as fun to point fingers at.
And shame seems to be a...

The item on top of the Trane unit is an evap cooler winterization device.

Basically, it's a canvas sack you drop over the top of the evap cooler. This particular one happens to have some 2x4's...

PS: it's leaking in a very specific way, into a very specific location into the home.

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