Replyaluminum?????????????????????????
Professional Member*
I love a good challenge and the chance to learn something new. But this one was ridiculous.
With the correct charge weighed in the suction would pull into a vacuum after about 30 seconds and the head pressure would run about 270 psi.
Now this is a new house. First time the A/C has been run.
After over charging the system enough to get some suction pressure returning to the unit I was able to check the line temperatures inside and out. Only the usual 2-3 degree temperature difference. By this time the pressures were 650/125. So I did not let it run very long like that. Replaced the TXV at the indoor coil. While it was apart I blew through the line set with plenty of nitrogen. no problems. Put it back together....Same problem.... Next I ran a temporary new liquid line down the attic access hole and out a window to the outdoor unit....Same thing... By this time I'm getting pretty frustrated. Finally I pulled the evaporator and brought it outside. Sat it on top of the condenser and piped it in. Finally it worked. Now came the hard part. Replacing a 90 foot line set in a fully finished $500,000 house.
After all day the new line set fixed the problem. How ever I was never able to locate a problem with the line set I pulled out.
Just a side note. The line set I pulled out was aluminum.
Professional Member*
aluminum?????????????????????????
It is what it is unless I say differently !!!!
Professional Member*
Yes Aluminum. My company gave it try. It was in an effort to cut cost. They have since changed their minds and we no longer use it.
Professional Member*
sorry never heard of it in residential work
It is what it is unless I say differently !!!!
Professional Member*
Professional Member*
someone forgot to take the plug out the lineset, or the coil
Professional Member*
Probably cost them >100x what they were trying to save on that job, lol.Originally Posted by Frederick_Tech
Global Moderator
Who sells aluminum line sets ?
Professional Member*
Was there a kink in it somewhere, I can see where aluminum would be easy to kink.
Global Moderator
How do you connect and aluminum line set? Can you braze it?
Professional Member
Also, I would be interested in the method used to seal the connections at the coils(what material was the aluminum joined to at coils) and the splice since it was 90'.
Professional Member*
Did it have a copper coated stubs on the ends? Not too uncommon to have copper coated steel on bigger stuff....
Regular Guest
Was the replacement line set the same size? Also was the length and lift of the line set within specifications? I'm not seeing how the line set was a problem no matter the material if it had good flow through it with nitrogen. That's why I'm wondering if any sizing or routing was done differently with the line set. 90 feet is a good haul and units like trane 20i's are real funny about that length and lift
Professional Member
from what i heard, a company in my area also installed a housing tract with that stuff. i personaly have not ran accrosed it! Yet
Professional Member*
Not sure where the stuff is purchased from. We use a solider that can join aluminum to aluminum, copper, or brass. Below is a link to a demonstration video.
http://youtu.be/AiZKl0nvglk
Professional Member*
I checked ever inch of the line set. No kinks at all.
Professional Member*
I had to use some aluminum solder to fix a leak in a microchannel coil. Had to pull a vacuum while soldering to suck the material into the hole.
Professional Member*
Its on a Carrier 2 ton condenser. The line set is 3/4 suction and 3/8 liquid. I went back in with the same size. Even took the exact same rout through the house. Only took 32 holes in the drywall. That is why I saved that as a last option.
Professional Member*
Well I didn't find the plug inside the line set but all I can figure is something must have been loose floating around inside it. I cut the lines into 2 foot sections after I pulled it out and still never found anything. This does not mean it didn't fall out during the process of removing it from the house.
Professional Member
Wow! I'm hoping you're not citing this video for it's instructional value.
If that's how your line was done then my guess is there was a 1/4 roll of solder moving through the lines or just plugging up at one of the joints because it didn't break off the inner wall.
BTW, not trying to bash you or anyone else, it's just that the guys in the video appear to lack experience and it could mislead others that want to learn how to solder correctly.
Last edited by mason; 04-28-2013 at 05:00 PM.
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