Duct leak on my own HVAC! - Plus misc commentary!

[Vinylrecordsneverdie]

I had to repair a collapsed fiberglass return duct at my dad's house a 4 years ago. Not the best repair job due to a really tight and almost inaccessible space, but still does the job.

[ladyfire9302]

LOL, I love bashing Goodman.

[firebird890]

Yep yep yep!! it's the price people like u and i have to sometimes pay for havin our systems installed in the attic! lol i just moved to florida recently and being the dumb northern i am (was) i never knew they installed furnaces/airhandlers in the attic i always thought they installed em in a utility room or soemthin seeing as i have no basement! weird and soemtimes a pain in the ass especially when i have to change the filter... :(

[itscool1968]

shawn whare are ya havent see a video from you since this one

[legap]

looks like a direct take off on supply side , this will be no good for static pressure.

[fanlimits]

where's the zip tie

[eggman9713]

6:22. A dangleometer! Nice!

[doglovee]

Looks just like the same unit I have. An old Rheem 10 SEER 4 ton. Mines an air conditioner only though. Most reliable systems ever.

[cyberlight22]

hay do you like Rudu? i like it too but on the gas ferns the inducer fan sounds like a jet but when i do a add to mu house i am getting a 2 tune heat pump

[thatboymason]

oh yea nice CFM meter.......... kicks ass where'd you get that from been looking for that but my local supply house is always out of stock.. LOL

[hackfreehvac]

You have to go to Wal-Mart for a CFM meter that high tech!

[thatboymason]

Hey Hack I hope you put zip bands on that supply line and not tape. Another think I heard you you live in the desert, AZ, right, I don't know if you have a gas supply but you should think about getting a ac and furnace, hp are a pain your always going to have problems, they never stop running. Duct Board!! Duct Board, ha ha all fabbed metal here, maryland inspector won't let that CHIT fly here......But otherwise you have a ok system.

[hackfreehvac]

I usually use screws to secure the duct after using tape. Then it NEVER comes apart.

As for gas, we don't have it in this hood.

And no need because the heat don't even run but when we get a cold snap. It hasn't ran since January. And it probably ran 5 total hours for the entire month.

[shiakue666]

I have no flex hose ducts in my house, all my ducts are made of ductboard. I can't believe with all the empthizes on efficency that the stuff it still used. Leaky, poor insulation, and gets damaged way too easy.

[Hojemwod]

lawl, duct board...pure fiberglass, messy, garbage. what you want is metal with insulation on the outside. and there is nothing wrong with flex duct if its installed right.

[mtorbert]

Probably a plumber who came in behind the HVAC contractors. Hilarious though that it is your own house! Kidding. I can't find your website FYI

[hackfreehvac]

I got rid of the website. Youtube is all I need now so no sense in paying for a domain. As for the plumber, I can't blame any of them. I've been the only one up there. I've been up there MANY of times in the HOT HOT Phoenix summer to pull wires for DTV and other things. I probably crawled over that spot a dozen times and loosened it.

[InverterDude]

We got a Bryant unit instead of a Rheem (the rheem was cheaper). was this a good alternative? its pretty noisy

[hackfreehvac]

It depends on the model. I heard the Infinite Series is pretty good. But I haven't seen them myself.

[cyberlight22]

don't look at the mess" it's hard not to! lol!

anyway tale a look at my havc video.

[hackfreehvac]

LOL! I have a few "messes". Mostly projects I start then leave for later as I start another project at teh same time!

I'll check out your video.

[kodiak410a]

While Rheem is one of the quietest units on the market, and I've installed plenty of them, I'm happy to say my company offers Rheem as a mid-level product, with Goodman/Comfortmaker as base line and Carrier and York as top line equipment. Finally had to biute the bullet on a home I just bought in Reddington Shores, Florida. Welcome Carrier Infinity Gen II 21 SEER. I could talk on my cell phone while standing next to it.

[hackfreehvac]

I haven't had the priveledge to see a new Infinite yet. I hear that they are nice. And only a few stat wires to hook up no matter if it's 1 or 2 stages. :)

[REWYRED]

Hey that RUUD is nice and quiet! Does it have a 2-speed condensor fan motor by chance?

[hackfreehvac]

Not yet!

I'll be adding one to it some day then thinking of installing a Copeland UltraTech (two speed) compressor.

[damusician]

goodmans are pretty common wherever i got and yes they are noisy. the quietiest i've seen are rheem/ruud and trane.

[hackfreehvac]

Agreed. :) Some Lennox have been pretty quiet too. But they are a PITA to get parts sometimes.

[hemiownzu]

Funny hack, It came lose at a splice (wasn't taped, strapped and hung properly to support the spilce) ya those ruuds are quiet and very easy access to controls (especially the reversing valve in those)which in most hvac units (residential) are a bitch to solder and or get to.

[hackfreehvac]

The duct had a panduit strap. Honestly I've crawled over that duct a dozen times. Probably my fault. I do love the control access in that Ruud. Like you said, the RV is EASY to replace. Most units have them and the compressor down under that fan. Stupid.

[25HNA6]

So it sounds like your favorite residential brand of HVAC systems is Rheem/Ruud. Right?

[hackfreehvac]

I am not sure if I have a favorite. Some of the Rheem/Ruuds were bastards to work on, like the old gas packs form the 80's and 90's with the split cover (and Goodman COPIED that units almost exactly!). Basically their SQUARE RTU's are a pain, but the rectangular ones like the commercial ones are a really nice set up. Their split units like mine are also one of the best designs I think. Fan and compressor are quiet. And the compressor and all controls are behind one removable panel.

[legap]

I found that Ruud is installing a larger coil to the size of the blower to reach a higher seer...not good on getting 90% of airflow and the static pressure readings are reductulous.

[itscool1968]

when yougoing to post some more wall of shame or pride videos on this thing:)

[hackfreehvac]

There is no "shame" on my unit. Except my cross breeding of brands. I don't do residential HVAC anymore so new hack videos/photos have reduced. I have found some shitty commercial work lately on a new corporate building that's pissing me off because it clearly shows the pride and quality control of HVAC companies has gone down the shitter! I may put something together and post that.

[25HNA6]

Wow. You are right Goodmans are worthless compaired to all the other companies as far as noise. I went to my great grandma's and found out that she has that she has a Goodman air handeler paired up with her Heil heat pump. Compaired to the old Heil air handeler the Goodman unit is sooo loud. When it turns on the unit has a humm. I did not hear that with the old Heil air handeler!

[25HNA6]

Sorry about spelling air handler, "air handeler!"

[hackfreehvac]

Tell your grandma to count her blessings. That is, at least they didn't swap out her condenser unit for a Goodman too! :p

[Hojemwod]

Its loud because 1 or both plenums isnt/arent sized right. by simply enlarging the plenum you will never know its on. its quite an amazing phenomenon.

[DrZarkloff]

At least you found the duct leak before the summer really kicked off.

[hackfreehvac]

No joke! Eventually we would have realized it when it was July and it couldn't maintain temp! Then the elctric bill would have been insane! It's supposed to get hot here pretty soon. Been around 90 or so now. 100+ any day now. :(

[mechanicwarrior20]

lol Custom CFM meter whats the CFM meter reading LMAO...

Airflow or no Airflow? lol

[hackfreehvac]

For the most part. My condenser is right outside. But sometimes I'd be like "Is our A/C running? I can't tell" and I'd stand on the bed to feel the vent or sometimes feel the air drop on me. But with the tissue I just look up if I am curious if it's on. I can also see the airflow ramp up as the ECM blower starts and also ramp down when it stops. My comment 'CFM Meter" of course was a joke and not meant litaerally. :)

[mechanicwarrior20]

OOOO how embarrassing

[hackfreehvac]

LOL no joke! Actually all I've done to that flex duct when i moved in was stretch it slightly and add straps. Maybe that's why the panduit strap failed. It couldn't have been that way long. I was up in the attic about 2 months ago and walked right by it and would have noticed that then. I need to go back up there later and add some screws to them tee-wye's. Then the duct NEVER slips off!

[killtheglory]

wheres your infinity 16? ari for the 16 comes to 16 even while the infinity 19 comes to an ari of 16.4. you need the infinity 16. unless you dont like em. i love them.

[hackfreehvac]

The high end Carrier isn't very popular here. In Tuscon my friend says he's installing them regularly down there. I sure hope they are better than the other crap Carrier has built in the last 10 years! If I do anything, I'll drop in a Copeland Ultra-Tech 2 stage scroll. I already added a ECM blower so I can easily go 2 stage. Eventually put a better air handler for more coil surface area. My system is actually a bare bones 10 seer. Dunno what it is with my ECM and TXV mod.

[killtheglory]

yea here in san antonio and when i was in houston there was a demend. big thing is the humidity removel but i guess in phoenix you dont have much humidity to remove. as for the quality they have jumped way up from 5 years ago. you should read up on the infinity some and i promise youll be impressed. ask your buddy. its a machine that is amazing. easy hook up too. 1234 terminals on tstat, ah, and the cond all communicating. i love that the best.

[hackfreehvac]

Yeah that's what I heard. Minimal wiring which would be GREAT because some of the old homes only have 4 or 5 wires. Hack Shop companies would send installers to install two stage. not enough wires... they'd just twist Y1 and Y2 to the same wire and call it a day! That was some sad sights to see! Some of them never heard of the "add a wire" kit (Carrier product). The infinity sounds like using 4 wires max makes it a cake when changine to a 2 stage.