Jim Katen

9 hours ago, Chad Fabry said:

I've seen that video 5 or 6 times before. I watched it again. There is something elegant about large mass rotating in almost friction-less babbet  bearings.

The ones from about 5:05 to 5:09 look like they're about to come apart. 

It's funny how meritless claims always seem to get negotiated to the amount of the deductible. 

I salute your energy. 

Lord knows I don't have the energy for a project like that. 

7 hours ago, John Dirks Jr said:

This thing has variable operating modes depending on conditions so it’s not really easy tell exactly what it’s doing at a given time point. .  Not like the standard systems that are either on, or off. 

With incoming air at 72 degrees dry bulb, and output air at 55 degree dry bulb, that would be a perfect temperature differential if the incoming air was at 62 degrees wet bulb - which I imagine is just about right for Maryland in June. You don't want much more aggressive cooling or you risk poor humidity control. 

Do I get to say "I told you so"? 

BTW, I love UEI test equipment for cheap things like thermometers. It's hits the perfect point between being affordable and accurate enough for what we do. Plus, they have headquarters 30 minutes away from me. When I have a UEI device that breaks down, I walk into their shop with it and they fix it or replace it for me on the spot. 

And the appliance shutoff valve has to be upstream of the connector AND in the same room as the appliance. . . 

Somebody owes me a dollar. 

https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-takes-action-to-extend-texas-state-board-of-plumbing-examiners

How old is the system? At a certain point, it makes no sense to keep throwing money at it. 

That said, there's no question that there are evap coils out there that'll fit - a good tech should be able to find one without too much fuss. But if there have already been two leaks, what are you going to do with the next leak that shows up. How much more R-22 can you afford? 

or maybe someone just like's the festive look. 

16 hours ago, JJduro said:

I have heard that AFCI's are more sensitive than GFCI's, would a GFCI be a better option than nothing? 

They're two different devices that do two different things. One isn't "more sensitive" than the other. That said, AFCIs do contain some GFCI protection, but the threshold is 30mA while the threshold of a GFCI is only 6mA so *with regard to ground faults only* GFCIs are far more sensitive than AFCIs. Otherwise, one detects arcs and the other detects ground faults. (By the way, a 30mA ground fault that goes through you is quite painful, if not lethal.) 

16 hours ago, JJduro said:

would a GFCI be a better option than nothing?

A GFCI would protect you from being shocked by ground faults. An AFCI would protect the circuit from catching the house on fire. Two different things. 

16 hours ago, JJduro said:

Would an AFCI or GFCI breaker in the panel be better than having outlet control (my thought here is that the added resistance of the increased wire length may prevent these nuisance trips due to false arc readings from the compressor or LED panel).

Wire length has nothing to do with the operation of either device. 

If you just want the fridge to work, install a simplex receptacle (only one space for a plug) and get rid of the AFCI. Understand that if this circuit starts a fire, your insurance carrier might decline coverage because it doesn't meet the code. 

If you want to screw around with it, try installing a different brand of AFCI in the panel. This is *technically* not allowed, but it might work. Every manufacturer has a slightly different way of detecting arc faults and you might find that a Siemens AFCI doesn't nuisance trip where an Eaton one might. 

On the other hand, maybe your fridge is actually producing dangerous arc faults and the device is just doing what it's supposed to do. Modern refrigerators pretty much all suck. 

Since the vast majority of home inspectors run a one-person company, does worker's comp cover those single-person operations? Or is it just for inspectors who have employees? 

Perhaps someone had done combustion testing? 

No. There's no special putty. 

At this point, the fiberglass can't be saved. I suggest either applying a brand new deck covering on top of it or pulling the whole thing off and starting over. 

How much vertical distance do you have between the surface of the deck and any door thresholds? Do you have pictures? 

That thermometer is worthless for measuring air temperature. Get some probe thermometers for the real numbers. 

In my area a 2,800 foot ranch would do fine with a 2.5 or 3 ton unit. 5 tons of AC would be absurdly over sized. Chicago can't be all that different, except you probably have a larger de-humidification load.

From the air handler's perspective:

• If the coils are in parallel, then the air handler would simply see this as a regular 5-ton air conditioner. If it's too large for the house, the air is going to be chilled without adequate de-humidification. 
• If the coils are in series, then the air is going to spend more time in contact with cold coil surfaces and this will provide great de-humidification. 

From the AC perspective: 

• If the coils are in parallel, then they'll work within their normal parameters, but they'll have very short cycles. It'll just behave like any oversized air conditioner. 
• If the coils are in series, then the 2nd one is going to be seeing lower temperatures. You might get freezing and the efficiency of the system will drop. 

I don't suppose you measured the temperature drop across this thing? If they're in series, the drop should be really high. 

Bottom line, I have a hard time imagining how this arrangement can be a good thing. It goes back to my old adage, "Unconventional installations behave in unconventional ways." My guess is that this system is not doing what the installer hoped it would do. 

Mmm. Sichuan rabbit heads . . . 

Looks great, John. But the dog needs a soft mat to lie on. 

How do you plan to buy the refrigerant without a license? 

2 hours ago, John Dirks Jr said:

Jim,  there are special fittings on the line set.  The line set is attached at the evaporator unit from the factory.  You feed the lines through the wall and lift the evap into place.  Run lines to condenser unit and attach.  The fitting has some sort of check valve that gets forced open as you tighten the nut.  

The instructions say to work quickly through the fitting connection process and that there may be some slight leakage during such.

Maybe there’s a leak like Marc suspects. Maybe I didn’t tighten the fittings enough.  I’m going to search for leaks, hopefully find them, fix them, evacuate, recharge and cross fingers.  

The data plate that you posted shows 550 psi. Damn!

I'd love to see a field-assembled fitting that can hold that pressure under 100-degree swings in temperature over the lifetime of the equipment. 

Just curious: how do you make the refrigerant line connections on a "do it yourself" heat pump?

Those lines have to hold some pretty high pressures over some pretty wide temperature swings. There's a reason why they're typically brazed. 

Around here, we'd have a hard time installing some of our seismic hardware, HDUs, HTTs etc. 

I bid $100. 

In my area, that drain is generally trapped. It's easy enough to find out for sure. 

 

 

 

On 6/2/2019 at 10:48 AM, Jim Katen said:

and I'll bet you a dollar that somehow or other, the board will manage to remain intact. 

I'm planning to collect on this . . . 

8 hours ago, Marc said:

Yeah, and if we had a system like that in Louisiana, I would of never had a chance to get an electrical, mechanical or home inspector license on account of the apprenticeship.  Only plumbing requires an apprenticeship, otherwise I would have gotten a license in that too.  No one would've hired a deaf person.  I know that because I've been an deaf person in need of an occupation for over 40 years.  I missed out on getting a job as engineer for the same reason, despite 5 years of silent college classrooms, and becoming the 3rd deaf person in the history of the college to graduate from that program.  Traveled the southern USA afterwards, coast to coast, for two years.  The only chance I got at a job came at home, at the end of that two years: I lied.  Didn't disclose my deafness on the application.  Spouse got a call the following day, letter the next.  I was in the top 3 among in a pool of over 30 applicants, who had completed the exam along with me.  It was tricky trying to conceal my deafness that day.  At the interview, I was out of their office in less than a minute when I had to tell them I was deaf.

Except for that, I agree with Jim.  It's good for hearing folks.

Pardon my rant.

Just curious, but was the 1990 ADA of any help at all?