Goys,
This is to report back on my self install A/C adventure. And mainly to piss off Jaded A/C GUY - bet your racing stripes are kinda worthless, huh?
Anyway, > I had acquired a used doublewide - needed new A/C system, but local guys deemed my money less worth it "'cause its too far from the city'". I think it was because of the trailer status more than anything else.
> The trailer had no A/C system to begin with. It only had the floor vents and the furnace innards had been ripped out.
>>884210
>I settled on a 4 ton self contained by goodman. 14 SEER. I sealed the hole where the old furnace/air handler was supposed to be inside and got rid of that JUNK. Then ran flexible to a metal Y under the house to connect the two supplies on each side of the trailer (via 90-degree metal elbows) to the supply of the Goodman.
> Did a new return air box and placed it under the floor where the Water heater used to be. The Waterheater is now outside in its own mini shed. Opened up a hole in the floor big enough for the return air's CFM into a 18 inch duct back to the Self contained.
>There are two return holes now, one near the center of the trailer's floor plan, and one above the return air box, to satisfy CFM demands, noise levels, etc (shit's that's in the fucking manual).
>>884210
fuck HVAC guys. i hope they get black lung from all the mold in my attic. fucking pricks ordered my part by pony express and its been 3 fucking weeks without heat/ AC. goddamn idiots i could order the part off amazon if my goddamn insurance would let me. fuck anyone who says it would be 3+ weeks before youll have heat. THANKS OBAMA
>>884218
> After crawling for a while under the trailer, the install was done. TONS of Mastic was used - do not want to mess with this again. The system blows thru a 14 in supply that branches off into two 12 inches, and sucks air thru an 18 in return branched off into one 14 inch opening and another 12 in opening in the middle of the trailer floor plan.
> Ran two 60 Amp electrical supplies to the compressor disconnect and the heating disconnect. (Do not want this fucker starving for AMPS)
Fired this gigantic unit up in 99 degree weather.
In two hours, cooled the inside down to 72.
>SWEET
A huge fuck you to all the JADED A/C GUYS out there, for refusing to help me get an A/C system - ANY SYSTEM - going this summer. I had several Grand set aside for this, I guess you piddledicks missed on some dough this fall.
Comment welcome.
>>884222
Sure beats window units. Also ++1 for not having to deal with arrogant HVAC guy.
>>884222
I give you props for doing your own install its not easy. More pics is always appreciated. I'm not an hvac guru at all but I was wondering why you chose a 4 ton unit for a mobile home as that seems to be way oversized...the recommended is probably 1.5 ton. you may run into problems with efficiency as the unit might not cycle on/off properly, lots of condensation which is a mess and humidifies the air, and other stuff that you may not expect (not an hvac wiz lol)...
however you will have working ac so what if its not perfect.
for my own curiosity...does the temperature stay consistent? does it run often? and any condensation form on the duct work? anything you learned or would do differently?
thanks for a reply
>>884263
Once the set temp is reached, it stays off for about 45 minutes. It then cycles on for about 20, and then off again.
>have I noticed an increase in humidity?
Au contraire the air feels a lot dryer now. I think my cigar box agrees because I have to put water into the humidifier gauze more often now. I did see condensation on the outside of the metal duct adapters a couple of weeks ago. I still need to go down there and put some insulation on the exposed parts of the metal ducting.
Overall I think the greatest difference apart from the size, is that I relocated the returns to a place on the floor plan that made more sense to me. I can feel the air rushing past the bottom of the doors, so I know it is flowing.
> I have been in trailers and homes where you can barely feel the air moving and the temp differential between head and toe is unsettling.
>What would I do different?
I would have gotten a smaller unit for sure. A couple of people recommended to go oversized to account for the Texas summers, but I think a 3 ton unit would have been sufficient for worse case scenario planning purposes.
> I guess I could redneck the trailer and add rooms to it without needing to worry about HVAC capacity!
Picture is of one of the relocated returns. Moved it from the laundry where the old furnace was supposed to go to the dining area, 'hidden' inside re-purposed kitchen cabinets.
>>884263
Also, next time I will do a better search and source 90* elbows of the correct diameter. The ones I got initially were 12 in and once I got under the trailer I realized I should have bought 14 inch ones. I could not find those locally so I resorted to reductors. It works, but better is to just avoid reductors until the very end. Since I need to go down there again to finish the belly board repair - it was torn when we bought the trailer - at that time, I plan to replace the elbows with 14 in. ones, mastic all over and insulation to minimize outside condensation (frogs love that shit).
I learned AT LOT from this DIY experience - mainly to not stress too much about A/C - thinking to treat AIR handling as a LIQUID (like plumbing water) helps in terms of what makes sense. Also, I am glad I went with a 14 SEER unit, because after the fact I learned that 13 SEER is no longer kosher with new buildings. Although this is a retrofit, you just KNOW that if some dimwit is selling you a 13 SEER or lower, it must be because its old inventory.
>>884210
Im in south texas and would have installed that shit at a reasonable price, its a packaged unit, no brazing or running cooper lines, only one set of tstat wire to run, fix a couple of ducts, whoever declined to do that job was either understaffed, misunderstood what you needed or wanted, or just plain retarded
>>884220
if you were going through a homeowners insurance to get it repaired then no wonder it takes that long. it takes that long for the bureaucrats to decide if to pay or not. A good hvac guy will be able to get you fixed up the same day depending on what parts are on the truck/van or the next day. unless you completely blew a coil most parts are available at the local supply house.
>>886232
Or op wanted to underpay and refused to hear that he is a stingy asshole who is too far away.
BTW how did you buy it? You need a contractors license to buy those things in texas
Buying a SCU and banging ductwork together with pookie, insulating, and running the stat wire could be done by retards. The low voltage and high voltage wiring is a little harder, but still nothing too much.
Summer is extremely busy for residential HVAC work, and I guess your local guys didn't want to drive out and do a little job that was physically intensive in the heat. In a couple of months when they get slow, they'll probably call you if y'all didn't get into it.
Out in Texas, you'd have 2 Mexicans showing up in a truck with your unit strapped to the back and they'd knock it out in a day.
>>886448
Most supply houses here in south texas dont bother to check licenses unless you look like a complete fucking retard, or he could have ordered it onlune
>>886486
>Air conditioning guy
>Will only work in places where there's air conditioning
Sasuga HVAC
I am HVAC, but I ain't a prick. One thing I would suggest though, is make sure your doors have at least an inch gap underneath them, if not an inch and a quarter. If the air is rushing through, it's not a big enough gap. Flowing is alright, but more is better, ya know?
>>887405
oregonfag
they dont give a damn here either
if they know you, you can show up friday afternoon for some random parts for personal projects & theyll ask if you want to tag along to the nearest bar
