Heat leakage from my furnace

[Kevin M]

I have an unorthox HVAC setup due to living in an old converted loft building. I was doing some maintenance on my Armstrong Ultra SX80 and after turning it back on I noticed that there was heat gushing from a gap in a panel attached to the furnace. I have attached a picture of my setup with some notations of what everything is ... the red X circle indicates where the heat is leaking from (the gap where the AC condensation leak tube comes out). I'm wondering if I can insulate this somehow to keep as much heat feeding to the ducts as possible or if this venting is there for a reason?

[bob_villain]

Heating guys use clay/oil-base window glazing for patching that kind of stuff.

[bob haller]

theres metal real duct tape for sealing ducts....

unlike the junk duct tape that falls off instantly.

[Terry Coombs]

Is the furnace space heated ? If so , leave it . If not , stuff something in it to block the air .

[ObamaPhone]

silicon caulk or Duct Seal

[trader_4]

Or as others have suggested, a piece of aluminum, metal foil tape. That as well as duct sealant are available at Home Depot, etc.

[CRNG]

On Thu, 7 Jan 2016 03:57:21 -0800 (PST), trader_4 wrote in

It looks to me like the leak needs to be checked at it's source; which is not where the drain pipe is exiting the unit.

[bob_villain]

...he's talking/showing an air leak from the plenum...what are you referring to?

[Kevin M]

Thanks all ... I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some random reason that air was supposed to vent from there. It didn't seem like that would be the case, it was just too much heat escaping to possibly be efficient. I also didn't want to shove something in there that would just burn or melt, so I will check to make sure it's not an issue somewhere further up the chain and then use aluminium tape to seal it up!

[Tony944]

I have an unorthox HVAC setup due to living in an old converted loft building. I was doing some maintenance on my Armstrong Ultra SX80 and after turning it back on I noticed that there was heat gushing from a gap in a panel attached to the furnace. I have attached a picture of my setup with some notations of what everything is ... the red X circle indicates where the heat is leaking from (the gap where the AC condensation leak tube comes out). I'm wondering if I can insulate this somehow to keep as much heat feeding to the ducts as possible or if this venting is there for a reason?

I am not HVAC person but it seems to me that this is half ass setup You are showing Air Handler on side which should be in Vertical position. "EXPLAIN"

[Terry Coombs]

You obviously know little about HVAC systems , air handlers are often placed on their side like that . There are different types of evap coils , some designed for horizontal and some for vertical applications . The location of his air leak is the evap coil box , which is always on the output side of the furnace/air handler unit . Educate yourself before you spout off , you might not come across as such an idiot .

[clare]

Geat a wad of Duxseal (AKA DumDum) and pack the gap.

[clare]

Most of them actually use a product made for the job, called "duxseal" A pound costs under 4 bucks It works like plasticine.

[clare]

You'd have one heck of a time sealing the gap he indicated with ANY kind of tape - the foil tape in particular.

[clare]

DuxSeal - from any HVAC supplier. (or electrical contractors supply)

[bob_villain]

...now you're getting redundant with this Duxseal stuff...3 posts! Got any stock? ????)

[clare]

About a pound and a half!!!

[Terry Coombs]

ROFLMAO

[Ed Pawlowski]

OMG, a couple of million air handlers were installed wrong!

An air handler is a motor, blower, controls, sheet metal housing. The work in every plane. They don't care what direction they are in, they do a simple operation like spinning and moving air. You put them where they fit best.

[Tony Hwang]

Sure thing who said furnace should only stand up? Many different install. methods and styles are available.