Questions About Internal AC Coils

[DerbyDad03]

te:

I've done my share of "advanced DIY projects" - jack hammering a slab to move a cast iron shower drain, dropping a chimney into a kitchen to remove a farmhouse fireplace, flooring over a walk-in baptismal font to expand a church office, etc.

That said, I don't want to find out until it too late that I didn't really have room to slide the coils out with the lines attached. With my luck, the lines are one small bend away from kinking or something drastic like that. I think I'll pass on this one.

[The Daring Dufas]

That's why you need an intelligent helper, someone who understands that a pipe will kink if pushed too hard. :-)

TDD

[krw]

I don't doubt NY is that insane. It's illegal to dump Hudson river water into the Hudson River. Same deal.

Who let it out?!

[The Daring Dufas]

Ummmm, WTF? That's as stupid as claiming CO2 as a pollutant or Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) being the most dangerous substance around. ^_^

TDD

[krw]

Well, Dihydrogen Monoxide, or Hydrogen Hydroxide, as I prefer calling it, *is* the most dangerous substance around. More people are killed by it than any other. BAN IT NOW, as you always say, for the children!

[The Daring Dufas]

But I liked Hydrox Cookies! There was nothing dangerous about them! :-(

TDD

[trader4]

e:

Well, ain't that special? LOL. You had Evan telling you how you were incompetent to cut that PVC exhaust pipe and re-glue it. He said only a HVAC pro should EVER do that because even a tiny leak is dangerous. Now it turns out that the "pro" that installed it never glued it at all where it meets the furnace. He just used some putty! According to Evan you should be dead for sure by now from carbon monoxide.

A - It definitely should be glued

B - The manufacturers should provide a means of disconnect where it joins the furnace

C - A homeowner with typical PVC gluing skills can cut a PVC furnace exhaust pipe and install a coupling without any great danger. Installing a gas appliance is far more dangerous and half the people walking out of HD with a new gas stove or dryer do that.

D- Evan is rapidly becoming the alarmist village idiot.

Which is about what I expected. Manufacturer should have these designed for access to be cleaned. But the fact that they don't and that probably 95% of the ones out thereare working without ever being cleaned probably means that with a decent filter it isn't a necessity. As I said before when I replaced my 25 year old AC the coils were perfectly fine. And that was just using a std 1" thick filter.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "A - It definitely should be glued."

Well, I've had a CO detector hanging near (but not too near!) the furnace and it's never registered the tiniest blip in 5 years, so I'm guessing the putty was doing a decent job.

In addition, I don't think the exhaust port is PVC, so I'm not sure what glue would be used. It's some type of black plastic and other junctions inside the furnace appear to use a darkish red glue.

Whatever that adhesive is, will it work with PVC?

But, when all is said and done, if I glue the vent to the port, I don't think I'd ever get the panel off since it's the base of the vent where it enters the port that blocks the the panel from being swung out.

[The Daring Dufas]

It may be ABS plastic and you can get a universal glue for both ABS and PVC pipes or get the specific glue.

TDD

[DerbyDad03]

But as I said earlier, if I glue it, no one will ever be able to get the panel out.

As it is now, the panel just clears the port with vent removed.

Once it's glue in, it would have to be cut right at the port making it very difficult to reattach it with any kind of repair fitting. I'd have to go "internal", reducing the size of the vent - and then reduce it again next time, and then again, and then again until I had a solid tube.

I'm thinking that might not work out so well. ;-)

Oh my gosh! Are we back to considering Evan's suggestion that I cut the panel into pieces? Say it ain't so!

[The Daring Dufas]

Perhaps I misunderstood you but the putty or high temp silicone at the furnace would be preferable for a connection there. ^_^

TDD

[krw]

Do you dunk them in liquid Hydrogen?

[The Daring Dufas]

Only if I want a lot of crumbs. ^_^

TDD

[DerbyDad03]

So putty around the junction of the PVC vent where it slips into the exhaust port is OK, right?

No need for it to be glued? Good!

P.S. I'm going to start a new thread about my blower turning off..feel free to respond. ;-)

[trader4]

I would say it's NOT ok to use putty around the PVC exhaust fitting. I'll bet if you pull up the install instructions for the furnace, which you should be able to find online, it will say that it's supposed to be glued. That is what the instructions for Rheem say and I'd be extremely surprised if any manufacturer or code allows them to be just puttied in place. It would be far too easy for someone to bump into it, dislodge it, etc., in particular a small child. And putty isn't anywhere near the perfect seal you can get with PVC glued joint.

As for the female connection on the furnace being black, that's typical. AFAIK, it's black PVC. At least Rheem calls for using regular PVC solvent and glue to make the connection. Which all goes back to what I said from the beginning. Manufacturers should provide a means for disconnecting the exhaust, but I have not seen one. The ones I've seen are like yours Derby. Once glued on the exhaust side if you want to remove it completely back to the furnace, you'd have to replace the inducer blower housing as it's all one piece.