Table of Content
You want to have a little more than what you need. You got quick connect, which is kind of odd. You should be able to cut off the extra length and re-attach it. I think some plumbers tape every couple of feet would hold it up off the ground. A/C repair is one of my weak points since I live in New Mexico where evaporative coolers are more popular.
If it’s a plenum, you need to create a hole first as per the duct size. You’ll need a sheet metal home cutter for this. Mostly, the metal trunk duct comes pre-built from the factory and connects to the mobile home HVAC pretty easily. But for that crossover flex duct, you need to install or replace it manually. Finding fast, reliable testing methods can make duct sealing much more cost-effective. Completing mobile home ductwork repair is only one way of getting your home ready for winter.
Why Does A Manufactured Home HVAC Need Flex Duct?
When mobile home ductwork is inadequately insulated, it works contrary to the HVAC system during the cooling and heating season. This scenario forces the system to perform inefficiently. Proper insulation ensures the internal retention of heat and the heating system functions properly. In some cases - the exchange units - with electric heat - installed in mobile homes is NOT reconfigurable. With that in mind, I had to figure out how to take the output of the blower and redirect it so that i could route my ducts along the ceiling.
The chatroom guys were spot on in helping with the sizing. It took some doing to work through the rated output vs total length vs cfm/room....and it was aggravatingly tiresome cuz there are no clear cut answers. In the end, I had a sheet metal shop make the ducting pieces (15"W x 15"H x 60"L). I used the threaded 1/4" rod for hanging electrical - and made a suspension system so that the ducting would not be just laying on the new soffit ceilings.
Part II: Mobile Homes
If your duct is made like this one and the inner lining fails you could get pieces of insulation blown loose. You might be able to pry up the duct cover and set a mirror at an angle on the bottom. With a bright light that would let you look down the inside of the duct. If that doesn’t work you will have to open the duct at some point and see what you can find. If so where can we get a new duct in Tucson AZ. What if you took the register covers off and dropped a really bright light into one of them.
Turn on the furnace in normal operating mode and measure the flow through the selected register. Also measure the temperature of the air stream (don't rely on the flow hood thermometer, if it has one) in order to account for the expansion of heated air. An entire assembled plenum duct system awaits installation into a mobile home.The Ends of the Plenum. The plenum usually runs the entire length of the house regardless of where the registers are located, so it may extend 8-10 ft beyond the last register. In some cases, the method used to close off the ends of the plenum is temporary at best. Making a sheet metal dam at the downstream side of the last register and sealing with duct mastic is a good way to fix bad end caps.
Furnaces – Introduction & Safety Suggestions
For ease of use, we’d recommend poly web strapping for those of us who’re not HVAC enthusiasts. For a more secure and durable connection, go with metal duct hanger straps. Most professionals don’t recommend plastic ones. Once you have drilled the hole, add the duct collar to the hole and mount the flanges.
Here is a link to my current findings where they put in wrong duct connector I also have my own questions that come with this photo. After inspecting the ducting I found out that someone has jerry-rigged it. For the moment I think I'm going to do some more research with a snake camera. I would temporary close off the vents on the good side and see if it changes.
Double wide mobile homes have a large crossover duct that transfers heated or cooled air from one side to the other.
There are many stories of double-wide mobile homes with a $500 heating bill for January due to a crossover duct disconnect. Many crossover ducts are crushed, impeding air flow to the other side. The crossover duct itself may be in good shape, but the various flanges and takeoffs used to connect the duct to the plenums on each side may be extremely leaky by design.
However, Delta-T crews have seen few mobile homes that actually need this treatment. Taking pressure pan readings and doing good visual inspections can stop a crew from sealing a virtual leak. Single-wide mobile homes using packaged heat pump units must need a flex duct to connect the heat pump and return air grill. Leaks in your ductwork can significantly affect the mobile home’s heating and cooling efficiency. A system with leaks usually ends up taking longer to get the rooms to a comfortable temperature.
It took a while to get all of this done - and the end result has made an incredible difference. Every inch of the new system is 26 gauge metal duct so critters are no longer any concern. And for a small 6 foot run I would think decreasing the diameter would actually cause wrong pressure and make the furnace work harder over time and fail faster.
HVAC tech with over 30 years of experience. Retired and doing repair work on the side around Madison County, AL. The distance of the heating source and another end.
No comments:
Post a Comment