Terence McCann

You can drive on bald tires too but it's not recommended.

What's the battery life like?

Ha!

I've got one, a Carrier, I'll keep you advised. It comes with the new Carrier, noise dampening, feature (oh brother). It's a insulated jacket that covers the compressor. I'm sure without it though the compressor sounds like a jack hammer with the pressures they run now. After three or four years, in the outdoor elements, the jacket should be in fine shape too.

Did they say how the techs washed out the lines? R-11 was used all the time for cleaning up after a burn etc... but that was one of the first refrigerants to go due to CFCs. What matters, in the end, is what the manufacture mandates and not what a tech improvises.

I couldn't begin to guess at their run time, sorry.

Read though this Joe and you should have a much better understanding of what you're looking at. McQuay Water Source Heat Pump Design Manual It's only 48 pages so I wouldn't say that after you're done reading you can go right to designing systems but it will give you a better idea of how these systems work.

By chance are you looking at a water source heat pump system? Was there a boiler present? From Trane: Cooling Tower/Boiler System A cooling tower/boiler system (see Figure utilizes a closed heat recovery loop along with multiple water source heat pumps in a more conventional manner. Typically, a boiler is employed to maintain closed loop temperatures above 60 F and a cooling tower to maintain closed loop temperature below 90 F. All the units function independantly, either by adding heat, or removing heat from the closed water loop, making this system more efficient than air cooled systems.

You can not reuse the lineset from a 22 unit on a 410 unit period. The oil from a 22 system is not compatible with a 410 system.

In reading the PDF that Ezra attached I came across this statement: Visit www.R410ASolutions.com to answer all your questions concerning the impact of this new government mandate to you and your clients or call 877-777-3188 to deliver real time answers to agents and homeowners. ### This is the second time I heard it referred to as a new government mandate. While talking with a home warranty rep she said the the government "just snuck this one in on us". I tried to explain the Montreal Protocol to her but she was pretty convinced that it was a new thing. Just some quick history: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The largest Antarctic ozone hole recorded as of September for other similarly named agreements, see Montreal Convention (disambiguation). The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987, and entered into force on January 1, 1989, followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989. Since then, it has undergone seven revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing). It is believed that if the international agreement is adhered to, the ozone layer is expected to recover by 2050[citation needed]. Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation with Kofi Annan quoted as saying that "perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol".[1] It has been ratified by 196 states.[ The rest can be read at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Protocol This has been coming down the pike since 1989, it is not new.

Not necessarly wrong - depends on tonnage of unit and length of run.

No cars went from R12 to R 134 which is still the dominant automotive refrigerant in the US. I still have almost a full 30# jug of 12 in the garage if anyone is interested (new refrig - not reclaimed).

Hi Terence, What are you telling your clients? Has it cause some of your clients to request a new unit. Ezra and I were talking on the phone about this issue and discussing how it affects the HI (Ezra was kind enough to alert me to this situation.). Now, when I see and old unit, I verbally state what will happen when it comes time to replace the unit but I haven't put it writing - until now that is. We have a lot of K&T wiring in this area and when I inspect a home with it I have boilerplate that tells the client to check with their insurance carrier before purchasing the home. Some companies won't insure a K&T home, some will with the caveat that it gets replaced in one year and some don't care at all (and anything in between). While the HI can not be expected to know what insurance companies will, and will not, cover I do believe it is the duty of the HI to be aware and self-educated when it comes to issues like these. With the K&T issue I spent a lot of time calling insurance companies HQ as well as some of their agents. After I got off the phone with Ezra yesterday I spoke with one home warranty carrier and plan on calling more today. So often, while doing an inspection I hear the Realtor pipe in with "well... they are getting a home warranty" as if there is this big magical blanket that will cover them should anything happen at anytime. I know if I were the client and heard "I'm sorry Mr. Smith, your unit needs replacement and your home warranty doesn't cover the retrofit with units shipped with the new refrigerant" I'd be pretty f'in hot and would be on the phone faster than you could swat a tick. First call would be to the Realtor but the HI wouldn't be far behind. I thought my HI would have been educated about these issues and so does my lawyer. Looks like I got a bit carried away, sorry. Point is that we are there to protect our customer and with a slight bit of effort we can do a better job (and hopefully lower the odds of ending up in court).

Thanks Ezra. This will be a big issue for the next few years. Also remember that when it comes time to replace the condensing unit the evaporator and lineset will also need to be replaced (incompatibility with the oil from the 22 systems and the new systems). If we don't advise our clients on old systems it could leave a door open.

The person that did those repairs had no clue on how to replace a tailpiece hence the hose and pipe clamps. Will it leak? Probably not. Will it last? Most likely. Does it look like an idiot tried to repair it? Absolutely. Hopefully the same person didn't tackle electrical repairs/improvements in the home.

That's a good price actually - have you used this company in the past? Never heard of them.

When the t/stat is jumped numerous degrees above room temp the aux heat comes on (electric strip heat in an all electric application) and the heat pump operation stops. The heat pump operation will operate normally when a normal drop in room temperature is noted. Without looking at the operation manual though I have no way of knowing what the sequence of operation is. For a cut-off outdoor ambient temperature, that will lock out the heat pump, the operation manual should be consulted. If I were to guess I would say 15 to 20 degrees??? maybe lower with newer units?? In any case it would not be damaging to the unit. When the unit switches to full electric strip heat, and shuts off the heat pump, it is acting just like a normal electric AHU. Suggest you plug in the Make and Model of the unit and doing a Google search for the manual. EDIT: I must be losing my eyesight... I looked at the pics again, after Marcs post and saw that the heat pump was a block of ice. What Jim and Marc said.... [:-dunce]

Jim, if you use two different gauge wires wouldn't it torque more on the larger wire leaving the smaller wire loose?

Caveat emptor. Having said that a moisture meter is a must for this field.

Thanks James.

Why? Also, do you have a line to that article Kurt? I checked the files here and didn't see anything.

To expand on this a bit further: I see many older homes that do not have an expansion tank however the only time an expansion tank is required is when there is a device that prevents back-flow, into the city water distribution system, ie: black flow preventer - pressure reducing valve, in case of an over pressure condition. I think it was Jim Katen that pointed out that some pressure reducing valves will allow flow in the reverse direction (something I was not aware of). Point is that just because there is no expansion tank does not necessarily make it wrong.

I've never seen that type of setup. Does the calibrated pressure relief valve open up to a drain in the case of an over pressure condition?

Ok Mrs. Jones, all done. I gave it that distressed look too...

Oooooh noooooo..... About a grand to $1250 per if one is doing several of them; a little volume discount. If it's just a single lintel, I doubt it'd be less than a couple grand. Shite! Another good reason I shouldn't quote repairs.