"New Directions In Building Services (Australia)"
wrote in message u...

"Noon-Air" wrote in message
. ..

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in message
...

"Noon-Air" wrote in message
. ..
Gotta love it when the lowest bidder gets the job


So, by that, do you mean it _should_ be done, and just isn't to save
time/sweat?

yup... if the lineset is in the slab, a PVC chase is required.

I have seen a lot of water in the couple of grade-level or below-grade
sets I've pulled out of conduit, and suppose that might be one
objection to using it. (Ken _likes_ it that it's my hands and not his
in that stagnant goop...)

There is a reason that your supposed to seal both ends of the chase

The two I pulled _were_ "sealed" somewhat -- one only with foam
(spray-on) and one with foam and capped with mortar at the outside end;
and of course, the mortar was cracked. On both, the inside end was
sealed with foam. I presume the water was from condensation and not
from leakage. Seems like only a good hermetic seal would prevent the
pipe from breathing under temperature changes.

I use the expanding foam on both ends.... it seems to work well enough.
The only things I run through the lineset chase are the lineset and the
control wires. No I don't tie the lineset and wires together or tape
them.....I have had to replace too many wires that were taped or tied. I
don't staple them inside of the walls either.

Noon-Air
That might be ok where you are but if your talking about apartments or
commercial where some form of fire separation/segregation is required.
Expanding polyurethene sealants are forbidden in these instances so you
might like to/should reconsider and used an appropriate intumescent (fire
rated) mastic sealant.

I only use the expanding foam where the lineset is inside of a PVC chase
inside of the slab. 99% of what I do is single family residential. Apartment
owners and commerical building owners around here only want the lowest
bidder.

As to the practice of pouring concrete over the linesets - sounds like a
whole lot of liability exposure to me...

The linesets are encased in a PVC pipe chase inside of the slab so there is
no direct contact between copper and concrete. The PVC pipe chase also makes
it a lot easier to change the lineset when needed.