On May 28, 11:05*pm, "hr(bob) "
wrote:
On May 28, 9:21*pm, Mikepier wrote:
On May 28, 9:17*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I have a Conquest 90 Max gas furnace with central air.
I also have a bunch of questions:
1 - The internal coils have not been clean since it was installed 5
years ago, so I decided to take a look and see if they needed
cleaning. Problem is, I'm not sure how to access them.
I removed the screws from the panel where the condensate and
refrigerant pipes are, but as you can see from this picture, I can't
remove the panel because of the vent pipe.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/62/furnacef.jpg/
If I could tilt the top or bottom of the panel outwards, I could
remove it, but the vent pipe prevents any significant tilting.
There is no other panel that I can remove. The other 3 sides that
surround the coils are a single piece which has the duct work on top
of it. The duct work would have to go up in order for the 3-sided
surround to come off.
How do I get to the coils?
2 - Through the limited opening, I can see into the coil area with a
flashlight. I see 2 tee-pee sets of coils and as far as I can tell
they are perfectly clean, at least on the surfaces that I can see with
the panel open as shown. Should I just close it up and forget about it
or are there areas I should check - assuming I can gain better access?
3 - When I removed the panel I saw 2 stickers, both of which raised
questions in my mind:
3.1 - One sticker has a picture of a "condensate drain trap" made from
a piece of flexible tubing attached to the drain output pipe. As you
can see from the picture, I don't have a trap. At the bottom of the
PVC pipe seen behind the gas line is the condensate pump.
The pump sends the condensate up a flexible tube and across the
ceiling to the utility sink.
I don't need a trap with that set up, do I?
3.2 - The other sticker says: "Coil is shipped with a low pressure (5
-10 psi) charge of dry nitrogen. Evacuate system before charging with
refrigerant."
Would the unit work (i.e. cool) if the system was not evacuated/
charged when it was installed?
I'm not saying that it wasn't evacuated/charged because I don't
remember if the installer did it or not, so I'm just curious.
Thanks!
That is a typical A-coil set-up on top of your furnace. I have the
same set-up. Yes it is a pain getting to the A-coil. Bottom line is if
you change you filter regularly, and if the unit is cooling fine,
there is no need to get in there. Its not worth the trouble.
I had *my unit 8 years already and no problems so far.
You don't really need a trap on the drain line. It drips slowly, its
not like a steady stream of water like a sink.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
The only time a trap would be required would be if it drained directly
into a sewer line. *You could cut the plastic pipe and then use a
coupling to rejoin it. *But if you can't see any dirt and if it seems
to be cooling ok, leave well enough alone!
@Bob:
You would want a trap in the small PVC drain line for the
condensate line if it drained directly outside -- to keep bugs
out of your HVAC duct...
I have never seen such a vent directly connected into a drain
or sewer line, that would provide a direct pathway for black water
to back up into your HVAC duct if your main drain line ever clogged...
The air gap provided by letting the condensate drain line drip
into a floor drain or utility sink ensures that sewage will never
back up into the duct work...
~~ Evan