On Jul 17, 4:46*pm, "
wrote:
On Jul 17, 3:05*pm, jamesgangnc wrote:





On Jul 17, 8:20*am, "
wrote:

On Jul 16, 10:46*pm, The Daring Dufas the-daring-du...@stinky-

finger.net wrote:
On 4/29/2012 12:54 AM, SRN wrote:

"ls02" wrote in message
...
What realiable good quality central A/C brands are sold directly to
homeowners and available for DIY installation? Can I buy any of them
online?

Check eBay....there are many sellers on there with tons of feedback you can
review. A proper installation is much more important than who the
manufacturer is.....

How true, I've seen inexpensive mid efficiency properly installed
Goodman systems outlast and outperform improperly installed high
efficiency American Standard and Trane systems. It can make you mad
like seeing a gasoline fueled Bentley blowing smoke out the tailpipe
and Bondo all over the body, not located in The Middle East. ^_^

TDD

I've only seen Rheem and Goodman offered for sale
by regular online stores. *Be aware of warranty issues,
as you may not have the same or any warranty as if you
bought it and had it installed from a local dealer.- Hide quoted text -

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Goodman is the easiest to get your hands on without a contractors
license. *Carrier and Trane both control their wholesalers pretty
tightly. *Goodman is actually a decent product these days. *I don't
know about the r410a but you can silver solder r22 systems using
propane instead of brazing them and they will hold up just fine.

Yes, Harris Silverbrite 8 can be used.

While it is still a good idea to purge with nitrogen it's not as
critical with propane as it is when brazing. *You are not going to
produce as much copper oxide inside the line with silver solder.

That is true too. *As long as you're good at soldering
and you don't overheat the joint the probability of
forming a lot of crud inside is low. *But how lucky do
you feel compared to the cost of some nitrogen?

*A

vacuum pump is still a pretty good idea though.

Good idea? *It's essential.

*Some of the old guys

did used to charge by cracking open the low side to the atmosphere and
letting the refrigerant purge the line but that's sort of guesswork
and likely exceeds the de minimus release rules as well.

That's for sure. *Those old buys were hacks. *Gases don't just go in
and come out like a sausage. *They mix.
Moisture inside the lines boils off in a vacuum. *With
the bleed method above, it stays in the brand new
system. * *And any contamination is apparently worse in the case of
R410A systems too.

And a set of

guages is pretty much a must. *Though the other old trick I heard of
was charge using vapor until the low line feels like a beer just out
of the fridge.

That trick is another hack.

*If your plan is to get a pro to do the start up after



you do the install find the pro willing to do that before you embark.
Not many are.- Hide quoted text -

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It's not so much the cost of nitrogen for the diy'er as it is access
to the various pieces of equipment. Sure it's 50c worth of nitrogen.
But you have to have a nitrogen tank, a regulator, and a line. Same
issue with the rest of it. Vacuum pump costs money. Gauges cost
money. Would I do it without gauges, no.

On the other hand the systems aren't as "fragile" as the hvac techs
try to make it sound either. Put a filter/dryer in the line and what
little moisture there is a factory pressure sealed A coil and new
lineset is pretty much taken care of. And on a basic system that is
using a fixed piston the charge is only "perfect" at one operating
condition. At the rest it's a compromise anyway.