There oughta be a law!

Techman

This is mostly about RTU's . For the most part, how in the well are we supposed to wash evaporator coils, drain pan and drain lines if we can't get to those parts EASILY to do that task.? Some of my customers do not want me to use any of those spray on chemical coil cleaners. So , I use a garden hose. It is awful difficult to not get water "down below" , what a PITA. But such is life! RTU's do get dirty, RTU's should be cleaned, RTU's should be built/installed so that they CAN be cleaned easily, maybe then evap coils will get washed.
Economizers? They make the task way harder!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh Yea!

BobC

It's all built to be produced as cheaply as possible, they don't give a thought to access or serviceability.

When I was working on the machinery at the post office (after my job went to China) you had to bend yourself into a pretzel and have eyeballs on the tips of your fingers. These machines were 140 ft long and 24 ft wide. There was all kinds of room but they still managed to put motors, belts, control boards (old style single board computers) in unimaginable places. All the wiring harnesses were banjo strung so vibration would eventuall cause wires to become intermittent.

Bob

Harvey Ramer

Or.... How about those packaged units they sit up tight against a house trailer or double-wide? Some unenthusiastic individual living inside doesn't have a filter in the floor register for a couple years because it would be an inconvenience. The miserly landlord hires the cheapest HVAC contractor they can find to fix the unit because it doesn't cool right. The first five contractor each add some refrigerant and charge them for a service call. Finally you show up. You have to strip the unit down to the bones just to get to the clogged evap coil. After you get through that PITA, you still have to recover the extra Freon, usually recover about what the system charge is supposed to be.

unclejohn

Lets not even talk about those under counter flaker ice machines with a leaking bearing.

Matt_67

How about the blower in a conveyor pizza oven?

Tap2

What are there issues with the cleaners? I have never had a client complain about them. I have however had them raise an eyebrow when there is water dripping down thru the return.

Techman

Well now, those chemical fumes(on the evap coil) have to go somewhere. 1-customer is a lawyer as is his wife and both are "sensitive" kinda people, 1- customer is a "elder care facility" and many of those folks are also "sensitive",1- customer is related to "animal research" and ALL of them creatures are "sensitive" to EVERYTHING(some animals have been under research for over a decade). and another customer is a "seafood distributor-cut-em-up" facility and fresh fish absorb everything in the air.And another ( hopefully a new customer) is a "vitamin manufacturer" and they are under the FDA microscope. Other than them kinda "sensitive" beings ,I agree.

mars_6

So sorry they are so sensitive to fumes. not so much we can do for them unless there sensitivity is worth there investment in indoor air quality improvement and the dollars It costs money wise to have what you want. As a contractor once said to me, boy we could cover the planet in plywood if someone wanted to pay us to do it. it becomes there choice as to what they want to pay for there indoor air quality. Just my opinion. Matt

Empire_2

Terry you are not alone in this observation. Has anyone EVER thought (when struggling with either a design or cost related problem or inconvenience) WOW, I would pay the extra $$$ to do this or that just to make it easier, more practical, or obviously sensible design.........? No MFG. filter rack is just 1. How about on RTU panels, a knob for holding doors on like York or AAon rtu's? Great idea and I personally would pay more for that good idea and do. How about hi eff. condenser coils that must be split to clean, but are tender when reaching the manifold side where care must be used in order not to kink, break or bend in order to completely clean the whole coil. Because of the difficulty, I would prefer a single pass coil that I can successfully clean. There has to be a better way.........


My .02 and there is so much more that we all could think of....

Mike T.

icesailor

@Empire:

I can tell that you have never met the manufacturers resident bean counter. Your beans don't count. Only the ones in the manufacturing plant.

The bean counter wants you to break it so you have to buy and sell another one. Its called "The Motive of Profit". There's, not yours.

Empire_2

icesailor, somehow that does not surprise me and such is life.....

Mike T.