Pipe in way of HVAC filter

OrderOfTwisted

Hi! Just to clarify, I know NOTHING about any of this (which is why I am here) So, I live in a brand new double wide. Went to change the filter and realized whomever installed it, put a pipe right in front of the filter slot. I contacted the company and they said “you just have to bend it”… what? Basically have to bend it in half and tear the filter up to get it out, getting new one in took over an hour and it’s basically shredded…plus I’m sure you aren’t supposed to bend the filters like that, as the little particles could get sucked in the HVAC and defeat the purpose of the filter? Idk. But they refuse to fix the issue, so idk what to do. House is still under warranty. I just want second opinions before I have to battle these people. Thanks! 

pecmsg

Did they install it or is this something you bought?

JUGHNE

Did the double wide company sell you the house with the AC included?

Or did you hire an HVAC company to add the AC later.

In either case it is certainly sloppy "git er done" shoddy work.

Hopefully you have not paid in full for this yet.

OrderOfTwisted

It came with the house and was installed when the house was delivered. 

OrderOfTwisted

JUGHNE said:

Did the double wide company sell you the house with the AC included? Or did you hire an HVAC company to add the AC later. In either case it is certainly sloppy "git er done" shoddy work. Hopefully you have not paid in full for this yet.

It’s MS, so this is so beyond accurate. It just kills me that they won’t fix it, and expect me to bend the filter. Just blows my mind. 

ChrisJ

That's certainly B.S.

But if it was mine, and there was no way to get them to fix it I'd be looking at sealing that room and around the door up completely and somehow adapting filters to that door. It would give a whole lot more surface area to the "filter" and make it easy to change. Perhaps you can get two off the shelf filters that will fit the door well.

It sucks, but sometimes you have to make do with what you've got.

ratio

If any of my guys did that, I'd make them go back and fix it. Hopefully without anyone noticing.

Keep on the installers. Maybe ask them to show you how to get it in there without shredding it.

pecmsg

OrderOfTwisted said:

JUGHNE said:

Did the double wide company sell you the house with the AC included?

Or did you hire an HVAC company to add the AC later.

In either case it is certainly sloppy "git er done" shoddy work.

Hopefully you have not paid in full for this yet.

It’s MS, so this is so beyond accurate. It just kills me that they won’t fix it, and expect me to bend the filter. Just blows my mind. 

Unacceptable. Who hired the HVAC Contractor you or the company that sold the unit?

pecmsg

BTW
Where does that drain line go to? Just draining to the earth below?

JUGHNE

I would guess that drain hose just dumps to the crawl space under the home.
That is the standard method. And in MS there is probably a lot of humidity there already.

For the few of these I have done, I bring a solid drain out of the skirting to daylight.
(you could look for that outside for water dripping out)

Also being on the suction side of the blower, there should be a trap in the drain.
They may have formed the hose into a "S" trap below the floor, but maybe not.
This could lead to the AC coil water drain pan overflowing and water dripping onto the floor under the furnace.

Where in MS are you?

mattmia2

I'm guessing if they did that and refuse to fix it that they didn't do any of the other things you are supposed to do like trickle inert gas while brazing and either using a micron gauge or triple evacuating and pressure testing.

ChrisJ

mattmia2 said:

I'm guessing if they did that and refuse to fix it that they didn't do any of the other things you are supposed to do like trickle inert gas while brazing and either using a micron gauge or triple evacuating and pressure testing.

Triple evacuation isn't a replacement for a micron gauge.

pecmsg

@OrderOfTwisted
With the house under warranty and the install instructions NOT being followed, contact the builder and demand it be corrected.

Its clearly in the IOM to leave access for filter changes and as others have stated a P-Trap is needed on that drain.

Please say there was an attorney that you used?

OrderOfTwisted

JUGHNE said:

I would guess that drain hose just dumps to the crawl space under the home. That is the standard method. And in MS there is probably a lot of humidity there already. For the few of these I have done, I bring a solid drain out of the skirting to daylight. (you could look for that outside for water dripping out) Also being on the suction side of the blower, there should be a trap in the drain. They may have formed the hose into a "S" trap below the floor, but maybe not. This could lead to the AC coil water drain pan overflowing and water dripping onto the floor under the furnace. Where in MS are you?

North MS, and yes that’s exactly what they did. There is a pipe that runs out into yard that comes out of skirting. 

OrderOfTwisted

It won’t let me quote/reply to y’all for some reason… but to answer some questions, I am in north MS. The installers were hired by the company we bought the house from. There is a pipe that runs out of skirting onto ground for condensation to come out of (I’m assuming). 

I’ve told them over and over to fix it and they flat out refuse, saying “it’s not hurting anything”…. Yeah for THEM, but when my warranty runs out and my HVAC screws up bc if this, that’ll be on ME.. so of course they don’t care. I’m so over them. This isn’t even the beginning of the nonsense that has went on. I’m just tired of people not doing their job correctly and/or fixing their mistakes. Ugh. 

OrderOfTwisted

IF I were to hire someone to fix it, would it be an easy fix? And around how much do y’all think? I’m thinking about hiring an attorney (not just for this, but SO much more with this company).. just going over my options at the moment. 

I did contact Clayton (the manufacturer) and since the retailer did it, they can’t fix it. They only fix things that were the factory’s fault in building, since it was contracted out by the retailer, they can’t really do anything, which I understand. 

pecmsg

We cant discuss prices that's a regional thing. In my area that would be several hundred but your not on Eastern LI.
Give it to the attorney if there's other issues that need to be resolved, get it on record when you noticed and the steps you've taken to get it resolved.

I wish you luck.

JUGHNE

One possible solution is to filter the entire door as ChrisJ mentioned above.
The old school method for mobile home door inlet air return was to use something called "filter media", it comes in a roll that you cut with a scissors.

You cut it to fit the inside of the entire door.
It has to be held in place as the blower is trying to pull it into the furnace room.
What was used was a wire frame that had 2 x 4 squares in it.
It had to cover the entire media and be strong enough to hold the filter in place.
The wire is somewhat like a light gauge fencing weight.
It is flexible enough to snap into the lip of the door.
Sometimes a light duty spring is used to secure the frame in place, that would require holes drilled in the inside lip of the door to hook the springs to.

If you could come up with the combination of 1" cardboard framed filters that would cover the door completely then several springs would hold it in place.
The room has to be sealed tightly so all the air goes thru the filter material.

I have been to relatives in MS and we checked out house construction several times,
I find it amusing.
I am truly impressed that the condensate drain is run to daylight. It still needs a trap but they may have run it up hill to go outside which would produce the water seal of a trap.

bucksnort

Just contact the warranty company and start a claim. If they brush you off then it's small claims court time. No need to hire Screwy, Leuy and Scummy
If there is no trap how do you keep bugs and critters from coming up the pipe and into your home?

mattmia2

bucksnort said:

If there is no trap how do you keep bugs and critters from coming up the pipe and into your home?

Same way that sleeve through the floor that was sealed by the manufacturer with foil tape but wasn't resealed by the installer will...

bucksnort

mattmia2 said:

bucksnort said:

If there is no trap how do you keep bugs and critters from coming up the pipe and into your home?

Same way that sleeve through the floor that was sealed by the manufacturer with foil tape but wasn't resealed by the installer will...

It's what I call "A Cob Job". Dat's what I did done at Bubba's place. He turns on da lights and he sees cockroaches be scatter.

ChrisJ

I would be more worried about the evaporator not draining and dumping all over the place on hot humid days and not really worried at all about bugs but that's me.....

JUGHNE

Just about every day there is hot and humid until Sept.

Again if they ran the horizontal part uphill to the outside then the pipe would stay full of some water creating the trap.

I have seen Utubes where in the south they may run the cond line under the slab and come up outside. The entire line is full....like a wet return in a steam system.
Susposally no problems with plugged lines.

Orderoftwisted.....is there a steady stream/dripping coming out of the outside pipe?
Or do you hear it sucking air and burping water like a slurpie?

Is surging then plug with your thumb for 60 seconds and release. If a gusher of water comes out then maybe no water seal trap.