Packing materials

Eugene Silberstein 3

Got a call yesterday from a colleague who just installed a window air conditioner for a customer. He mentioned to me that although the blower motor was operating, there was no air being discharged from the unit.

I asked him to look into the front of the unit and verify that the blower was turning and also told him to check the rotation of the fan. All okay. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Fan motor operating, blower turning, correct rotation, no air. Big Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I asked him what he did to the unit prior to installing it in the window. His response was that he removed all of the styrofoam packing material from the unit. "All?" I asked. Typically, there is a styrofoam block under the fan motor to prevent movement during shipping but that's it.
"What do you mean by "ALL" I asked.

Oh, the packing material in the blower compartment behind the evaporator coil around the blower wheel.

Confused, I just had to see this for myself. I journeyed over to the location and met my friend. I looked into the unit and could see remnants of the styrofoam behind the evaporator coil. He removed an integral part of the system (the plenum) but thought it was packing material because it was made of styrofoam.

Problem solved. The styrofoam that was removed was the plenum that directed air through the evaporator coil and back to the room!

Of course there was air, just none of it was being reintroduced to the room. I just had to chuckle.

Since you're eating the unit, would you like fries with that?