Installation Issues

When servicing existing systems, I often notice parts of the installation that “could be better” – this could be a power unit mounted at an inconvenient height on the wall, inlets in less-than-optimal locations, etc. The most common issue I take note of, though, is poorly installed tubing. Take a look at a few photos from recent jobs:

U-Turn Flex Pipe

I believe the installer here roughed in the pipe with an elbow turned out, then didn’t bother connecting the unit properly (it would have required one elbow and about five extra minutes), choosing instead to arrange a piece of flex hose into a U-turn configuration. Not only does this arrangement reduce performance, it’s also very clog-prone.

Old Piping That Was Redone

Here are two sections of pipe from the same job. The connection on the left (sweep 90-tight 90-sweep 90) was replaced by a sweep 90 and a 45 elbow. On the right, the pipe was coming from one direction next to an I-beam, then went up and over back toward the same direction on the other side of the I-beam. This also was re-done much more efficiently.

Previous Clogged Piping

This was a section of pipe on a basement ceiling leading down to the power unit. Two sides of the three-way tee have more turns than necessary, and the three-way tee itself (gray fitting) is clog-prone and not recommended. The fittings in this picture (three-way tee and four 90-elbows) were replaced with one 45 wye and three 45-degree elbows. This system, which had clogged several times in the past, should not clog again.

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