PennSilverTaco's HVAC BS MegaThread!

No, it was still 22 systems at that point. The real problem I had was the concept of using a gas that varies its pressure with temperature to leak check is just bad on a fundamental level lol. There's a reason Nitrogen is used.

 

I've heard of people substituting Freon with propane...

 

Tech 2000, yep. Can't believe I forgot that. Only real problem was they were noisy from rattles on the exterior due to not having enough screws. We used to stick mulch from the flower bed in between the metal and plastic beauty ring on top since it just snapped on lol.

Good units though. The Evolution units came out a year or so before I switched to a Lennox dealer. The evolution stuff was very high end initially so pretty rare at that time. I will say the generation of 58MVP units was IMO the Heyday of Carrier. They weren't perfect, but far and wide the whole lineup of Carrier stuff at that time was very good.

I gotta say this thread is a lot of fun, I don't get to reminisce about old HVAC stuff a lot as I don't talk work with anybody in real life. Thanks for letting me relive the old days a bit Charlie.

 

Gas furnace and water heater...

 

Evolution is Bryant and Infinity is Carrier...

 

Propane has an R-value.... Lol.

 

Good lord, lol. Yep. I had switched to Lennox by the time those lines were mainstream so not an expert... obviously.

 

Earlier in this thread you said you want the Rheem/Ruud stamped octagon units in a house you actually lived in due to inefficiency? Aside from the fact that they came out before the feds mandated a 13 SEER minimum, why would they be any less efficient than any other 10 SEER unit? Some of the newer ones were even 12 SEER!

 

I hear the new high-end Lennox units are technologically complex junk. Remember the Dave Lennox Signature heat pumps with built-in solar backup. They weren't on the market very long, so I'm assuming they didn't sell well...

 

They're not really any more inefficient when clean, but the short coils were close to the ground and were prone to getting very clogged. A taller unit like a round Carrier or a Trane had a much better chance of moving more air since they were taller. Just experience of seeing them for too many years. they wore like Iron though, just high head pressures.

 

My aunt's old house had a 1987 Ruud Achiever 10 matched up with an oil furnace. That thing absolutely cranked; I took it apart and cleaned it once...

 

Interesting fact about those if we are thinking about the same units, the only thing solar powered was the condensor fan motor if I recall correctly. We never understood that. We never sold one either. We also sold geothermals so a 17 SEER Air to Air HP wasn't anything we took seriously when a Water to air HP trounced it with little effort. Was more consistent as well.

 

The SEER rating on those was in the 20s...?

 

https://www.lennox.com/lib/legacy-res/pdfs/brochures/lennox_xp17_heat_pump.pdf

Not all of them.

Notice they all say "up to XX SEER"

It's all temperature dependant. Why a Ground source Geo HP runs circles around one.

 

I found a video of my aunt's 1987 Ruud that I made back in 2012!

https://youtu.be/Q6ph4K5KzEI?si=S2y2GBeqwfcGmTjm

 

I kind of miss the sound of an old school Reciprocating compressor kicking on lol. When working a tired unit, it always had a bit of will it or won't it there.

 

My grandma lived like a mile away and had a virtually identical (except it was green) 1987 Rheem Classic X that still worked up until the bitter end. She got it replaced like three years ago because it had a leak in the coil...

 

@Lt. Dangle

Cleaning my grandma's A/C unit was a bitch!

https://youtu.be/qkQ2LYb5Qs4?si=PUS2rH_AmUAfVr5Y

 

@Lt. Dangle

Lennox ductless heat pump used to heat and cool the temporary sales office (which will be turned back into a garage once the decorated model is sold)...

 

@Lt. Dangle

Carrier A/C units at the newly renovated farm house near the 55+ community...