How to tackle this HVAC penetration?

[M6erfan]

Looking for ideas for the best way to plug this HVAC penetration. PVC is on grade. Trying to close it up for pest, critter, and water ingress. Thinking about some sort of flashing and/or cover over the PVC and digging down about 12" and 12" wide under the line set to make a sort of dry well filled with gravel. Reinsulating/wrapping the line set is on the project list as well.

 

[jeepxj]

shame its already installed.

AIREX TITAN OUTLET TSS Gray Titan Outlet with White 6 ft. E-Flex Guard for 1/2 in. Insulation with 5/8 in., 3/4 in., 7/8 in. Tubing TSS-650G-72E-W - The Home Depot

Airex Pro-System Kit is a 2-in-1 system for combined air-tight sealing wall-mounted piping outlets and UV/Vapor Retarder insulation protection system for exterior HVAC refrigerant piping penetrations and outdoor insulation located at the point of service connections for outdoor equipment. The...

www.homedepot.com

are really good

 

[Balvar24]

Dig out under it. **** ton of silicon or similar sealant inside and outside of the PVC pipe.

Not pretty, but should get the job done.

 

[Crawlin]

Airex makes a retro now for line sets already installed. Or use some duct seal from the hardware store.

 

[Garcky]

For that penetration through the wall, stuff brass wool in there before caulking it up. jam the brass wool in there tightly. Brass wool, because it won't corrode and rust away. Also rodents will not be able to chew through it. Works perfectly. As for the water worries, caulking should do it, but you can also wrap it with water-sealing tape, which works well. Gorilla Tape is what I've used.

 

[M6erfan]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll look into that Airex retrofit outlet, looks like the perfect solution.

 

[Metallitubby]

 

[M6erfan]

For that penetration through the wall, stuff brass wool in there before caulking it up. jam the brass wool in there tightly. Brass wool, because it won't corrode and rust away. Also rodents will not be able to chew through it. Works perfectly. As for the water worries, caulking should do it, but you can also wrap it with water-sealing tape, which works well. Gorilla Tape is what I've used.

This is essentially what I was planning to do and will be plan B if the Airex solution somehow doesn't work out.

 

[danski0224]

Tear out the AC and plug the hole with mortar.

 

[Balvar24]

If you paint the insulation, it will not degrade as fast. Armaflex isn't UV stable.

 

[dogdog]

Penetration .....

 

[dogdog]

I have a 2" hole penetration but below ground.. sort of... after the 1.5" conduit I tape one side of the hole well. then tape up and leave some funnel contraption that is above the other side... and pump some self leveling urethane into it...

so far no leaks , dries hard but still a bit flexible. too.. you have to tape it pretty good otherwise it drips out all the self leveling compound.

****if you are doing the whole hole and just plugging up the hole, wet cement is an option... those stop leaks hydraulic cement.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Duct seal putty.

 

[M6erfan]

More good ideas^^^ Much appreciated.

 

[M6erfan]

If the Airex outlet works out I'll remove the PVC pipe and seal directly around the line set.

 

[The Cobbler]

Sika Flex will make a good caulk that will fill that up. Also for backer, a stainless steel brillo pad works well too, and easily obtainable

 

[BigMike782]

Spray foam as far in the opening as possible, then silicone and last stainless swarf.
I had an issue with rodents getting under the vinyl siding corners and making entry.
I stuffed them with stainless steel swarf from the scrapyard......evidently, they didn't like chewing on that.

 

[M6erfan]

I re-insulated the suction line today. I removed the PVC pipe and stuffed the opening with a product called Xcluder that I had on hand. Kind of temporary for now, Airex retrofit outlet incoming. Could take two to four weeks though, the retrofit kits are brand new and not even on the companies website yet.

Out with the old . . .



I rewrapped the control line too^^




In with the new . . .




The Airex kit includes their Flexguard to cover the line set, so that will be nice.

 

[NC Fabricator25]

I see no one has mentioned mortar to grout around the lines, which would have been my go-to for this. Maybe 2” thick, enough to withstand the elements, but thin enough to get chiseled out should the need to replace the line set arise. So what am I missing, guessing there must be a downside that I’m not seeing.

ETA: if it‘s just a temporary, few weeks/months, thing I agree with the stainless steelwool as a good choice.

 

[M6erfan]

Welp, the Airex line set outlet arrived!











What a great product for situations like this. Everything seems high quality and took about an hour to install. Easy peasy. Thanks @jeepxj & @Crawlin for the recommendation.

 

[rayra]

I'd suggest relieving more of that dirt to the sides of that penetration or a rain gutter above. Lot of splash debris on those bricks as well as green mold, that gets pretty wet. That's a real bad choice of penetration height that someone made.
Some sort of perforated drain pipe or french drain gravel there would seem to be a good idea.

And is that new cover and line insulation kit UV-resistant? I might want to overwrap or cover the cover, so to speak.

One last thing, I don't think both refrigerant lines are supposed to be contained within the same insulation layer. One is hot and should be exposed to shed heat, shouldn't it?

 

[larry4406]

Holy shamolies $250 clams?!

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Airex-TRS-675G-72C-B-PRO-SYSTEM-RETROFIT-KIT-Gray-Black-Titan-Retrofit-Outlet-and-6ft-E-Flex-Guard-for-3-4-Wall-Insulation

 

[M6erfan]

I'd suggest relieving more of that dirt to the sides of that penetration or a rain gutter above. Lot of splash debris on those bricks as well as green mold, that gets pretty wet. That's a real bad choice of penetration height that someone made.
Some sort of perforated drain pipe or french drain gravel there would seem to be a good idea.

And is that new cover and line insulation kit UV-resistant? I might want to overwrap or cover the cover, so to speak.

One last thing, I don't think both refrigerant lines are supposed to be contained within the same insulation layer. One is hot and should be exposed to shed heat, shouldn't it?

I plan on doing something about the drainage under the line set. Bad choice of height is right, but that's about as high as it can go and still penetrate to the basement. When the HVAC was retrofitted (1955 house) they should have graded the area to make it right, but I'll take care of it. Probably jus a gravel dry well for now. Maybe a french drain, dunno yet.

The FlexGuard that is the outer layer shown, goes over the insulated line. Only the suction line is insulated, the liquid line is outside of the insulation (see post #18 for pics) and the FlexGuard covers the whole mess, protecting it from UV, weather, etc.

Basically it looks like this when finished . . .

 

[M6erfan]

Holy shamolies $250 clams?!

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Airex-TRS-675G-72C-B-PRO-SYSTEM-RETROFIT-KIT-Gray-Black-Titan-Retrofit-Outlet-and-6ft-E-Flex-Guard-for-3-4-Wall-Insulation

Not inexpensive. But it's a clean, high quality way to git 'er done!

 

[M6erfan]

Sika Flex will make a good caulk that will fill that up. Also for backer, a stainless steel brillo pad works well too, and easily obtainable

I used some SikaFlex 1A that I had on hand to caulk around the outlet.

 

[jeepxj]

Holy shamolies $250 clams?!

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Airex-TRS-675G-72C-B-PRO-SYSTEM-RETROFIT-KIT-Gray-Black-Titan-Retrofit-Outlet-and-6ft-E-Flex-Guard-for-3-4-Wall-Insulation

yea if you want quality you gotta pay.

 

[Mr onetwo]

In the long run, you will be glad you used the right product. Good work!!!

 

[pcmeiners]

"yea if you want quality you gotta pay."

Not necessarily, $250 is ridiculous

I used these on my (5) mini splits, but only paid about $40 each (now 60-$80), without the insulation hose (not needed) on Ebay. You can buy the high R value insulation hose for about $15/6ft from Zoro. Lastly for linesets with thick foam, always get the largest diameter models.

At Home Depot I saw a Great Stuff or equal made to fill areas against rodents

 

[M6erfan]

"yea if you want quality you gotta pay."

Not necessarily, $250 is ridiculous

I used these on my (5) mini splits, but only paid about $40 each (now 60-$80),

You didn't use what I used, or what this thread is about. This is a newly released retrofit 2 piece outlet. No doubt it's pricey but your comparing apples to oranges.

At Home Depot I saw a Great Stuff or equal made to fill areas against rodents

^yeah, that stuff doesn't work unless used with some sort of metal filament barrier (copper/stainless Brillo, etc.). Mice/rats can chew right through it.

 

[pcmeiners]

"You didn't use what I used, or what this thread is about. This is a newly released retrofit 2 piece outlet. No doubt it's pricey but your comparing apples to oranges."


The ones I got can be divide into two pieces. Apples to oranges, not at 6x the price, if you want to spend 6x times what I paid fine with me. I am showing basically the same product at an alternative price; most times you do not need to divide the PVC into two pieces. Either product is PVC , a rubber seal, tube, lineset cover worth a total of $15, yours with the lineset foam sleeve $30, including advertisement and shipping... high priced at $250 or 40.

 

[gleman]

My inner old-man gives me sticker shock frequently but that's a nice, clean install to get you out of awkward placement.

A little shovel work and you'll be looking great.

 

[M6erfan]

The ones I got can be divide into two pieces. Apples to oranges, not at 6x the price, if you want to spend 6x times what I paid fine with me. I am showing basically the same product at an alternative price; most times you do not need to divide the PVC into two pieces. Either product is PVC , a rubber seal, tube, lineset cover worth a total of $15, yours with the lineset foam sleeve $30, including advertisement and shipping... high priced at $250 or 40.

You haven't shown anything. Give us a item number or link to the product. I've never seen another Airex Titan outlet that can be used for retrofit installations, that are two piece. If you are talking about a different manufacturer, well then tell us what it is.

 

[Mr onetwo]

Are you talking about this? https://rectorseal.com/outset-seal/

 

[jjrbus]

Opp's no delete that I see?

 

[pcmeiners]

No, the ones I am talking about are one piece, with a dark line in the halfway mark. Yes, a bit of work to divide it. As a correction I stated PVC, they are actually a composite.

JJrbus, thanks for an retrofit alternative .

Rectorseal..,.,..Not bad at $59.00, for a retrofit lineset seal.....

Rectorseal 84006 Outlet Seal

Outset Seal is the adjustable wall that seals penetrations for both central and mini split systems. It resists mold growth, deters rodents and insects and is UV resistant. Outset Seal can be used for both new and existing installs making it the easiest product to use with its hinge style...

skipthewarehouse.com