HVAC

[Dam Worker]

I have a question about the number of AC conditioned air return vents. My 3160 RL LE has two AC's but it only has six vents. It does have a dump in the upstairs bedroom. My old Vangaurd with a single 15k AC had seven or eight vents and it kept the unit cool even in Las Vegas and Anaheim during the summer. My new one seems to be able to cool the bedroom quite quickly but is very slow in the cooling of the main area. Of course there is four vents verses two plus the dump in the bedroom. It just does not seem like a lot of air flow being pushed out of the vents.
The heater seems to work quite well even thought it seems to be challenged on the amount of vents that it has. I think it has three rectanglular vents and one round one in the bathroom. It might also have some venting into the basement. Is this the normal amount of vents? Does anyone feel that they give up some air movement with the whisper quiet system? My unit also has the thermo pane windows so that should help.

Thanks for your input in advance.

Tom Marty

[TAKPAK]

Hi Tom. First, I'm assuming that by "vents" you are referring to what's called the supply vents, the round ones in the ceiling?

There is a whole list of things that could be causing your problem. First, most people with the new "quiet" system (i.e. the two return vents, one on each side of the living room) have found that the return duct is sometimes collapsed partially up in the ceiling. I found mine to be this way. I inserted a couple of PVC pipes into that area to hold it apart. I used open pipes so the air would not be blocked. Also, you would not believe the amount of sawdust that I vacuumed out of the ductwork, both in the ceiling and the floor ducts. The other thing is the bedroom unit may or may not be ducted to the rest of the system. Also, on our older 3400, one of the ducts up in the ceiling had separated, blowing air right into the "attic" area.

Regarding the furnace duct, you should have ONE loose hose from the furnace laying down in the belly area, to keep things from freezing up. Again, there is the possibility that a duct has come loose, or something is blocking it. Remove one of the floor vents, lay a flashlight in it, then use a mirror and look both ways down the duct. Might be surprised at what you find.

Hope this helps.

[DQDick]

Don't have the whisper quiet units but we do have eight vents (four in the kitchen livingroom, one in the hall, one in the bath and two in the bedroom) and two AC's in a 38'unit. I keep the dump in the bedroom more than 3/4 closed and the one in the livingroom full open. That way the bedroom one runs more and helps the livingroom one keep the whole unit cool. Since we summer in Kansas and winter in Arizona or Florida this set up works well with very high temps and humidity.

[Dam Worker]

I did get sawdust all over the top of the bed which came out of the bedroom vents when I first turned it on high. The heater seems to work quite well. I would have liked the bedroom heater vent to be placed on the side of the bed towards the front of the unit. That would be more difficult to run the duct to that location but would heat the bedroom more evenly. I have not noticed any sawdust in the living area even when AC system is on high. I will add that to the list for the dealer to check out.
The dual zone thermostat took awhile to figure out.
We still think that we will enjoy this unit for years to come after we get the kinks worked out.


Tom Marty

[Jimmer]

Does anyone know how the AC vents come out? Do not want to break one trying to take off.

[WeBeFulltime]

Our Monty has 2 AC units that both have the "dump" feature and both are tied to the same duct system that has a total of 8 vents (6 in LR/Kitchen, 1 bath, & 1 bed). This system works very well even in the hot south. Our furnace has 3 vents in the LR/Kitchen, 1 in bath, and 1 in bedroom. Works great.

[TAKPAK]

I have not noticed any sawdust in the living area even when AC system is on high. I will add that to the list for the dealer to check out.

You won't see it coming out per se' as the sawdust I'm referring to is in the "return" ductwork. When I took our return grills/filters down, I discovered a lot of sawdust resting in the corners of the duct right by the grill intake area. Some of that could get pulled into the AC coil, since it's after the filter.

[jcurtis934]

There are several posts starting with posts from ozz that explained cutting off the too tall vents to how they come out. Basically if you put a small flat blade screwdriver under the side of the cover between any of the three notches you see on it you will notice the ceiling portion of the vent assembly under the cover. The idea is to insert screwdriver between them and do a little twist or pry action and the vent will pop off partially...then move to another area and repeat and you should have it off. ALL of my vents, the piece screwed to the ceiling were way too tall and blocked airflow. Also, the installation of foil tape around the inside of the vent and ceiling (ceiling piece off) was crappy and I redid them all. John

[Dam Worker]

Thanks for the tip about Ozz's posts. I will look them up.

Tom Marty

[rlwhit]

I just finished doing the cut off of the collars. Made a noticeable increase in air flow. I took off the vent/inlet cover of the bedroom A/C.
There are no other outlets. The other two vents in the bedroom come form the living room A/c. Good luck on yours.

Dick