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DUCT SYSTEM DEFECTS - Heating and Cooling Duct Work Inspections for Adequacy, Safety, Defective Materials, Asbestos, Mold InspectAPedia®  -     Air Conditioning (or Heating) Duct Defects Defective air duct products and materials Heating & Cooling air Duct installation defects, safety hazards Return air adequacy or lack of return air can prevent adequate warm or cool air flow in a home

This chapter of "How to Inspect the Central Air Conditioning or Cooling System" describes the inspection of the air ducts, air registers and zone components of heating and air conditioning (HVAC) duct systems for defects such as missing air conditioning cool air supply or return air registers, undersized air conditioning duct openings, improper cooling duct routing, cooling (or heating) air duct corrosion, leaky air duct connections, defective heating or cooling ductwork materials such as Goodman gray flex-duct, some Owens Corning Flex-duct, and asbestos-containing air conditioning or heating duct work.

Also see our explanation of problems with reduced air flow, dirty air handler blowers, blocked cooling coils, blower leaks and mold, frost and ice build up in ducts, and blower sizing problems of air conditioning retrofit projects which we discuss at: AIR HANDLER UNIT, see our discussion of LOST COOLING CAPACITY and see our discussion of various problems with AIR FILTERS for HVAC SYSTEMS since all of these can involve diagnosing and curing problems with the adequacy of distribution of cool air in a building. Readers should also see our INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE article series.

© Copyright 2010 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

This chapter continues with a discussion of common defects found in air conditioning duct work (see links below) such as incomplete supply or return ducts, poor choice of location or size for supply and return registers, locating ducts in problem areas, leaks into and corrosion of duct work, leaky duct connections, and special notes on product failures by two manufacturers of flexible duct work. The chapter concludes with important safety warnings about dangerous openings in duct work.

Air conditioning duct system defects include a remarkably wide range of errors, from failure to supply cool air or failure to even circulate air in the building, to health hazards such as use of asbestos material in or on duct work, to very dangerous conditions such as drawing heating equipment combustion gases into the building cooling (or heating) air.

The master document, of which this is a chapter, describes the inspection of residential air conditioning systems (A/C systems) to inform home buyers, owners, and home inspectors of common cooling system defects. Asbestos in or on HVAC ducts is a possible hazard for which we provide links to a separate document - see "Asbestos HVAC Ducts" at below left.

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

AIR CONDITIONING & HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
AGE of AIR CONDITIONERS & HEAT PUMPS
AIR CONDITIONER BTU CHART
AIR CONDITIONER COMPONENT PARTS
AIR CONDITIONER TYPES, ENERGY SOURCES
AIR CONDITIONER NOT WORKING
AIR FILTERS for HVAC SYSTEMS
AIR HANDLER UNITS
APPLIANCE EFFICIENCY RATINGS
BACKUP HEAT for HEAT PUMPS
BLOWER DOORS & AIR INFILTRATION
BOOKSTORE - Air Conditioning "How To" Books
CLEANING & Legionella BACTERIA
COMPRESSOR CONDENSER
CONDENSATE HANDLING
CONTROLS & SWITCHES
COOL OFF HEAT Thermostat Switch
COOLING CAPACITY, RATED
COOLING COIL or EVAPORATOR COIL
DATA TAGS on AIR CONDITIONERS
COMBUSTION GASES & PARTICLE HAZARDS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
DEFINITION of Heating & Cooling Terms
DEW POINT CALCULATION for WALLS
DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE
DUCT SYSTEMS
DUCTS - Asbestos
DUCT SYSTEM DEFECTS
  ASBESTOS HVAC DUCTS
  DUCT & AIR HANDLER ODORS
  DUCT ROUTING & SUPPORT
  BALANCING AIR DUCT FLOW
  FIBERGLASS DUCT, RIGID CONSTRUCTION
  FIBERGLASS HVAC DUCTS
  FIRE DAMPERS in DUCTWORK
  GOODMAN GRAY FLEXDUCT
  INCREASING RETURN AIR
  LEAKY DUCT CONNECTIONS
  LOCATION OF REGISTERS & DUCTS
  MOLD in AIR HANDLERS & DUCT WORK
  ODORS in AIR HANDLERS & DUCT WORK
  OWENS CORNING FLEXDUCT
  OWL FLEXDUCT
  RETURN AIR REGISTERS & DUCTS
  SUPPLY REGISTERS, & ZONES
  Transite Pipe HVAC Ducts
  UNDERSIZED RETURN DUCTS
  UNSAFE DUCT OPENINGS
  VIBRATION DAMPERS
  WATER & ICE IN DUCT WORK
  WET CORRODED DUCT WORK
  ZONE DAMPER CONTROLS
DUCT INSULATION, Asbestos Paper
DUCT INSULATION for SOUNDPROOFING
DUCTS, Asbestos Transite Pipe
DUST FROM HVAC?
ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS
EVAPORATIVE COOLING SYSTEMS
FAN AUTO ON Thermostat Switch
FAN CONVECTOR HEATERS - HYDRONIC COILS
HEAT LOSS (or GAIN) in BUILDINGS
HUMIDITY LEVEL TARGET
INSPECTION CHECKLIST - OUTDOOR UNIT
INSPECTION LIMITATIONS
LOST COOLING CAPACITY
  What to check first
  Compressor failure diagnosis
  Duct & Air Handler diagnosis
MOTOR OVERLOAD RESET SWITCH
OPERATING COST
OPERATING DEFECTS
OPERATING TEMPERATURES
REPAIR GUIDE for AIR CONDITIONERS
REPAIR & DIAGNOSTIC FAQs for A/C
REFRIGERANTS
SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS
SYSTEM OPERATION
SWAMP COOLERS
THERMOSTATS
THERMOSTATIC EXPANSION VALVES
CRITICAL DEFECTS
Air Conditioning "How To" Books

• Thanks to Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, for assistance in technical review of the "Critical Defects" section and for the photograph of the deteriorating gray Owens Corning flex duct in a hot attic. Mr. Cramer is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator.
• Thanks to Jon Bolton, an ASHI, FABI, and otherwise certified Florida home inspector who provided photos of failing Goodman gray flex duct in a hot attic.
• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, have provided us with (and we recommend) Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates' Technical Reference Guide to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment ($69.00 U.S.).
• Thanks to Scott at SJM Inspect for suggesting this EPA document and for technical editing remarks regarding our air conditioning website, SJM Inspection Service LLC, serves the entire state of CT, sjminspect.com 203-543-0447 or 203-877-4774 5/16/07
• Reference: Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, A. D. Althouse, C.H. Turnquist, A. Bracciano, Goodheart-Willcox Co., 1982
• Reference: Principles of Refrigeration, R. Warren Marsh, C. Thomas Olivo, Delmar Publishers, 1979
• "Air Conditioning & Refrigeration I & II", BOCES Education, Warren Hilliard (instructor), Poughkeepsie, New York, May - July 1982, [classroom notes from air conditioning and refrigeration maintenance and repair course attended by the website author
  

More Reading on air conditioning system duct problems:

Mold in the air handler or duct work is discussed at AIR HANDLER UNITS chapter
HOW TO PREVENT MOLD: Correct the Causes of Mold and Prevent Indoor Mold or other indoor environment problems
OPTIMUM INDOOR AIR QUALITY - Air Filter Choices & Placement for Optimum Indoor Air Quality

How to diagnose and fix an air conditioning system that is not working

Since the failure of an air conditioner to turn on, loss of air conditioner cooling capacity, reduced air conditioning output temperatures, loss of cool air supply, or even loss of air flow entirely can be due to a variety of problems with one or more components of an air conditioner or air conditioning system, after reviewing the lost air conditioner cooling diagnosis procedures described in this article, be sure to also review the diagnostic procedures at each of the individual air conditioning diagnosis and repair major topics listed just below. To return to our air conditioning and refrigeration home page go to AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS.

If your air conditioning system has lost its cooling capacity or won't start select one or more of the diagnostic articles listed below.

• A/C REFRIGERANT LEAK DETECTION: how to use a TIF5000 to detect air conditioning refrigerant gas leak
• A/C DIAGNOSTIC FAQs: air conditioning system diagnostic FAQs: Q&A about air conditioner repair - a detailed air conditioning system diagnostic checklist
• AIR HANDLER UNIT: problems with the air handler, air filters, and the cooling coil itself
• COMPRESSOR CONDENSER: problems with air conditioner compressor/condenser units
• CONTROLS & SWITCHES: air conditioner controls and switches - begin here if your A/C won't start. Here's an important tip: most refrigeration problems, in air conditioners, refrigerators, or freezers, are electrical, not mechanical. In air conditioning school, we used to drive out and collect abandoned refrigerators that people were tossing out during our community's spring cleanup week. Taking these appliances back into the shop we found that almost always the problem that had caused the owner to dispose of their air conditioner or freezer was in an electrical connection or electrical control. So it's worth checking out switches and controls on an air conditioner before replacing more costly components.
• DUCT SYSTEM DEFECTS: problems with the air duct system, air filters, supply registers, return air registers
• Fire dampers, and Heating and Cooling Air Duct Controls such as manual and automatic duct dampers, zone dampers, and fire dampers are discussed and distinguished at DRAFT REGULATORS - barometric damper
• LOST COOLING CAPACITY: what to do when not enough cool air comes out of the system
  • What to check first if there is no cool air or not enough cool air
  • Compressor failure diagnosis: basic checks of the air conditioner compressor
  • Ducts & Air Handler diagnosis: basic checks of the indoor air handler (blower), air ducts, and filter system
• OPERATING DEFECTS: major air conditioning problem symptoms and how to get the air conditioning system working again,e.g. compressor or fan noises, failure to start, and inadequate cool air volume
• Automatic Fire Dampers for Duct Work discusses fire safety controls - a different type of automatic duct closure device than heating zone regulators.
• ZONE DAMPER CONTROLS . discusses manual and automatic air duct zone controls

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