pre-piping - Energiatudat

Installing a new AC to your apartment?

Here is some must see information before installing

You just have to connect the pipes and you're done, nothing complicated...

If you think about it with common sense, it would be natural. We have an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, which are connected by copper pipes and electrical wires. Condensate draining and even the electric supply are also solved. In summary, you don’t have to build anything that you would have to in a classic air conditioning installation. In theory, this would save the installer time and money, but unfortunately, this is not that simple.

What does a pre-pipe look like?

When building an apartment building, the pipes are inserted relatively early, as they will be hidden in the wall later. It is typically engraved into the wall in a small section, and then goes under the floor to the outdoor unit. The advantage is that when the apartment is ready, the traces of the pipe will be completely gone, but this is also the disadvantage. I’ll get into why later, but first let’s look at what a pre-tube consists of. Condensate water from the indoor unit is typically connected into the drain, AC pipes and a communication vires goes from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit. The power cable goes directly from the electrical box to the outdoor unit.

indoor unit air conditioning pre-pipe

indoor unit after installation

Is there a disadvantage in pre-tubing?

In many cases, the pipes are not installed by air-conditioning installers, or due to the fact that they are installed relatively early in the construction process, the other workers in the building do not pay enough attention to them during work. This leads to damage of the pre-pipe, which can (and often does) causes fatal problems with air conditioners which is installed later to that tubes.

What are the common problems in AC pre-piping?

Inadequate preparation of condensate water tube inside the wall: the condense water coming out of the device and doesn't get a proper slope and starts to stink, or they forget to connect it to the drain, which leads to the wall getting wet.
The power cord of the outdoor unit is not connected to the fuse board, the device does not receive power and unable to run.
During the pre-piping the pipe installators are installing the AC pipes from the right-to left: In the case of side-wall indoor units, the AC pipes under the inside unit always come from right to left as wel.
Broken, cracked air conditioning pipe: After the installation of air conditioning pipes in the wall, it happens that the pipes are bent more strongly and at a larger angle than necessary, this leads to a narrowing of the cross section, which initially causes the device to function improperly (it does not cool properly, it works noisily), then the refrigerant (air conditioning gas) ) leakage.
Contaminated air conditioning pipe: as I wrote earlier, the preparation of the air conditioning pipe takes place at a relatively early stage of construction, the pipes hang out in the open for a long time. This would not be a problem, but in many cases, the ends of the pipes are not properly sealed, so moisture or construction dust can easily enter the pipes, which leads to early failure of the device and can no longer be repaired cost-effectively.

It is important that the pipes are handled by a competent person

When choosing an installer, it’s even more important to do a thorough and thoughtful job because we don’t know what’s inside the pipes. Here are some tips on what to look for before choosing a mechanic:

Ask for reference pictures of pre-piped houses, even the house where we currently live. One reference picture means nothing, let's see if the mechanic has actual experience based on the pictures. In the pictures, we definitely pay attention to how aesthetic his work is.
Based on the problems that often occured by pre-pipe installators (described above), The installer should explain in detail the installation process, to avoid incompetent installers.
We check whether the inspection required during installation is carried out properly by the chosen installer.
Do not start with suspiciously cheap offers or inexperienced installers, because if he do not follow the points of checking which we discussed above, the financial damage will be more than what we can save on the installation. If the AC error is caused by the fault of the installer, the device is not covered by the manufacturer's warranty any more, than you have to buy a new AC or pay someone else to repair your AC.

What can we do to avoid these problems?

Knowledge of the house/residential park is very important.
Typically, the location of the indoor unit is invisible in the wall. This must be located and the plastering should be removed from it. We have to carry out to do not damage the pipes running in the wall, we only remove as much plaster as is absolutely necessary, we do not damage the freshly painted wall.
The condensate drainage prepared in the wall must be checked so that the wall does not get wet later.
Flush the air conditioning pipes with high-purity nitrogen. This can detect possible pipe narrowing and also cleans and dries the pre-piping.
Pressure testing the pipes with dry nitrogen at high pressure to check if there are any cracks or breaks in the AC pre-piping in the wall or outside.
Removing gases and moisture from the piping using a vacuum test to ensure that the device will work well as long as possible
Inspection and professional wiring of electrical wires. It is important to visually inspect the condition of the wires and measure any breaks, and whether it is connected to the electrical network.

What we can help you with

Some thoughts of our work

The number of device failures resulting from pre-piping is 0!
We offer a 5-10 year warranty on AC devices
Annual professional maintenance and cleaning for your health and the proper functioning of your device.
Hundreds of satisfied customers, a wide range of references