Unico Tips and Tricks

First Steps Layout and material list to be done by the salesman Wear Hospital Style Booties, if working in a non-drop cloth area Never park the van in the driveway, always try to park in the street in front of the house as free advertising

First Steps Send a door hanger to all the neighbors that you see have window air conditioners Salesman and the head installer should come in first. Need to walk through the house with the homeowner to get his input on where to place the outlets. Put drop clothes down everywhere your men will be working

First Steps Unico installations are normally a two to three man crew, depending on the size of the job Plan on the first one to two days cutting the holes and running the supply duct Be sure to cover all the furniture in the rooms, the installation will create a LOT of dust

Second Steps Use a combination of a flashlight and a mirror to look for the alignment of the hole Look for the Wire Hanger protruding through the joist space Drill a small pilot hole in the center of where you want the outlet to go. Take a piece of coat hanger wire 4” long and bend it in half. Put this wire through the hole to check clearance and use a future reference

Second Steps Save the wood plug for the outlet you just cut, you may need to have it to fill the space in, if alignment doesn’t work Look in the attic, is there enough space to install the air handler and duct work. (This assumes our standard retrofit configuration: a two-story house with one Unico system) Use steel fish tape to pull the two inch aluminum core tubing through the joist space. Newer flexible rods are also available to do this

Second Steps Find out how you will put the runs into the closet space Plastic cover everything, you will make a LOT of dust Figure the first two days to be cutting and installing the outlets

Third Steps Use a carbide hole saw for cutting into plaster and lathe ceilings Use a wood hole saw for cutting into the closet floor

Third Steps Make stubs through the holes you have cut with the UPC25 aluminum core tubing, be sure to attach the UPC26 (at least three feet) before you attach the outlet

Third Steps Secure the tubing with plumbers straps to make a nice arc (think of a question mark) You do NOT want the tubing lying on the floor of the attic. This is especially important when you Mastic the duct work. If the duct work is lying on a joist, it will eventually lose its insulation value and lead to condensation

Third Steps After you install the outlets, be sure to take up the drop clothes, the plastic and use a good shop vacuum to thoroughly clean the room. Don’t come back to this room until it is time to check the air flow

Fourth Steps Install the plenum AFTER you install the supply duct The plenum can have a tendency to get in the way of installing the two inch ductwork

Fourth Steps Cut the return air towards the ceiling of the second floor Push the air handler through this hole (Note that the M4860 is 17 ½” Wide so it may not fit here) Remember that if heating is being used you need to have a return in the lower area as well

Fourth Steps Mount the air handler either: – Using a field fabricated platform – Cradling a threaded rod – Using chains from the rafters – EZ Trap makes a pre-fabricated cradle for mounting the air handler – The M1218 uses a pair of rails (UPC95) to use for vertically mounting

Fourth Steps Be sure to install a secondary drain pan Even if you are mounting the air handler vertically in a basement, it would still be good practice to have a secondary drain

Fourth Steps If using metal duct, be sure to tape the seams lengthwise, insulate the duct with the correct R factor A common technique for insulation has been to use a seven inch or appropriate size flex duct as sleeve over the duct

Step Four Install the UPC28 metal take offs You have insulated and sealed the plenum, now use attach the small gasket to the bottom of the take-off Use four #10 1 inch screws to attach the take-off Use a 1 7/8” Hole saw to cut the outlet. You may want to use some WD40 as this is a tight fit, once the paint wears off it will go in smoother

Fourth Steps Connect the supply tubing to the UPC28, get the tubing below the dimple, use the correct clamp and be sure to use our clamp pliers (UPC54) Next, push the insulation into the tape ring, be careful, this is where the sound attenuating tubing is sealed. This preserves the R factor as well

Fourth Steps Install the electrical, refrigerant, and condensate connections the same as any good air conditioning installation Mount the condensing unit and pad where the salesman indicated. Make sure you have less than fifty (50) feet of line set

Fourth Steps Install the thermostat on the second floor near the return air Be sure that everything is vacuumed and cleaned Some contractors have been very successful with claiming they leave the house cleaner than they enter it

Final Steps DO A SERVICE REPORT (Bulletin ) This protects you from call backs Go over the results of the bulletin with the homeowner, show them results such as 95% of the air flow is being delivered to the conditioned space

Final Steps If you are doing new construction, have the general contractor sign off on the Service Report If one of the other contractors destroys your work, now you are covered

Final Steps Have the homeowner fill out a satisfaction survey Send post cards to the neighbors you left the door hangers on earlier