Any HVAC installers? Quick question

firsttimeARE

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
Im mounting my condenser on a quick sling and didnt wanna tear out a section of my paver patio and pour a concrete pad down. Thinking of drilling into the pavers and securing the feet with either epoxy anchors or expansion bolts.

Obviously a concrete pad will secure the unit better. But has anyone had success with pavers?

The unit is 280lbs.
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
Im not personally familiar with quick slings but I googled them and they look more like something for mounting the evap coil in an attic or something, is that the one you have? Pavers would not be the best thing to sit the condenser on, but might be okay if they have a really solid base underneath them, but you also want it at least a few inches above ground level. For quick installs In those situations where pouring a pad doesn't make sense I like to use precast bases, the ultra light concrete kind. They also make heavy duty molded abs plastic bases, either will sit on top of your pavers and distribute the weight.
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
^^^^i would buy a vinyl pad
Never mounted down an outdoor compressor unless on a roof
But maybe it is common in earthquake places idk
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
Herb & Suds said:
^^^^i would buy a vinyl pad
Never mounted down an outdoor compressor unless on a roof
But maybe it is common in earthquake places idk
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are they vinyl? I was trying to think of the plastic they are made out of and just went with abs as my best guess. Also I second not bolting down outdoor units that sit on a pad, I only do it for houses below flood where the outdoor unit is up on a platform or some sort of wall mount, or on the roof etc.
 
Three Berries

Three Berries

Well-Known Member
They just put in a new pad for mine last summer. Much thicker than the flimsy one I had and built like a small plastic pallet. They mounted that on blocks to raise it above potential flood waters.
 
firsttimeARE

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
watsongreenthumb said:
Im not personally familiar with quick slings but I googled them and they look more like something for mounting the evap coil in an attic or something, is that the one you have? Pavers would not be the best thing to sit the condenser on, but might be okay if they have a really solid base underneath them, but you also want it at least a few inches above ground level. For quick installs In those situations where pouring a pad doesn't make sense I like to use precast bases, the ultra light concrete kind. They also make heavy duty molded abs plastic bases, either will sit on top of your pavers and distribute the weight.
Click to expand...
www.supplyhouse.com

QSMS1802 - DiversiTech QSMS1802 - 18" Dual Fan Mini Split Stand (Holds up to 400 lbs.)

DiversiTech QSMS1802 - 18" Dual Fan Mini Split Stand (Holds up to 400 lbs.) - The Mini-Split Stands provide a safe, stable platform for mounting a wide variety of HVAC/R equipment. It keeps unit elevated above lawn mowers, weed trimmers, pets, snow and flooding. The elevated height allows for...
www.supplyhouse.com www.supplyhouse.com

This is what I have. Code here is 18" minimum due to snow. This is a heat pump system so will need to run during the winters.
 
firsttimeARE

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
pinner420 said:
My 2cents would be cement and bolt it down so it doesn't walk off! Just had a generator walk yesterday....
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Not ruling anything out, but I live in a safe neighborhood. Anything can be unbolted. Im more so wondering from a structural point.

Ill look into the ABS pads. I know diversitech (maker of quick slings) also sells precast pads.
 
pinner420

pinner420

Well-Known Member
firsttimeARE said:
Not ruling anything out, but I live in a safe neighborhood. Anything can be unbolted. Im more so wondering from a structural point.

Ill look into the ABS pads. I know diversitech (maker of quick slings) also sells precast pads.
Click to expand...
Indeed my friend sucks that locks only keep the honest ones out
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
firsttimeARE said:
www.supplyhouse.com

QSMS1802 - DiversiTech QSMS1802 - 18" Dual Fan Mini Split Stand (Holds up to 400 lbs.)

DiversiTech QSMS1802 - 18" Dual Fan Mini Split Stand (Holds up to 400 lbs.) - The Mini-Split Stands provide a safe, stable platform for mounting a wide variety of HVAC/R equipment. It keeps unit elevated above lawn mowers, weed trimmers, pets, snow and flooding. The elevated height allows for...
www.supplyhouse.com www.supplyhouse.com

This is what I have. Code here is 18" minimum due to snow. This is a heat pump system so will need to run during the winters.
Click to expand...
Okay now I can wrap my head around what you have going on, actually going to keep these in mind for myself in the future as I do some installs on elevated platforms due to flood/hurricane issues in my area, and while I would probably still pour a pad with some anchors in it for the quicksling, using one of those is easier than pouring a pad with anchors for 4x4's and building a wooden platform. But in your case you have a couple options as I see it, and some of it depends on the size of the pavers, if they are big, like 18x18 or something your might be okay with anchoring the quicksling to those as you originally proposed, If they are smaller, brick style pavers I probably wouldn't go that route though. You could also use a concrete saw to cut out a square in your pavers and pour a nice neat pad with some anchors in it for your quicksling. This is probably the route I would go if I was doing this for a paying customer. You could also see if quicksling offers a precast pad with anchors for the model you have, or get a regular ultralight poured pad and drill and epoxy some anchors. Finally if its for a grow and might not be forever etc you could try bolting the quicksling to one of those abs pads as long as it was good and thick where you drilled and you used some big washers. This might not be the route I would go professionally but is something I would consider doing for myself for sure. I would go that route before just sitting it on some small brick pavers for sure, and it has the added benefit of being pretty lightweight and easy to move in the future if that is a consideration, as it might be for me, AND it leaves the nice paver patio underneath intact. Sorry I cant give you a definitive answer but these kinds of jobs are always sort of on a case by case basis and a balancing act of a bunch of different factors to do the best install for that particular client and situation. Hope this helps, happy to answer any more questions you might have. Also if you go with the precast or abs pad get it at your local hvac supply house, I am sure there is probably somewhere online that ships that stuff but its going to be much cheaper buy to locally.
 
firsttimeARE

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
watsongreenthumb said:
Okay now I can wrap my head around what you have going on, actually going to keep these in mind for myself in the future as I do some installs on elevated platforms due to flood/hurricane issues in my area, and while I would probably still pour a pad with some anchors in it for the quicksling, using one of those is easier than pouring a pad with anchors for 4x4's and building a wooden platform. But in your case you have a couple options as I see it, and some of it depends on the size of the pavers, if they are big, like 18x18 or something your might be okay with anchoring the quicksling to those as you originally proposed, If they are smaller, brick style pavers I probably wouldn't go that route though. You could also use a concrete saw to cut out a square in your pavers and pour a nice neat pad with some anchors in it for your quicksling. This is probably the route I would go if I was doing this for a paying customer. You could also see if quicksling offers a precast pad with anchors for the model you have, or get a regular ultralight poured pad and drill and epoxy some anchors. Finally if its for a grow and might not be forever etc you could try bolting the quicksling to one of those abs pads as long as it was good and thick where you drilled and you used some big washers. This might not be the route I would go professionally but is something I would consider doing for myself for sure. I would go that route before just sitting it on some small brick pavers for sure, and it has the added benefit of being pretty lightweight and easy to move in the future if that is a consideration, as it might be for me, AND it leaves the nice paver patio underneath intact. Sorry I cant give you a definitive answer but these kinds of jobs are always sort of on a case by case basis and a balancing act of a bunch of different factors to do the best install for that particular client and situation. Hope this helps, happy to answer any more questions you might have. Also if you go with the precast or abs pad get it at your local hvac supply house, I am sure there is probably somewhere online that ships that stuff but its going to be much cheaper buy to locally.
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Yeah they are small pavers and I feel I may have hole lineup issues if I go that route. I like the idea of 4 smaller poured pads. The ABS ones are like a shell and arent rated for 280#. The concrete ones by diversitech have a styrofoam core. Ill look into local precast companies near me to see if anyone has a rebarred precast pads or if they can fab one. This is for a permanent install.
 
Nizza

Nizza

Well-Known Member
I always put my stand on 4 cement blocks ( sometimes an extra 2 on a hill)
I believe the dimensions of the solid blocks are 16 x 4 x 8 and I dig them in about half way. If you're worried about someone stealing the condenser then you can just anchor the feet down through the holes, the feet also spin down in case things aren't level. We never mount them down because you can still spin them in case of settling to re level it. If someone were to try to steal it there would be a very loud noise from the refrigerant lines being cut. A better option may be locking the disconnect box which we do not recommend in case of emergency and the service guy needs to get in there. They would also need to cut the power to steal it. Be careful moving the unit around after flare connections are made it can cause leaks

Some people call these blocks boiler blocks I think but you can find them at masonry supply stores

In your situation I'd just bolt it down to the pavers

Or remove the pavers where your blocks would go and recess the blocks down into the patio. I wonder if you can get square blocks instead of rectangular that will match up with the feet
 
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firsttimeARE

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
Nizza said:
I always put my stand on 4 cement blocks ( sometimes an extra 2 on a hill)
I believe the dimensions of the solid blocks are 16 x 4 x 8 and I dig them in about half way. If you're worried about someone stealing the condenser then you can just anchor the feet down through the holes, the feet also spin down in case things aren't level. We never mount them down because you can still spin them in case of settling to re level it. If someone were to try to steal it there would be a very loud noise from the refrigerant lines being cut. A better option may be locking the disconnect box which we do not recommend in case of emergency and the service guy needs to get in there. They would also need to cut the power to steal it. Be careful moving the unit around after flare connections are made it can cause leaks

Some people call these blocks boiler blocks I think but you can find them at masonry supply stores

In your situation I'd just bolt it down to the pavers

Or remove the pavers where your blocks would go and recess the blocks down into the patio. I wonder if you can get square blocks instead of rectangular that will match up with the feet
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Im not worried about theft. Someone made a comment about bolting down to avoid theft. Well sockets and rachets are cheap so I dont think you can avoid theft even if you tried.

Are the CMUs strong enough? Im worried if I drill into that, or pavers they will crack. The big pavers at home depot I can only find 1.75" thick. The ones I have are 3 inches thick but are small and the base would need to span across a couple pavers. And I dont know if I could get all 4 bases to line up.

Thats a good idea about the leg height.

Im leaning towards the paver route being they are already there and the ground below is already settled. Even if I can only get 1 or 2 bolts down per leg that should be more than enough to prevent the wind from blowing it over. Which is my main concern. Its a 280# 4 ton unit so its gonna be hard enough lifting it up. No single person will be able to steal that.
 
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Nizza

Nizza

Well-Known Member
What are CMUs? I'd just go for it man, if the pavers crack you can figure out a new solution I think it will work fine. If you have a spare paver somewhere maybe try testing out drilling a hole in one and throw a masonry screw in it. You can definitely get away with 1-2 screws per leg
 
firsttimeARE

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
Nizza said:
What are CMUs? I'd just go for it man, if the pavers crack you can figure out a new solution I think it will work fine. If you have a spare paver somewhere maybe try testing out drilling a hole in one and throw a masonry screw in it. You can definitely get away with 1-2 screws per leg
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The blocks u were talking about is a CMU. Was gonna use wedge anchors. I do have a spare ill test on. Will post pictures when im done
 
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