These are the default materials quoted by most installers (I put most as I didn't get quotation from all available installers):
- 3/8 inch Armaflex (or can be Thermaflex or other brands offered by installer) Insulation Class 1
- G23 Copper Piping
- 3 Core 40/70 Wire Cable
- 16mm PVC Drainage Pipe
InsulationArmaflex is a rather popular and safe/reliable brand to be used for insulation in air con installation. It is a black rubber foam, which goes around the copper pipe. 3/8 inch is usually used for the copper pipe but many people opt to upgrade it to 1/2 inch to provide better insulation against condensation. The class (class 1 and 0) refers to the fire rated properties of the insulation, so some people comment that it's not necessary to upgrade to class 0.
If you see the picture, the insulation that wraps around the pvc drainage pipe is 1/4 inch. The insulation that wraps around the gas inlet and outlet, the set in the middle next to the pvc drainage pipe, is 3/8 inch. The insulation for the extreme right set of gas inlet and outlet is 1/2 inch.
Copper Piping
Copper piping is the one that carries the coolant gas. There are 2 pipes. The bigger pipe is the one that carries the gas from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit and the smaller pipe is the one that carries the gas from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit. G (guage) 23 or 22 refers to the thickness of the copper pipes, so G23 is 0.61mm and G22 is 0.71mm. I read that copper pipes should be bent using a pipe bender so that it will a nicely bent pipe, and that if the copper pipes are not installed properly, it may cause condensation of the pipes at certain area.
I checked with an installer and was told that they have the tool to bend the bigger pipe but there is no tool available to bend the smaller pipe, so it will be bent using hand. They cannot use the tool provided for the bigger pipe to bend the small pipe. He also shared that since the copper pipe's length is 15m, it is best to keep the running of the copper pipe within this length to avoid joining two copper pipes, this is to minimise condensation happening around the joint. Also, the longer the copper pipe runs, the longer it will take to cool the room, and if there are many bends along the piping route, it will take even longer to cool the room.
Hence, besides looking at the thickness of the copper pipe, do take note of the piping route. The shorter it is, the less bends there are, the better it is. It's not that installer wants to cut cost or do shortcut and hence, propose the shortest route.
Wire Cable
3C70 is usually used to wire up the outdoor unit to the power point while 3C40 is usually used to wire up the indoor units to the outdoor unit. Brands that people usually recommend are like Keystone and Sigma. Important thing to note for wire cable is to check if they are manufactured in Singapore, and not China.
Drainage Pipe
There are 2 sizes, 13mm and 16mm. Most installers would propose 16mm drainage pipe. Some installers (I'm not sure if all do so, it's best that you check with the installer) also install insulation for the drainage pipe, which 1/4 inch is more commonly used.
The points that I shared here were mostly what I gathered from my online research and what I learnt from the various installers whom I spoke to (I'm not an expert in this area). I'm not sure if all the points mentioned above are 100% accurate but I've learnt a lot about installing an air con system. On the surface, it looks so simple but once you start looking into the details, you would realised that there's actually a lot of information to absorb. Based on what I've learnt so far, these are my specifications for the materials to be used for my Mitsubishi Starmex System 4.
- 1/2 inch Armaflex Insulation Class 0
- G22 Copper Piping
- 3 Core 40/70 Wire Cable (Keystone Singapore made)
- 16mm PVC Drainage Pipe with Armaflex insulation
this is the best technique at affordable rate. Industrial pipe insulation
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ReplyDeleteSingapore Air Con : Materials & Installation
This section contains information on air conditioning materials & installation in Singapore. Materials include insulation, copper pipes, PVC drainage pipe, electrical cables and PVC trunking. Readers are reminded that it will also be their responsibility to ensure that the aircon installers use the stated materials.
Friday, March 2, 2007
All you need to know about Copper in air conditioning
COPPER
The most widely used copper type for refridgeration systems is Copper UNS No. C12200 (Phosphorus Deoxidized Copper).
It is actually a type of Wrought Copper Alloy with 99.9% copper and some alloy elements.
Generally if u are using the same copper type as the one i mentioned above, u will be in the majority. Fear Not!
DIAMETER
What is so important abt copper pipe diameter?
CAUSED the manufacturer specified this in their catalouge!! If it is not important then why the manufacturer bothers to specific! Understand?
Generally
1) Liquid Pipe Diameter(from outdoor to indoor) is 6.35mm or 12.7mm for most brands.
2) Gas Pipe Diameter (from indoor to outdoor) is 9.52mm for 9K btu fan coil, 12.7mm for 12k & 15k btu fan coil and 15.88mm for 18k & 24k btu fan coil for most brands.
**Please refer to individual catalogues for more details.
3) Thickness of the copper pipe generally range from Gauge 25(0.51mm) to Gauge 22(0.71mm) with most of the installers using either Gauge 24(0.56mm) or Grade 23(0.61mm)
** U can try asking the salesman to provide a 12.7mm copper pipe for a 9k fan coil and expect the fan coil to blow out 12K of cold air. BUTZ! dun expect the manufacturer to warranty your air con after that. **
THICKNESS
So what is that 'Grade 23' that the salesman just mentioned?
It sounds like the quality of copper, accordding to the salesman this is actually the better grade....or is it true......
The 'Grade' ( in actual fact it is called Gauge rather than Grade. If you want to be more accurate then it is SWG or Standard Wire Gauge ) is actually an industrial term for copper thickness ( in actual fact for most metals )
** Actually i have no idea who started to use Grade......maybe mentioning Grade will sound better but some consumers might mistaken it as a measurement of quality.
Example, Grade 22 is 0.71mm, Grade 23 is 0.61mm and Grade 24 is 0.56mm
This has nothing to do with the chemical content. But generally, a thicker copper is able withstand a higher operating pressure. Surely the manufacturing process also plays a very important part.
But due to copper being the most expensive material in the air con installation, most installers will use Grade 24 if not Grade 23.
Some will even think of ways to 'downgrade' the copper pipe sizes especially with the ever increasing copper prices.
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