Air flow to second half of doublewide

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gariggs
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Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:44 pm

I've been reading a couple of other threads on here, they don't seem to quite apply to what I have going on. (I don't think anyway).
I have a 1600sf doublewide built in 1985. I bought it last year and have been remodeling since. I noticed from day one that I have great air flow to the furnace side of the house and very little to the other side. Knowing that I was going to install a new heat pump this year, I put this on the back burner until now.
The installer started installing yesterday, I told him about the problem I was having and his first instinct was that the crossover was disconnected or ripped. He checked it out for me and said that everything checks out fine. I have a 10" flexible crossover, he recommended that I put in a 12" crossover which would give me more air into the other side of the house.
I am no expert by any means, but to me it would seem like putting in a bigger crossover would slow down air flow even more because it would take a greater volume of air. (I hope I am explaining my thought process good enough). I would think if anything I would want to go a little smaller to increase airflow. ( Kind of like pinching the end of a trickling water hose until the water squirts out).

Question is, in your opinion, will increasing the size of the crossover help me get better airflow on the other side of the house?

Thanks in advance for any advice that you can offer!
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Greg
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There are 2 factors involved here, pressure & volume. They can be related but they are not the same. Your theory of the garden hose is an example of pressure, by restricting an opening you increase the pressure but REDUCE the volume. How long would it take to fill a gallon jug with that trickle? Now take a 3" diameter hose with the same pressure, how long would it take? The difference? Volume.

More volume, More flow. That may or may not help, there may be other problems as well. I would have the system checked as well.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
gariggs
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:44 pm

What you are saying makes sense to me. I believe that my contractor was saying the same thing,in a different way. I will see him again early in the week. I will go over our options and see where we need to go from here.

Thanks so much...sometimes hearing the same message in a different way is what it takes to make sense. I will let you know what we find.
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Greg
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Location: Weedsport, NY

Glad to help.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
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flcruising
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Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:18 pm
Location: Florida Panhandle

Enlarging the crossover may help, but try closing a couple 3 or 4 vents on the side with the good flow and see if it helps the side with the poor flow. If so, you probably have a balance issue, if not, something is blocked or disconnected on the other side.

Beside changing out some vents and ducts (I have an accessible attic), I balanced my system by using curved louver vent covers instead of the stamped steel restrictive ones. But then again, my home has ceiling vents so I'm not sure what the choices are if you have floor vents.
[color=blue]Aaron[/color]
akajoker
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:35 pm

do you have any pictures for reference of the vent covers you used? I need to try and balance the flow in our MH as well, and before I go opening the underside to look at the duct work, i want to try this. Are you referring the actual vent, or the cover that redirects the flow?

Thanks.



flcruising wrote:Enlarging the crossover may help, but try closing a couple 3 or 4 vents on the side with the good flow and see if it helps the side with the poor flow. If so, you probably have a balance issue, if not, something is blocked or disconnected on the other side.

Beside changing out some vents and ducts (I have an accessible attic), I balanced my system by using curved louver vent covers instead of the stamped steel restrictive ones. But then again, my home has ceiling vents so I'm not sure what the choices are if you have floor vents.
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