Damaged insulation on new AC refrigerant lines
New AC installations frequently leave refrigerant lines with torn insulation, exposed pipes, or tape hastily hiding the damage. This leaves homeowners worried that unsealed pipes running through tight spaces will cause condensation, water damage, and mold.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Leaving the fiberglass alone to avoid making it shed moreDid this help you?
- 2Using no-rinse coil cleaning spray with mildewstatDid this help you?
- 3Wrapping insulation back around the pipe and securing it with zip tiesDid this help you?
- 4Adding more insulation if exposed copper remainsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Bottom line not sure what it is, I don’t know much about hvac units, has condensation/water forming around the fitting that runs into the system when the system is running.”source ↗
“Just moved in. Both air handlers look like this. Is this just a cleaning or replacement? What to do about fiberglass insulation inside of here? Can we encapsulate, if so with what?”source ↗
“Just paranoid spent hundreds of dollars that we don’t have on a leak about 2ish weeks ago.”source ↗
“We had our new AC installed yesterday and found this after., a lot of damage insulation of the refrigerant line.”source ↗
“Some were torn with visible pipe and some were taped up to hide the pipes.”source ↗
“I’m worried that the pipes up the ceiling have damaged insulations too due to how they install it (squeezing the pipes under a tight gap) and might cause condensation and eventually water damage/molds.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to insulate around old, brittle electrical wiring
- 3Gasket coating chipping off during cleaning
- 4Cool air leaking from gap around AC copper pipe in attic
- 3How to fix a chewed electrical conduit
- 3Should I replace a ripped brake caliper dust boot?
- 5New equipment installed with dents or mismatched parts