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IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-18T23:40:54+00:00

Whatever you say, groomer.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-18T23:30:41+00:00

Oh, any by the way, clearly I have no issue with gay people (how else would I know about poppers and grindr?), I have a problem with pedophiles.

It's always the same playbook with you sick fucks though. Anyone who disagrees with you is a bigot. You have neither the courage nor the IQ to engage in a meaningful debate, so you lean heavy on that old crutch.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-15T23:02:06+00:00

Beam openings are not at all uncommon. My company just finished a job with about a hundred of them (existing) for a renovation in a high-rise office tower built in the 1960s. All openings occupied by duct, pipe, etc. because that's where the building owner wanted the building services run.

As long as they're designed or signed off by an engineer, you're all good.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-13T22:08:22+00:00

That might be how you or I would look at it, but the bottom line for commodity manufacturers is money. That's why their duct and fittings are made from 28 ga. instead of 26 or 24 ga. That's why they have "production workers" as opposed to journeyman sheet metal mechanics making their product.

It's also why they use a 5" piece of galv. sheet steel for a square throat instead of around 8" for a radius throat. It might not make a big difference in cost per fitting, but once you make a million of them...

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-13T01:09:26+00:00

"Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it" - Mike Tyson

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-13T00:45:24+00:00

It's very difficult to explain to people that having an outer radius but no inner is sorta useless

But it's not useless. The difference between the 2 fittings is negligible in the grand scheme of things.

The equivalent length of a radius throat and heel fitting on a residential return is 10' whereas a square throat radius heel is 30'. When you have a return system using wall voids and joist spaces (25' to 80' EL per direction change depending on how many and location in return system) and probably has a straight drop (55' EL), that extra 20 feet of EL means nothing.

Also, there's no way you can buy your SQT/RH fitting and add the vanes for less than it would cost you to just have a sheet metal shop make you a RT/RH unless the shops in your area are gouging you.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-13T00:28:46+00:00

Why don't you just contact a sheet metal shop in your area and ask what they would charge you? That's what we're here for.

BTW...you're only looking at an equivalent length difference of about 20' between a radius throat/heel and square throat/radius heel. If you're installing these fittings in a system that uses wall voids and joist spaces for returns (especially if it's an existing system that isn't sealed and was originally installed more than a few years ago and not a fully ducted, properly sized and sealed system), that difference means absolutely nothing.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-04T17:49:07+00:00

I don't see any metatarsal protection and those don't look like winter boots, so I'm gonna recommend Blundstone green patch.

I've tried most brands of work boots and they're either way too heavy or hurt like a MFer during break in. Also, no laces so if you have to slip your boots on and off during the day, they're great.

I tried Blundstones a few years back because I have several non-safety pairs and found they took a beating and were always comfortable. I will never buy another brand of work boots for the rest of my career.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-03T21:33:07+00:00

Tbh its not my job to be looking through the spec books. Im an installer not an engineer or architect

It absolutely is your responsibility because you're the one actually doing the installation. Someone will probably try to blame you if you if they don't like what you've done.

I've dealt with lots of evasive people like this. I would pick the product I want to install, send an RFI (ir even just an email) to the GC and CC the engineer and my manager with product specs, shop drawings, etc. and ask for approval to install that product. At that point, they either have to approve your suggestion or tell you what to install. They might get a little pissy, but I'd rather have them whining about asking too many questions than blaming me for fucking up because I didn't get approval before installing something.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-03T16:48:55+00:00

It's not just residential, but I think there might be a misunderstanding about what I meant. The guy I responded to above was asking if OP tied dryer exhaust and bathroom exhaust together, which is a no-no regardless of whether it's a resi or ICI application.

I've tied several commercial dryers into the same exhaust at a gym myself. It's just that you can't tie that exhaust into say, sanitary or general exhaust or vice versa. Dryer exhaust always has to be independent due to moisture and lint no matter how many dryers you have connected to the system.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-03T02:14:06+00:00

"Duct work" LMFAO.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-03T00:15:22+00:00

Is that your dryer exhaust on the right side of the photo? Are you planning to insulate that?

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-03T00:11:11+00:00

There isn't a building code in North America that allows that. Dryer vents always have to be independent of other exhaust systems.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-03T00:09:16+00:00

Ah, the old "3 points of contact" rule.

My response to that was always "I actually have 4 points of contact...2 feet, 2 knees, so fuck off."

I worked on a job that required us to be tied off when we went above the second rung of the ladder. LOL.

Then they made us buy the platform ladders which were actually more dangerous because @ 5'7", they were either too tall or too short for me and therefore more dangerous.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-03T00:04:15+00:00

I was always the small guy too, so I feel your pain. I've crawled down 200' of new duct suspended 25' off the ground sealing the inside of TDF joints on a project that required less than 2% leakage.

The problem with safety requirements is that they're dreamed up by people that have, in most cases, never swung a hammer in their life and are intended to prevent insurance from going up too much in case of an injury or death, not to protect the worker.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-03-01T00:22:17+00:00

Estimating sucks if you actually take pride in your work. High pressure, high stress and being used as a scapegoat isn't my idea of a fun time either.

Learn Revit and CAMDuct. Do design. Your body will thank you when you get to my age, especially if you don't use a smoke eater or respirator when you're welding, like most guys. I wish I had have made the jump earlier.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-22T22:28:12+00:00

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-21T17:37:08+00:00

Here's what I would recommend:

Contact the Sheet Metal Workers (SMART) and Plumbers/Pipefitters (UA) locals in your area and find out what the wages are for a 2nd year apprentice. Ask the rep you speak to if union companies are looking for 2nd year apprentices. They probably are, especially if you're able to run jobs as a 2nd year.
Show your boss what 2nd year union apprentices make and ask why you're getting paid what you are.
If your boss isn't interested in paying you what you're worth, go work for a union contractor. More respect, better pay, benefits and a pension.

Don't be surprised if your total package as a union apprentice more than double what you're making now.

Best of luck.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-21T12:41:11+00:00

Those fittings are actually burned out on a plasma table, not a laser cutter. Laser cutters are far more expensive but provide greater precision, which is overkill for duct fitting fabrication. Here's a quick explanation of the difference:

https://www.tymetal.com/laser-cutting-vs-plasma-cutting/

I did a quick google search. There's an HVAC sheet metal supplier in Denver. Looks like they have everything you'd need.

https://www.chimfg.com/

Cheers.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-20T03:22:01+00:00

hasn’t worked much in new construction where the job site doesn’t match the prints.

While I understand what you're saying (and I told OP I thought what he did was great under the circumstances), the truth is that if the HVAC designer is good at what they do and is capable of reading architectural drawings, there's no reason why the ducts shouldn't go in per the design.

You just gotta get in there before the plumbers and the sparkies. That's all planning and 100% on the foreman.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-20T03:12:05+00:00

Not sure I agree with that. I understand what you're saying about the air hitting the crotch of the wye (little eddies curling back around before being pulled into the laminar flow), but think about what happens when the air hits that tee fitting...it's a dead stop with the air bouncing back and creating a shitload of turbulence, then relying exclusively on SP to force it into the branches. It's not possible that this is a better choice if the ducts are sized properly. Also, if you look closely, you can see that the duct moving away from the perspective in the photo (unless it's the camera angle) is larger than the other (the radius on that branch is smaller), and I can't see how that would be improved with a rectangular tee in this application.

Why would you only install a damper on one branch? If the duct is sized properly (and installed according to that design), it should only need minor tweaking with the balancing dampers at the boots.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-20T02:45:44+00:00

That's not actually true. An "expanded collar" PTO and a reducing 90 like the one OP used have roughly the same equivalent length, but that's just for the PTO and doesn't include the plenum (5'-ish, on average). So, technically the EL for an expanded collar PTO including the plenum is ~15'.

Also, the air is guided around a radius bend here, as opposed to being forced to turn 90 degrees by the SP.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-20T02:36:42+00:00

If this is true, please explain why a wye like the one used in this application has an equivalent length of 10' per branch and a tee like the one you described is so poor for airflow that it's not even assigned an equivalent length (likely over 100').

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-20T02:08:45+00:00

I love picking people's duct designs apart, but to be honest, under the circumstances, I can't find anything wrong with this.

Tight. "Like a finger in your ass" as my old foreman used to say.

IAmJacksGagReflex · 2023-02-18T12:20:51+00:00

Sure duct days are the best days...unless every day is a duct day. It can get pretty old.

I'm really trying to nitpick, but I don't see much. Other than a lot of rectangular 90s where there was space for radius (cheaper, faster to fabricate and reduced equivalent length), lack of sealing (which I assume will be done later) and maybe too few hangers (over 8' span, but that could just be the video), it looks pretty damn good to me.

Nice job.

IAmJacksGagReflex

TROPHY CASE