After 3 years of trying to figure out why central AC sucked so bad in the front..

[shughey00]

I finally broke down and got a simple borescope camera from HD. Bought the Rigid but wanted the Ryobi as the head is smaller but oh well.

I have owned this cedar Creek for 3 years and the front ducts always blew week. Makes the bedroom very warm....while the livingroom is 64 the bedroom is 74 and the air flow was pathetic. tried a bunch of things but decided to....run a camera in there

Snaked all up inside the Forrest River version of duct work. Expected to see or find a blockage or a rats nest.

But nope...just the opposite...they cut a huge hole in the side of the rigid insulation that they use as duct work. I took pics of the hole. I measured it with a tape measure by running it down and watching the camera....the hole is the height of the duct and 8 inches long.

Yah no wonder why I have no air flow...it is all going in the ceiling space. Which I kind of knew as I could see evidence of air pushing out the ceiling seams.

Here are the pics....the hole is on the left and the right half is the duct heading towards the front of the 5ver.

Stupid careless numbskulls!!!!!
Now fixing this is going to take some serious creativity. Going to have to cut a whole in the ceiling small enough I can put another large AC vent duct ( to cover it up) and then try and either use aluminum duct tape to repair it or..? Might be able to cut a long piece of rigid foil backed insulation longer than the hole and cover it up but either way its going to be narrow opening to work in. Can't take the ceiling panel down..no way.

[dkelly]

You know something... With your photographic evidence, I would venture a bet the factory would be more than happy to repair your unit. BTW, is that wiring inside the duct?

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by dkelly

You know something... With your photographic evidence, I would venture a bet the factory would be more than happy to repair your unit. BTW, is that wiring inside the duct?

I would guess his camera is inside of the duct and you are seeing the wiring on the outside in the ceiling.

Bruce

[shughey00]

Well actually a quick update. For one this is an older unit but.....turns out Forrest River was not to blame. It was.....either a rat or a chipmunk. Once I cut an acces hole and repaired it I could see clear teeth marks and shreds of foam. Not only that the little bugger ate another hole further down.

No rodents in it now...this was PO damage...they were not...mmm..how do we put it...oh yah..not very bright.

The wires are not in the duct actually...those are speakers wires running under the duct to a speaker nearby.

[2016251RKS]

I wish folks would be required to sign their work. Or have the supervisor sign off on it. This demonstrates what happens, likely to all of us. . . who knows what surprizes lurk?

[jeff64]

kudos for going for the borescope

how far in there do you have to get? Sounds like a job for duct tape and a pair of customized chop sticks! ( and a few choice words!)

[shughey00]

Originally Posted by jeff64

kudos for going for the borescope

how far in there do you have to get? Sounds like a job for duct tape and a pair of customized chop sticks! ( and a few choice words!)

It was about 3 feet back from the AC but about 21 inches back from the first ceiling vent.

I slid the camera down the first AC vent. Love the $99.00 Rigi borescope camera...second time it came in handy in the RV.

It was too big and too much damage to try and use sticks...although I briefly considered this...but the hole was almost 8 inches long and the entire 2 inch height of the duct channel plus some off on the top.

It could still be a manufacturing issue....looks like a rat or chipmunk but then again not sure why they would chew such a monstrous hole. There is not much room in there for anything bigger than a chipmunk I would not think.

Who knows.

Had to do the dirty and cut a hole in the ceiling. Dirty part was the stinking hole was right on an aluminum beam so had to cut a hole on either side of the beam and then use two fingers to tape it up with some 3m aluminum tape.

Here is a pic of the ceiling now. For now a dual wall plate and a better smoke detector. One day if I ever see something nice to cover the entire area like maybe using an 8" speaker grill cover I will use it.

Now if you want to laugh at FR quality....look at the AC vent just forward. See the brown circle around it. Yah well that is where the tardos drilled the first hole with a hole saw. Hit an Aluminum beam..moved over...hit it again...dummies..then moved again and finally got it in. Did not even bother to fill in the scar from the first two bunged up hole saws.