I've finally got my two Tranquility 27 4-ton heatpumps. One is a horizontal until that needs to go throught the attic hatch, and the other is a vertical unit that needs to go up stairs  to the second floor. I had no idea these things would be so HEAVY. There are no eye-hooks or obvious means to winch either of them up. The frame doesn't seem to be that strong. How do people normally get them up there? I'm worried that if I don't pick them up properly that large weight at one end will twist the frame. Any pictures?

thanks

A couple strong guys with pizza and beer at the top of the stairs.

A couple years ago we used to put 3,4,5, and 6 ton units on the second floor or attic.  Not anymore! We now use W-W with air handlers all over the house, attic, etc. We even have piped in console units.  We did a couple horizontal units this spring for a childrens center but hung them in the open and used a fork truck to get them up while we positioned them in place!

Nope, you wont twist the case, just be careful. We used lifting straps before.

Posted By jpr321 on 21 Aug 2012 02:15 PM 
How do people normally get them up there?
thanks

A friend of mine used to say we used 100% pure jacka$$ power

Make sure you replace screws that are removed from the cabinet when you take it off the pallet.

make sure your attic floor can carry the weight !!

Good point - an inspector may insist upon engineering signoff if existing plans don't show AC in that space

I just did this exact same thing yesterday with our Tranquility 27 3 ton horizontal unit. I had 5 20-30 year old guys help out with the installation. I didn't have to go through a pull down attic stairway since the stairs leading to my second story attic are regular stairs, but we did have to stand the unit on end in order to get it through two doorways.

To deal with the no handles being on the unit, our crew used the forearm straps that you can buy at some of the local big box hardware supply stores. We ran the straps lengthwise and had each member use one strap with the fifth person acting as a guide balancing the unit. We left all of the packaging on in order to help distribute the load when we had to stand it on the heavy end--it's amazing at how strong those cardboard pieces are. I called Climatemaster yesterday to confirm that placing the unit in this particular orientation would not cause any damage; they said that it would be okay but to allow the unit to sit for a day or two to ensure all of the oil from the compressor has a chance to drain back.

Also, I would also ensure that your ceiling joists are strong enough to support the load of the new unit. I only had 2x6 spanning 14 feet made it too weak to support the 325lbs the unit weighs. I ended up building a deck with 2x10 boards perpendicular to the ceiling joists and placing 3/4" decking over top of that. I was also concerned with having noise transferred to the interior so I wanted to ensure that things were nice and strong. If it is too loud after it is installed, I'll look at installing some Homasote underneath the decking to dampen any sounds transfer. Hope this helps!

Vibration may pose more of a nuisance than sound

True.. I was going to use the rubber dampers that came with the unit to hang as feet for the unit. I hope that helps to dampen any unwanted vibration. If it is really bad, I can go ahead and use some industrial springs.

I can tell you how not to get a unit through an attic hatch. Nearly dropped $5K worth of heat pump when the tie off for my come-along broke. Luckily it was a narrow hatch and the ratcheting strap got caught up on the side. That allowed enough time to get plastic table stacked on plastic table with a couple of milk crates to support it as we re-positioned and re-strapped. Finished the hoist with about 6 ratcheting cargo straps tightening one or two at a time and taking up slack. --Lesson learned is: remove the stairway completely. Be triple redundant on hoist points. --We did mount to the roof rafters with all-thread and vibration isolation mounts. --One unavoidable was having to cut a roof truss to spin it into position. Wish i had measured better and done that first so we didn't waste as much time trying to manhandle it into position.

Thanks for the advice. So far I've managed to get the upright unit up the stairs by building a sled on the pallet and dragging it up with a chain hoist. I've got to cut out the attic stairs before I can start and move the horizontal unit. The pallet will have to come off to get it through the hole.

Vanstelp, are you putting the threaded rod upwards and mounting it on top of them? Are you taking the rods all the way to the rafters to stop it fallin over? I'm having trouble visualizing it.

Does anyone know if the 3/4" rubber stall mats sold at Tractor Supply work OK under the units to dampen the vibrations?

Dunno

WF sells 2" thick closed cell polyethylene (I think) foam for the purpose. I'd go with something like that

Tractor mats are too dense