Learning how to bolt down the air conditioner is an important step to secure your system and help you make the most out of it.
The air condenser is the primary component of air conditioning units. Sitting outside the building, you need to bolt down and secure the air condenser to the specific surface where it rests upon since it tends to vibrate when being used.
If you don’t secure the condenser in its proper place, there is always the possibility that a kink will occur in the copper piping that is connected to the interior HVAC unit. You can bolt down the air condenser to the concrete pad using a hammer drill as well as specialized concrete anchors featuring sleeves found at the lower ends.
After you insert them inside the hole, these sleeves will then expand for the air condenser to be secured and bolted down in place. Just make sure that you wear your dust mask to keep you safe from inhaling concrete dust.
What You Need
- ½-inch masonry bit
- Hammer drill
- Felt tip marker
- Condenser base with the pre-drilled slots
- ½-inch concrete anchors with a length of 3 inches
- Tape
- Adjustable wrench
- Hammer
- Dust mask
- Safety glasses
Procedure
- Put the condenser on the concrete. Use the pre-drilled slots found at the corners of the condenser as your reference points when you mark the concrete.
- Insert the bit of 1/2-inch by 4 inch to the hammer drill. Start measuring from the end of the masonry bit 4 inches upwards then wrap the tape around the shaft of the bit if it is longer to ensure that you don’t over-drill.
- Slip the masonry bit’s tip into the pre-drilled slot of the condenser base for it to rest on the surface of the concrete. Hold your hammer drill at an angle of 90 degrees from the concrete then squeeze the trigger to start drilling.
- Apply firm pressure above the hammer drill with the use of handles for leverage as the masonry bit pierces into the concrete material. You can slide up and down the rotating masonry bit within the hole to get rid of debris and dust as you drill to the concrete at 3 to 4 inches. You can stop drilling after the tape that you wrapped around the shaft of the masonry bit has reached the concrete’s surface.
- Rotate the nut of the concrete anchor until this is flush with the bolt’s top portion. Slip the concrete anchor’s tip through the pre-drilled base of condenser base and to the drilled hole. Use hammer to hit the anchor’s back until the nut and washer are flush against the condenser base.
- You can use the adjustable wrench for tightening the nut and expanding the anchor sleeve in the drilled hole. You can stop tightening if you can no longer rotate it using the wench. You can proceed to the next pre-drilled hole of the condenser base and repeat the steps above until you have secured and bolted down the condenser on the concrete.
