I have never seen an outside AC condenser suspended 6 inches above the ground. I think this would be much more difficult than having it sit on a 3 inch pad.

How old is the condenser? You want to avoid having the disconnect the lineset in order to do this work. That alone will cost several hundred dollars and possibly result in a future leak. I did this once and it did not turn out well.

See if you can slide a condenser pad underneath the unit and then level it by with cedar shims. The trick will be to be able to raise the unit high enough with damaging the lineset. The electrical whip should have enough play to allow you to do this.

mike_home said, "I have never seen an outside AC condenser suspended 6 inches above the ground. I think this would be much more difficult than having it sit on a 3 inch pad."

It is common practice in new construction im my area outside of DC. The suspension comes from metal supports that I presume were inserted when the foundation was poured. I don't know if it even could be done after-the-fact.

OP,

Does the requirement you quoted apply to A/C units as well as Heat Pumps? In snow regions, in particular, there may be requirements for Heat Pumps to be elevated by either slab requirements and/or "snow feet." A/C units would likely or at least possibly not have such a requirement.

You did say you had an A/C unit.

Thanks for the input! The unit is about 13 years old. Thank you, mike_home for the warning about messing with the lineset. I'll look into a condenser pad - could you tell me where to get one? Perhaps I could put that on a bed of gravel that is leveled. I looked at it earlier today and I think I can lift each side a couple inches (maybe using a couple car jacks?) while we work underneath. My brother is a mechanical engineer, and he will help me out with this. He is very meticulous. Saltidawg, the requirement would make sense for heat pumps. I just looked at the code again and it seems to apply to any outdoor appliance. It must be a newer code because all the houses in my neighborhood have them sitting on the ground.

Now it looks like they will sign off on our list of repairs that says we will provide a level surface for the A/C unit. That's a relief. I welcome any suggestions on how to do that without mucking anything up.

I just googled condenser pad and saw that they are also used for spa and pool pumps. My sister works at a pool and spa store so I'll check with her. Thanks for that idea, mike_home!

Either on a pad (possibly with some posts to raise it up higher) or wall brackets high enough to get the lawnmower under.

Wall brackets can be anchored into existing concrete foundations, but block foundations can be tougher.

The load is in tension on the top anchors (trying to pull them out of the wall and pivot around the lower fasteners) and that is always a tough thing for anchors and their weakest direction.

It is more important for a heat pump in snow areas than an A/C unit in cooling areas.

This post was edited by brickeyee on Wed, May 1, 13 at 8:38

OK, I'm definitely going with a condenser pad. Would a 24" x 24" pad be big enough under a 26" x 26" condenser? Or should I go with a bigger one? Would you put a gravel base under it?

You don't want the base of the condenser hanging off the pad. Get the larger size.

You want something smaller than gravel so it is easy to level out. I would use crushed stone. Its the stuff used under pavers.

Have you figured out how your our going to lift the condenser high enough to do this?

OK, I'll get the larger size. I was thinking about the stuff under pavers, but I didn't know what it was called. I haven't fully figured out how to lift it. Any bright ideas?

Get a pad larger than the condenser.
It keeps grass away and makes mowing easier.

Weed whacking near condenser fins is a great way to damage them when you hit them.

i often use short 3 inch or so posts to get the condenser off the pad for corrosion resistance and create a clear are to prevent weed whacker damage.

Find four strong guys and have each lift up one corner. You can't lift it too high otherwise you could damage the line set.

The condenser is in a mulched bed, quite a distance from mowing and weed-whacking.

Thanks for the warning about the line set, mike_home. We'll be very careful!

My suggestion is to offer the buyers some money to have the work done themselves. If you damage the lineset it will be expensive to repair.

That won't work - we tried with another item. The buyers are coming from out of town and don't want to do a single thing. They are driving everyone crazy in a number of ways, but that's another story. It looks like the unit has sunk a little and that we will be able to lift it a bit without any damage.

I'd call an hvac company to lift/level pad.
that way if anything goes wrong they are
there to fix it. a small leak in the lineset would
cost several hundred dollars if all of the freon
leaked out.
better to have someone there who can
address any issues that may arise...IMO.

it is difficult to lift, level & replace pad.

funny you have to bring existing up to new
standards...

best of luck.

I doubt if an HVAC company will take responsibility for damaging a line set if they lift the condenser. They are going to propose disconnecting the unit, doing whatever work is required for lifting and leveling, and then reconnecting it.

Several years ago I went through this same procedure of having an old unit disconnected and reconnected. The system developed a leak which I never repaired.

I'm trying to avoid having to disconnect and reconnect it. I guess I can call a couple HVAC companies and see what they say. Energy_rater_la, they finally agreed to just have it be level and not necessarily up to code. Thanks for all the input!

"...not necessarily up to code. "

It only is required to meet the code in effect on the date of installation, NOT any subsequent code changes.

I know we aren't required to meet code, but that's what the buyers originally asked us to do, and they can ask for whatever they want. We came back with "provide level surface for outside A/C unit" and they finally signed off on it. Now all we have to do is provide the level surface!

Carefully raise the low side watching the connections and work some pea gravel under the edge of whatever you already have.

I thought I'd give you an update. We removed the mulch around the condenser unit and found that it was already on a pad. We excavated around the pad and were able to lift it up enough to put some small rocks under the low side to level it. The existing pad was pretty low compared to the ground around it, so my husband and I lifted the condenser unit a couple inches while my 8-year-old daughter shoved a new pad over the old one. All the connections were on the high side, and I don't think they were disturbed by the tiny bit we moved them to put a new pad under there.

Thanks again for all the input!

It's so easy even an 8-year-old can do it! :)