My dog ate the air conditioner's foam insulation cover that is around the pipe from the A/C to the house.?

Question

He took out a large chunk of it. The foam is attached to our home. Is there a way I can replace some of it, or will the entire piece need to be replaced? Can I do this myself? If not, about how much would an A/C tech charge?

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

The stuff is called rubbertex. Get it at any HVAC supply house. It comes in 8 foot long pieces with 4 different inside diameters. Take a piece of it with you to the store for comparison. Cost:about 5 bucks per piece.

Answer 2

The insulation is there to prevent sweating because the pipe is cold. The insulation also prevents the outdoor heat from warming the pipe. It wouldn't hurt to fix it, but it won't hurt to leave it alone.

Answer 3

Just go down to your local hardware store, they carry it. Then just buy enough to patch it. It doesn't sound like you need to re place the entire thing. Yes you can do it yourself its pretty simple. Best of luck on your project!

Answer 4

You could use similiar foam jacket to put over it or get a can of "Insulation in a Can" and spray polyurethane foam on the pipe.    Interesting that the dog found it edible.   Usually they do not have an appitizing smell to them to attract animals.  But then again dogs chew on every thing, don't they?

Answer 5

Easily replaced from a home or plumbing center.  To insure it staying in place, wrap the area with a piece of chicken wire fencing material to discourage the varmint.

Answer 6

the better question here, is did you call the vet to see if the dog was ok? no i didn't think so.

Answer 7

A fortune of unneeded repairs as well as that one.You can do it yourself.Go to Lowes or home Depot and look aroud in the plumbing section.Just patch it and replace the missing portion.You could just leave it alone.You won't be any better off with or without it unless the entire copper line is missing insulation.

Answer 8

That foam can be purchased just about any place that has a hardware section (Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, even WalMart). It is sold in tubular pieces with a split up one side so you can slide it over the pipe. The stuff is pretty cheap too.

Cut out the damaged section carefully with scissors or a knife and replace it with the new foam. Alternatively you could just replace the entire length of damaged foam with the new piece.

This is a really simple repair. Just be careful not to damage the copper pipe under the foam. Copper is a very "soft" metal and easy to damage say with a sharp utility knife.