Adding a drain pan beneath Air Handler?

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Steve42

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My daughter purchased a home in December 2023 which had a new Rheem Heat Pump installed prior to the sale. She spent several months last year trying to get the sellers to let her know who the installer was so she could request warranty service because the heat pump would blow nonstop on cold days unless she removed the thermostat from the wall. The installer's name was never divulged.

She purchased an American Home Shield plan which was supposed to cover the Heat Pump, and she called and had them dispatch a technician twice. He looked at the system and told her that the copper outside needed to be insulated and that he would upgrade her thermostat for $200. He never made a single repair. She cancelled the AHS plan after one year of no benefit.

This week the unit could not keep up and her house was 62 degrees F. I got a recommendation of a HVAC company from a friend who used to do commercial HVAC in her area, and they dispatched a technician. He came out and evaluated the system. He said he didn't believe that the heat strips had ever come on (no visible signs of use on the strips), that the inner blower control board needed to be replaced, and that the line set outside the house had two bends that were leaking (visible oil on the outer surface of the copper). Of all that, I think the board is covered under Rheem's parts warranty so we spent $2K on repairs. He also told us that the installation was done without a condensation pan or float switch under the air handler. That will be another $1500 repair charge unless I can figure out how to gently lift the air handler and slide a pan under it.

Ours is a "buyer beware" state. I am disgusted because my daughter also had a home inspection done and the inspector wrote up the lack of drain pan under the water heater but noted nothing about the missing pan under the air handler.

Are there typically lift hooks or threaded inserts on top of a Rheem air handler where we could raise it a couple of inches from the attic and slide a pan under it?
 

Fitter30

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Take a 2x4 and couple of blocks for a pivot. Try lifting the corners up see what happens to the duct, refrigerant lines and wiring. If that looks good two 2x4 3" wider than unit. 4 hooks into the trustees 4 ropes from to the 2x4 take out the blocking holding the unit up. Unit will be higher than the pan for the drain line. Pan should be larger than the unit not much in length but width to mount a over flow switch. Wired in series with the r wire going to the t stat.
 
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