Has anyone had issues with a horizontal loop installed with a horizontal boring machine. My unit has been performing poorly in extremely hot or cold temps. I was talking with a guy familiar with ground loops and he said that there was a lot of problems with the back reaming process of the loop installation. It worked well when it was first installed but has become less efficient over time. Has anyone had or heard of similar problems with the loops installed in this way.
Did they grout the holes? Not everyone with a machine knows what to do for geo work. Lots of machines that work well for fiber optics or even running a gas HDPE line under a road are not good for geo. The idea is to create a contact with the soil/earth not just a hole that has a pipe running through it. Geo is a contact sport.
Hmm - often with horizontals it is the other way back - initial performance suffers until dirt properly consolidates around tubes, sometimes helped along by lots of watering. You say your unit's performance has degraded - is it for sure a loop problem or something else? dirty coil, loss of refrigerant, duct leaks, all could figure in while the loop is fine. To delve deeper we need entering and leaving air and loop fluid temps for a start.
I'm with Curt. What makes us believe the loop is the problem? If it is, my bet is pressure. You should check pressure as well as temp. Good Luck, Joe
