McDaniel Metals ACG1625-6 28-3/8 in. 5 Tons Upflow Gas Furnaces Filter Housing

This has a super nice door - which was the main reason I bought this brand/model over some other filter rack/bases. The only downside is the filter is designed to sit in the front 24" of this 28+" furnace base. The problem what that is that most (if not all) upflow furnaces have the air handling routed through the back 24" of the furnace. I made some modifications to this base to allow the filter to slide to the back and then block off the front 4" behind the door. It was a fairly straightforward modification and nothing any more complicated than any other ductwork that it typically needed to install a base/furnace anyway. Also, this is constructed from 22ga galvanized sheet, plenty stout for a furnace base.

Bad:

The one I received looked like it had already been returned by someone.

Many of the rivets were missing or popped through. A 1-inch filter wouldn't fit in the designated slot because of popped rivets. Seems like cheaply manufactured with poor quality control.

Good:

Heavy gauge material is solid once installed.

Arrived pretty quickly and was packed well.

Price was a little cheaper than competitors.

Overall:

Assume it will not be good to use immediately out of the box and that an inspection is needed before installation. I had seen a couple of videos that called out replacing rivets with screws, so this was expected for me. The surprise for me was that a 25-inch long filter was so tight it compressed the end of the filter to the point of deforming the filter. Assuming the cost was the same, I'd probably buy again with the assumption that I'll need to spend an hour to rework it.