[jeff5may]

Guys,
I love the responses I have been getting about the aesthetic appeal of my past projects! Post-apocalyptic? Sub-standard picture quality? Come on now, you're starting to sound like my ol' lady! The topic of this thread is cheap... think rat rod: if I wanted a Ferrari I'd build one. But then I'd have to build a garage for it, too. And shine it up every weekend, and buy some cool sunglasses, and get...not!

These things are orphans, misfits that have in the eyes of any distinguished HVAC serviceman been blasphemed and should be immediately be replaced with a Ferrari (or whatever brand they sell). Pah! I can't be bothered.

Seriously, I hear you. Next time I'll bring my digicam instead of using my phone. When I build a unit that I can call done, I'll make it look nice. But I still like rat rods.

AC,
I'm mainly concerned with the reversing valve and its plumbing, as well as how the txv is rigged. Does it have 2 metering devices, or only the one? I have a similar unit, but it is cooling only. I hope to turn it into a DIY mini-split because it worked so well while I was using it. The unit I have is assembled similar to yours. It looks like it would be fairly simple just to separate the top from the bottom and connect the half-units.

Something I have learned doing research on these portable/room units is that they use the same coils whether they are heat pumps or not. The heat pump units just have different controllers and extra parts for sensing and flow control. That's kinda how I got the idea for this project, because I wasn't sure if the evap coil would hold up to the increased pressure without popping. It seems to me that some of them can't, considering xringer's experience with his first mini-split.