Help , Please - Mini-Split HP Repair - Page 2

WyrTwister · 07-09-13, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC_Hacker

I think the refrigeration goddess is well pleased with your work.

-AC

Well , yes and no . Still having trouble getting enough slope on the condensate line to make it drain properly . :-(

Will work on it this PM .

Right now the RH is 35% and it is cooling well enough to produce condensate .

God bless
Wyr

AC_Hacker · 07-09-13, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WyrTwister

...Right now the RH is 35% and it is cooling well enough to produce condensate...

Don't want any condensate to not drain... might get a bunch of legionnaires living in there.

Sounds like you're almost done.

-AC

WyrTwister · 07-10-13, 12:29 AM

MiniSplitDrain107-08-2013_zps3f11e331.jpg Photo by WyrTwister | Photobucket

MiniSplitCondensor07-06-2013_zpsa0beb97f.jpg Photo by WyrTwister | Photobucket

MiniSplitCondensor07-08-2013_zpsa38b4412.jpg Photo by WyrTwister | Photobucket

1/2" white PVC coming down the " post " and empting off the edge of the porch .

Seems to be working , thank God !

In hind site , I think the drain could have been shifted to the opposite side of the fan coil unit and I maybe , could have brought the drain down with the line set , against the side wall ? Hindsight .

Wyr
God bless

WyrTwister · 07-15-13, 10:10 PM

Knock on wood and Praise the Lord !

All seems to be working fine . :-)

The cool is cooling and the drain is draining . :-)

I intended to buy a 9,000 btu unit for the living room / dining room , but my distributor only had a 12,000 btu unit in stock & I got it on sale . ( I think it was discontinued , but I am not complaining. )

Glad I got the 12,000 . South facing exterior wall . Big windows . The bigger unit is welcome when the temp passes 95 .

Bought a roll of the sticky black " cork " tape & VERY CAREFULLY insulated the service valves & last few inches of copper . They are no longer sweating / dripping .

I just hope it all lasts a good long time . :-)

A mini split is not an inexpensive solution . But I like it .

I set the central air on 80 . Set the mini split on 72 to 76 . We have window shakers on 2 of the bedrooms , kitchen & " computer " room .

We have the flexibility of only cooling the areas we are using . Plus , redundancy .

And , at night , when we go to bed , we are really only cooling one bedroom .

Plus , the mini split is very quite . :-)

God bless
Wyr

Daox · 07-16-13, 08:31 AM

That is great. I'm glad to hear its all working out.

Elcam84 · 07-16-13, 07:43 PM

That little loss of oil is no biggie. You would have to loose a good bit to cause problems. Condensate drains on minisplits can be a pain to set up well. Getting a nice even slope with a bendy hose is hard and some units like LG and others have a goofy size connector that you have to rig up fittings to tie it to PVC.

I'm not real fond of where your unit is placed. In a corner with a roof overhead really hurts airflow and drastically increases the amount of recycled air it will be using.

I see you have it as a supplemental unit for your living room/dining room. That's a pretty common use even in houses with a central unit. Usually the ducting to those rooms is very lacking and the heat loads of those rooms now is way higher than they were years ago and manual J/D still doesn't take this into consideration along with other issues. Computers TVs and all those other electronic items that are in living rooms now put out massive amounts of heat and it's not being compensated for. Anyway....

Kitchens are also a really good place for an additional small minisplit. The only problem is that minisplits are quite a bit more expensive than conventional systems so if your main system is in good shape go for the additional unit if you like but if it isn't then spend your $ on the main system first.

WyrTwister · 07-17-13, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elcam84

That little loss of oil is no biggie. You would have to loose a good bit to cause problems. Condensate drains on minisplits can be a pain to set up well. Getting a nice even slope with a bendy hose is hard and some units like LG and others have a goofy size connector that you have to rig up fittings to tie it to PVC.

I'm not real fond of where your unit is placed. In a corner with a roof overhead really hurts airflow and drastically increases the amount of recycled air it will be using.

I see you have it as a supplemental unit for your living room/dining room. That's a pretty common use even in houses with a central unit. Usually the ducting to those rooms is very lacking and the heat loads of those rooms now is way higher than they were years ago and manual J/D still doesn't take this into consideration along with other issues. Computers TVs and all those other electronic items that are in living rooms now put out massive amounts of heat and it's not being compensated for. Anyway....

Kitchens are also a really good place for an additional small minisplit. The only problem is that minisplits are quite a bit more expensive than conventional systems so if your main system is in good shape go for the additional unit if you like but if it isn't then spend your $ on the main system first.

You may be correct about the location ?

It was dictated by several circumstances / decisions that may or may not be entirely rational . But seemed to be at the time .

The mini split seems to be running well , but this is my first personal experience , living with one of them .

Did I mention it was quiet ? :-)

Thanks to all for the help ! :-)

God bless
Wyr

Elcam84 · 07-17-13, 08:28 PM

Yup I know how it goes. Rarely can you ever put things where they need to be. Our unit is in the back in a corner of the house. Not good for airflow at all. It will be moved to the west side of the house so I don't have to listen to it when I'm out back. (no appreciable sunload on the west side due to trees)

I have found some minisplits the inside unit is louder than the outside unit.

WyrTwister · 07-18-13, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elcam84

Yup I know how it goes. Rarely can you ever put things where they need to be. Our unit is in the back in a corner of the house. Not good for airflow at all. It will be moved to the west side of the house so I don't have to listen to it when I'm out back. (no appreciable sunload on the west side due to trees)

I have found some minisplits the inside unit is louder than the outside unit.

I can not hear the out door unit , inside the house . First day we had the thing running , I told Wifey her co-co clock made more noise ticking than the indoor unit does . :-)

We have had a few days of rain and / or cloudy weather . Has brought the temp down dramatically . The mini is not running a lot & is cooling very well .

I would like to ask again . Does anyone know the difference in equipment life of a cool only system compared to a HP actively run on heat and cool ?

God bless
Wyr

Elcam84 · 07-18-13, 03:31 PM

Typically 10-15 years. Pretty much the same as a central unit.

As long as the coils don't leak and compressor keeps running it takes little to maintain. Some places have stuff int he air that can accelerate corrosion of coils and some houses do as well. Doing refrigeration the biggest killer of coils was chicken. Raw chicken puts off a mild acid that eats away at evap coils. They have sprayers that wash the coils off to make them last longer. The number of times the compressor cycles has a big impact as well.
The most common failure I have seen in minisplits is the powersupply on inverter units. The single speed ones are more reliable because they don't have a big supply putting out 380Vdc with big capacitors in a hot condenser. The big caps are easy to get and an easy repair though and worth the hassle over a single speed.

07-16-13, 08:31 AM	#15
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	That is great. I'm glad to hear its all working out. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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07-10-13, 12:29 AM	#13
WyrTwister Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: USA Posts: 543 Thanks: 6 Thanked 44 Times in 38 Posts	MiniSplitDrain107-08-2013_zps3f11e331.jpg Photo by WyrTwister \| Photobucket MiniSplitCondensor07-06-2013_zpsa0beb97f.jpg Photo by WyrTwister \| Photobucket MiniSplitCondensor07-08-2013_zpsa38b4412.jpg Photo by WyrTwister \| Photobucket 1/2" white PVC coming down the " post " and empting off the edge of the porch . Seems to be working , thank God ! In hind site , I think the drain could have been shifted to the opposite side of the fan coil unit and I maybe , could have brought the drain down with the line set , against the side wall ? Hindsight . Wyr God bless

07-15-13, 10:10 PM	#14
WyrTwister Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: USA Posts: 543 Thanks: 6 Thanked 44 Times in 38 Posts	Knock on wood and Praise the Lord ! All seems to be working fine . :-) The cool is cooling and the drain is draining . :-) I intended to buy a 9,000 btu unit for the living room / dining room , but my distributor only had a 12,000 btu unit in stock & I got it on sale . ( I think it was discontinued , but I am not complaining. ) Glad I got the 12,000 . South facing exterior wall . Big windows . The bigger unit is welcome when the temp passes 95 . Bought a roll of the sticky black " cork " tape & VERY CAREFULLY insulated the service valves & last few inches of copper . They are no longer sweating / dripping . I just hope it all lasts a good long time . :-) A mini split is not an inexpensive solution . But I like it . I set the central air on 80 . Set the mini split on 72 to 76 . We have window shakers on 2 of the bedrooms , kitchen & " computer " room . We have the flexibility of only cooling the areas we are using . Plus , redundancy . And , at night , when we go to bed , we are really only cooling one bedroom . Plus , the mini split is very quite . :-) God bless Wyr

07-16-13, 07:43 PM	#16
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	That little loss of oil is no biggie. You would have to loose a good bit to cause problems. Condensate drains on minisplits can be a pain to set up well. Getting a nice even slope with a bendy hose is hard and some units like LG and others have a goofy size connector that you have to rig up fittings to tie it to PVC. I'm not real fond of where your unit is placed. In a corner with a roof overhead really hurts airflow and drastically increases the amount of recycled air it will be using. I see you have it as a supplemental unit for your living room/dining room. That's a pretty common use even in houses with a central unit. Usually the ducting to those rooms is very lacking and the heat loads of those rooms now is way higher than they were years ago and manual J/D still doesn't take this into consideration along with other issues. Computers TVs and all those other electronic items that are in living rooms now put out massive amounts of heat and it's not being compensated for. Anyway.... Kitchens are also a really good place for an additional small minisplit. The only problem is that minisplits are quite a bit more expensive than conventional systems so if your main system is in good shape go for the additional unit if you like but if it isn't then spend your $ on the main system first.

07-17-13, 08:28 PM	#18
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	Yup I know how it goes. Rarely can you ever put things where they need to be. Our unit is in the back in a corner of the house. Not good for airflow at all. It will be moved to the west side of the house so I don't have to listen to it when I'm out back. (no appreciable sunload on the west side due to trees) I have found some minisplits the inside unit is louder than the outside unit.

07-18-13, 03:31 PM	#20
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	Typically 10-15 years. Pretty much the same as a central unit. As long as the coils don't leak and compressor keeps running it takes little to maintain. Some places have stuff int he air that can accelerate corrosion of coils and some houses do as well. Doing refrigeration the biggest killer of coils was chicken. Raw chicken puts off a mild acid that eats away at evap coils. They have sprayers that wash the coils off to make them last longer. The number of times the compressor cycles has a big impact as well. The most common failure I have seen in minisplits is the powersupply on inverter units. The single speed ones are more reliable because they don't have a big supply putting out 380Vdc with big capacitors in a hot condenser. The big caps are easy to get and an easy repair though and worth the hassle over a single speed.