Gree "Crown" 18kBTU install

[Xringer]

My wife thinks I'm nuts.. But thank you Steve..

Got a lot of checking done today. At around 5PM, I did one last sweep with the beeper..
Nothing found, so I buttoned everything up, insulated and put the snow-roof on.
Just in time for some cool weather! We were just out for a walk, with jackets!

[WyrTwister]

I was going to take a photo of my 40+ year old Craftsman flare tool &post it . I seem to have hid it from myself . :-(

Current temp 81F . Rained a little , earlier in the day .

Sounds like you have it down to the short rows . :-)

Congrats , my friend .
God bless
Wyr

[Xringer]

Seems to be running okay so far. Still not getting very cold around here..

One thing it's doing is over-shooting the set point a bit and then going
to zero watts for a long time.. That might be because of the G-Life app setting I used..
While it's running I've noticed a pattern of slowly stepping up to 700-800 watt for a while,
then moving up to 1700 watts for a short while, then going back down into the 700 watt range,
then shutting down when it's about 2 degrees above the setpoint (in the room).
I am not using the 'I Feel' temp sensor in the remote. Have not even installed the Gree remote bracket yet..
Wife doesn't want those old Sanyo remote mount screws hole showing during the holiday celebrations..


Got the app running good on a Galaxy tab S. It looks kinda like this..
https://youtu.be/DCJzu45lyHw

I turned on the 'power save' function. Don't know if it stays set or not,
when switching back to using the standard remote..(With wifi turned off).

It's going to be wet and in the low to mid 50s for the next 50 hours,
so we might not even use the Gree. Since the Den is our hang out..

One crazy thing happened at 2AM the other night.. The Gree was off,
I got up to get some water and saw dim orange light flashing on the ceiling,
directly above the Gree IDU! It looked like there was an electrical fire
inside the IDU.. But, there wasn't any noise or smell..
Still, I decided to open the big (filter access) cover/hatch.
When I did, the left side hinge became disconnected from the IDU.
I was working in very low light, so it took some trying to get locked back in.
The light was from a 'fire' Orange LED on the wifi board..
It was flashing like crazy. With the system turned off!
I killed my wifi router and still kept flashing..
I know it's impossible to connect to it, when the Wifi is not on..
And it's not on, when the Gree is turned off..
After a while, I gave up and went back to bed..

[WyrTwister]

Just a guess , but it may have been downloading a software UPDATE .

After you killed the router , it may have been flashing , trying to " hit " the router ?

God bless
Wyr

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister

Just a guess , but it may have been downloading a software UPDATE .

After you killed the router , it may have been flashing , trying to " hit " the router ?

God bless
Wyr

yeah, I was thinking about that before I hit the FIOS power switch..
Hoping it wasn't updating anything.. Then, I slowly realized it couldn't be downloading.
Because it has no idea of what router I own, or what the passcode is..

I can only use the Gree at it's network address. I have to disconnect from
my Fios router, and connect the the Gree.. It's Stand-Alone..

If the Gree wifi card receiver stays on all the time, and being turned off, only inhibits the transmitter.?.
The maybe I was just seeing a packet receive LED indicator..
Neighborhood packet hits the Gree wifi, registers a flash on the orange LED
and the packet goes into the bit-bucket..

I'm starting to wonder if standard remote control operates on Blue Tooth or maybe even a wifi channel?

[NiHaoMike]

Most likely it would be BLE, Bluetooth optimized for low power usage. The bandwidth requirement is very low so BLE would be a perfect fit. The indoor unit likely uses a combined Wifi/BLE chipset similar to the one used in the Raspberry Pi 3. IIRC, Gree uses a Qualcomm wireless chip with a TI application processor. An odd combination until you consider that TI is the leader in motor drives and Qualcomm is the leader in wireless.

Some embedded devices have a LED that is normally not viewable for debugging purposes. It's often programmed to constantly flash when the OS or some system control daemon is running, as an indication that the processor is running.

[Xringer]

I took another look at that LED tonight, it's behavior seems to be right..
When the system is on or off and wifi has been turned off, the LED is dark..

But, when the system is off, the wifi must be left on, IF you intend to operate
the heating and cooling from your phone or tablet..
Otherwise, how could you turn the system On, with your phone app's Off/On icon/button??

So, it was dark and I was 3/4 asleep, so maybe I was mistaken and the wifi had been left on by accident.
(Wifi off and on is controlled by a button on the remote. Needs a 3 second hold).

Whenever the wifi is left on, (system on or off) the transmission of ssids is continuous. 24/7
Just waiting for a phone or tab that's within it's range, and knows it's wifi passcode..
I didn't leave the 1234 wifi default in there very long.
And the user-name and user-pass word is no longer admin & admin..

[WyrTwister]

The remotes for both of my MS's are IR , I think .

God bless
Wyr

[WyrTwister]

Probably too late now , but Johnstone Supply has the spin flair tool set for $ 60 .

God bless
Wyr

[jeff5may]

Originally Posted by Xringer

I took another look at that LED tonight, it's behavior seems to be right..
When the system is on or off and wifi has been turned off, the LED is dark..

But, when the system is off, the wifi must be left on, IF you intend to operate
the heating and cooling from your phone or tablet..
Otherwise, how could you turn the system On, with your phone app's Off/On icon/button??

So, it was dark and I was 3/4 asleep, so maybe I was mistaken and the wifi had been left on by accident.
(Wifi off and on is controlled by a button on the remote. Needs a 3 second hold).

Whenever the wifi is left on, (system on or off) the transmission of ssids is continuous. 24/7
Just waiting for a phone or tab that's within it's range, and knows it's wifi passcode..
I didn't leave the 1234 wifi default in there very long.
And the user-name and user-pass word is no longer admin & admin..

..Because someone could give your minisplit a virus or steal your identity with it, LOL! I've worked in the IT world for awhile, and know better. Come on, man. Most internet security is like adding an aftermarket alarm or keyless entry to your personal vehicle. If a REAL thief wants what you have, they can get it in short order. Then you go outside, look around, and say "Dude, where's my car?" So much for that steal stopper...

Just put your phone on "auto-remember passwords" so you won't have to worry about forgetting them, and someone like me can sneak in and find them all. Or maybe you will get lucky and no one ever will.