I'm an electrical engineer and saw this show on PBS about how easy it was to install a mini split ductless AC system.
I figured I could do it, and did it. Installed and working like a champ, but the Chinglish instructions say to open the liquid and gas refrigeration valves and don't say how far to open them. 90 degrees to purge the lines (R410a), but nothing more after that.
My unit is a Klimaire 1800 BTU and the valves are brass with a cap, under that is the valve stem which is a metric hex key.
The question: Are these double seat valves? Are there two seals - one that is compressed when the valve is closed and another when it is turned fully CCW (open) to seal off leakage past the valve stem?
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Wao may refer to:
Wao, Lanao del Sur * The Wao language, a.k.a. Huaorani language * Wet Air Oxidation (a wastewater treatment technology) * Wacken Open Air, also known as W:O:A
EE from the days of vacuum toobs and retired today.
Just wound a current transformer for the AC so I can tell when the compressor is running - lights an LED when the compressor is on.
Took a split bobbin 110/220 transformer, cut the 12 volt secondary off with a hacksaw, wound 10 turns of #13 AWG magnet wire (only draws 7.9 amps @ 220 max) wired that to a FBI cap and blinking LED.
Today I plan to design a blinking circuit which will flash proportionately faster as current increases. ( I get 1.1 volts to ~8 volts out of the CT with 1,000K ohms load)
I installed one years ago at my rental condo downtown. After all is done, I had to call a friend who is a HVAC tech. for final check. He made sure there is no leak, charge state was proper(he topped it up) Been running well since. It is LG brand.
1800 btus ?? Are you sure you dont mean 18,000 ??? The far better and recommended way is not to just purge the lines/evaporator, but to pull a deep vaccuum with a proper Vaccuum Pump to be sure you rid the lines/evap. of all air and moisture. Then to open the service valves up and let the freon charge thats in the Unit dissipate to the rest of the system. ... and then, to finetune the freon charge with the system running . Youve got to know what you are doing otherwise youll allow air/moisture to enter the system . Its best to pay a qualified HVAC tech to handle this final but highly important procedure .
That was my first choice too. Unfortunately the guy I used to work with (HVAC/ industrial controls) is either moved or retired, none of his phone numbers work. I trusted him...
I called a local contractor and got a big sales pitch on Trane and how "these cheap Chinese AC's are worthless," and figured he wasn't the guy to help set it up.
Contractor number two was pretty much the same story. He wanted to charge the lines with nitrogen then come back three days later to check for leak down... and said he didn't have the gauges for 410a and if it leaked I'd have to buy him gauges.
I did take super care with my flare joints. They supply 15' and I needed ~9. First 10 practice flares with the leftover tubing and I had one that I would trust with my life (amateur MC mechanic/racer) and one that would probably work. Harbor Freight tools.... Went to the Auto Zone and got a proper flare tool and turned out 3 out of 3 and figured I was ready for the big time.
I live in North Carolina - I'd like to use a pro I could trust, but watched some idiot pro auto mechanic take a hammer to my buddies BMW cam shaft, some pro electricians confuse neutral and hot, and my own computer under "in home" warranty (1992) with the pro plug in a connector backwards (a "keyed" connector - hard to do). Those experiences and being a sailor (you depend on yourself because that's all you got most days)....
I take that as a sailer, you were either a deck ape, or an ops weenie.... neither of which is qualified on moving parts.
Sounds like the boneheads you talked to on the phone were the lowest priced service call folks you could find, you also bought the cheapest mini-split you could find. Its policy for my company that we will not install or do start-up on any equipment that was not purchased through us strictly due to warranty and liability issues.
FWIW, Mini-splits are charged at the factory for using a 30ft lineset. Without pulling a proper vacuum on it before you cut the refrigerant loose in the system, you now have the following....
1) Air, moisture, and non-condensible gasses in the system
2) The system is overcharged because you cut the lineset down
3) The moisture you left in the system will interact with the POE oil and cause it to become acidic, and eat the insulation off the compressor windings.
By the way... did I mention that you warranty is null and void??
I agree whole heartedly, but what I've seen of contractors here does not inspire confidence.
I figure the compressor's life will be shortened due to not using a vacuum - but on the other hand, these things are in service around the world (not in the US maybe, but you see them in all kinds of movies made in Asia and Europe) and installed with only a purge by people "whose knuckles drag the ground when they walk." (slight exaggeration but if a fly-by- night contractor in Yemen can pull it off with just a screwdriver and channel locks, how hard can it be?)
AND there was one US contractor that did a side by side comparison to purge versus vacuum versus nothing (air moisture in the lines) and he said there was a 9% efficiency loss in purge versus vacuum and 30% with no purge or vacuum. The compressor might suffer in the long run.
AND a new compressor is $350 versus the $200 - $300 quotes I got.
I would have done it for the peace of mind,with a pro,in a heartbeat. But not having a pro around (that I would trust)...
"Deck Ape" is a paid position. No, I have a Balboa 26, and the deck personnel wear bikini's and work for free - when I get them, and my wife will allow.
Takes a day to get out, a day to fish, a day to get back - blue water.
The ice and beer run out; the ice I need for the fish, I can carry beer for a month or two, if I don't mind warm beer.
The good life, in my opinion, but on a pauper's budget.
Oh, I donno. There were plenty cheaper. But after a little research, it seems like they all use the same Sanyo compressor, same control boards, and package them differently with different remotes and displays.
AND YES, I'm retired - I don't have money to waste, so cheap is the choice most days. (not that I didn't agonize and research this $1,000 choice for a few months)
You think I didn't research this? Geez!
Did I mention that I do have a warranty?
You Christians(?) are so fast to judge others. Walk in my shoes, Then critique my movement.
One thing I have learned in my life... EVERYONE can teach me something. From the meanest lowest drunk in the gutter, to the loftiest prof in university. No two people on earth learn from the same perspective. Learning is active - and teaching is passive.
I have to learn, no one Has to teach me.
I have no problem paying a professional, just a problem finding one I trust. You think I tell my doctor how his cataract surgery (on MY OWN eye) should be performed? No. I don't expect to be questioned by laymen outside my own field of expertise and wouldn't think of questioning a professional like a doctor with surgery certificates from real colleges on the walls.
I worked with PhD chemists who thought that PhD title meant they knew everything, so I do know what you might be feeling (based on my cold post to Usenet)
But hey! Drop the ire. Suffer the fools (up to a point at least).
Never had the time to build a Tesla coil until I was retired and building bird houses. The raw bird houses looked like induction coil boxes (being somewhat more ambitious than a TC). I figured that if I applied some of the self-reliance spirit to the TC problem I could do it. Sure, but that was easier than I expected.
At work no one (among the chemists) understood how hard, what they were asking for, was to do, so I did it to keep my job (and because my ego is the size of Mt. Rushmore and it was an engineering problem - that is to say, solvable with a modicum of thought).
I went from Tesla coils to winding an induction coil with 13 miles of wire in it (all in neat little layers on bobbins I made with insulating paper between layers) +/- 300 feet. Took a week to wind and a month to build. Adapted from a book published in 1900.
From there it was an interest in resonance, from reading Nicola Tesla's works, and experiments, and somehow I got off on building organ pipes - to combine resonance, science, music and wood working.
My only problem in life is time to do what I want to try.
Now I'm interested in Programmable Integrated Controllers and trying to make a chime (two octaves and electro mechanical strikers already designed) to play a few bars of "Pictures at an Exhibition."
My line sets were plugged with plastic caps and no real trustworthy seals like O rings. And I did have the evaporator end open for 5 minutes or so to the air. The condenser end open for 15 minutes while I cut the flares and satisfied myself that they were as good as it gets.
In theory they have enough juice to purge 30 feet of line and I had 10 feet. They say open the valve for 3 seconds and I used 5.
There's only one Schroeder valve and it is on the LP side (the large tubing) it has it's own cap and other than to purge it, (as the service manual said) for 3-4 seconds, I haven't touched it - the cover is back on and tightened.
No valves or connections show any leakage with soap bubbles, The HP side (1/4" tube side) does exhibit a "psst" sound, when I loosen the cap so that has me concerned, and asking about valve seats...
Neither cap seems to have elastomer seal on the inside, but both seal/caps seem to have some "exposed skin" (bare, oxidation free, metal) where a seal might have been, metal to metal contact..
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