brand new mitsu mini is down?

[the gnome]

getting the new room built and the new 32.500 btu mr slim was installed about 10 days ago. and worked fine, cooled and drained a boatload of water. i ran it every day for 20 minutes to a few hours for 3 days.
the insulated walls were not up yet but they are almost finished.
so i decided to run it and stay cool.
it runs,
the condenser unit fan runs
and seems like i can hear the compressor running also.
but it not cold and isn't pulling water out of the 70% rh I'm in
all i can check is the line voltages and I'm good there.

the guy that hooked it up has been doing this for 10 years and has done many minisplits but has a day job and probably won't be able to get out here to check it till the weekend?
the only thing Ive done is re-attach the control line he cut too short, he took 4ft out of it and when the walls went up it.
it was too short.

any ideas?

I'm thinking Ive lost the 410A through a small leak?
would it run for 3 days with a small leak?
if it did lose freon would the condenser unit or compressor still run?

I'm going to try to find some gauges for 410A or go buy em.
how can i check to see if I'm still good on my lineset with vacuum and freon?
ive never used a set of gauges

 

[Treetroit City]

Sorry to hear gnome.

Can't help myself but I can recommend you pm Galahad here on site, he's a hvac tech.

 

[the gnome]

thanks tc.....
i'm going to check the lines to see if anything was kinked when the walls were installed.

frustrating

edited...
ok I checked the lines where the wall was installed, i see no kinks.
some of the insulation is torn but other than that... good.

when i cut power to the unit to join the extra legnth of control wire .
i sent someone to cut power, there were probs and they may have turned power on while the wire was hooked the the condenser side, not the head unit.
when the mini was installed on 1st start up there's a EOS(emergency operation switch) switch on the head unit.
you press it once and the mini runs through self diagnostics for 30 minute, after 15 min it goes to cool mode.
while it was running the small line at the condenser was nice and cools and dripping condensation.
so i think I'm good on 410a and pressure .
i may have confused the unit or computer board when the control wire was cut, and power put on without
both the head and condenser being hooked up???
today i put it into auto mode with the remote and the condenser fan/compressor were not running?
but it runs when the remote is used to cool mode?

a circut boaard may have been damaged when this guy messed up with the power when i cut the control wire?
hopefully running back through it diagnostic start-up phase with clear it up?

running the start up test run didn't do it.
I'm not sure the compressor is running?
i can hear what sounds like water running thru a water line there the 2 lines get close to the outside unit?

 

[Smokin Joe]

Sounds like you may have fried something on 1 or all boards. Some units have a fuse to protect against short circuits. Not sure if yours dose or not. I scratching my head trying to figure out why he cut the wire in the first place. Could he not just loop it up and tie it back with a zip tie?. Rule #1 when dealing with electricity, MAKE DAMN SURE POWER IS OFF ( with a meter) BEFORE CUTTING ANY WIRES. Worst thing that can happen is YOU DIE.
With all the tiny little parts on a board it only takes milliseconds of a short circuit to fry something most folks don't have a clue how fix including me.
Only thing I can say at this point is your gonna have to wait on your guy and hope he can fix them better than he can install them. I've installed probably over 200 mini splits in computer rooms and such and have never cut a wire or freon line unless it was too short to start with. The freon charge is so little and critical it is hard to judge the proper charge. And always leak check with "nitrogen" not vacuum or freon.
I know this isn't what you were wanting to hear but it's all I've got with out a lot more info.
Hope it works out for ya.

 

[the gnome]

thanks for the reply galahad.

and yeah, i have a healthy respect for elec.
the power was off at the breaker when he cut the control wire,
AND
when i put it back together.

I told him i didn't want any of the lineset shortened, because I didn't want to mess with the pre-charge of 410-A
just leave the extra length.
i started tying up the line set nice and pretty and before i knew it he cut the extra length off the control wire and said it would look a lot neater like the line set now....
he cut it too short
wtf!

anyways when i had the control wire disconnected from the head unit,
but still connected to the outside unit, the power *may* have come back on from my helper/gf... but I wasn't working on it and going to the main panel to see what the heck was going on.
and had a stiff discussion about what i asked her what to do and the power was still on etc etc.

well going thru the install manual I remember seeing something about not turning on the control wire untill it was *completely* hooked up.
re-reading it today it said nothing about a PC board being damage, just risk of elec. shock.

i have a local hvac in tomorrow morning to hook gauges to it., from all indications so far It looks like its low on freon.

hopefully thats what it is and not a damn PC board in the unit.

 

[Smokin Joe]

you may be right. if it lost it's charge that fast you need to make sure the leak is fixed before he adds any charge to the system. 410 is a blend refrigerant and with the small amount of puron it holds if it is very low it needs to be evacuated and leak check before recharge or you are just wasting your money.

 

[the gnome]

the 410a leaked on the gas line flair fitting on the inside unit.
the HVAC said it wasn't over tightened so he tightened it a bit more and it still leaked so with nothing left he hit it hard... still leaked.
I think the factory flair was bad on the L-joint that attaches to the head unit for left or right lineset side connection to the head unit.

i told him to cut the flair and solder it.
its running fine now.
if i get another mini split I will do away with the flair fittings and
solder it.
so i'm in for just over $500 on the install and fix...
wondering if i can make a warranty claim on it.... hmmmm

he had a special hvac soap you mix with water.
put it on the joint and it bubbled like soapy water on a leaky tire.
you could also hear the leak with the ultrasonic detector he had.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Well sounds like you know who to call next time you have a hvac problem. Glad you got it fixed
I doubt they will warranty it. But it's worth a try try tho.

 

[Treetroit City]

i told him to cut the flair and solder it.
its running fine now.
if i get another mini split I will do away with the flair fittings and
solder it.
so i'm in for just over $500 on the install and fix...
wondering if i can make a warranty claim on it.... hmmmm




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If you don't mind, how much were you in for before the fix?

I'm sure I'll have more mini's in my future, be nice to have a reference point.

 

[the gnome]

Well sounds like you know who to call next time you have a hvac problem. Glad you got it fixed

I doubt they will warranty it. But it's worth a try try tho.

if the installer would have done what you said and charged the line set with nitrogen and put the soapy water stuff on the fittings none of this crap would have happened.
it cost me $300 and the time on finishing the room because i couldn't have peeps in there working on the head unit and asking whats are ya doing with a 100A electrical panel in there etc etc
as it was both hvacs asked me what i was doing??


on the warranty I doubt it also,
way too much room for human error with flair fittings.
but as i always say
if you don't ask
you don't get

If you don't mind, how much were you in for before the fix?

I'm sure I'll have more mini's in my future, be nice to have a reference point.

the guy who installed has a reg day job and does weekend work.
$75 for the 1st hour and $50 after that.
$225.

the fix cost close to $300
and yeah I'll be investing in more mini's too.
I'd like to put one in the house

 

[Smokin Joe]

Check out the mini that 3rd is using. Its a true plug and play with quick conects on the line set. Less room for and no need to try to hide anything or come up with reason for the panel.