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Q & A
HVAC
Air Conditioning
& Heating
Experts
Brooklyn, Park Slope, Bed-Stuy, Fort Greene & NYC
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We're the Company that repairs AC Units, Steam, Hot Water Boilers, Tankless Units, and Heat Pumps According to Factory Specifications!
Questions & Answers
Are ductless systems a faster installation with less labor?
That is not entirely true for the following reasons:
If the house is not being renovated, and the walls are closed, and you don't want dust and broken walls, Ductless mini Splits are the way to go. However, its a lot of work to flare the ends and make sure there are no leaks. Run the copper and condensation lines neatly and with kinking them. It takes about a day to install one unit and sometimes more. We go through brick walls, plaster walls, roofs and floors to run the piping. The condensation pipes need to be pitched properly and sometimes even need a pump to properly install the unit. Running ductwork requests two people, which is no different than installing a ductless split.
How do I Solve a R-22 leak problem?
There are few steps to find the leak
1- 1st with soapy solution purchased at an HVAC supplier I would spray the connection and look for bubbles. If I cant find any bubbles I would go to step 2
2-Put UV dye in the machine and return to the unit after 7 to 10 days or when the leak is noticeable.
3-Then after a couple of days to 10 days I would look for the leak with a UV light.
If the leak is very big, lasting only a few days, I would first recover the r22 then put 200 to 300 psi of nitrogen is the system and spray the soapy solution and look and listen for the leak. I have pictures on my web site, and you see pictures of UV dye finding leaks. I find that leak sealer work, however, not the whole summer.
What do I do if the compressor is not working (dead) and verified by a trained technician?
Well, the answer depends on whether the compressor is under warranty or not?
A-If the compressor is under warranty
If the compressor is under warranty the answer is obvious (get the new compressor), however, the main question is why did it fail?
There are many reasons:
Having the return air too close to the supply air.
Having the evaporator less then 9ft from the condenser in some ductless splits including Fujitsu Ductless Mini Splits
Having an old manual (non-digital) thermostat, thermostat that has no time delay; cycling the compressor on and off too quickly burning out the compressor.
compressor undercharged, (not enough Freon) causes the compressor to overheat burning out the windings.
compressor overcharged, too much refrigerate causes liquid to go into compressor causing mechanical failure, breaking pistons or flappers.
Dirty condenser (the outside unit), causes the compressor to overwork. The compressor has an overload protection, however, if that happens constantly, the windings will wear.
Dirty evaporator, causes refrigerant to enter the compressor as a liquid causing mechanical damage to internal parts.
Poor vacuum done during installation, vacuuming is a process of removing moisture from the system. If not done properly, the unit will turn moisture into acid eating away the compressor windings.
Brazing without a nitrogen purge, especially for Ductless Mini Splits, because they don’t have external filter driers. The copper oxide can turn into acid too.
Precautions done before changing a compressor:
Pressure test unit to verify here are no leaks
Test unit for acid. Otherwise, you will change another compressor even sooner than the first!
Vacuum unit to 500 microns!
If the above was not done, and problems were not resolved, history will repeat itself!
B-If there is no warranty on the compressor
If there is no warranty on the compressor, and no major obstacles to replace complete system, it would be the better to get a new condenser. All the parts in the unit age, better to move on to a new energy efficient unit. Some old units have refrigerants that are no longer made or being phased out. From my experience, I've seen units so neglected that it's not worth changing the compressor, because soon other expensive and non expensive parts will follow to fail, causing downtime, and excessive service calls.
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