[wolf_lone]

Originally Posted by Aroy

I doubt that any authorised service personnel do a pressure wash. I have yet to see them do a wash of the IDU heat exchanger.

We get our Daikin and Hitachi serviced by independent service technicians. They do as good a service as the authorised ones and at less than half the cost. For split AC they use a brush to clean the IDU and wash the filter and cover. For ODU they connect our garden hose to water connection and wash the unit. No pressure wash.

In that light do you recommend using DAIKIN service even for just once in order to know what parts need protecting from water especially IDU.

I saw this video with DAIKIN ODU cleaning..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JShKwBYEllo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQH93DxWlJg

I've a pressure washer & I do pressure wash my LG window unit myself but I've never done this with a split.

How much do you pay for split AC cleaning from private technician & how much DAIKIN charges.

Also found these videos of pressure washing but they are for INTEX ODU (Non Inverter) & some third party technician with a non Inverter LG Split...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcUZxZ2Q9_4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L9BGXmXi0M

[Aroy]

Normally third party mechanics just point the hose at the ODU grill and spray water till the water dripping out is clean. Never saw any one opening the unit as depicted in the video. For window AC they do what the video shows - open the machine up and clean the inside thoroughly. The way the ODU is constructed does require thorough cleaning after dismantling as shown. A constant stream of water seems to do the job, at least for annual service. May be, where the dust is sticky (more mud than sand), a thorough cleaning after dismantling is warranted, but at least in Delhi, this thorough cleaning will be warranted once every five to ten years.

Regarding costs, in Delhi it is between Rs.200/ and Rs.400/ per AC, varying with each service centre. We normally pay Rs.300/, but if you have a large number of machines, it can come down to Rs.200/ per machine for 10+.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Yesterday, I set the temperature to 27 degrees, and woke up at 2 in the night, feeling cold, to see that the room temperature is now 25 degrees.

I guess some cooling always happen because it cannot turn off the compressor, and that does not seem like a good thing.

There seems to be some misconception about an inverter compressor that it never turns itself off. It does turn itself off if the setting requires that it has to run at the lowest speed. I checked it with a Sonoff Pow Wifi switch and occasionally the inverter compressor turns off drawing only the quiescent current for the electronics control system - about 25 W. This is the same power it consumes when it is off.



I have a feeling that during the night time, when the temperature stabilizes, it may turn off frequently. Another thing is when it turns on, it doesn't switch to full speed. It starts slowly going to a few hundred W.

[sgiitk]

@Prowler; Thanks for the post. I also thought that am Inverter compressor never turns off below a speed. I am now educated.

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by Prowler

There seems to be some misconception about an inverter compressor that it never turns itself off. It does turn itself off if the setting requires that it has to run at the lowest speed.

You may be right. Yesterday, I slept with the temp set at 27 and woke up about 5AM feeling too warm. I could hear the fan spinning, but the compressor was off. Cos, when I reduced the temp setting to 26, I could hear the compressor starting up.

Well, what did I do differently yesterday? I had set the mode to "Auto" and not "Cool". So maybe only in Auto the AC uses its mind.

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Yesterday, I set the temperature to 27 degrees, and woke up at 2 in the night, feeling cold, to see that the room temperature is now 25 degrees.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Prowler

There seems to be some misconception about an inverter compressor that it never turns itself off. It does turn itself off if the setting requires that it has to run at the lowest speed. I checked it with a Sonoff Pow Wifi switch and occasionally the inverter compressor turns off drawing only the quiescent current for the electronics control system - about 25 W. This is the same power it consumes when it is off. ...

Thanks. I wonder if all brands do the same.

Since getting the new Mitsubishi fitted in the hall, I've sometimes been tempted to wear a shirt in the house!

As I had to run the generator to pump rain out of the drive, a couple of nights ago, due to long power cut, I used it to measure the current drawn by the new AC. It was not much more than a single kW. The previous, old, non-inverter mix'n'match 2-tonner drew consistently over 4kw when I tried the same with it. Looking forward to lower power bills!

Of course, we are enjoying rather cool weather at the moment: I'm looking forward to running the same test on a proper summer day.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Thanks. I wonder if all brands do the same.

I used it to measure the current drawn by the new AC. It was not much more than a single kW. The previous, old, non-inverter mix'n'match 2-tonner drew consistently over 4kw when I tried the same with it. Looking forward to lower power bills!

For that 2 ton AC you must have used at least a 6 KVA Stabilizer which itself would have consumed about 60 W even under no load. Normally they would install 4 KVA stabilizer for 1.5 ton AC. This consumes about 30 VA with the AC off.



The internal unit fan consumes about 25 - 50 VA depending upon the fan speed you set.



So you see, there is good scope to save the power compared with earlier units.

[Thad E Ginathom]

You know how thoughts hit you from nowhere, especially the you-got-something-wrong thoughts? Well, the generator readout is is not kW, it it kva. And I'm happy to admit that I don't understand the difference, although I know I have googled, and maybe even asked actual humans, about it before.

Amazing how much the stabilizer uses. It came with one as part of the deal, but they said that they old one is fine, in fact it's double boost so better, and we kept the new one for spare. I didn't actually look at its rating.

Most of the time, I am running this thing on silent fan speed, which is low as it gets.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Prowler

For that 2 ton AC you must have used at least a 6 KVA Stabilizer which itself would have consumed about 60 W even under no load. Normally they would install 4 KVA stabilizer for 1.5 ton AC. This consumes about 30 VA with the AC off.
.......

That is what I like about the new generation Inverter AC's. The are designed to operate in the 150-280V range, hence for all practical purpose no stabilizer required. At least with my LG, the AC has a 145-290V range and stabilizer is required only outside this envelope.

What is required is a surge protector that can act fast. A couple of decades ago, a lightning induced surge in power line destroyed our VCR and a lot of electronic appliances in the neighbourhood.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Aroy

What is required is a surge protector that can act fast. A couple of decades ago, a lightning induced surge in power line destroyed our VCR and a lot of electronic appliances in the neighbourhood.

That is where you need a Whole House Surge Protection Device (SPD) which is wired at the utility Mains Input. It uses a removable cartridge of MOV (metal oxide varister ) that acts as a direct short across its terminals when the input voltage exceeds its threshold value.


Usually it is 275 V and its typical response time is about 20 microsecond and can sink several KA surge current.

I bought dozens of them and rigged them across many sockets. If you plan to add them don't forget the MCB before them.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Trust_In_Thrust

Current Daikin made in India range is very poorly designed .

The new Daikins SUCK!

We have bought 8 Daikin air-conditioners in the last 7 - 8 years and all of them have served us superbly. However, the ones purchased in the last 2 years have been JUNK.

There is a visible difference in the build quality, features, cooling performance & cooling consistency. Heck, even the remote control is so cheap compared to my 5-year old models. One of my 8-year old Daikins is still running smooth, but a 1 year old model just had a sensor failure.

Am off Daikins for life & moving onto other brands. Whichever idiot at Daikin decided to cheapen the quality has just cut the very branch he is sitting on.

[Trust_In_Thrust]

Originally Posted by wolf_lone

What is the service charge for DAIKIN Split AC (1.5 Ton) from authorized Daikin Service. I've a JTKM which needs service. Do they Pressure/Jet wash the IDU & ODU both.

The IDU will need wet cleaning .Once you get it done you will realize why brush etc are of no use .The cleaning will involve covering the electrical section on right side and using Daikin recommended machine ( I recall the pump is Made in Japan ) .Using the recommended machine is essential to avoid damage to IDU.The blower unit is cleaned properly this way .Many AC technician use force and brush to clean the grime of the blower which causes the blower to balance out creating noise issues .

[wolf_lone]

Originally Posted by Trust_In_Thrust

The IDU will need wet cleaning .Once you get it done you will realize why brush etc are of no use .The cleaning will involve covering the electrical section on right side and using Daikin recommended machine ( I recall the pump is Made in Japan ) .Using the recommended machine is essential to avoid damage to IDU.The blower unit is cleaned properly this way .Many AC technician use force and brush to clean the grime of the blower which causes the blower to balance out creating noise issues .

I booked the Free Wet service from DAIKIN under warranty period. The technician came with a pressure pump (Jugaad type) which was not a proper pressure pump but it worked somewhat. Anyway their service was quite shabby. They didn't cleaned the coil nicely telling me its not dirty enough. Then I showed them the roller fan which was quite dirty.. They used the pressure pump on it but quite lightly. When they left I checked the machine when it was dry & I could still see some dirt on the fan. Mold on plastic body just below the blower was clearly visible..

My IDU has an ionizer unit which runs on high voltage. They didn't do much to protect it except not to wash the right side of coil where it is installed...

The ODU unit was not even pressure washed though that coil was much more dirty. They simply used a hose to wash it standing on the ground. The ODU is installed on the wall ~ 5 ft above ground...

[sgiitk]

Now having issues with Panasonic. Seems I managed to get my General fixed, but am now having a leakage problem with Panasonic 1.5TR Inverter R402 unit. I got it installed, and it worked very nicely for over a month. Then we went out for about a month. On our return we found it very low on refrigerant. Panasonic came, and refilled it with extensive leak testing. Found nothing. The same evening people from the vendor also came, checked around and found zilch. Today we find the gas has again leaked out. What next! We had leakage from Daikin, General and now Panasonic! All Inverter, R40x units.

[n_aditya]

Reaching out to fellow members for help.

I bought a 1.0 ton split AC (Panasonic Inverter model) in April this year from Devi Intl. Bangalore.

The AC was promptly delivered and installed within 48 hours. However, I realized only after a few months that the installation was done by some third party guys hired by Devi Intl. and not Panasonic.

The issue is that after the compressor winds down (inverter model and hence it does not cut off, only the "revs drop") there is a stale smell from the AC. Called the toll free number and the Panasonic technician arrived and cleaned the internal unit (filters, coil, etc). This is when he mentioned it was not Panasonic that did the installation as they had no record of it.

However, the smell vanished and cropped up again after a few weeks. The technician again attended to the call and did the customary cleaning and the smell disappeared temporarily only to reappear.

I finally escalated the issue as it is still under warranty and got hold of the service manager - Mr. Naveen Kumar who said he had spoken to the technician and offered to replace the cooling coil. The said part has now been ordered and will be installed in a couple of days.

The issue is that on multiple instances the service ticket was closed for reasons like customer not reachable, and now even before installation, the ticket is closed as reason - issue resolved, ac working ok.

I was recommended Daikin by a dear friend but got a good deal on this Panasonic model.

Does anyone have contacts in the upper levels of Panasonic in the service area? I want to escalate this issue as it is completely unethical to close the ticket as resolved even when the issue is yet to be closed.

Please help.