[diyguy]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@diyguy; Deep chemical cleaning, never heard of it.

Thank you sir. Will take some pics. In October he did normal service and that time the cooling was less and he said need to remove indoor unit and clean thoroughly. He clicked some pics of the cooling pipes and told me some story about compressor shutting off as it is unable to circulate or something yesterday. He is a perfectionist to some extent and doesn't stop till he has cleaned to his satisfaction. That's one reason I kind of trust this guy. Will try and get him to take pics for me to if he does the job tomorrow.

[mandyrana]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Thank you sir. Will take some pics. In October he did normal service and that time the cooling was less and he said need to remove indoor unit and clean thoroughly. He clicked some pics of the cooling pipes and told me some story about compressor shutting off as it is unable to circulate or something yesterday. He is a perfectionist to some extent and doesn't stop till he has cleaned to his satisfaction. That's one reason I kind of trust this guy. Will try and get him to take pics for me to if he does the job tomorrow.

My friend had A/C maintenance shop. He advised me not to do deep chemical cleaning. Though it cleans very quickly and efficiently but as per him chemical weakens the pipes and they will lead to gas leakages eventually.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by mandyrana

My friend had A/C maintenance shop. He advised me not to do deep chemical cleaning. Though it cleans very quickly and efficiently but as per him chemical weakens the pipes and they will lead to gas leakages eventually.

What is the alternative? I called Daikin today. They call this water wash and they take the unit to their premises for this cleaning. They charge 2700 + moving charges. They also said they wont do the water wash unless they see it necessary.
For me, the unit has been "general" serviced but the cooling is very low. There is no gas issue. Thats the reasoning why my regular guy feels it needs to be deep cleaned. He didnt turn up today and intends coming tomorrow.

[sgiitk]

How do they carry out a water wash? They will have to recover the refrigerant before separating the two parts. Something does not meet the eye.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by diyguy

A correction on the gas need. My second daikin was due to get a gas fill today but the mechanic mentioned that gas is fine and needs deep chemical cleaning. Indoor unit has dirt buildup and needs to be removed completely and cleaned with some chemical. Will cost me 1800 and is scheduled for Thursday. Will take 8 hours it seems. A friend who uses the same guy had got it done 2 years back. Anyone else have this experience?

This is only needed if the condenser if fully choked. Happens when fine dust particles mix with moisture and form gum. If not cleaned regularly, the gum may solidify. You can find out if this is the case by feeling airflow. If it is extremely feeble, then the condenser is choked. Another reason may be the filter is choked and sticking to the condenser.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

How do they carry out a water wash? They will have to recover the refrigerant before separating the two parts. Something does not meet the eye.

Yes they do some reverse pump and move the gas back into the ODU is what I was told. When I shifted house 3 years back, this is what was done.

Originally Posted by Aroy

This is only needed if the condenser if fully choked. Happens when fine dust particles mix with moisture and form gum. If not cleaned regularly, the gum may solidify. You can find out if this is the case by feeling airflow. If it is extremely feeble, then the condenser is choked. Another reason may be the filter is choked and sticking to the condenser.

The AC ODU faces an empty house where a caretaker frequently someone collects dropped leaves and burns them. This smoke drifts towards this particular room and AC and I suspect this may have caused some choking. I could be wrong though. About 8 months back, I had called a different service technician from JustDial who poured buckets of water onto the ODU. That could also be one reason for this gum like effect. The airflow is definitely feeble but it has some amount of cooling, unlike my other Daikin which was spewing hot air when it had lost its gas...

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

How do they carry out a water wash? They will have to recover the refrigerant before separating the two parts. Something does not meet the eye.

The refrigerant is collected in the ODU by running the compressor with the liquid line valve shut at the ODU. Once the gas is in the ODU the compressor is stopped and the return line valve is quickly closed.
In fact, most split ACs are shipped with gas stored in the ODU, including some extra for pipe runs and purging after connections are made.

Originally Posted by Aroy

This is only needed if the condenser if fully choked. Happens when fine dust particles mix with moisture and form gum. If not cleaned regularly, the gum may solidify. You can find out if this is the case by feeling airflow. If it is extremely feeble, then the condenser is choked. Another reason may be the filter is choked and sticking to the condenser.

Ha ha, I do think you mean evaporator , not condenser.

[rajneeesh]

Folks,
I am looking for a replacement for a 1.5 ton window AC in my bedroom. I would now like to go in for a split AC and am interested in Inverter AC's.

I would like to know how do Lloyd Inverter AC's compare with brands like Diakin and Sharp.

As I live in Noida, where AC's typically do not last long .( pollution from nearby nallahs), Is it a good idea to go in for Inverter AC's or will I be better off going in for a 5 Star rated converntional Split AC?

The daily usage will be approximately 8-9 hours ( basically at night).

[sgiitk]

@rajneeesh; make sure whatever you buy is using copper coils and not aluminium. Then if they are blue then that is an additional layer of protection. I will say, still got for Inverter since in either case due to pollution corrosion you may have to change the condenser coil, and that costs the same. Sharp / daikin and General represent the apex and their are many more modestly priced alternatives as well. Lloyd are back in the market for a short while, after being dormant for many years. i do remember my first AC was a Fedders-Lloyd in 1978, but then time moves on. I will try and avoid Lloyd till they are again up and running.

[diyguy]

Can chennaites please PM me their AC mechanics who come home and do all work. My regular guy has been dodging me and one of my daikins need to be looked into. I called the authorized service center and they want to take the unit to their location for a water wash, which I am not comfortable with. Am sure parts will be replaced. I had sent my hitachi window Ac this way for replacement of evaporator and gas filling and when it came back it hardly ran for a few weeks and conked out again.

[quadra]

What is the difference between inverter / star rated system? I am planning to buy 1 ton window system shortly and I don't really understand the specifications.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by quadra

What is the difference between inverter / star rated system?

In an inverter AC the compressor never really shuts off. I understand that the maximum current usage is in starting of a compressor and hence energy usage is more in non inverter acs. A big plus in the inverter AC is the maintenance of a constant desired temperature, which is not really the case in the star rated ones.

[n_ramesh99]

Saga of my AC purchase (not complete yet)
--------------------------------------------------

I decided to install a split AC for my bedroom (14 x 12 x 12) in Bangalore and decided to go in for a 1.5 ton inverter AC. I owe a lot to this thread for this research. The favourites in this thread being Daikin and Sharp etc., I also decided to go with Sharp.

Why not Daikin? because Daikin uses R32 refrigerant which seems to be somewhat proprietary to them. They do have R410 in their high end ones, but they are expensive and I have no use for features such as heat pump etc. here in Bangalore.

Now getting Sharp AC is proving next to impossible. First of all none of the shops sell them, Ezone being an exception. They told that they will get one in 1 week, but I doubt that. Besides their are not very cost competitive. One vendor that I found through JustDial gave a good quote but he says only AH-X18PET is available and AH-XP18MT that I was interested is not available. If it is so difficult to buy one, I wonder how difficult it would be to get serviced if I ever need that! Yes, Sharp seems to be well priced and well built, but I will be forced to drop it from my list.

Guys, any suggestion? I am primarily looking for a trouble free well built model, easy to service when required.

Regards
Ramesh

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by quadra

What is the difference between inverter / star rated system? I am planning to buy 1 ton window system shortly and I don't really understand the specifications.

Originally Posted by diyguy

In an inverter AC the compressor never really shuts off.

The * rating is based on the ratio of the cooling and the wattage and nothing else.

Most inverters units do not have a star rating or maybe only 4*. This is at peak output. An inverter AC compressor progressively slows down as you approach the set point. I have seen the meter indicating 500W in the morning with the inverter 2.2TR Daikin running. This load is for the whole house! Also, running on my generator I observe that the Inverter AC does not start with full power, but rather scales up. The note does not change as it would for a full power start. Due to the variable speed an Inverter AC draws much less power than a 5* AC overall. Also, the temperature variation is much less.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Being on all the time taking less power is sort-of unintuitive --- but true!

quadra, the companies brochures/websites describe the technology overview, with diagrams, and all --- and if you go back a few pages in this thread you can find out what some of us think of inverter ACs in practice. I'm very happy with mine.