[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Ah! Pressurized! With a pump.(?) You forgot to mention this earlier. Also, to what pressure did he pressurize? And with what medium? Refrigerant? I have heard of vacuum test, but not really a pressure test.

Just checking that the pressure is maintained?

And isn't it easier to find leaks where gas is escaping from a pressurised systen, rather than being sucked into a vacuumed one?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Just checking that the pressure is maintained?

And isn't it easier to find leaks where gas is escaping from a pressurised systen, rather than being sucked into a vacuumed one?

If the system has to be pressure tested Nitrogen would be the gas to use.
And yes, it is easier to find where a leak is with refrigerant in the system rather than in a vacuum state.
Vacuum test is done simply to establish whether there is a leak anywhere.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Ah! Pressurized! With a pump.(?) You forgot to mention this earlier. Also, to what pressure did he pressurize? And with what medium? Refrigerant? I have heard of vacuum test, but not really a pressure test.

No. It was with a cylinder of Nitrogen. I think it was to 210psi.So I guess the test was thorough.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

.... I think it was to 210psi.So I guess the test was thorough.

I would call it just sufficient but not really 'thorough'. That's 14.5 bar and even R22 reaches pressures way higher than that in hot climates.
A system is always tested for greater tolerance than it is likely to encounter in worst case scenarios. That is thorough.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

If the system has to be pressure tested Nitrogen would be the gas to use.
And yes, it is easier to find where a leak is with refrigerant in the system rather than in a vacuum state.
Vacuum test is done simply to establish whether there is a leak anywhere.

Oh, I see... My idea was like filling a bucket of water and seeing if it was still there the next day. So, see if the gas level remains with a period of normal use. I see you are talking about something much more rigorous.

[JediKnight]

Guys,

I am in the market for two 1.5 Ton split ac. Reliability and ease of service in Chandigarh area (zirakpur) are of prime concern. They will be fitted in a flat that is empty most of the year. So the use may be max 1-2 months in a year with a possibility of no use at all during some years. My guess with such low usage star rating/inverter-non inverter should not matter. But robustness of the AC with good installation/service support in the said area matters. Any suggestions.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

So the use may be max 1-2 months in a year with a possibility of no use at all during some years.

I think if you don't use these acs they tend to get spoilt. Happened to my Hitachi window, it started icing and then had leaks etc finally just threw it away. I would recommend you set up a timer to switch it on daily for 5-10 minutes for longevity.
My brand recommendation would be Daikin. We have two Daikins now running daily duty 365 days for the past 8 years or so. I also have a Samsung that is now 12 years old but used sparingly mainly in summers.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by diyguy

....I would recommend you set up a timer to switch it on daily for 5-10 minutes for longevity.
....
.... I also have a Samsung that is now 12 years old but used sparingly mainly in summers.

So have you set up a timer to run it for 5-10 minutes daily?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

So have you set up a timer to run it for 5-10 minutes daily?

Yes have purchased one recently. In fact I have purchased a wifi based device for all our acs so I can track consumption as well as use as a timer, if needed. The Samsung runs at least once a week for a few hours so it has survived. The Hitachi went sometimes a year without use and that caused it issues.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Yes have purchased one recently. ...

How recently? Therein lies the rub!
I think you are talking about having recently bought this excellent gadget from AliExpress, which is something I have also done 'recently'!

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

How recently? Therein lies the rub!

Mine is about 3 months old. I use it for my water pump and acs. Works well with Alexa as well.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

How recently? Therein lies the rub!
I think you are talking about having recently bought this excellent gadget from AliExpress, which is something I have also done 'recently'!

Would you mind sharing the details of this device? Sounds very interesting.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

Would you mind sharing the details of this device? Sounds very interesting.

These are the ones I purchased:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Itea...311.0.0.U1ZgZA

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Sono...311.0.0.E7IUiE

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks. Looks like interesting gadgetry! .

I'm going to check this stuff out. The only thing that worries me is that IOT and aliexpress may not be a healthy combination. Maybe it could be locked down to LAN only...

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Maybe it could be locked down to LAN only...

This cannot be locked down to Lan only. Won't work if there is no internet connectivity. (EDIT: I haven't found a way to make these work in Lan only.) Of these devices, you have one model with RF control additionally for family members uncomfortable with smart phones. The device that shows power consumption is only one model and is rated at 16A, while the 10A ones do not report any stats or show instantaneous power consumption. One good thing is these devices work excellently with Amazon Echo and hence make it easy to turn on and off things without a smartphone.