[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by vikasshu

Now I need to pay INR 4500 for this. He also mentioned there can be some other issues besides gas.

Whatever the issue is with your LG aircon, the gas leak, is not your headache. You should not have to pay for anything. This is unacceptable for a unit that is just a year old. Push hard with LG India to have it sorted at their cost.

[Aroy]

After going through the last few posts here is my take

1. Gas should not leak within the first few years from split AC unless the installation has been sloppy, which is usually the case when the installation is done by third party non approved installers. In none of my AC - Hitachi (13y) Daikin (7y) and two LG (1 and 2y) has there been any gas leaks except Hitachi where I suspect the technician caused it (10y mark). Yes if there is a lot of atmospherics corrosion then any part can fail, but in normal course it is rare.

2. Appliance quality being what it is will fail and the current scam is to charge exorbitant rates for gas (which may or may not be required). When I asked the technician how much the gas cost, he said (unofficially of course) less than 500 as the amount of gas is barely 1/2kg in most cases.

3. It is best to get an extended all inclusive warranty. After nearly two decades of suffering constant glitches at the hands of company authorised personnel I have got 5 years extended warranty for both my LG Inverters. The difference in service is unbelievable. They know that any component that goes bad has to be replaced. It is very easy to determine if the failure is due to defect of bad workmanship and they will get pulled up. I paid 15K for 4 years extended warranty and that includes 2 services per year and replacement of all but a few plastic parts.

4. The reduction of electricity bill of a 5 star Inverter AC vs a normal 1 star AC is not worth the extra cost; and the cost of repairs; unless you run the AC 15+ hours/day for 8+ months a year. One gas fill or motherboard replacement will wipe away 5 years of savings.

5. Locally assembled AC (without any electronics) supported by the assembler will last 15 years with minor maintenance. The only downside is the enhanced electricity bill. But when you factor in savings in repairs and savings due to not replacing the AC you are still ahead. The older technology Voltas AC are still going strong strong after 20+ years of service at many places.

6. Premium brands offer much better specifications and features (just as Merc and BMW do). But that comes at the cost of higher ownership cost and at times a lot of downtime.

7. In general the reputation of an HVAC company is based on commercial HVAC and not on domestic sector, Daikin, Hitachi, General, Voltas and Blue star are majot players in commercial sector and they last for years. That is due to better build and higher price charged. Domestic AC are a cut throat market where corners are shaved regularly to stay in competition.

[Gansan]

^^ I bought the Whirlpool split ac from my area Croma store on Republic day. It has a one year comprehensive warranty. I also bought a three year additional warranty from Croma which they offer in partnership with Onsitego. There was some offer running and I paid about 4k for it. It covers gas filling.

I have read some bad reviews about this Onsitego on the internet, but
I need to contact only the Croma store for any warranty or service issues during the four years, not even the manufacturer. Let us see how it goes!

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Aroy

After going through the last few posts here is my take

2. Appliance quality being what it is will fail and the current scam is to charge exorbitant rates for gas (which may or may not be required). When I asked the technician how much the gas cost, he said (unofficially of course) less than 500 as the amount of gas is barely 1/2kg in most cases.
.

For a window AC, is it possible to top up the gas (not refill) at home itself. Not a DUI, but I buy the gas and a mechanic does it charging me only labour.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by Aroy

3. It is best to get an extended all inclusive warranty. After nearly two decades of suffering constant glitches at the hands of company authorised personnel I have got 5 years extended warranty for both my LG Inverters. The difference in service is unbelievable. They know that any component that goes bad has to be replaced. It is very easy to determine if the failure is due to defect of bad workmanship and they will get pulled up. I paid 15K for 4 years extended warranty and that includes 2 services per year and replacement of all but a few plastic parts.

Going by the multiple recommendations on this thread (especially from you and few other AC gurus) I purchased an LG dual inverter 1.5 ton AC in March of this year, which is serving me well thus far. I did not pick up the extended warranty at the time but will be doing so now. Just wanted to confirm that this extended warranty is the same thing as the AMC that they advertise on the website/ LG app?

Also, what was the cost of extended warranty for 5 years that you have purchased?

Note: In my case, the model that i have bought comes with a 5 year PCB warranty in addition to the standard 10 year compressor warranty- I believe the new models from LG come with this specific warranty.

[vikasshu]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Whatever the issue is with your LG aircon, the gas leak, is not your headache. cost.

Thanks Sandeep. I have approached them through their website and one email id which was provided to me by their help desk. So far no response except the auto-response. If any of you know any other medium to contact them then please let me know.

Originally Posted by Aroy

After going through the last few posts here is my take

1. Gas should not leak within the first few years from split AC unless the installation has been sloppy, which is usually the case when the installation is done by third party non approved installers.
tion.

Thanks Aroy. So far my AC was touched by LG technicians who were called after registering a request through their generic call number. I definitely do feel that I should have gone for their extended warranty as recommended by you. I think at that time I felt it was a high demand money wise plus I also felt that things won't go wrong so early

[Saanil]

I purchased a 3 star LG inverter AC few days back (Model no: LS-Q18JNXA) from Amazon. The installation was completed today. It took almost 3 hours to complete the installation including the time to remove the copper pipes of my old Panasonic non inverter split ac.

I wanted to ask if it is okay to use the copper pipes from old air conditioners? The pipes were installed almost 9 years back and I was apprehensive of using them again with the new air conditioner due to fear to recurring leakages. Hence I instructed the technician to use the new copper pipes which came with the air conditioner.

The total installation cost come out to be Rs 1,810 of which, Rs 1,000 was the standard installation charge and Rs 810 was for extra copper pipe (approximately 3 feet in length). The installation guy was in a hurry to complete the job and did not seem interested in finishing the job properly. I had to clean a lot of dust and debris later.

I am hoping the air conditioner works without any issues. I am looking to buy extended warranty now. Any idea from where to buy? Can you buy the extended warranty online? I saw the charges for warranty online but did not see an option to buy.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Saanil

. Hence I instructed the technician to use the new copper pipes which came with the air conditioner.

Good decision. Using really old pipes is not advisable unless proper evacuation is done which our genius site engineers are not very good at doing. Few have complete knowledge of how air conditioners even work. Most are trained to carry out standard installation. Troubleshooting knowledge is poor.

Originally Posted by vikasshu

If any of you know any other medium to contact them then please let me know.

I was looking for an ombudsman but could not find any.

Try this link out though it is not very clear if it is meant for issues like yours. No harm in trying.

https://www.lg.com/in/escalation-online-support

Extended Warranty is a must in India. It does not cost a lot more for peace of mind. You can sign up for it even now. Read the fine print though. My folks took it when they bought a washing machine from LG.

https://www.lg.com/in/support/warranty

The longer you take up an AMC, the higher the discount.

What I find odd is this line under the Warranty Period : By Product : Air Conditioners

"During the additional warranty period, it does not cover any part such as condenser coil, evaporator coil, capillary, suction line, electronic parts etc. "

Kinda defeats the purpose of additional warranty. Worth clarifying with LG.

Please understand that this isn't a defect of your AC. A qualified engineer from LG installed it using parts they have supplied. It is bad installation or some component failure is leading to loss of refrigerant. Needs to be checked. It could be the copper pipe or even the condenser, evaporator core that has caused the leak. I do not advise re filling gas till they can confirm source of leak, else, you'll end up spending money on the refill (in the event LG does not pay) and run into the problem again almost immediately. These leaks can also be slow. The unit can work fine for up to a week. They should be able to pump in some dye to find the source of the leak. This is how it is done for cars as access is difficult.

[Aroy]

Extended warranty for LG comes in two guises. One within 1 month of purchase and another after 1 month. The rates are slightly different.

. Go to LG site and search for warranty and then choose the tab for extended warranty. That will give you the price.
. Next contact LG on their help line and ask for engineer to come and get the extended warranty. You can pay the engineer by Paytm or other means.

As LG has introduced warranty for some electronics from this year their extended warranty has reduced by some 4K (4 years) so it is extremely VFM now.

https://www.lg.com/in/support/warranty
. Choose AMC
. Choose Extended Warranty AMC within 30 days of Purchase

[neeraj0272]

Any expert in electric supply, please care to explain me the below point:
All of my air conditioners are leaking some amount of electricity. With the air conditioners turned on, I checked this using a neon bulb tester by touching it at the copper line set, at the valves of the outdoor unit and the evaporator coil of the inside unit. In all the cases bulb lit up. If air conditioner is off, bulb doesn't lit. Also if touched by bare hand, it gives an electric shock. I had discussed this with my electrician a few years back, he did not give it much importance back then. This electrician is very experienced and not too lazy but he does his work in a typical Indian mistri(technician) way.
I have called him today to check this and resolve this.
Now my questions are:
1. Besides the obvious point of safety, is my electricity bill increasing due to this leakage? Is is negligible(1% to 2%) or may be in the range of 10% to 20%?
2. My air conditioners have a problem of gas leakage. Indeed our whole area has this problem due to it being very close to Najafgarh drain. After 2 years evaporators coil start leaking and after 1 more year they have to be replaced. Some people in my area are very worse off having to face problem from the first year itself. Now can this electric current leakage induce some kind of corrosion like galvanic corrosion or may be increase the speed of this corrosion with this electric current leakage acting as a catalyst?
What I have noticed is that out of all of my 6 air conditioners, three ACs which are used more frequently like for 3000 hours annually also develop gas leakages more frequently. The other 3 ACs which are used for only 300 hours annually develop leak after 5 - 6 years.

[Turbanator]

^^

Not an expert but you can try earthing. Electricity can cause some damage but usually when it’s on a rotational equipment. As an example to bearings in electrical motors. Maybe the gas and small current increases corrosion.

Usually in your area it’s attributed to the drain but no harm in getting a good earth point and then comparing.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by neeraj0272

Any expert in electric supply, please care to explain me the below point:
All of my air conditioners are leaking some amount of electricity. With the air conditioners turned on, I checked this using a neon bulb tester by touching it at the copper line set, at the valves of the outdoor unit and the evaporator coil of the inside unit. In all the cases bulb lit up. If air conditioner is off, bulb doesn't lit. Also if touched by bare hand, it gives an electric shock. I had discussed this with my electrician a few years back, he did not give it much importance back then. This electrician is very experienced and not too lazy but he does his work in a typical Indian mistri(technician) way.
I have called him today to check this and resolve this.
Now my questions are:
1. Besides the obvious point of safety, is my electricity bill increasing due to this leakage? Is is negligible(1% to 2%) or may be in the range of 10% to 20%?
2. My air conditioners have a problem of gas leakage. Indeed our whole area has this problem due to it being very close to Najafgarh drain. After 2 years evaporators coil start leaking and after 1 more year they have to be replaced. Some people in my area are very worse off having to face problem from the first year itself. Now can this electric current leakage induce some kind of corrosion like galvanic corrosion or may be increase the speed of this corrosion with this electric current leakage acting as a catalyst?
What I have noticed is that out of all of my 6 air conditioners, three ACs which are used more frequently like for 3000 hours annually also develop gas leakages more frequently. The other 3 ACs which are used for only 300 hours annually develop leak after 5 - 6 years.

A. Leakage.
First of all have you checked each AC individually for leakage? Do this by switching one AC at a time and check the leakage of all the AC with only one on. This will
1. identify which AC is leaking (or all)
2. if the leakage is propagating all along the line

If the leakage of one AC is propagating to all then you have an earthing problem. Check for leakage current on the earth conductor in the mains distribution board.

If the leakage is not propagating then the particular AC has bad earth.

In either case invest in having a proper earth pit dug with a copper earth plate and a thick conductor from the pit to the mains earth.

B. Corrosion.
This is a known problem around major drains. Happens in near the NOIDA drain also. I would suggest that you buy AC's which have an anti corrosion coating on the heat exchanger fins as well as spray corrosion resistant paint on all the joints.

As far as I know Industrial AC come with a lot of corrosion resistance applied. You can contact Commercial AC divisions of major manufacturers to know more.

[Gansan]

I have a peculiar issue. I bought a new Whirlpool 1.5 split unit from Croma store in January. Actually I was looking to replace a 1 ton window unit with a 1 ton split, but there was a deal going and this 1.5 came for almost the same price of some other 1 ton units and I settled for it. I did not buy a stabilizer since I planned to retain the old single boost one.

But when the person came for installation, he said the old one should not be used to avoid warranty issues because a) it was twelve years old and b) it's rated capacity was 1 ton max. The second point was mentioned on the stabilizer itself. He told me to get a new stabilzer. I thought why not get a double boost unit because in recent years there was some issue of insufficient voltage at night during peak summers.

But unfortunately I could not get one in any of the nearby shops I tried. The Whirlpool guy said he could fetch it from his office, but only whirlpool brand, to which I agreed. He called them, and then told me they too don't have double boost units in stock, but triple boost was available, which they stock for certain localities. He said even though my area doesn't need one, I can go for it if it was OK with me. I know people in his home agency because I own Whirlpool Washing machine and refrigerator,so called the manager to cross check and he too confirmed it. So I told him to fetch and fix it.

After fixing it I occasionally face the issue of the MCB tripping immediately upon switching on the stabilizer - instantly, before even starting the usual timer count down. If I restore the MCB and switch on a few minutes later, it works. Doesn't happen always, but from time to time. There are two MCBs, one on the switch board to which the stabilizer is connected. Another one on the main switch board, both 20 amps. It is the one on the main board which trips. I got it replaced with a 25 amps MCB. After that the incidents have become fewer, but not entirely disappeared.

What could be the reason? The AC is otherwise functioning normally. I don't wish to call any technician inside under the circumstances. Experts please comment.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Gansan

It is the one on the main board which trips. I got it replaced with a 25 amps MCB. After that the incidents have become fewer, but not entirely disappeared.

This is due to inrush currents and i had faced this with a 2kva step down transformer that was tripping itself. I had changed the mcb then too to solve the problem. This is probably not the right engineering approach. A quick google suggests this can be prevented by use of an NTC Thermistor. You can discuss with the whirlpool guys if this is a design fault and they may fix this for you. More details here.
https://www.ametherm.com/blog/inrush...va-transformer

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I have a peculiar issue. I bought a new Whirlpool 1.5 split unit from Croma store in January. Actually I was looking to replace a 1 ton window unit with a 1 ton split,
.....
.....

You should check whether the correct type of MCB is being used. You need a Type 'C' MCB (rated for inductive loads, i.e. loads that cause a large start up surge).