New mini split doesn't seem to be working right

TintEastwood

Well-Known Member

eebbnflow

Active Member
Could the symptoms you describe also be because it is cold out ?
Did you have them install a low ambient cooling kit ?

I had these symptoms last year when it started getting below 5c in canada . These were the overnite temps outside it would dip down to 0c and I’d wake up to a warm room , water on the floor , ice on the coils inside . Turn the ac of for 5 mins while the fan is ON melts the ice and it would resume normal function until the ice built back up .

This happened with the cooler ambient temps outside or coincidentally I have a leak .

During theday when it was 10c it was cooling fine . I am praying I don’t have a leak this spring when i turn it on ( I don’t think I have a leak either after some reading )
I have a cheap Payne unit that has done me great for 3 years .

Ac can run like this when it gets under 10c depending on thee components inside . I am no tech by all means . Hope this helps a little
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Getting a a 24k Btu daikin also my hvac guy assures me that there is way to do low ambient cool but I haven’t seen anything online about it unless you upgrade to way more expensive model. But both my ac guy and hvac store says it can be done. Anyone know if that’s true hate to buy a unit that won’t work half the year.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
A minisplit with a built in low ambient will not run the condenser fan outside when it's cool, or it will run really slow, just enough to condense the refrigerant, same with the compressor, just enough to do the job, very efficient and reliable.

A freeze kit just shuts off the compressor and condenser fan until the evaporator coil temp rises and ice is prevented in that manner.
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
a crank case heater kit will heat a jacket around your compressor and keep your liquid warm enough in the winter for you to run A/c even though you should be using fans for whatever your doing
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
test out your outlet air and inlet air and tell me the difference in temperature and i can tell you if the thing is working and if your fans are just taking the a/c out and blowing it away into your house

if you trust your friends work the problem i would look into is some sort of engineering with the intake and exhaust of your room depending on your season. In my opinion you would use that cooling unit to drop temps at night in the summer only, but other than that use fans to control cooling. keeping roots at 65-70 and canopy 70-80 ideally
 

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
Getting a a 24k Btu daikin also my hvac guy assures me that there is way to do low ambient cool but I haven’t seen anything online about it unless you upgrade to way more expensive model. But both my ac guy and hvac store says it can be done. Anyone know if that’s true hate to buy a unit that won’t work half the year.
Mines fine, think I was just freaking out about nothing...think I had the temps to high. Have had in the high 60sF on auto fan and it's been fine. I didn't have in auto mode before, think that had something to do with it. Just went down there and it was 69°, almost felt chilly.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
I was just wondering for people with grow rooms with a standard window, what are the low temps that a window a/c can handle? I actually have a 24btu window shaker in my shed. Just wondering during for future grows..
Usually when the outside temps hit the 50's they start freezing up.
 

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
test out your outlet air and inlet air and tell me the difference in temperature and i can tell you if the thing is working and if your fans are just taking the a/c out and blowing it away into your house

if you trust your friends work the problem i would look into is some sort of engineering with the intake and exhaust of your room depending on your season. In my opinion you would use that cooling unit to drop temps at night in the summer only, but other than that use fans to control cooling. keeping roots at 65-70 and canopy 70-80 ideally
Ya I've thought of that, I also think I could just not run a sealed room for the really cold times during the winter, though temps rarely drop below 0° F in the winter in New England. I know for a fact I could cool 4k watts of hps in winter by pulling in outdoor air, probably wouldn't run co2 in that case. Probably wouldn't do that though would rather run a sealed room, what's the point of the mini split ya know? I did it primarily to get though the humid northeast summers though.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Yeah the inverter style systems used in minisplits are much better at handling low temps. With the old window shaker it's either running the compressor/condenser fan or it's not, on or off, very binary. With the minisplit it can run just hard enough to do the job.
 

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
Yeah the inverter style systems used in minisplits are much better at handling low temps. With the old window shaker it's either running the compressor/condenser fan or it's not, on or off, very binary. With the minisplit it can run just hard enough to do the job.
Ya you can't even hear the condenser outside. I believe daikins are one of the quietest units.
 

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
So I have to call my HVAC guy today...past few days were fine but just went down into room before lights turned off and room was 90°F. Last nite when I went down in the room I turned off a/c briefly to inspect it the turned it back on. It was on 70° and temp in room was bouncing around between 70-69°. When I turned ac back on I turned temp down to 67 and kept it on automatic, I was planning on checking it again but fell back asleep and woke up at 455am and rushed down to check room. So I don't know if turning it down to 67 had something to do with it or turning it off then on within 5 mins did it. All I know is I have to get this figured out and get a monitor so I can be right on top of it. This fucking suck.
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear your having problems man I know I’m getting ready to buy the same thing and would be very disappointed if it didn’t work right, have saved quite some time to be able to get it. Please update and let us know when you find out the issue. Just out of curiosity how cold was it outside when you were experiencing the issue?
 

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear your having problems man I know I’m getting ready to buy the same thing and would be very disappointed if it didn’t work right, have saved quite some time to be able to get it. Please update and let us know when you find out the issue. Just out of curiosity how cold was it outside when you were experiencing the issue?
Thanks dude, it was 30°F last nite. After getting it installed and lines vacced ect., it was run that 1st day for like 10 min then shutoff and not turned on for almost 2 months. Don't see why that would cause an issue just thought it worth mentioning.
 

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
Also the 2 times it seemed to not work properly were the times I turned the ac unit off then on within 5-10 minutes. Definitely not going to do that again. I went down in the bloom room close to midnight and it was running perfect(ac was set at 70° and room was 69°), turned it off checked a few things and turned back on(set at67°) less than 5 mins later. Came back down right before lights shutoff and temps where in the 90°s. I think this had something to do with it. I need to stop finger fucking with the grow room and just let it be when things are running properly.
 

Dividedsky

Well-Known Member
When it cold I had the same issue with my ac .that seems to be your issue . Unless you have a leak
Ya dude I was realizing that the minisplit is rated for 0°F when using the heat pump not the a/c. Haha I'm an idiot, not sure what temps a/c can handle but at around 30°F problems arise it seems
 
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