Daikon a/c units - good or bad?

[VocalNeal]

Tofer,

 

Have you scoured the interweb?

 

Stuff like?

 

Quote

 

While most people love the saltwater environment— as in sunrise over the salt marsh, boats bobbing on a tidal inlet, and the fresh smell of salty air— it does not love our HVAC equipment, apparently. Salt is notoriously corrosive, and HVAC contractors say they see units that should last 15 years rotting away after just four or five years.

But there are some ways to extend that life. In fact, three ways come to mind right off the bat. One is to have the outside unit placed on the side of the wall that’s away from the water and the wind off that same water. It’s better not to have the unit installed beneath a porch or in an enclosure, because rainwater in this case, helps keep the unit salt-free.

In fact, that’s the second guideline: Hose off the unit periodically with a garden hose. Just make sure to turn off the thermostat first, or the unit will be led to believe you want heat. You really should schedule maintenance calls twice a year. Think of it as HVAC investment protection.

 

 

Many AC marques and maintenance products are not available here but some of the general stuff will be useful.

[Naam]

9 hours ago, JAS21 said:

One of ours got so bad, due to part of the coil never having been cleaned properly. Daikin stripped it down and took the coils outside to clean ... they were really bad. But correct it is not the normal way to clean and if regularly cleaned correctly shouldn't ever need doing that way ...

because taking off the evaporator coil means disconnecting it from the pressurised refrigerant system. to do that without total loss of refrigerant the inside unit would have to be connected with automatic valves which cost an arm and a leg and are hard to come by in Thailand alternatively a refill of the whole system which costs (depending on unit and pipe length) between 800 and 3,000 Baht is required.

 

[Tofer]

14 hours ago, trd said:

14 hours ago, Tofer said:

Thanks for sharing your experience. 
 
Judging by by the other posters it sounds like you've been particularly unlucky, sorry to hear that.
 
Are your Mitsubishi units performing well?

Yes, I've always been very happy with Mitsubishi. The build quality is better than Daikin IMHO. The Diakin had to be cleaned at least every three months because the airflow would start to make an annoying whooshing sound. I just came up to a year for a clean with a Mitsubishi Mr Slim with no airflow problems at all. One Diakin I had kept making a lot of annoying clicking sounds as the badly designed plastic enclosure made expansion and contraction noises. The Diakin installer had to strip it down and line the insides with tape to get rid of the noise. He said it was a common problem with them. Six months later the evaporator motor packed up. Never again. Daikin is an Indian company. Mitsubishi is Japanese. Enough said!

Thanks for the detailed information.

 

At least nobody has trashed Mitsubishi yet.

 

Our temporary rented accommodation has Panasonic and they are not performing well, don't know how old they are though.

[transam]

Unless things have changed Daikin manufacture only A/C....The others dabble in anything..

[Tofer]

12 hours ago, amvet said:

Twice a year before the hot season as the tech are less busy then.  This year it was once because I forgot and the guys cleaning it the first time were incompetent and because of that I had to replace a sensor 850 baht.  The AC's diagnostic program found the problem and I checked on line with my smartphone as did the tech.

Thanks for the practical advice.

[amvet]

57 minutes ago, Naam said:

because taking off the evaporator coil means disconnecting it from the pressurised refrigerant system. to do that without total loss of refrigerant the inside unit would have to be connected with automatic valves which cost an arm and a leg and are hard to come by in Thailand alternatively a refill of the whole system which costs (depending on unit and pipe length) between 800 and 3,000 Baht is required.

 

HOW TO REMOVE AN AIR CONDITIONER WITHOUT LOSING GAS

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

Edited September 19, 2017 by amvet

[Tofer]

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

Tofer,

 

Have you scoured the interweb?

 

Stuff like?

 

 

Many AC marques and maintenance products are not available here but some of the general stuff will be useful.

Thanks VocalNeal, very informative.

 

I must confess to being a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to the Internet, I must try to get into the habit more. Always been used to having expert consultants around me on major projects for instant advice, now I'm on my own minor domestic project I'm not convinced I get the best or impartial advice from local tradesmen and sales staff.

 

My reason for this platform enquiry was to get personal experience specific to what people have used here in Thailand and by the sea. 

 

The very useful general / maintenance advice is also very helpful and much appreciated from all who have chipped in, thank you.

 

[trd]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Unless things have changed Daikin manufacture only A/C....The others dabble in anything..

So Mitsubishi's car division and Panasonic and Samsung's electronic empires are a bit a dabblin' innit?

[abrahamzvi]

22 hours ago, trd said:

Personally I would never buy Daikin ever again. Had two units, both became very noisy. Even the main Daikin dealer couldn't fix it. Mitsubishi is all I would use now.

I have had a contrary experience. I find the Daikin conditioners absolutely super and have been using them for over 5 years. I had a very unsatisfactory experience with a Samsung A/C and will never go near one.

[transam]

2 hours ago, trd said:

So Mitsubishi's car division and Panasonic and Samsung's electronic empires are a bit a dabblin' innit?

Well yeh....

[sandrabbit]

Even though we have Mitsubishi in our house and condo ( pretty reliable and oversized in our house) I would point out if you look at most commercial/industrial units they seem to be using Daikin both here and the UK so that should tell you something. As we have had good reliability from our A/C's I would stick with Mitsubishi and we live by the sea and haven't had corrosion problems as far the compressor etc goes.

[JAS21]

6 hours ago, Naam said:

because taking off the evaporator coil means disconnecting it from the pressurised refrigerant system. to do that without total loss of refrigerant the inside unit would have to be connected with automatic valves which cost an arm and a leg and are hard to come by in Thailand alternatively a refill of the whole system which costs (depending on unit and pipe length) between 800 and 3,000 Baht is required.

 

Actually Naam I remember Daikin charged 1500thb. I had already cut the wall to expose the pipes. As far as I remember all they did was to close the valves outside on the compressor and then disconnect the pipes and take the coil outside to wash ...it was very bunged up.

 

When they replaced the coil ...they evacuated. Later I refilled the hole and replaced the wallpaper that previously I had carefully removed.  Unfortunately I can't find the photos at present .... 

[foggy farang]

If you are going to install aircons make sure the installers use 3 core cable ( live / neutral / earth)  or a 2 core cable (live / neutral) with separate Earth cable.

All aircons units must be Earthed.

From experience local suppliers / installers only ever use 2 core cable. Be warned.

[Oztruckie]

Installed Daikin reverse cycle ducted system in my house,on advice from couple of mates who'd been air.con installers for 50 years, in Melbourne back in 1998,sold house several years ago,Daikin system still working as good as the day the system was installed,never ever had a service guy come out to make any repairs.

[gjoo888]

21 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

 

Is your opinion based on arrogance or ignorance?

 

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Saijo Denki is adjacent to the 2nd stage expressway just north of the toll booth at Nam Wong Wan.

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I would not have stated they are mostly all made in Thailand if it wasn't true!

 

Reminds me of the brainiac who told me, "I would never buy a mobile phone made in China, that's why I buy Apple."

[rijb]

Just now, gjoo888 said:

Reminds me of the brainiac who told me, "I would never buy a mobile phone made in China, that's why I buy Apple."

Reminds me of a time when I saw a bull poop.  It made more sense than your post.

[ujayujay]

Best ACs are:

A Class: Daikin and Carrier

B Class: Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Panasonic and LG

C Class: Samsung, Sharp, Haier, Electrolux etc.

[rijb]

1 minute ago, ujayujay said:

Best ACs are:

A Class: Daikin and Carrier

B Class: Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Panasonic and LG

C Class: Samsung, Sharp, Haier, Electrolux etc.

Source?

[ujayujay]

6 minutes ago, rijb said:

Source?

Last 30 Years I sold and installed hundereds of ACs in southern Europe. This is my Conclusion. In my House in Thailand I installed Carrier. Works now 8 Years without any Issues. This Website confirmes my experiences http://www.ranker.com/list/best-air-conditioner-brands/werner-brandes

[KamnanT]

Five Daikin split units installed in my condo new in 2008.  All still running just fine, with cleaning twice a year.  One vane motor had to be replaced after about 4 years because it got a bit noisy.  2,000 baht from memory.  Remote controls are the weak link: two have failed and it's hard to find replacements that work with models of this age.

[Thaimike370]

Tofer. Daikin are probably the best air/con you can get, Daikin only make air cons, they're Inverter range is the one to go for, they are more expensive but are much cheaper to run.   All the other companies are into TVs, fridges etc.   We had one fitted about 3 months ago, just had an electric bill of 1200 odd baht, this time last year we were paying 18-1900 baht.  We run it all night every night and for a fair bit during the day.  We have 3 air/cons and 12! fans.

[phantomfiddler]

Daicon or Daikin ? First one sounds like a scam. I always get Daikin and have never had a problem :)

[r136dg]

Only have 2.5 months on the Daikens (inverters) we put in our house but I think the extra dough was money well spent. Our electric bill is substantially lower than past houses (same baht/unit) with conventional AC units. Can't comment on long term obviously but I have a few friends using them, all well over a decade with 0 issues. The driving issue behind my purchase.

[Tracyb]

I replaced both of my Aircons with Daikin inverter units last year.   I have had no problems with them.  They are quiet, efficient, and cost effective.  I run one unit all day in our "living area" and the second unit all night in the bedroom.  Compared to the York systems I replaced, I am saving up to 40% off my electric bill.  Inverters are great.  I'd buy Daikin again.

 

We have the units serviced/cleaned once every six months by Daikin technicians.  The pricing is about the same as others we had used on our York units.  

[bleble]

Never disappointed by Daikin.

 

Would never buy any other brand but Mitsubishi. Everything else is crap.

 

[Naam]

13 hours ago, amvet said:

HOW TO REMOVE AN AIR CONDITIONER WITHOUT LOSING GAS

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

absolut irrelevant. using the expression "gas" for the refrigerant depicts an ignorant. yes one can detach the compressor/condenser unit by closing it's manual valves but the refrigerant in suction and pressure pipes as well in the evaporator unit is LOST.

[Naam]

8 hours ago, JAS21 said:

Actually Naam I remember Daikin charged 1500thb. I had already cut the wall to expose the pipes. As far as I remember all they did was to close the valves outside on the compressor and then disconnect the pipes and take the coil outside to wash ...it was very bunged up.

 

When they replaced the coil ...they evacuated. Later I refilled the hole and replaced the wallpaper that previously I had carefully removed.  Unfortunately I can't find the photos at present .... 

Jas,

a lot depends on the capacity of the unit and the pipe length to be refilled. a 12k btu/unit with 3m suction/pressure pipe length requires of course less refrigerant than the same unit with 20m pipe length and (because of the distance) overdimensioned pipe diameters.

 

take a wild guess how much more refrigerant a unit (see below) takes. i got two of these monsters with pipe length 12 and 14 meters.

 

 

 

[sandrabbit]

1 minute ago, Naam said:

Jas,

a lot depends on the capacity of the unit and the pipe length to be refilled. a 12k btu/unit with 3m suction/pressure pipe length requires of course less refrigerant than the same unit with 20m pipe length and (because of the distance) overdimensioned pipe diameters.

 

take a wild guess how much more refrigerant a unit (see below) takes. i got two of these monsters with pipe length 12 and 14 meters.

 

 

 

have you got a butchers shop lol?

[Naam]

1 minute ago, sandrabbit said:

have you got a butchers shop lol?

no, our home is just a modest single family dwelling but to keep it at a comfortable temperature we have besides the two units (one shown above) another 16 units with capacities between 9,000 and 24,000 btu/h installed.

[sandrabbit]

47 minutes ago, Naam said:

no, our home is just a modest single family dwelling but to keep it at a comfortable temperature we have besides the two units (one shown above) another 16 units with capacities between 9,000 and 24,000 btu/h installed.

just out of interest do you have a swimming pool pump as well?