Need advice about LG air conditioner

[jadee]

Hi all, 
I have a 12,000BTU LG air conditioner that is icing over. 

 

The darker area on the outdoor unit obviously shows that coolant is leaking. 

 

Can anyone with knowledge of these things give me advice, please? 1) can these types of leaks be fixed? if not 2) can I buy a new outdoor unit or do I need to buy a complete new unit?

My unit is 9 years old but whenever I've been to government buildings in Thailand they seems to have decades-old ACs so I can't believe that units cannot be fixed. I do have a local company who come to clean my AC units but I know they'll just say they can't fix it and I need to buy a new one. Any ideas?
Thanks

[cheeryble]

Are you in CM?

If so can put u in touch with the right guy

[Wirejerker]

I think your AC is in need of a clean. Looks like someone egged your outdoor unit. Look for another reason for the mark on your condenser coil cause a leak that bad you would have lost all your gas and the unit could not make ice. Short of gas is one of the things that cause it to ice up, others are thermostat set too low and AC never stops running to de ice, outside air leaking in so AC runs continuously or the AC may need cleaning.


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[bankruatsteve]

If you can't work out a fix, go to a 12K BTU Daikin inverter.  You will be happy forever after.

[jadee]

8 hours ago, cheeryble said:

Are you in CM?

If so can put u in touch with the right guy

No sorry, I'm in Samut Prakarn which is south of Bangkok. Thanks anyway though

[jadee]

5 hours ago, Wirejerker said:

I think your AC is in need of a clean. Looks like someone egged your outdoor unit. Look for another reason for the mark on your condenser coil cause a leak that bad you would have lost all your gas and the unit could not make ice. Short of gas is one of the things that cause it to ice up, others are thermostat set too low and AC never stops running to de ice, outside air leaking in so AC runs continuously or the AC may need cleaning.


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Thanks for the advice, I'll try getting it cleaned and see whether that improves things. 

[jadee]

1 hour ago, bankruatsteve said:

If you can't work out a fix, go to a 12K BTU Daikin inverter.  You will be happy forever after.

Thanks for the advice, I've heard Daikin are really good. I'd prefer to fix it but appreciate the tip! 

[Crossy]

7 hours ago, jadee said:

Thanks for the advice, I'll try getting it cleaned and see whether that improves things. 

When was the gas last checked? As others have noted, low gas is a major source of icing up.

[jadee]

On 2/26/2018 at 5:16 AM, Crossy said:

When was the gas last checked? As others have noted, low gas is a major source of icing up.

Hi, I had it cleaned last August. I called a cleaning company a few days ago. When they came, they charged 600 to clean it and said it needed gas which was 700. They said the compressor needed to be fixed so I'll probably do that next time it ices up. Apparently to fix it, the compressor needs to be removed, taken away for a few days and then returned. 
What really annoyed me was the guys were turning off the breaker switch and then when they left I realized that my hot water heater in the shower no longer worked. I think there must have been a surge. I can't really prove that the AC company broke it but it was working fine before they came. It's a cheap Sharp hot water heater - around 7 years old - they only cost 2,490baht in Tesco. Do you have any idea whether turning the power on and off would cause a heater to break or which part it would have broken?
I phoned Sharp and they wanted 700 just to send a guy out to take a look. If there's a part that needs to be replaced, it will probably be cheaper just to buy a new one. 

[Crossy]

Does the heater have an RCD/ELCB?

If so, try resetting it.

 

Is the heater breaker on? Turn it off and on again.

[jadee]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Does the heater have an RCD/ELCB?

If so, try resetting it.

 

Is the heater breaker on? Turn it off and on again.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Yes, I've tried turning the breaker on and off again. I just had a guy from my condo come up and have a look, he said it was broken and I need to buy a new one but my Thai isn't good enough to understand which part is broken. It sounded like he said 'short' as in short circuited. I think the AC guys were turning on and off the main breaker quickly.
If I get someone from Sharp to have a look it's a 700baht call out charge and then if it needs a new part for, say, 1000, then it's pretty much the same as the cost of a new heater. It's 7 years old.
It's a funny occurrence though - I pay to fix the AC and the shower heater breaks! Life, huh?

[Crossy]

Assuming the ELB, microswitch and thermal switch are closing correctly (do you have a multimeter?) the usual failure mode would be the triac. A cheap part if you have somewhere locally to source and the skills to replace it.

 

To be honest, if it's not something really obvious just replace the heater.

 

Nice to see that it's grounded

 

I think it's really just bad luck that the power interruptions caused by the A/C chaps took it over the edge.