My GF's house has two Panasonic aircons. No problems when they are running. However, they can be balky to switch on with the remotes.

The local aircon mechanic has instructed us to switch off the circuits at the fuse box, and only switch on when ready to use the aircon. The aircons then respond to the remotes normally.

Do the experts on TV have an explanation? My theory is a capacitor in the switch circuit is responsible; however, I'd like people more knowledgeable than me to explain.

Does the local switch work?  Most units don’t have a deep power save mode, but the controls do seem to lock up randomly. 

 

Does the remote show the “on” state?  If it shows on, sometimes adjusting the temperature causes less problems than any other button. 

I have a Hitachi inverter type that sometimes needs to be turned off for a couple of minutes to respond to the remote, the other non inverter types in the house no problem. I tried once straight after a dip in the power when it had been running fine a couple of hours previously, after the power dip it would not run.  So my (semi educated) guess is there is probably some electronics in there that do not like power dips/spikes, not enough to damage, just confuse or maybe it is a feature to stop damage.  Plus leaving it shut off means if there is a lightning strike nearby it should survive.

 

Cheers