We recently purchased a new Panasonic inverter air conditioner for our bedroom. 

The one thing I have noticed is that after it has been running for about an hour the fan in the outside unit stops.

Then, about every 15 minutes or so the outside fan restarts, slows down and then stops again. 

 

Now it was my understanding that with inverter air conditioners (unlike non inverter) the compressor never actually shuts down, it just regulates it's speed to keep the room at the required temperature.

 

So does this mean that the compressor is continuing to work even if the outside fan turns itself off?

And is this normal?

 

I always presumed that if the compressor is working, then the outside fan will be spinning as well. 

But the again, what I actually know about aircons you could write on the back of a postage stamp!

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I know even less, but I am imagine the fan is controlled by a thermostat.

Most if not all inverter A/Cs have a "minimum cooling rate" below which the compressor (and the outside fan) does actually shut down. This is probably what you are seeing.

 

The min and max cooling capacities should be in the manual, time to open the plastic bag

A non inverter airconn has two states, off or running flat out. A inverter airconn has various states, it can be off, running flat out, running a little, running when needed etc.