Air conditioner does not cool room enough

[grin]

We have 3 of the newer Daikin 12K BTU R32 units. The manual recommends cleaning the air filters every 2 weeks and the photo-catalytic filter every 6 months.

Upon reading this topic it occurs to me that I should check out the roller units that were mentioned here and see how they are doing the next time I clean the air filters.

We bought a pressure washer years ago and it gets used quite a bit around our house. I would have never thought to use it anywhere other than in a toilet inside the house, especially on the interior AC blowers. How do you make sure those bags don't come loose and spill a bunch of water in your bedrooms?

We have an older model Saijo Denki 30K BTU unit that is leaking coolant and I cannot find a company here in Chiang Mai to find the leak. Two companies have come out, of course when I was not home, and both convinced my wife that all we needed was a coolant top up. One time they charged her 1000 baht for the larger compressor and 500 baht for the compressor next to it that I know was not even leaking. I have explained to her more than once that there must be a hole in the coolant pipe somewhere and that it needs to be found and fixed but she is afraid of confronting the AC guys when they come. She knows now not to let anyone in to look at the AC units unless I am here.

I'm still looking for a reputable shop in Chiang Mai to find and fix this leak. As it may require going into the attic it may have to wait for cooler weather.

Grin

[Pib]

12K BTU A/Cs are more than big enough for your room sizes if operating properly and unless maybe you have a ton of windows with no curtains. If you have a thermometer (like one of those with an outside wire temp probe) you can stick the thermometer probe "just inside the vent outlet" (but not too far in to avoid hitting the spinning cage fan) and the A/C should put-out air temperature of approx 13C/55F (15C/60F may be OK also...but warmer than that and you A/C is not cooling as it should). Give the thermometer at least 10 minutes to do the measurement...until you are not seeing the temp drop anymore.

Be sure you have the system set to Cool vs Auto or Dry. If the vent output temp is not pretty close to above mentioned temp then your A/C needs servicing. Even in this hot weather the A/C should be able to pull down to a vent output of approx 13-15C/55-60F....mine do...they pull down to 13C/55F in this very hot weather....during cooler times of the year they pull down to approx 10C/50F....my York split A/Cs in different rooms range in size from 8K to 23K BTU.

Also ensure the air flow from the vent outlet is pretty even across the "entire length" of the vent outlet...if not your filters and/or cage fan is dirty. A dirty cage fan can really reduce air output which also reduces cooling due to reduced air flow....I have to clean my cage fans about every 6 months on the A/Cs used pretty much 24/7 otherwise uneven/reduced airflow occurs due to crude/dirt building up on the can fan which reduces/disrupts air flow....and I clean the filters about once a month.

I just finished a temperature test using my cheap indoor/outdoor digital thermometer you can buy most anywhere pretty cheap. Did the test at 4:30pm, overcast here in my part of Bangkok (not a hot day compared to a cloudless day with the sun shining bright...kinda simulating a cooler time of year), temp on 18K BTU A/C set to 26C/79F, outside temperature is 31C/87F, A/C vent output temp measures 11C/51F when compressor/outdoor unit is running...of course the vent temp climbs when the compressor is off. I have fixed speed A/Cs where the compressor runs at a fixed speed and cycles on & off versus an inverter A/C that just varies it's compressor speed. Anyway, when the compressor is running the temp of the air blowing out the vent is 11C/51F today.

That's pretty close to my earlier post talking about cooler times of the year since today is kinda being simulated as a cooler time of year due to total overcast where I'm at. If memory serves me right when the outdoor temp is around 35C/95F with bright sunshine is when I get the vent output temp of approx 13C/55F as I've measured it several times before over the years just to confirm proper cooling. My home central air system back in Hawaii had the same vent output temp...that is, in the 10-13C/50-55F ballpark.

[garet]

I have Daikin units in our home.

They have a pair of user-removable, plastic air filter panels that need to be removed and washed out with water every week or so...something we can easily do ourselves in our kitchen sink, and then slide then back into the unit once they've dried.

But, here in Bangkok, the thing that really requires the units to be serviced every couple months is the spinning roller unit inside the wall-mounted unit. It has ridged edges and when those get coated with the dust and dirt in the air that gets stuck to them, the unit basically stops cooling. [That's what Pib is talking about in his post above.] The compressor will run, the fan will blow, but cold air won't blow out.

Dealing with that required the air con service guy to disassemble the wall unit, remove the ridged spinning roller piece and power wash it from the accumulated gunk. After that, the unit blows cold air like a charm again.

The Thai air con guy we use here in BKK, who's pretty dependable, charges 500 baht per air con unit for the filter cleaning and power washing the indoor unit, which he disassembles and then power washes the parts in our bathroom shower and the main unit on the wall using a plastic sheet to collect and drain the water.

That sounds good.

Can you tell me the name of the company and the phone number?

[grkt]

hello, 

Any idea how to find that an Daikin aircon has enough gaz or is leaking ?

Thanks.

[Crossy]

2 hours ago, grkt said:

hello, 

Any idea how to find that an Daikin aircon has enough gaz or is leaking ?

Thanks.

By yourself, not easily. If it's not cooling at all or is freezing up the indoor unit it's likely no/low gas.

 

Call your local aircon man, he will should have the proper kit to vacuum check and re-gas.

 

[mogandave]

Just to add, if the unit is low or out of refrigerant, it is leaking.

Contrary to popular belief, the system does not “use” refrigerant. Assuming the unit is installed correctly, the refrigerant should last the life of the system.

[grkt]

8 hours ago, Crossy said:

By yourself, not easily. If it's not cooling at all or is freezing up the indoor unit it's likely no/low gas.

 

Call your local aircon man, he will should have the proper kit to vacuum check and re-gas.

 

 

 

Thank you, I will try to find a reliable Daikin repair service, as it is an inverter.

 

It seems that it cool less and less days after days.

 

Outside unit fans turns but air that comes out of it is not hot, so it seems that compressor is not moving quickly enough.

 

If the problem was only gaz, do you know if the compressor would be more hot ? Or gaz leaking can slow the compressor and then bring less cool air inside the room ?

 

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

[bankruatsteve]

Most competent AC guys are good for any model - unless special parts are difficult to source.  Have you had it cleaned lately?  It might just need a good scrub.

[Crossy]

A silly question, you do have it on "cool" don't you, been there, got the t-shirt.

 

[mogandave]

The problem is never just gas. If it needs gas it is leaking.

Is the coil in the indoor unit freezing over? This is usually the first sign of a leak,

How long you had it?

How long have you had it

[grkt]

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

The problem is never just gas. If it needs gas it is leaking.

Is the coil in the indoor unit freezing over? This is usually the first sign of a leak,

How long you had it?

How long have you had it

hi,

 

I opened the outdoor unit and it's wet under the compressor but no sign of leakage on the compressor pipes. Maybe the connection to compressor ?

When gaz is leaking, do we have liquid around ? (gaz becomes liquid ?).

 

5 years only, 8 hours a night, no freezing anywhere.

 

I called daikin hotline who asked me to call rayong branch, hos stupid it is for a famous brand as them. I guess that it was the last time that I buy it.

 

I am now looking for a random guy who could find from where it's leaking. Do you know the process to find a leak ? I can try to explain him if he doesn't know :-)

 

Thanks a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mogandave]

The only liquid around should be water, but that should not be around the condenser unit.

Is it oil?

Given it is likely out of warranty, you might as well get a local guy. They’ll all know how to check and top off the gas, and clean it, this service is their bread & butter. They should also know how to find and fix a leak, but if the leak is slow they often do not.

You telling him what to do might not go well. Just tell them it’s not getting cool enough and you want it serviced.

[grkt]

2 minutes ago, mogandave said:

The only liquid around should be water, but that should not be around the condenser unit.

Is it oil?

Given it is likely out of warranty, you might as well get a local guy. They’ll all know how to check and top off the gas, and clean it, this service is their bread & butter. They should also know how to find and fix a leak, but if the leak is slow they often do not.

You telling him what to do might not go well. Just tell them it’s not getting cool enough and you want it serviced.

 

It is like clear water, maybe it was freezing because of gaz leak, and then let water ? But I didn't see any ice.

 

Thank you, but I never let anyone fix anything without telling him what the problem seems to be, even doctors :-)

 

Fixing the leak, after reading reports everywhere, I do not believe so much, this is why I was looking for an official service center with good equipment.

 

But yes, I will finally maybe just try a random guy. This is Thailand...

 

 

 

 

[bankruatsteve]

Do you have neighbors with AC?  Ask for recommendation for cleaning (fixing leak).