How long do airconditioners last

[madmax2]

The air conditioner in our bedroom takes a long time to get down to the set temperature about 1 hour

Its slowly taking a longer time to do this, it used to take about 20 minutes like our other air conditioners to start switching of and on, its serviced regularly about every 6 months and has just been serviced

Its about 12 years old, how long do they last before needing replacing

[CharlieH]

I dont think there is a definitive answer. Too many variables. Age, model, servicing, hours useage and so on.

 

Fair to say 12 years is a good run though.

[madmax2]

2 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

I dont think there is a definitive answer. Too many variables. Age, model, servicing, hours useage and so on.

 

Fair to say 12 years is a good run though.

OK thanks for the answer, i will tell the Mrs i got a experts opinion and you agreed it probably needs replacing as i thought it does

[DLang]

^ She'll already have asked the motosai taxi riders. They'll be over to break it beyond repair after the morning school run. 

 

Hok roi baaht, khraaap. 

[Moonlover]

A simple, yet important task is to keep the filters in the room unit clean. It can take as little as 15 minutes, but can make a big difference to performance.

 

I do mine at least every 3 months.

[madmax2]

6 minutes ago, DLang said:

^ She'll already have asked the motosai taxi riders. They'll be over to break it beyond repair after the morning school run. 

 

Hok roi baaht, khraaap. 

Not my missus, it still works so its OK as far as she is concerned, its a LG and we have had problems with it of and on, I will go for a Samsung inverter, we installed 2 in

our living area about 2 years ago and they are very god and quick at cooling the living area

Was told by the representative we needed a 36 BTU unit  which would have cost 68K baht which they did not have in stock, plus another unit for the kitchen/ dining area or to close it of with a curtain

We put 2  18 BTU units in the lounge area which cost 58K baht, that's right 2 units cheaper than 1 larger unit, and they cool the whole living area, dining kitchen area without having a curtain installed

takes about 20 minutes to get the area down to 29C from 33C, gets rid of the humidity and makes the area very comfortable to be in

[madmax2]

1 minute ago, Moonlover said:

A simple, yet important task is to keep the filters in the room unit clean. It can take as little as 15 minutes, but can make a big difference to performance.

 

I do mine at least every 3 months.

We clean the filters every month, LG are a bit of a hassle as you have to take the outside cover of to get to them, samsung inverter ones are mounted on top of the unit and easy to take of and clean, about 5 minutes or less a unit, use the auto clean for the inside of the units about every 2 weeks

[Gary A]

The 9,000 BTU Samsung in our bedroom still works after more than ten years. I bought a Panasonic inverter 14,000 BTU for my computer room and the old Samsung cools better than the new Panasonic. Panasonic service checked out the new unit and said it is fine. The rooms are exactly the same size.

 

The 14,000 BTU unit in my Jomtien condo bedroom died after more than ten years. Other than being too big for the room, it was OK. It didn't run long enough to dehumidify the room before the compressor cycled off. I replaced it with a 10,200 BTU LG. (NO inverter). It works very well. I'm quite happy with it. I regret buying the Panasonic inverter.

 

The rooms at the house are both 18 square meters. My condo bedroom is 26 square meters.

[KittenKong]

23 hours ago, madmax2 said:

use the auto clean for the inside of the units about every 2 weeks

 

Interesting. My air-con has nothing like that. What does that do? Does it reduce the need for "proper" cleaning by air-con people?

[KittenKong]

22 hours ago, Gary A said:

The 9,000 BTU Samsung in our bedroom still works after more than ten years. I bought a Panasonic inverter 14,000 BTU for my computer room and the old Samsung cools better than the new Panasonic. Panasonic service checked out the new unit and said it is fine. The rooms are exactly the same size.

 

I replaced my ancient no-name air-con a few years ago. My bills went from around 4,000B per month to around 1,500B per month, and the new air-con is both quieter and more effective. As it is an inverter I also dont get that terrible thump outside when the compressor kicks in.

[madmax2]

20 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

Interesting. My air-con has nothing like that. What does that do? Does it reduce the need for "proper" cleaning by air-con people?

it runs for about 30 minutes after turning of the AC, i think just the fan runs to completely dry the inside of the AC to stop the growth of mould which can grow and block the drain pipe among other  things

Just guessing i do not know for sure 

[tutsiwarrior]

On 7/25/2017 at 9:48 AM, madmax2 said:

it runs for about 30 minutes after turning of the AC, i think just the fan runs to completely dry the inside of the AC to stop the growth of mould which can grow and block the drain pipe among other  things

Just guessing i do not know for sure 

my mitsubishi inverter manual has a procedure for drying out the unit before an extended period of no operation; run for 3 - 4 hr in cool mode at the highest temp setting, I also set the fan speed at max...it's to help clean out/inhibit accumulated mold/fungi...doing this periodically might also help prevent drain blockages which are caused by the same stuff...

 

 

[KittenKong]

On 25/07/2017 at 9:48 AM, madmax2 said:

it runs for about 30 minutes after turning of the AC, i think just the fan runs to completely dry the inside of the AC to stop the growth of mould which can grow and block the drain pipe among other  things

Just guessing i do not know for sure 

 

I see. I was imagining some sort of liquid/vapour flushing system for the radiator fins. Shame.

[madmax2]

On 7/26/2017 at 3:08 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

my mitsubishi inverter manual has a procedure for drying out the unit before an extended period of no operation; run for 3 - 4 hr in cool mode at the highest temp setting, I also set the fan speed at max...it's to help clean out/inhibit accumulated mold/fungi...doing this periodically might also help prevent drain blockages which are caused by the same stuff...

 

 

Sounds like the same thing as the Samsung inverter does, only you set it on clean mode and its done automatically  when you turn of the air conditioner

[Dan5]

On 7/24/2017 at 9:24 AM, madmax2 said:

We clean the filters every month, LG are a bit of a hassle as you have to take the outside cover of to get to them, samsung inverter ones are mounted on top of the unit and easy to take of and clean, about 5 minutes or less a unit, use the auto clean for the inside of the units about every 2 weeks

I don't know what auto clean is, but I need to have someone come out and clean the cooling coils every 2 to 3 months.. Its very important the coils are clean, especially for a high efficiency model. I had some technicians come out from LG a few years ago and they wouldn't even check it out until the coils were clean.  

[lucjoker]

Airco's are simple things

So google how they work,until you understand how simple they are.

With a handful of tools you can do almost every job .

Even take the air out the system without loosing the gas.

The only thing you probably can not do is "ad more gas"

For this you will have to borrow (or buy) the little canister with the connections.

I would not thrust any simple thai to do this job .....

cleaning means the unit has to come off the wall and dismanteled.....not their trick with the big plastic and a bucket...

 

 

[oldgit]

On 24/7/2560 at 10:32 AM, Gary A said:

The 9,000 BTU Samsung in our bedroom still works after more than ten years. I bought a Panasonic inverter 14,000 BTU for my computer room and the old Samsung cools better than the new Panasonic. Panasonic service checked out the new unit and said it is fine. The rooms are exactly the same size.

 

The 14,000 BTU unit in my Jomtien condo bedroom died after more than ten years. Other than being too big for the room, it was OK. It didn't run long enough to dehumidify the room before the compressor cycled off. I replaced it with a 10,200 BTU LG. (NO inverter). It works very well. I'm quite happy with it. I regret buying the Panasonic inverter.

 

The rooms at the house are both 18 square meters. My condo bedroom is 26 square meters.

It's not only the size of the room that governs the cooling load required for the unit. The number of windows in the room need to be taken into account, as glass allows more heat to enter the room than any other material. Also, if the walls are external and the outside temperature is higher than the required internal temperature (the same can be said for internal walls, where the adjoining room is warmer), heat ingress from the ceiling  plus appliances like computers do give off a certain amount of heat, people add to the heat load and any lighting within the room.

[phantomfiddler]

Do yourself a big favour and get a decent top line (Daikin, Mitsubishi, Samsung etc) model WITH INVERTER ! Savings are huge, operation is silent, smooth, and highly efficient, and you will wonder why you didn,t change the old one out years ago ! They don,t cost much more than the "non-inverter" models and are well worth the extra couple of notes.

[1FinickyOne]

The ones we have had gone about twelve years or so... sounds like you are due..

[bberrythailand]

On 7/24/2017 at 9:18 AM, madmax2 said:

Not my missus, it still works so its OK as far as she is concerned, its a LG and we have had problems with it of and on, I will go for a Samsung inverter, we installed 2 in

our living area about 2 years ago and they are very god and quick at cooling the living area

Was told by the representative we needed a 36 BTU unit  which would have cost 68K baht which they did not have in stock, plus another unit for the kitchen/ dining area or to close it of with a curtain

We put 2  18 BTU units in the lounge area which cost 58K baht, that's right 2 units cheaper than 1 larger unit, and they cool the whole living area, dining kitchen area without having a curtain installed

takes about 20 minutes to get the area down to 29C from 33C, gets rid of the humidity and makes the area very comfortable to be in

 

 

You already had problem and keep buying ridiculous brands ?

 

It's not so difficult to remember that only 2 brands are worth paying ? Daikin and Mistubishi !

 

 

[oldgit]

1 hour ago, bberrythailand said:

 

 

You already had problem and keep buying ridiculous brands ?

 

It's not so difficult to remember that only 2 brands are worth paying ? Daikin and Mistubishi !

 

 

Mitsubishi and Daikin are good but you pay for the quality. LG are a decent value for money supplier of split systems.

[Dazinoz]

I had a split system in my bedroom in Oz that was 20 years old. I put a new one in and put the old one in my garage workshop.

[Dazinoz]

6 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Do yourself a big favour and get a decent top line (Daikin, Mitsubishi, Samsung etc) model WITH INVERTER ! Savings are huge, operation is silent, smooth, and highly efficient, and you will wonder why you didn,t change the old one out years ago ! They don,t cost much more than the "non-inverter" models and are well worth the extra couple of notes.

Cost a lot more if inverter board fails. Earlier ones in Oz were prone to vermin and geckos shorting out the board. VERY expensive repair.

[Dazinoz]

7 hours ago, lucjoker said:

 

Even take the air out the system without loosing the gas.

You need a vacuum pump and a good quality vacuum gauge to do this properly.

[Dazinoz]

7 hours ago, lucjoker said:

 

cleaning means the unit has to come off the wall and dismanteled.....not their trick with the big plastic and a bucket...

 

 

Not true. This would be expensive and shorten the life of the AC. This is inviting a refrigerant leak. Copper piper looses its malleability one flared once. The flared connection would need to be done again if taken off wall. There is usually not much room for spare pipe especially in the bigger units with larger pipe. Also refrigerant in newer ACs run at higher pressure and flared connections should be done with specialist flared nut torque wrench. I would be less trusting of someone who told me I have to take AC off wall to clean than clean in situ.

 

The air filter should be cleaned monthly.

 

The fins cleaned once a year and can be done in situ. Carefully done and the water runs outside as does the condensate formed on the fins. A spray bottle with water and dishwashing liquid followed up by clean water in spray bottle does the job.

 

I didn't even take mine off wall to replace fan bearing.

[Dazinoz]

On 24/7/2017 at 10:32 AM, Gary A said:

The 9,000 BTU Samsung in our bedroom still works after more than ten years. I bought a Panasonic inverter 14,000 BTU for my computer room and the old Samsung cools better than the new Panasonic. Panasonic service checked out the new unit and said it is fine. The rooms are exactly the same size.

 

The 14,000 BTU unit in my Jomtien condo bedroom died after more than ten years. Other than being too big for the room, it was OK. It didn't run long enough to dehumidify the room before the compressor cycled off. I replaced it with a 10,200 BTU LG. (NO inverter). It works very well. I'm quite happy with it. I regret buying the Panasonic inverter.

 

The rooms at the house are both 18 square meters. My condo bedroom is 26 square meters.

As someone else mentioned its not just room size thats matters. Many other factors need to be taken into account. I have an AC sizing program that was written by an AC engineer for Australia.

 

Also what a lot of people don't know is that inverter models have a LOT of electronics. Electronics get hot especially if the outdoor unit is mounted in direct sun. The circuitry is smart enough to de-rate itself if the electronics gets too hot so the 14,000 unit may run with a lot less output if the electronics are hot. I recommend people should shade there inverter outdoor units if exposed to direct sun. There has to be sufficient room from the shading to let the hot air escape.

[Foozool]

Time to buy a new one. You can't expect to work like a new one after 12 years. 

[bandito]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 9:18 AM, madmax2 said:

Not my missus, it still works so its OK as far as she is concerned, its a LG and we have had problems with it of and on, I will go for a Samsung inverter, we installed 2 in

our living area about 2 years ago and they are very god and quick at cooling the living area

Was told by the representative we needed a 36 BTU unit  which would have cost 68K baht which they did not have in stock, plus another unit for the kitchen/ dining area or to close it of with a curtain

We put 2  18 BTU units in the lounge area which cost 58K baht, that's right 2 units cheaper than 1 larger unit, and they cool the whole living area, dining kitchen area without having a curtain installed

takes about 20 minutes to get the area down to 29C from 33C, gets rid of the humidity and makes the area very comfortable to be in

 

Inverters, be it air-cons, refrigerators or washing machines are no good for Thailand.

These things depend on a steady voltage and this being Thailand with her electricity black and brown outs and stoppages it just won't work.

I had an inverter air-con which broke down and total loss in about 3 years.

Repairs 2x before that and even the repairman told me that inverters were no good in Thailand.

Shifted the thing out for an LG air-con no inverter.

Had a window air-con unit before that which was used every night for 25 yrs and never a repair.

Finally broke down.

 

[madmax2]

12 hours ago, bberrythailand said:

 

 

You already had problem and keep buying ridiculous brands ?

 

It's not so difficult to remember that only 2 brands are worth paying ? Daikin and Mistubishi !

 

 

What rubbish, we only buy the better quality samsung products now and have done for 5 years

never any problems with samsung products and are completely happy with them including their inverter air conditioners, TV's and other household appliances and phones

Samsung do make the cheapest 2 door fridge freezer on the market, costs about 7K baht, they are built at a throw away price and people expect them to last as long as refrigerators that cost twice as much, what do people expect to get for 7K baht in a fridge, not much that's for sure IMHO 

[madmax2]

8 hours ago, Foozool said:

Time to buy a new one. You can't expect to work like a new one after 12 years. 

I agree with you, nothing we have ever bought from LG as lasted like these aircon's have

2 of their TV's only lasted about 18 months before we binned them because the cost of repairing them was to high, 3/4 of the price of new ones, one a old style and the other a 43 inch flat screen

A vacuum cleaner that the dust bag broke and cannot be replaced