Does anyone have experience with these mini splits?

[theother]

I see these all the time on ebay, looks like a few different people make effectively the same thing, all seem to have a toshiba compressor. Was wondering if anyone had one or had experience with them?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-TON-24-00...672648?pt=Air_Conditioner&hash=item35cde60d48

 

[El Jefe]

Hi I sure don't have a minisplit, but a quick glance tells me that it's got a 1yr parts warranty and 5 years on the compressor. Seems about right.

It's also only got a SEER 13 rating, which isn't very good. If you'll be running that bad boy for a few years you'll end up spending more on power than a more efficient model.

And you might get a better warranty from a name brand like Mitsubishi, for example. But I can totally sympathize with limited start up funds.

If it fits your budget and does the job for you, go for it!!

 

[the gnome]

get a mitsu, friedrich, or other top shelf mini split.
there's a good reason for the price differences.
I have a lot riding on my mitsu mini split, that's why i went with it.

if you had a bad accident and needed an ambulance to get you to the hospital to save your life and had the choice of a yugo or a BMW
which would you pick?

 

[unregistered190]

gnome.....This applies to everything I shop for. Have learned over the yeas it is better to pay more $ up front and be done with it, rather than repairing or replacing inferior things that do not last.

 

[bayarea925]

I would ask who's driving what car? If it was Jeff Gordon in the Yugo an Regis in the bmw I'd get in the Yugo.

I'm running 3 Pioneer units. 2 24k btu 1 18k btu soon to get another 24k btu. No problem so far. I'll see how they do thru the summer.

 

[the gnome]

gnome.....This applies to everything I shop for. Have learned over the yeas it is better to pay more $ up front and be done with it, rather than repairing or replacing inferior things that do not last.

agreed unreg'd190
unless i just couldn't afford it, then I would compromise.
although i intended to get the mitsu i looked at cheaper units and read all the reviews.
that what told me what i already knew,
I made the right descision.

over and over the problems for cheep cheep mini split reviews started sounding the same....
worked great for a months then...
it worked for 2 wks then it....
it was fine for almost 2 months.....
this is the 3rd time they've come out to fix it in in less than 2-1/2 months...
worked great until summer time....
the part they need to fix it has to special ordered from asia somewhere? and it takes 6 wks to get it!!

when you running a 2-3ton unit you'll probably have a $30,000 plus crop riding on your AC, think about that one.

actually the best option is to get 2 units and split the load,
in case 1 goes down the other is online and at least you'll have something going til you get the other one fixed.

 

[Asslover]

I live in the Sunshine state, where using an AC for indoor growing is almost mandatory. We're well versed down here on what brands can "take the heat"...
The compressor of a mini split is usually the last thing to go, thus having the longer warranty vs the parts. It's the CHEAP CHINESE ELECTRONICS in them that are the Achilles.
One good surge and there goes your outside pc board. Once, and only ONCE did i buy an off brand mini split (Amcor) and it lasted exactly 2 weeks before burning it's pc board. Lesson learned. Replaced it with a Mitsubishi and it's been running non stop 24/7/365 going on 4 years now...
Properly installed will a cheapy unit last as long as a top rated Mitsubishi? Maybe...Will a Mitsubishi outlast a cheapy unit? Properly installed, FUCK YES!
Btw, thats only a 13 seer unit. It's not an inverter model so it will cool the same way a window unit does, either full blast on or completely off. An inverter model runs almost constantly but varies the compressor speed depending on the cooling load. Which translates to steadier temps/humidity and a lower electric bill...

 

[Asslover]

Btw, didn't mean to come off as a snob. If all you can afford is a cheaper unit then that's all you can afford. That's what I was faced with and so i bought the cheaper unit. But if you have the $$$ then you're better off spending it on a more expensive but infinitely more reliable unit.

 

[the gnome]

I live in the Sunshine state, where using an AC for indoor growing is almost mandatory. We're well versed down here on what brands can "take the heat"...
The compressor of a mini split is usually the last thing to go, thus having the longer warranty vs the parts. It's the CHEAP CHINESE ELECTRONICS in them that are the Achilles.
One good surge and there goes your outside pc board. Once, and only ONCE did i buy an off brand mini split (Amcor) and it lasted exactly 2 weeks before burning it's pc board. Lesson learned. Replaced it with a Mitsubishi and it's been running non stop 24/7/365 going on 4 years now...
Properly installed will a cheapy unit last as long as a top rated Mitsubishi? Maybe...Will a Mitsubishi outlast a cheapy unit? Properly installed, FUCK YES!
Btw, thats only a 13 seer unit. It's not an inverter model so it will cool the same way a window unit does, either full blast on or completely off. An inverter model runs almost constantly but varies the compressor speed depending on the cooling load. Which translates to steadier temps/humidity and a lower electric bill...

not snobby at all and amen to that brother asslover
I'm too live in a state of sunshine and the heat is fixin to be on!

 

[theother]

Sorry been away, didn't look at that one close enough I guess, thought for sure it was an inverter compressor.

 

[theother]

I would ask who's driving what car? If it was Jeff Gordon in the Yugo an Regis in the bmw I'd get in the Yugo.

I'm running 3 Pioneer units. 2 24k btu 1 18k btu soon to get another 24k btu. No problem so far. I'll see how they do thru the summer.

Did you have any DOA components? How would you rate the outdoor noise level? I don't need acs very often, it's not a part of my regular program, but there are a couple of months a year where you can't get by without them. If they are bad ass, and make my life easier I may run them other times throughout year. I am going to look into if I can buy an outdoor unit separately in case something does fry. They are so cheap it's ridiculous. I knew a lot of people have to be running them.

My big concern is outdoor noise, I have heard tons of anecdotal evidence of them being quiet but I am afraid to drop a ton on a good straight Japanese one and find out it it's sketch for me to run the thing year round.

 

[Asslover]

For us down here it's not about the warranty work as much as having AC failure when it's 110 heat index and humid as a rain forest. When my Amcor failed it was May and 90 degrees outside. I lost a $12k crop. I still feel the sting in my ass.
As for quietness, they whisper. The compressor is silent and all you'll hear is the condenser fan. And that's only if it's running full load. With a properly sized inverter unit they hardly ever run at full load.
If all you can afford is the ones you linked then go for it. They're better than Amcor or Pridom or Shinco or YMGI. They shouldn't give you any problems if installed correctly. PC boards can be gotten. Have a surge protector installed for further protection of the sensitive electronics. The Mitsubishi compressor is quieter than the Toshiba...

 

[theother]

For us down here it's not about the warranty work as much as having AC failure when it's 110 heat index and humid as a rain forest. When my Amcor failed it was May and 90 degrees outside. I lost a $12k crop. I still feel the sting in my ass.
As for quietness, they whisper. The compressor is silent and all you'll hear is the condenser fan. And that's only if it's running full load. With a properly sized inverter unit they hardly ever run at full load.
If all you can afford is the ones you linked then go for it. They shouldn't give you any problems if installed correctly. Have a surge protector installed for further protection of the sensitive electronics. The Mitsubishi compressor is quieter than the Toshiba...

Should I use a surge protecting breaker? I feel like I have seen something like that, not a gfi breaker but something else like that for the outdoor compressor? I will get a good surge protector for the indoor unit as well.

I totally understand where you guys are coming from, and I am normally in favor of buy it right buy it once. I am thinking in this though I am gonna have to go the cheap route. Partly a question of money, and partly that I know for a fact I can make it through a summer with portables if something went wrong. And that is really just a couple months of the year here.

As far as the noise, I am really anxious to see how loud it is, I have a really good thing going here and a blatantly loud ac running would be a problem. I do believe hey will be awesome, I have had enough intelligent people tell me that.

I just gotta figure out how low of a temp they can run in, in case I decide to run them year round.

 

[Asslover]

As far as the surge protection breaker, you should pm icmag's resident electrician rives. He'll be able to tell you exactly which one to get.
Trust me when i tell you that the outside units are EXTREMELY quite. My neighbors are 10' away fro my two mini splits and they can't hear anything. Believe me, stealthness is important down here in Florida. I believe gnome can vouch for how quite they are.
As for low temp cooling, look at the specs before you purchase. Generally speaking a heat pump model can cool down to near freezing. My Mitsu will cool down to 14 degrees outside temps. Some models require a "low ambient cooling kit".

 

[30years]

the gnome hit it on the head. have a redundant system in place in case the primary cooler fails. if you are running minis it is due to heat load. if one mini goes out what do you do? my installer had me get two units that work together on the same temp controller. each can handle the load on its own. having the extra unit in place in case of failure is mandatory if your in sealed rooms where it gets hot. costs more but insurance always does.

 

[theother]

As far as the surge protection breaker, you should pm icmag's resident electrician rives. He'll be able to tell you exactly which one to get.
Trust me when i tell you that the outside units are EXTREMELY quite. My neighbors are 10' away fro my two mini splits and they can't hear anything. Believe me, stealthness is important down here in Florida. I believe gnome can vouch for how quite they are.
As for low temp cooling, look at the specs before you purchase. Generally speaking a heat pump model can cool down to near freezing. My Mitsu will cool down to 14 degrees outside temps. Some models require a "low ambient cooling kit".

I think I am going to get one of the crap Chinese ones, but with a Mitsubishi compressor. Talked to a couple people that sell them and they seem to be pretty solid. A new PC board is like $80 and a whole new outdoor unit is like 650. If I fall in love with the thing and can't live without it, I may grab a backup outdoor unit or a straight redundant backup unit altogether. The cool thing is here if it does break everything is not dead (air cooled lamps etc)

I know it's not preferable but I am gonna install the thing myself. I have a friend who has good pumps 2 stage blah blah, and I am going to order a guage set. The way I see it with a pre flared lineset sunlit that is charged for the right sized lineset it's not that hard. Seems to me that if I l a full vacuum on it and it holds pressure for a couple hours it is good. It is such a small space that if it was leaking it would show it fast. Again I do not "know" this for a fact, it just seems logical to me. If anyone knows about any little intricacies of the install, definitely let me know. I would always do the electrical myself anyway as that service charge is huge, so it seems to me, having a tech do the connections on the lineset and pulling the vacuum is not really gonna make my life that much easier. If it was a question of just paying one fee and everything is installed I would go for it, biut since I have to do 90% of it anyway! might as well do it all.

 

[the gnome]

theother, go with what you can do by all means.
there's the ideal situations and then what we can actually do.
and it sounds like you have a solid plan so far.

oh, and on being quiet.
before i ever purchased my unit I went to the doc's office and noticed a really small condeser unit on the side of the building,
thinking it maybe a mini split i went to take a look,
i didn't hear anything as i walked up to it and thought it was running until I saw the fan blade spinning at 5 ft from the unit!!
of course there was a lot of back ground noise coming from cars on the main drag but asslover has it right,
about 10ft and it doesn't sound anything like a reg condenser

 

[theother]

theother, go with what you can do by all means.
there's the ideal situations and then what we can actually do.
and it sounds like you have a solid plan so far.

oh, and on being quiet.
before i ever purchased my unit I went to the doc's office and noticed a really small condeser unit on the side of the building,
thinking it maybe a mini split i went to take a look,
i didn't hear anything as i walked up to it and thought it was running until I saw the fan blade spinning at 5 ft from the unit!!
of course there was a lot of back ground noise coming from cars on the main drag but asslover has it right,
about 10ft and it doesn't sound anything like a reg condenser

Im really into the quiet thing. I am also stoked on the low end draw on these, its like under 500 watts. I know this situation does not require much cooling for most of the year, so I really like the idea of just purring along most of the time. Balancing everything air cooled is not bad, but it definitely has to be something you plan for. It would be sick to just set it and forget it. I do feel good about stepping up to the mitsu compressor as I have heard nothing but good things about them.

I hope the install goes smooth, it probably won't, but the impression I have so far is that it is possible. Its probably going to suck getting everything where it needs to go, but honestly paying skilled labor to install all of that is just out of the question (for me at least).

 

[Asslover]

Whatever unit you buy will come with install instructions. Surprisingly, they don't tell you the "technical" way of installing it (Nitrogen, using a micron gauge, etc) but rather with a r410 manifold gauge set and a vac pump. So a complete diy install is most certainly doable as long as you follow the instructions.

 

[RedReign]

I've been using 4 AmeriCaire mini splits for 3.5 years non-stop, other than replacing a contactor on one of them($20 part, 10 min to install), they've been great.

Just added 3 Soleus Air mini splits 6 months ago, so far they've been great.

I installed them and had an AC contractor do the start up.

They are inexpensive China AC's, but they have a quality look to them, and obviously perform well. I could have bought any brand I wanted, $$$$ wasn't an issue when I built the rooms they are cooling.