Inverter Type MiniSplit heating & air conditioning

Hello to all of the D.I.Y. Rocket Surgeons out there. I have read many a thread on this site where one guy says he wants to turbocharge his grow room AC system and he is pretty sure he knows what to do but just wants to bounce his idea off another
Stone head to get the okey doke , due diligence complete, time to proceed with confidence. If it burns the house down I can blame that guy confirmation.
If you burn your house to the ground with you in it, it's your fault , you are a dumb ass. A dead dumb ass.

Please don't start taking apart high voltage sophisticated microprocessor controlled , fuzzy logic talking , Oriental cooling device to "Improve it" . Don't take the advice of some stoner telling you to rip out this and put in a relay and bypass that thing and then it should work better Consultant.

Yes some people do know some things about air conditioners but There are very few that know enough to be giving free advice and telling you to modify the electrical control system.
Think about it , inside your house you have an appliance that uses high voltage, it's almost always running, sometimes there is water around it and in it. Lots of hours go by without anyone checking up on it. That's scary enough , add in the fact that some guy told you it's okay to rip out the electrical and add in this or that and put it all back together and put High voltage to it.
Now your system had been tweaked .
Who knows what could happen now?
I will tell you who knows, I know. That tweaked AC system is capable of burning down your house with you and your family in it.
Please don't give advice to people that could result in them burning to death.
Please don't take advice from people and act on it then burn while you sleep.

I have been in the hvac business for over 49 years. I know a great deal about mini split systems. I have never burned down anyone's house yet, by accident.

I would be happy to help any of you with questions you may have regarding any heating and cooling issues.
I am not trying to come up , I'm just trying to
Prevent forest fires.

I am a certified Expert on JustAnswer.com
I am NATE certified
I hold a E.P.A. Universal Refrigersnt license
I was a Refrigeration Contractor for 20 yrs
I am a private pilot,
And I enjoy getting toasted on my porch watching the clouds float by.

Post your AC questions here and I will answer them here .

I'm Jeff P. and I'm a pot smoker.

And don't burn the house down!

high voltage? no offense but i thought you knew what you where talking about....

bottletoke said:

high voltage? no offense but i thought you knew what you where talking about....

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Care to elaborate?

HvacMiniSplitPro said:

Hello to all of the D.I.Y. Rocket Surgeons out there. I have read many a thread on this site where one guy says he wants to turbocharge his grow room AC system and he is pretty sure he knows what to do but just wants to bounce his idea off another

Click to expand...

Thanks for the post Jeff, I am looking for some help.

I just ordered a Pioneer, Seer 22, 1 ton mini split. My flower room is 14x14 and I use strictly LED. I use CO2 and currently keep the temps about 85-86. I have a temporary room air conditioner installed until the mini split arrives and gets hooked up. The current unit only runs 10 minutes an hour and is rated at 12K btu, but is terribly inefficient. The new unit should be a lot more efficient and I'll lower the room temp to 82. Without the temp AC installed, the room can hit 90.

I have never done an install but am pretty handy. I have a sub panel already installed with a 30 amp 220V breaker for the mini split. The unit comes precharged with 16' of line. I will have to drill the access hole in the basement concrete wall. The instructions calls for a 2.5" hole. I will add a cement pad for the outside unit to sit on and will install a disconnect at the unit.

Do you have any tips or areas of concern that I should watch for? If you need any more info, just let me know. I just want a safe reliable system. Thanks!

Run 12awg wire rated for 90deg. You could use 14 and be fine but with the comp's inrush and the rooms temp your borderline with the rating 14awg is good for, going to the next size is the way to go.
I am a multi ticketed Tradesman and an Electrician c of q is is one of them.

Merkin Donor said:

Care to elaborate?

Click to expand...

High voltage = 1000vac and over, there is no high voltage in a residential home. Max in a home is 220/240 and some cases 208.

I don't think Pioneer's come with quick connect pre-charged linesets (the system is pre-charged for 16' of lineset) so you will need a torque wrench, vacuum pump, micron gauge. There is a method of tightening the flares without a torque wrench that some manufacturers provide (I'll see if I can find it).

bottletoke said:

High voltage = 1000vac and over, there is no high voltage in a residential home. Max in a home is 220/240 and some cases 208.

Click to expand...

I find it funny that you get snarky on the original poster for using "high voltage" instead of "dangerous voltage" then tell Maine_Coast that he "could" run 14awg on the 30amp breaker he got for the mini-split.

Merkin Donor said:

I don't think Pioneer's come with quick connect pre-charged linesets (the system is pre-charged for 16' of lineset) so you will need a torque wrench, vacuum pump, micron gauge. There is a method of tightening the flares without a torque wrench that some manufacturers provide (I'll see if I can find it).

Click to expand...

Really? They are actually selling these to people with no refrigeration background and telling them they can install it them selves? It's not brain surgery but I know at least 4 friends that think they could do this but would actually leak the entire charge to the atmosphere lol. I like seeing the system hold vacuum prior to being charged, last think u want is your system shutting down at a crucial moment.

Merkin Donor said:

I find it funny that you get snarky on the original poster for using "high voltage" instead of "dangerous voltage" then tell Maine_Coast that he "could" run 14awg on the 30amp breaker he got for the mini-split.

Click to expand...

He said he has a 30a subpanel, obviously he's running a 15 amp breaker feeding it. Call it whatever u want, snark isn't what I was going after....."no offense"

Sorry your right, 30a=10g

Originally I read subpanel, 1tonne shouldn't need 30a.

bottletoke said:

Really? They are actually selling these to people with no refrigeration background and telling them they can install it them selves? It's not brain surgery but I know at least 4 friends that think they could do this but would actually leak the entire charge to the atmosphere lol. I like seeing the system hold vacuum prior to being charged, last think u want is your system shutting down at a crucial moment.

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Sadly you can buy them right off the Internet and yes most likely they will leak the entire charge within 6 months.

bottletoke said:

Originally I read subpanel, 1tonne shouldn't need 30a.

Click to expand...

Multizone will go 30 amp but yeah 12k btu higher efficiency is usually 15

Merkin Donor said:

Multizone will go 30 amp but yeah 12k btu higher efficiency is usually 15

Click to expand...

Yes, a typo on my part, it is a 15 amp breaker.

From the comments so far, it seems it would be best for me to do all the mounting and electrical connections and then have a local HVAC tech come out and do the refrigerant connections. I'm thinking at most a couple of hours, but well worth the cost in the long run. Thanks for all the feedback!

Hi as an A/C engineer here in the UK first flare nuts I personally never use a torquey just 2 shifters & tighten until you're using about 100% strength for 5/8 nuts 80% for 1/2 size & only about 50% for 1/4 they're a bit fragile and can split.

Secondly it's possible without a vacuum pump/torr gauge by doing a purge.

Open liquid line Valve (on outdoor unit) the smaller of the 2 pipes first!!!!!
whilst leaving suction valve closed, but suction flare nut slightly loose. This chases the air out of the pipework with the refrigerant. But as air/moisture is not good for a unit long term it's recommended to evacuate till negative 8torr.

Ps on the outdoor unit you will find a plaque with the information: model number, serial number, also the maximum running current! Where you can size your braker from there. A small domestic inverter split here in UK is usually on a 20amp braker. If that's any reference.

Pps for outdoor unit position/location it's role in a fridge cycle it's heat rejection/Condensing a vapour back to a liquid so a North wall is best. And will let it run more cost efficient and use less electricity. Just be sure give the fan a few metres room for it to reject the warm air whilst running on cooling inside.

Oh and a bit of washing up liquid on your fingertip & run it around the flare nuts (where male & female part) meets & watch for bubbles... There's only 4 leak locations the 4 flare nuts.

Obviously this is after the pre-charged refrigerant is released from compressor/small internal accumulator.

But you can easily close the outdoor valves, I suggested you purge the system from & this minimises refrigerant loss. Only what's left in pipe run is lost.

Sure that works temporarily but it's not good advice. We need to not be "those people", do it right or don't bother. We already get the blame for using too much electricity, polluting water supplies and a host of other things. A vacuum pump and micron gauge can be had for around $300 US. A smart person can watch youtube and learn how to do it right. 5 pounds of leaked refrigerant X's every person who does it half assed is not good.

I don't know how it is in the states but in Canada if knowingly leak refrigerant into the atmosphere (purging) it's a huge fine.

HvacMiniSplitPro said:

Hello to all of the D.I.Y. Rocket Surgeons out there. I have read many a thread on this site where one guy says he wants to turbocharge his grow room AC system and he is pretty sure he knows what to do but just wants to bounce his idea off another
Stone head to get the okey doke , due diligence complete, time to proceed with confidence. If it burns the house down I can blame that guy confirmation.
If you burn your house to the ground with you in it, it's your fault , you are a dumb ass. A dead dumb ass.

Please don't start taking apart high voltage sophisticated microprocessor controlled , fuzzy logic talking , Oriental cooling device to "Improve it" . Don't take the advice of some stoner telling you to rip out this and put in a relay and bypass that thing and then it should work better Consultant.

Yes some people do know some things about air conditioners but There are very few that know enough to be giving free advice and telling you to modify the electrical control system.
Think about it , inside your house you have an appliance that uses high voltage, it's almost always running, sometimes there is water around it and in it. Lots of hours go by without anyone checking up on it. That's scary enough , add in the fact that some guy told you it's okay to rip out the electrical and add in this or that and put it all back together and put High voltage to it.
Now your system had been tweaked .
Who knows what could happen now?
I will tell you who knows, I know. That tweaked AC system is capable of burning down your house with you and your family in it.
Please don't give advice to people that could result in them burning to death.
Please don't take advice from people and act on it then burn while you sleep.

I have been in the hvac business for over 49 years. I know a great deal about mini split systems. I have never burned down anyone's house yet, by accident.

I would be happy to help any of you with questions you may have regarding any heating and cooling issues.
I am not trying to come up , I'm just trying to
Prevent forest fires.

I am a certified Expert on JustAnswer.com
I am NATE certified
I hold a E.P.A. Universal Refrigersnt license
I was a Refrigeration Contractor for 20 yrs
I am a private pilot,
And I enjoy getting toasted on my porch watching the clouds float by.

Post your AC questions here and I will answer them here .

I'm Jeff P. and I'm a pot smoker.

And don't burn the house down!

Click to expand...

What are you thoughts on multi zone mini splits with inverters for indoor grow rooms?