Need advice on portable 3 ton ac unit for a ten light garage grow

ebcrew said:

Hire a licensed contractor. It will be worth it for warranty purposes and if anything goes wrong and you need a technician to come out in an emergency.

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You don’t need a licensed contractor to install the mr cool mini split if you buy the diy version. The line sets are pre sealed with 410a inside and it doesn’t release until you tighten the brass fittings on the ends of the line sets. No vacuum pump, no nitrogen, no gauges. I have a couple diy units myself and have had better luck with those than the one I did hire a contractor to install.
If you don’t buy a diy unit you have to have the tech install it for warranty purposes, but make sure to find a tech that installs these units(mini splits) regularly,they are a bit different than a regular home system and my one unit never did work right after a tech that claimed to know what he was doing installed it.

Apalchen said:

You don’t need a licensed contractor to install the mr cool mini split if you buy the diy version. The line sets are pre sealed with 410a inside and it doesn’t release until you tighten the brass fittings on the ends of the line sets. No vacuum pump, no nitrogen, no gauges. I have a couple diy units myself and have had better luck with those than the one I did hire a contractor to install.
If you don’t buy a diy unit you have to have the tech install it for warranty purposes, but make sure to find a tech that installs these units(mini splits) regularly,they are a bit different than a regular home system and my one unit never did work right after a tech that claimed to know what he was doing installed it.

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Damn sorry that happened to you, there are a lot of hacks out there. I don't know anyone in the HVAC community that would use a Mr. Cool. But sure you could do it yourself. Personal preference, id go with a Mitsubishi.

Appreciate the advice from both you guys. I did go with the diy and I'm putting this task on my buddy who owns the house, he's a lot more handy than I am. I'll see if he thinks we can handle it once it arrives.

ebcrew said:

Damn sorry that happened to you, there are a lot of hacks out there. I don't know anyone in the HVAC community that would use a Mr. Cool. But sure you could do it yourself. Personal preference, id go with a Mitsubishi.

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I spent the money the first time and got a Daikin unit, I now use the mr cool or other diy units because I’ve had a terrible time finding hvac guys that are any good. And the daikin never did work right and the warranty isn’t much good if your hvac guy is a hack and doesn’t know what he is doing and that’s causing the problem not the actual unit.

I would love to buy all Mitsubishi units and have them installed by someone else( I hate doing handy work) but the quote I got for that was 18.5k for just my flower rooms. And that’s we with me running the electrical. For my size rooms I’d rather get rid of mini splits altogether and have ducts. Even with a lot of fans the distribution of air is never good enough. But I’ve put so much money into my rooms already my wife gonna kill me if I don’t get her a new kitchen and a lot of other stuff before I buy an all new ac system.

iamcolin said:

Appreciate the advice from both you guys. I did go with the diy and I'm putting this task on my buddy who owns the house, he's a lot more handy than I am. I'll see if he thinks we can handle it once it arrives.

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If can run electrical your good to go, the only other hard part is running the line set without kinking the hose. Make sure not to roll off any excess line set just what you need, it doesn’t like to roll back up very well. Don’t try to make any really sharp turns with it either. I did buy some crimp on fittings to use on the ends of the communication wire that connect the inside to outside unit. Prob not needed but made it easier to get that wire hooked in the small terminals on the outside unit.