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What Mini-Split did you use, and Why?

I watched it last night.

Don't believe everything you hear or see. Many factors play into this such as the refrigerant used, delta T, how efficiency is being measured and the heat exchangers. If you check out Heat Geek's videos, you will he commonly gets systems above COP of 4 and higher.

 
Ugh. I just pulled the trigger yesterday on the 18k floor model. So there is no indication of set temp or room temp the unit is reading?
Use a wi fi app. If your unit doesn't have wi fi, then add a universal controller. I added one to my Pioneer floor mount, $80 from Pioneer but Amazon and Walmart online show the unit for about $30. You will need a proper voltage AC adapter. The small panel will show room temp (which isn't accurate) and you can control the unit on the touch screen or thru the app.

My Senville came with a USB wi fi adapter, it gets plugged into the inside head control panel. It uses the Alexa app and just plain sucks. I will be adding a universal controller to it that will get me away from the Alexa app. The room temp displayed for this unit is not accurate either. I know about what the difference is and adjust accordingly.
 
Ugh. I just pulled the trigger yesterday on the 18k floor model. So there is no indication of set temp or room temp the unit is reading?
No, not without this thermostat that I posted above, though there is that xye block right next to the control wire connections that nobody seems to know wtf that is (the thermostat they're sending does not connect to this block, but instead connects straight to the mother board).
 
Senville tech rep answer to my question... why is it recommended for mini split compressors to be protected from rain & sun when central hvac units no not recommend this...

"Even though heavy rains cannot damage your AC unit, the winds accompanied by the same rain can leave dirt, leaves, twigs, and other debris to damage the condenser fan grille. Even objects falling on your unit, such as tree branches, from the storm can cause damage.
The units are all made from durable materials, however long term damage could be a risk."
 
Senville was what my research led me to. $1,300 for this unit + $50 tax + $150 for hvac guy (now they're warrantied 10/comp 5 all parts) $30 to pour pad + $15 for the breaker + $15 for concrete bolts & masonry bit and the wire was stolen from the central air unit downstairs.
This is what they're sending me.
how'd you get an HVAC guy to come do that?
I've emailed like 20 of them in my area non respond, I guess I'll start calling them lmao
I want to wire it, mount it etc all myself and just have them vacuum & charge the unit yea? that seems like all senville wants

Senville tech rep answer to my question... why is it recommended for mini split compressors to be protected from rain & sun when central hvac units no not recommend this...

"Even though heavy rains cannot damage your AC unit, the winds accompanied by the same rain can leave dirt, leaves, twigs, and other debris to damage the condenser fan grille. Even objects falling on your unit, such as tree branches, from the storm can cause damage.
The units are all made from durable materials, however long term damage could be a risk."
yea I think I'll put a little metal roof over mine, the cost for that is like $20 so whatever
Since the fans don't blow directly up like big units do, it doesn't matter
 
how'd you get an HVAC guy to come do that?
I've emailed like 20 of them in my area non respond, I guess I'll start calling them lmao
I want to wire it, mount it etc all myself and just have them vacuum & charge the unit yea? that seems like all senville wants


yea I think I'll put a little metal roof over mine, the cost for that is like $20 so whatever
Since the fans don't blow directly up like big units do, it doesn't matter
The hvac tech was once a co-worker of my neighbor who is basically and electrician and the guy, who with my help, who did the entire ac side of my hybrid solar inverter, transfer switch, etc. I would call them for sure.
They are "verbally" cool with us doing everything and I had actually found that written in their literature somewhere but I cannot find it now for some reason. The warranty reads "pro install + proof". Proof? They've got all the tech's info on the warranty cert. and more "proof" are the receipts he hand wrote for what he did.
 
I replied to this thread back when it started. I have two mini splits, a 8 year old Pioneer 24k and a 7 year old Senville 12k. They look the same and appear to have come from the same factory. The Senville however has been trouble free while the Pioneer is now offline and waiting for a HVAC technician for the second time. The first repair was a defective temperature sensor in the outside unit. This time while living with an unhappy and sweaty wife in 90°+ temperatures, exhibits the symptoms of a stuck or defective reverse valve. I checked everything I can and it looks like the R410 will have to be pumped out to either repair or scrap it. I have a new 24k Senville Aura high Seer unit in the Amazon cart, waiting for me to pull the trigger. Another gripe is while the Senville plays nice with the iPhone app, the Pioneer constantly puts up a fight. The latency is terrible and once I make a change and it not only takes forever to execute, but much of the time it will switch back to the previous setting. My only incentive to seek a repair at this time is to buy some time until I can replace it with a new Senville because I have too many projects in cue for the summer.
 
Also if you are doing your own buy the hvac torque wrench metric set. Its a must have to get it right for line sets.
 
The hvac tech was once a co-worker of my neighbor who is basically and electrician and the guy, who with my help, who did the entire ac side of my hybrid solar inverter, transfer switch, etc. I would call them for sure.
They are "verbally" cool with us doing everything and I had actually found that written in their literature somewhere but I cannot find it now for some reason. The warranty reads "pro install + proof". Proof? They've got all the tech's info on the warranty cert. and more "proof" are the receipts he hand wrote for what he did.
Oh I don't see that, they have a warranty slip they want the guy to sign that he vacuumed the lines and released the dragon. Also want his HVAC license number and that's it
*Pressure test and Evacuation of the line sets must be handled by a licensed
HVAC professional**

I replied to this thread back when it started. I have two mini splits, a 8 year old Pioneer 24k and a 7 year old Senville 12k. They look the same and appear to have come from the same factory. The Senville however has been trouble free while the Pioneer is now offline and waiting for a HVAC technician for the second time. The first repair was a defective temperature sensor in the outside unit. This time while living with an unhappy and sweaty wife in 90°+ temperatures, exhibits the symptoms of a stuck or defective reverse valve. I checked everything I can and it looks like the R410 will have to be pumped out to either repair or scrap it. I have a new 24k Senville Aura high Seer unit in the Amazon cart, waiting for me to pull the trigger. Another gripe is while the Senville plays nice with the iPhone app, the Pioneer constantly puts up a fight. The latency is terrible and once I make a change and it not only takes forever to execute, but much of the time it will switch back to the previous setting. My only incentive to seek a repair at this time is to buy some time until I can replace it with a new Senville because I have too many projects in cue for the summer.
smaller units are more efficient, get 2x 12k units to replace the 24k? at least you won't die of heat if 1 goes out lol
 
I replied to this thread back when it started. I have two mini splits, a 8 year old Pioneer 24k and a 7 year old Senville 12k. They look the same and appear to have come from the same factory. The Senville however has been trouble free while the Pioneer is now offline and waiting for a HVAC technician for the second time. The first repair was a defective temperature sensor in the outside unit. This time while living with an unhappy and sweaty wife in 90°+ temperatures, exhibits the symptoms of a stuck or defective reverse valve. I checked everything I can and it looks like the R410 will have to be pumped out to either repair or scrap it. I have a new 24k Senville Aura high Seer unit in the Amazon cart, waiting for me to pull the trigger. Another gripe is while the Senville plays nice with the iPhone app, the Pioneer constantly puts up a fight. The latency is terrible and once I make a change and it not only takes forever to execute, but much of the time it will switch back to the previous setting. My only incentive to seek a repair at this time is to buy some time until I can replace it with a new Senville because I have too many projects in cue for the summer.
Before you pull the trigger on that 24k at amazon, you might wanna check out the floor/ceiling mount unit. They only sell it on senville's site and it's the only one on sale ($1,300 before tax/free ship). Why, I have no idea, but it's an aura series unit, so -22f in winter, 10 yr comp/5 yr parts warr and it's rated for 750-1250 sq ft as opposed to 700-1100 (or 1000, depending on where you research). I'm diggin it so far but as i wrote above, no temp showing up on the lcd, but you could call and bitch about that later and they'll probably send you a thermostat. :cool:
IMG_20240426_124447756.jpg
 
Oh I don't see that, they have a warranty slip they want the guy to sign that he vacuumed the lines and released the dragon. Also want his HVAC license number and that's it
No signature. You can fill it out, but they want the tech's license #, name & company name.
 
Before you pull the trigger on that 24k at amazon, you might wanna check out the floor/ceiling mount unit. They only sell it on senville's site and it's the only one on sale ($1,300 before tax/free ship). Why, I have no idea, but it's an aura series unit, so -22f in winter, 10 yr comp/5 yr parts warr and it's rated for 750-1250 sq ft as opposed to 700-1100 (or 1000, depending on where you research). I'm diggin it so far but as i wrote above, no temp showing up on the lcd, but you could call and bitch about that later and they'll probably send you a thermostat. :cool:
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Mine should be arriving Monday. Assume this thing has some WiFi capability like my Aura 24k, although Alexa driven. I also have a sensibo device I run with it. Kinda pissed it has no LCD
 
No signature. You can fill it out, but they want the tech's license #, name & company name.
Yea I mean sign as in.. the definition of sign
sign:
write one's name on (a letter, card, or similar item) to identify oneself as the writer or sender.
he wrote his name on it (signed it) and want his license number as I said
sign doesn't mean "put name in cursive" lmao
 
I think this screen will conceal the unit and block it from strong winds. It ties in with the porch skirt. Those concrete blocks are just temp. holding down landscape fabric. I'll paint the treated wood in a few months when it's dried and I added foam insulation to cover the valves then wrapped the new foam and the manufacturers foam with foil tape on both mini's as Supervstech suggested, protecting the foam from uv light. Now he didn't suggest foil tape, but it seemed like a good idea.
 

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I think this screen will conceal the unit and block it from strong winds. It ties in with the porch skirt. Those concrete blocks are just temp. holding down landscape fabric. I'll paint the treated wood in a few months when it's dried and I added foam insulation to cover the valves then wrapped the new foam and the manufacturers foam with foil tape on both mini's as Supervstech suggested, protecting the foam from uv light. Now he didn't suggest foil tape, but it seemed like a good idea.
Make sure you leave enough clearance in front and back of the unit, you don’t want to recycle air through it. Hurts efficiency.
 
Iirc, (edit) the manual calls for 12" back & side, 24" on mechanical side and 2 or 3' in front. Mine is 12" side & back & 3 1/2' in front.
Thanks for the advice.
 
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Got an early warning about this floor/ceiling unit. It is having issues with turning on the heat. Brand new.
I just take the chill off a bit in the morning. Rather than set the timer on the remote, I just turn it on.
Sometimes it will turn on at 76 or 77*. Sometimes, it will just sit there in defrost mode with absolutely nothing to defrost. When this happens, I turn the heat up a bit and then it decides to start pushing out heat.
Today, today is not a good day for it. It doesn't want to heat regardless of what I do.
When I first noticed this oddity, a tech at senville said to shut the breaker off for 30 min. He said sometimes it might need to be reset when it's new. I did that and that did nothing.
Lately, the tech at senville is just asking random questions that don't make a whole lot of sense.
If I figure out the issue with this thing, I'll post it. If I don't, it's going back.
If anyone reading this has had this issue with whatever brand mini they have, please drop some knowledge on this thread.
 
Lately, the tech at senville is just asking random questions that don't make a whole lot of sense.
Unfortunately "don't make a whole lot of sense" doesn't mean anything we don't really have any idea on your technical level. Save the questions next time.
If it keeps having issues try getting it replaced with the same unit maybe
 
Got an early warning about this floor/ceiling unit. It is having issues with turning on the heat. Brand new.
I just take the chill off a bit in the morning. Rather than set the timer on the remote, I just turn it on.
Sometimes it will turn on at 76 or 77*. Sometimes, it will just sit there in defrost mode with absolutely nothing to defrost. When this happens, I turn the heat up a bit and then it decides to start pushing out heat.
Today, today is not a good day for it. It doesn't want to heat regardless of what I do.
When I first noticed this oddity, a tech at senville said to shut the breaker off for 30 min. He said sometimes it might need to be reset when it's new. I did that and that did nothing.
Lately, the tech at senville is just asking random questions that don't make a whole lot of sense.
If I figure out the issue with this thing, I'll post it. If I don't, it's going back.
If anyone reading this has had this issue with whatever brand mini they have, please drop some knowledge on this thread.
Was this morning colder than previous mornings?
 
Unfortunately "don't make a whole lot of sense" doesn't mean anything we don't really have any idea on your technical level. Save the questions next time.
If it keeps having issues try getting it replaced with the same unit maybe
He's asking things like what the tech who did the lines for me got while pressure testing, like the lines weren't done correctly, except that the heat works very well, as does the cooling, it's just that the heat doesn't want to come on when I start the f'n thing. Well, sometimes it does.

Then I tell him this and suggest that perhaps it's a sensor as everything works just fine save the whole "heat on now or someday soon" issue. Next, senville says give me your address and model numbers and all that bs and we'll send you some parts. I told him it's all on the f'n warranty card that I filled out and that y'all acknowledge receiving via email, so senville then comes back at me with "do you have a disconnect, what size are your wires, is there a gfi connected", etc and I wrote that you're jumping all over the place with your questions and please have someone that knows what they're talking about get back to me. Haven't heard back yet. Been 2 days. I'll call'em tomorrow.

It's a case of deja-vu as I went through this with them over my first aura unit and the follow me feature not being worth a shit. They sent a mother board for that. Waste of my time.

I do like these units but they are corky and frustrating. Some in their tech dept are inept and confused.
 

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