Installing an R32 Daikin Cora Ductless Mini Split Air Conditioner

[@robalexander7348]

Well done Mitch, another neat and tidy Daikin installation. It's nice to see that MARAC seal of approval at the finish 😉 👍

[@maracservices]

@@robalexander7348 thanks mate appreciate it!

[@JesseDoesHVAC]

I found a 1/2” Vacmaxx hose kit online recently sub $500 with core removal tool etc Ive been using the CPS digital micrometer for years. Never had an issue so long as it is all maintained. I go thru seals once a month to make sure i get a tight vac. Love the

[@craigladewig3158]

Used to do square stitched holes like you all the time, pilot hole through and then stich from both sides if wall had cavity. Used a bolster chisel to chop hole out. Hope client realizes the condensate when the unit is in heating is going run on the pathway

[@maracservices]

Yeah they do mate, that’s why I suggested putting it up high on brackets but the builder wanted to just stick it where the plans said to cover his own arse. I also think that this location kind of blocks the walkway personally.

[@stevenmunslow125]

Hey Mitch, Great to see someone going the extra mile. On the very few occasions that I have a tradie at my place, they always leave grubby marks every where, so love the spray and wipe idea. Yer and I did comment on a pervious video that it would be great to see how you connect the head unit condensation line to an internal sink drain. Like when you run it through an internal house wall to a laundry or vanity. Cheers!

[@maracservices]

I hate leaving fingerprints on a brand new install. It’s like buying a new car with finger prints on it. I’ll make a video in the future about the drainage mate. Cheers

[@TassieDIY]

Van tour bro 😎 Need to see another hvac specialist van setup 🤙🤙

[@maracservices]

I’ll do one soon mate. Cheers 🤙🏼

[@nedt]

Great videos mate, good to see how other trades work, I’m a railway signals electrician. Question, do you rate the Dakin Alira X? Any issues, they look very efficient a slight step up from the Cora models. Cheers mate.

[@maracservices]

@@nedt thanks mate. I appreciate it. Daikin Alira is just a model that has more features. For example, it has wifi and an Air Purifier built in. The cora is also efficient, it just doesn’t have those added features. I put ducted in my house but if I went a split system then I would go Alira X personally.

[@g_regulator1695]

Good install, high quality electrical terminations but if you want to save time do your pipework and trunking first and while your 'pressure testing' or evacuating do your electrical.

[@anthonybowman6410]

Very nice, how long does an install like this take

[@maracservices]

@@anthonybowman6410 I just allow a day to go do it by myself. Thanks

[@bradgoodale3249]

Mitch dont you like the pre made pipe ducting we always used hat section until all the pre made plastic ducting came out .

[@maracservices]

@@bradgoodale3249 I’ve always used the metal stuff so I’m used to it. I’m sure the plastic stuff is easier to use to maybe I should start using it but for some reason I like the metal stuff because it matches down pipes on houses

[@neoando]

Hey Mitch you got to try Inovac trunking from Airfrige is the quickest and easiest to install. I used it once and it was so fast i had to stop using the colorbond. One colour fits all no running around for colours. Ezy duct from arrow sales is ok (Shire boy?), heatcraft kirby has a good plastic trunking, elbows, wall caps, joiners etc also. Keep up the cool vids dude 👍

[@maracservices]

Thanks mate. I personally like the look of metal but sometimes I use the plastic stuff. When I do I have always used Actrol but I’m sure there is way better stuff out there. I do admit that not having to do the corners etc would be amazing and do quick. I’ll have to try that type you mentioned!

[@MattFogarty95]

Loved the video brother ! Where did you get the little t piece valve connected to your micron gauge ?

[@maracservices]

Thanks mate, I tried buying it off fieldpiece directly but their website is to hard to use for my liking haha so I just bought it off an online store called cool tools hvacr which sells fieldpiece. It’s a screader pin remover with a tap on the side which is perfect for vacuuming in my opinion.

[@MattFogarty95]

@@maracservices legend so handy

[@orlandicru]

Great video mate, have you got any other items you’re thinking of adding to the online shop in the future?

[@maracservices]

I’ll definitely add more things but only stuff I genuinely believe in and personally use. Not gimmicky stuff. But yeah I do have some plans moving forward mate. Cheers

[@joogjoog6229]

Do you use a torque wrench at all to tighten your flares? Love your vids mate keep em comin! 😅

[@maracservices]

@@joogjoog6229 thanks mate appreciate it. I use a torque wrench when working on my car or bike but I’ll be honest I have never used a torque wrench for flares. Not once in 17 years 😂

[@dijo7086]

I'm an NZ HVAC tech who recently moved to Victoria. Not using a torque wrench to tighten the flare nuts would violate the manufacturer's specs. You might overtighten the flare nuts and ultimately damage the flares, which can cause refrigerant leaks. I understand you have extensive installation experience, but using torque wrenches would still look much more professional. There must be a reason manufacturers state the torque values in installation manuals. But I enjoyed watching your videos.

[@omarfahil1602]

Good jop Also will you do a raffle veto pro bag raffle we need this?

[@maracservices]

There will definitely be future giveaways mate

[@HailStonE999]

Hi Mitch. I am facing an interesting problem with my Daikin 1.5Ton Split AC. Recently my AC stopped cooling. So I got it tested. Running pressure was 0 Psi & was told there is a leak & should be checked. Discharge line was getting ice on it at ODU valve & pipe. Display gave F3 error. Standing pressure was ~250 Psi. Leak was tested with soap bubble but cannot be found anywhere in the line-set or flare nuts. On opening the valve of pressure guage there was air coming out & hardly any refrigerant. It was vacuumed & charged with correct weight of R32 with running pressure coming to 120 Psi. Amps were checked & came back fine. Again foam was used to find out leaks but nothing could be found. Now after ~12 hrs the AC stopped cooling & ice began forming on ODU Valve & discharge line again. On opening the line at ODU from valve there was air & no refrigerant. F3 Error came again. It was now pressure tested for leaks with Nitrogen @250psi for 24 hrs & the guage showed no pressure drop even after 24 hrs. So the system was charged with R32 again till pressure settled @~125Psi. It cooled correctly so technician from Daikin okayed it. Amps also were at rated capacity. I kept it running & after ~10 hrs it again stopped cooling. Same things happened again. Ice started forming at valve & discharge line. Running pressure again showed 0 Psi & on opening the valve it again gave only air. No refrigerant. F3 Error on display. Standing pressure again ~250psi. The lines are 7 years old & the ODU has got new Compressor replaced two years ago along with PCB. Fan is working in both ODU & IDU. Coils are clean (very little dust). Air Filters are washed on every Sunday.. I only run @ 24 C temp with Auto Fan speed. Only in summers it has to be set @23C with high fan speed for few hrs of the day. Though the unit runs a lot. ~ 18 hrs a day & ~7-8 months a year. Pressure washing is done twice a year on both ODU & IDU. Last pressure washed in August. What could be wrong here?

[@maracservices]

@@HailStonE999 hey mate, F3 means your discharge pipe straight off the compressor is getting to hot. What you mentioned was the discharge pipe above isn’t actually the discharge pipe. That’s just the line set coming off the outdoor unit. The line set ices up (generally) when the unit is short on refrigerant. Another symptom of refrigerant shortage is the discharge temp goes up and therefore trips out on an f3 fault. It sounds to me like you have a clear refrigerant leak. Industry standard is to pressure test at 507 psi. They aren’t pressure testing the unit at a high enough pressure. Also you should pressure test the indoor unit, pipe work and outdoor unit separately so you can identify where the leak is. I’ve had pin hole leaks before in the middle of coils and still been able to find it. It just takes time and care. Watch this and you’ll see what i mean by pressure testing indoor and outdoor and lineset separately. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3WchaiYeMyBn9Esi=iNf4QX8HIliBVbrF

[@HailStonE999]

@@maracservices Hi Mitch. An update. The Daikin tech came & didn't listened to anything I have to say. According to them there are no leaks. So they vacuumed the unit & recharged with refrigerant. After another 10 hrs the cooling went down. The next day the Daikin Technician came & this time the gas was clearly seen leaking from the suction line-set flare nut om ODU. There was clear hissing & oil on it. The cooling went down & the technician closed both the valves. Now the real screw-up. They indirectly blamed me that the connection was right & someone must have dislodged the suction line from its flare nut. They also told me that there should have been new flare made after nitrogen testing. Anyway next day the technician came for a top up of R32 refrigerant. According to them it can be done. These are Daikin technicians. New flare connection was made. First they started the AC without opening the valves. It run like 15 seconds like this. Then they opened one valve & after some time started putting refrigerant in the system. Then 2nd valve was opened. The pressure guage they were using had its glass pushed in from one side touching the inside dial. Which I pointed out since the needle was touching the glass while putting gas. They told me its not a problem. Pressure didn't raise much. Even after topping up with whole cylinder it only came to 30 psi. So they added gas through a new cylinder. I was totally confused what was going on. They charged the system while the needle was moving very fast when the cylinder valve was opened & drops rapidly when closed. After doing this 2-3 times the compressor started making a rattling sound & they closed the cylinder valve, removed it & now told too much gas has gone in the system so they released the gas in the air. Yeah in my country they do release gas in the atmosphere. No recovery system used ever. Anyway back on point the gas was released & the rattling was gone. BUT now the compressor started tripping. It started to heat up in few minutes & tripped. Happened 2-3 times. Now I was told to let the compressor cool for few hrs & then I can start the AC. They went away & after 2-3 hrs I started the AC. Compressor again tripped. Then restarted after few minutes. Keep on tripping while it was getting really hot. Next day they came & told me the compressor is gone. I will have to get a new compressor or a new unit. They are not responsible since the compressor was bad to begin with. As per them the running gas pressure in Daikin should be 150psi & they only over charged till 160 psi then they released the gas till 150Psi. So no affect of this on the compressor. It was bad already. I know I am screwed one way or another since its a 7 years old unit & at that time only 5 years warranty was being given by Daikin on compressor. Now its 10 years on compressor.

[@maracservices]

@@HailStonE999 what a hack job! What country are you from? Sounds like you just need someone that actually knows what they’re doing to be honest.

[@HailStonE999]

@@maracservices India & trust me NOBODY in my country knows how to do this job correctly. I have seen this same level of inefficiency with almost every company in my country. Be it LG, Samsung, Carrier, Mitsubishi Heavy & Electric (both), Hitachi, Panasonic & various homegrown brands. Reasons for this is all these companies do not run service centers & only rely on third party service providers. These providers usually serve 2-3 companies & if there are many complaints from customers then AC companies simply switch the service provider. There are some ~30 AC companies in my country with AC penetration of only 7% so a huge market for AC with no focus on proper service. I have contacts of some 14-15 technicians in my phone from various AC jobs since last 20 years & all of them didn't knew much about Inverter AC & its working, let alone how to find faults. Never seen once anyone using a clamp meter to check amps while charging or calculating the weight of cylinder for that matter though each one of them claimed they know what they are doing. Best thing is no formal training is done for these technicians. No certification or anything. Most of these technicians were initially helpers to other technicians & learned only on the job. Two technicians came for this job from Daikin & both called on phone someone else to know what to do next. Even if I change the brand I know I will get same level of service. Only solution is that get the AC with longest warranty on compressor & PCB. In my country its standard 10 years on compressor & 5 years on PCB nowadays across every brand. Total screw-up. What's the running pressure range for Daikin 1.5 Ton Inverter AC anyway ?

[@maracservices]

@@HailStonE999I don’t know anything about India. I have never been there but it sounds to me from what you’re saying that they need the British to run the country again. To bring it back to its former glory. To answer your question, are we talking about an r32 unit?

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

good work.

[@maracservices]

@@LawpickingLocksmith thanks mate, I appreciate it!

[@Mick_4591]

Another great install Matt The Daikin the brand you prefer to work with and any particular reason why?

[@maracservices]

@@Mick_4591 thanks mate. I like Daikin for two reasons. One, I think they’re good and two, I am familiar with them. I think Mitsubishi electric is also good but I’m not familiar with them so I continue using Daikin. Cheers

[@Mick_4591]

I have you booked in for a quote next week on what the feasibility is of 2 head 1 compressor ​@maracservices

[@bevanmarr6589]

Nice clean job. What size field piece vac hose are you using?

[@maracservices]

Thanks mate, it’s the 3/8” hose

[@bevanmarr6589]

@@maracservices 3/8” x 3/8” or do you have the 3/8” x 1/4” hose?

[@maracservices]

@@bevanmarr6589 so it’s a 3/8 hose with a 3/8 fitting on one end and a 1/4 fitting on the other.

[@bevanmarr6589]

@@maracservices nice thanks mate.

[@infekSK]

Hey Mitch, have you ever considered doing any vids for apprentices? No topics specifically, but you have a lot of knowledge that would be useful for the next generation (me incl). I realise other channels exist, but it would be nice for something local to reference and learn off than yanks and their backward ways.

[@maracservices]

@@infekSK I’d make those sort of videos if it’s going to help others. I just don’t know what people what to know that’s all. If there’s anything in particular you want to know, just let me know. Cheers

[@Str33tF1ght1]

Dont you crimp the end of the cable with a ferrule or an ring ?

[@maracservices]

I personally don’t no

[@woox200sx]

12:30 Can't comment as a HVAC tech since I'm not one. However, as a consumer the industry seems busy. I installed 2 x 2.5kw back to back mini splits this year in March. The first two companies I contacted wouldn't even get back to me with quotes. The industry is either busy or doing back to back installs is too small of a job for anyone to waste their time doing.

[@maracservices]

@@woox200sx that’s very interesting. It feels busy to be honest. My opinion is that this particular industry is getting more in demand with the push towards electrification. Whether it’s a heat pump hot water system, heat pump drier, heat pump pool heater, air con or fridge, everything uses the same system nowadays so there is more demand but in correlation to that, is less people going into the trades which is wild!

[@danielgilpin6968]

Hi mate. Interesting with the comment about wholesalers slowing down. I’m an air and elec company in Perth . A few months ago I had 13 employees (had more before this) and today i only have 4x employees left. I let the downsizing take place and gave up trying to replace them because tradesman want $55 an hour now which I refuse to partake in. in 2023 they wanted $40-$45 and less in the previous years. Wages are out of control and coupled with fairwork Australia’s absolute crucifying of small businesses with all there ridiculous employee entitlements it’s becoming difficult to run a business with a lot of employees because it’s simply to expensive. There’s no money to be made paying $55 so hence the downsizing. I have heard from wholesalers as well that a massive amount of other elec/air companies are doing what I’m doing, so it makes sense that wholesalers are also on the receiving end of this. This hasn’t happened in Perth at the moment, but it’s coming. Im partially back on the tools now and making more money with far far less stress and headaches. Employees by the majority are really a setback and drain on a small business with how they are entitled today, only a few are worth it. Anyway, my take on with what you said and my comment above is that it shows another change is taking place in the industry and economy, which we need.

[@NathanBarley-h6l]

You're right on employees lol, most are not worth it. I ran my own show for a bit doing electrical. My first employee I hired straight out of the mcdonalds drive-thru when I was hungover and talking absolute shit, he asked about getting some work experience, and I told him if he gave me my sausage and egg mcmuffin meal free I'd give him a shot. He was my first employee and stayed right up until the end when I closed up shop I worked with him for about 2 months before signing him up for an apprenticeship, literally by the end of his first year he was working autonomously on most jobs not needing to be told what to do and making money for me. My business went really well until I tried to hire anyone else, I feel like I got a bit unlucky but everytime I tried to expand beyond the 2 of us, I'd hire a fucking spud. I'd pay them near $50/hr, quote a job that'd take me or young maxxie 4-6hours, and they'd take 8hrs, not finish then leave with the job and the customer would be ringing me whinging and I'd have to go and sort it after hours. I dont regret trying to run my own contracting company but if I had more employees like maxxie I'd be rich by now lol and not back working in the mines, he was making me easily 20-30k a yr compared to the others that were costing me $10k/yr. When I did shut up shop, he was my very last employee and jumped across to one of the bigger clients I had which he did alot of work at, and he's since got a few promotions and is now a mid level manager there

[@danielgilpin6968]

@@NathanBarley-h6l yeah mate, we all have very similar stories regarding this. It’s always the same

[@MentalLapse09]

I was running a company with 4 of us in 2022. I got a job with a major infrastructure company and I'm getting more than what I was charging my customers in wages, not including super and entitlements. The cost of living has just gotten so out of control for people man. I'm glad I don't have staff anymore, I reckon it would be hard to make it worthwhile, and win enough work with customers happy to pay what you need to charge.

[@danielgilpin6968]

@@MentalLapse09 you are correct. There’s plenty of work though, it’s just not viable to have employees with all of there high wages and entitlements. And yes, you can’t charge the customer enough to make this work properly

[@maracservices]

That hilarious about being hungover in the macca’s drive through hahaha. Sounds like young maxxie was a weapon!

[@dylb8801]

Mitch stop using them nylon knock ins they're rubbish for removal if ever needed ! Use the Ramset ones with the ph2 nail screw in them or green plugs. Anyway love your work still lol

[@maracservices]

@@dylb8801 just use pincers mate it’s a piece of piss haha. But I’ll take that onboard, where about’s do you buy the Ramset ones? Bunnings?

[@dylb8801]

@@maracservices yeah just good old Bunnings lol they called Ramset easy drive anchor not sure on price difference but they will be a little more expensive. I love using them for say duct covers and that aswell. The 8mm version which are 65 or 70mm long are my go to for solf brick/rended walls

[@dylb8801]

Also how long did it take to pull a vac on it? Your set up seems to be better than my appion 1/2inch hose and appion core removal tool

[@maracservices]

@@dylb8801 this week I did two back to back installs. One I vacuumed it with the core depressor tool which took like 15 minutes to pull a vacuum that was holding 300 microns. This one was a slightly longer pipe run and I used the core removal tool and in the same 15 minutes, it was holding 66 microns. Absolutely crazy

[@dylb8801]

@@maracservices well there's the proof the difference between cores in and cores out! Get that dehydration

[@mitchschreiber9119]

Just curious is the reason you take the unit cover off because of how easy dakin covers can mark? I find the covers mark so easy compared to others

[@maracservices]

@@mitchschreiber9119 hey mate, I take the cover off so I can make sure it’s clipped in properly at the bottom and also because I find it easier to feed cable through the wall. Also if you want to use the screws that come with the indoor unit so you can screw it into the bracket, then the cover needs to come off anyway.

[@JesseDoesHVAC]

Also helps to let you see if the drain is nice and flat too ive seen it too often

[@TheAussiePipe]

Houses and apartment new builds are very soft Mitch. NSW & VIC are the worst affected markets right now. At the absolute bottom of the construction cycle. Doesn’t look like you do much new construction work, that’s probably why you’re not seeing the impact. Plenty of pent up demand, but first home buyers can’t afford to build with interest rates where they are right now. Soon as we see some meaningful interest rate reductions next year people will come flooding back into the market 👍. Until then it’s going to be a real grind.

[@maracservices]

Very interesting mate. I personally don’t do many new builds and also I work by myself but I can imagine it would be very stressful having a few guys working for you during these high cost of living times. Just to get to this job and back cost me a fair bit in tolls. I’d hate to have a few people on the road paying all their tolls and petrol. Definitely sounds like a hard slog.

[@TheAussiePipe]

@@maracservices plus you are obviously very good at what you do, so no doubt word of mouth makes sure you’re always in demand Mate 👍. Look forward to all your videos, keep up the great work. Cheers, Mark ( Melbourne).

[@maracservices]

@@TheAussiePipe cheers mate !

[@zeljkoprezimee4439]

what model it is? Ftx35???

[@maracservices]

It is a FTXV35WVMA

[@zeljkoprezimee4439]

@@maracservices No Cora models here in Croatia.. Sensira, Perfera,Emura,Ururu Sarara, Comfora..split sistems..