vacuuming the lines and releasing the gas in your new Senville Mini Split

a tip
when you are done vaccuming
before you release the gas
close the guages ;-)

[@HSRA-hg9gc]

Make sure to put a tiny bit of Nylog on both sides of the flare fittings. I have done quite a few AC flares. Take the vacuum fitting off before opening the refrigerant valves.

[@juliettedumouchel6021]

Finally got it up and running. The only delays we had was because we realized we needed some extra parts (I’ll list that below) kzbin.infoUgkxihMYiJNXcHdbH-7ihymsLz61l7jVyb5O . So we have a loft where our current hvac just couldn’t seem to keep cool during the summer. We have been using a window unit since we bought this house over 6 years ago (all the houses in this neighborhood were built in the 80’s and majority of the houses built like ours use a window unit). I hate window units because they are just so noisy and the one we had really only cools one side of the loft. I had contemplated upgrading our current HVAC, but with all the rising prices these days, it would take years before saving up enough to do that. With the advice of my father-in-law (used to run an HVAC business), he recommended we get an inverter instead. We thought we bought everything we needed, but there were just a few other parts we didn’t anticipate needing (which is what caused most of our delay). My friend and father-in-law did all the work to get it installed and running and now we have nice cool air circulating nicely throughout the entire loft. It is very quiet and even the outside unit is much quieter than our main HVAC unit. Saved ourselves thousands getting this.

[@dougj8186]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I've installed other mini-splits but always good to have a refresher. I'm installing 3 Senville 9,000 BTU units. I followed the instructions to open the high side valve for a few seconds to get the pressure just above ambient then close it and remove the vacuum line. The first one I wasn't paying attention to the gauge and did the same thing and had a small discharge of gas. I've installed Senville and MR. Cool DYI. Both are great. Mr. Cool doesn't require a vacuum pump. The inside unit also has refrigerant, just connect the lines and go. They don't have a DYI 9,000 BTU model and the one they do have is a couple hundred $$ more than Senville, which were $600 each on sale. Mr Cool I've had also have 25" lines vs. 16' for Senville. If they need shortened and you can't recover the refrigerant, cut and re-flair the lines, and recharge, it's at least a $400 service call. One complaint is the Senville fan runs all the time but is whisper quiet and perfect for a bedroom (my 3). Mr. Cool does not but the fan varies in speed and has a weird resonance. It's also not really noticeable. I don't use a torque wrench either. A drop of Nylock gives better feel than dry when guestimating.

[@Jonehughes]

I talked to the manufacturer at senville and they said they send 25 ft worth of gas and only 16 ft of line so having a little bit of loss is perfectly fine

[@dougj8186]

​@@Jonehughes I had an interesting shipping issue. I bought these 3 units in June when they were on sale. I did not start installing them until last month. One of the boxes was shipped and labeled upside down, hence the compressor was upside down all that time. No apparent damage, so I turned it right side up and it's been that way about 3 weeks. I saved that one for last and finished it this afternoon. I turned it on heat. It ran for about a minute then shut off. I let it sit 5 minutes, turned it on cool and ran it for 5 minutes. Nothing abnormal. I shut it off for 5 minutes again, turned it back on heat and it's been running normally for about 2 hours. The concern about being upside down is of course oil running somewhere it isn't supposed to. Other than the first glitch it seems OK now and sounds like the other 2.

[@Jonehughes]

Sounds like you did everything you could to remedy the situation totally sucks when you get stuck in a situation that you can't do anything about but it sounds like you did good I bought seven of those units at the same time and installed them in all my apartments and each one's working absolutely perfect...

[@NSDadFit]

Thank you!!! What a legend! Been looking for a video to help me with this! Much appreciated.

[@Jonehughes]

You're welcome brother if you have any other questions go ahead and post them I'll try to walk you through any issues 💞

[@planeaddiction2560]

always do liquid line first then suction line when opening valves, you lost alot of gas taking that hose off, you need to add refrigerant now or it will be slugging

[@Jonehughes]

That was my seventh one that day And my mind was on other things But Senville sends out enough refrigerant for a 16-ft line and only sends out a 12 ft line As can also be attested by ,after all these months, it's still working perfectly

[@charleyweaver1944]

Awesome thanks for this.

[@Jonehughes]

If you have any other questions just let me know brother

[@alexstarkey3529]

Thank you for the video, why did you not disconnect the ac manifold before releasing the refridgerant/gas from the heat pump? Is there a reason?

[@Jonehughes]

I'm old 🤣😂 But seriously it's okay to leave it on there's no reason to take it off also I should have turned off the gauge though because as I released the gas it went through the gauges and escaped ,so I screwed that up, I installed seven of them that day and that was the last one and I was not thinking correctly 😜🤷‍♂️

[@alexstarkey3529]

@Jonehughes all good! Just making sure!

[@mosfet500]

Thanks for the video. A couple of mistakes I see. Torque values are calculated without Nylog so your torque readings will be wrong, you should always use a torque wrench and only put Nylog on the bevels of the fitting where they mesh. If you leave a fitting open with vacuum it will suck in outside air, you never want that. What you want is to pressure test the system with nitrogen to a couple hundred pounds then let the nitrogen out without letting air back into the lines. Then vacuum the system. I didn't watch the rest of the video.

[@suespony]

Nice video, would like to have seen you do the startup on it after you finished. Just to show completion of unit.

[@Jonehughes]

Yeah.... I have eight apartments and I've done it eight times now I put one in each apartment and they're absolutely fantastic units they work perfect I have no issues with them at all they are absolutely wonderful and I only wanted to show people the hard stuff and it's really easy if I had known it was this easy I'd have done it years ago if you have any questions feel free to ask

[@suespony]

@@Jonehughes ok thanks, I have actually ordered 3 of these, plan on doing it all myself, so thanks for the video

[@eroom2087]

Most anyone can install these systems with success, it’s when they don’t Run or don’t cool is when you need a tech

[@jasonanzures603]

Do you leave the blue line open at the gauge when younlet the refrigerate in or close the blue line?

[@butangviber]

Close the blue line valve at the gauge.

[@Cam-wi3tp]

do I still have to vacuum the line sets down on my senville 12cd, it says it's precharged and I don't plan on cutting lines

[@Jonehughes]

All the systems come fully pre charged inside the exterior unit. after you hook up all the lines You vacuum out the lines with a vacuum pump. Before you release the refrigerant. So the refrigerant is not contaminated with whatever is in the lines. What I just told you is the best way to do it.

[@Cam-wi3tp]

@@Jonehughes appreciate the help!

[@td3mrt1911]

Good Evening Sir, It looks like you used an adapter on the low pressure valve of the outside unit to your blue line from the vacuum pump. After a long weekend of getting to the “last” stages of my install this evening, I find out that the female connector of my line set does not fit the male of the outside unit. Did you run into this problem as well? If so where did you find your adapter? Thanks In Advance!

[@Jonehughes]

Hey brother they all come with that little adapter did you buy a pump And if you buy a pump it should have came with the adapter mine came with two of them Let me look it up if I can find it and send you a link

[@Jonehughes]

Ductless Mini Split System Charging Vacuum Port Adapter Swivel Type, 5/16 Female, 1/4 Male SAE a.co/d/fydopCO

[@td3mrt1911]

Yes Sir…I purchased a new pump as well as new manifold gauge set…neither came with an adapter. Thanks for the link…this is greatly appreciated!

[@frankmartinez1828]

I have a question my pressure goes from -30 to -20 ans stays there. It seems I have a leak but I did a bubble test but to no avail; It seems there are no leaks at the four end of the nuts. Can you help?

[@Jonehughes]

The leak could be anywhere including your gauges system Once you got it to that point put soapy bubbles around every connection and see if you get any leaks whatsoever if you get no leaks you might just go for it how long of the lines do you have do you have the factory 12-ft lines or did you cut them short or what

[@garypitzer8729]

Did that not frostbite your fingers? The refrigerant blowing on them?

[@Jonehughes]

No but I wouldn't recommend it

[@abhilash71294]

Should I remove vaccum pump before opening allen key?

[@Jonehughes]

No... You lose a little bit of gas But it does not affect the system The system comes with six more feet of gas Than the line set requires Letting a little bit ooze out as you're unscrewing the adapter won't hurt it in the slightest

[@abhilash71294]

@@Jonehughes What if I remove the vaccum pump before opening allen key volve? I actually removed the vaccum pump line from ac before opening allen key volve, and it sucked some air for like 0.5 seconds. Did I ruin my AC?

[@Jonehughes]

No it didn't hurt it at all It's like a check valve You will notice That you don't even have to put on that cover That cover only protects it from damage from weather and such You don't even need the cover So the point is It's not really sucking air When you take off the vacuum All the sound is coming from the vacuum system No sound is coming from the unit You are fine 🥀

[@abhilash71294]

@@Jonehughes Thank You so much for the help, I am so relieved 😌 Though my AC is cooling very good, I thought that little sucked atmospheric air will cause issue in system in future.

[@Jonehughes]

Nope... you should be good👍

[@donfrussell]

Ok- I understand the vacuum part and holding the negative pressure part. My question is- kwik-e-vac is just nitro gas in a can? So- can I use the Kwik-e-Vac as a nitro test for possible leaks?

[@Jonehughes]

I have eight of these in my eight apartments and they work perfectly since day one and I have a bunch of different testers to find lakes and all of my testers find leaks and the only one I can count on is soapy water soapy water finds leaks and you can see the bubbles and you can fix the joint until you no longer see bubbles that is the best way to deal with leaks All the other things find leaks that are not there I have not had a single problem with any of my units but every one of my units you can walk around and find lakes with some of these way too sensitive testers it's not worth it

[@snackbardipper]

Never mind, sorry he asked. We’re just gonna go to the lake instead

[@alisabahi2886]

Why didn't you use expose valve in the end ??!

[@Jonehughes]

I definitely botched that I had done seven that day And because I was videotaping My mind wasn't on the job And I have a one-track mind 🤷🤷🤷🤷🥰

[@seanndiane]

Maybe you could use the money from this install to buy a micron gauge for a correct vaccum reading.

[@carladolphson3731]

You’ve said nothing about when to open or close the gauge valves

[@Jonehughes]

That's because you're thinking there's more information than actually needs you can close your valves if you want to close them for some reason when you take it off and set it up in your garage when you're all done but other than that there's no need you do exactly what I said and then when you pull it off the gauges can be on or off and doesn't mean anything If you just follow the sequence that I showed you you will be fine I install seven of these things on all seven of my apartments it's been a long time they all work perfect yours will work too I think you must be overthinking this thing it's not that hard