Home Aircon

[Vooth]

Forget about Panasonic aircon.. Super problematic n not cold. Used LG, Toshiba, Daikin and Panasonic before.. Panasonic is the worst.. Other brand minimal maintenance but always cold.. Panasonic is always not cold even with proper maintenance. Sucks

 

Yep, no more panny for me as well. So pissed off with their non-existent aftersales that I am no longer getting any other appliance from them, even though my current washing machine still working after 13 yrs but that model was made in Japan. Quality definitely not like before.

[WTF]

Yep, no more panny for me as well. So pissed off with their non-existent aftersales that I am no longer getting any other appliance from them, even though my current washing machine still working after 13 yrs but that model was made in Japan. Quality definitely not like before.

I'll try to avoid Pana too after making a visit to their old service center at Brickworks area. Customer service really

 

If it isn't my wfie insistence on either Pana or Sony, I'll buy either Toshiba or Sharp for my room's TV......

[Vooth]

I'll try to avoid Pana too after making a visit to their old service center at Brickworks area. Customer service really

 

If it isn't my wfie insistence on either Pana or Sony, I'll buy either Toshiba or Sharp for my room's TV......

 

Maybe all their budget went to Joanne Peh's endorsement, none to after sales, just boycott them!

[Pocus]

Hi Guys,

I got problem with my aircon and I want to seek opinion from you guys. I'm hoping someone with industry knowledge can help me.

I have starmax 3-in inverter aircon. One of my room the aircon is not cold. So I engage back the company who install my AC. The coy is my friend's coy so I have trust in him.

 

But I became very doubtful on the guy who came to check. At first he suspect PBC board of the blower. He switched the board with working blowers but the problem still persist. The other unit still works so PCB board is rule out.

 

Then he say could be wiring of the "signal" cable. He suspect the wire that was laid during reno is faulty. So he took a spare cable to reroute direct to the compressor. True enough, the blower is now working with cool air.

 

But here's the problem. The "signal" cable is actually the POWER cable!

I asked him, "hey that's the power cable, not the signal cable! The blower is working and has power, it's just not blowing cool air that's all."

He explain say that the power cable is "dual function" which double up as a signal cable. There are 3 wires in the power cable. The "Live", "Neutual" and "Earth". He say that "Earth" is not in use for the blowers and it's used to transmit the "signal" to the compressor's PCB to no the compressor.

 

He say the laid cable's "earth" wiring is weak after a pen-test and that could cause the compressor not to start for this unit.

I was like WTF!! I may not be a mechanic or repairman but I got study basic eletronics in poly one leh. This sound more like BS to me. I suspect he is trying to pull a fast one so he can charge me higher price to re-lay the power cable.

 

Any mechanics/engineers can comfirm?? "EArth" wire not in use??? Aircon on AC current one meh?? Earth wire sustitude for signal to unit??? first time I hear of it! He still say it's "industry standard" for MIT aircons in SG.

 

This guy is outsourced from my friend's coy and not under employ of my fren. The problem is my friend is overseas trip in a non-internet area and he will only be back mid nov. So I want to find out online before I bang table on him...

 

 

[Unltd]

Hi Guys,

I got problem with my aircon and I want to seek opinion from you guys. I'm hoping someone with industry knowledge can help me.

I have starmax 3-in inverter aircon. One of my room the aircon is not cold. So I engage back the company who install my AC. The coy is my friend's coy so I have trust in him.

 

But I became very doubtful on the guy who came to check. At first he suspect PBC board of the blower. He switched the board with working blowers but the problem still persist. The other unit still works so PCB board is rule out.

 

Then he say could be wiring of the "signal" cable. He suspect the wire that was laid during reno is faulty. So he took a spare cable to reroute direct to the compressor. True enough, the blower is now working with cool air.

 

But here's the problem. The "signal" cable is actually the POWER cable!

 

I asked him, "hey that's the power cable, not the signal cable! The blower is working and has power, it's just not blowing cool air that's all."

He explain say that the power cable is "dual function" which double up as a signal cable. There are 3 wires in the power cable. The "Live", "Neutual" and "Earth". He say that "Earth" is not in use for the blowers and it's used to transmit the "signal" to the compressor's PCB to no the compressor.

 

He say the laid cable's "earth" wiring is weak after a pen-test and that could cause the compressor not to start for this unit.

I was like WTF!! I may not be a mechanic or repairman but I got study basic eletronics in poly one leh. This sound more like BS to me. I suspect he is trying to pull a fast one so he can charge me higher price to re-lay the power cable.

 

Any mechanics/engineers can comfirm?? "EArth" wire not in use??? Aircon on AC current one meh?? Earth wire sustitude for signal to unit??? first time I hear of it! He still say it's "industry standard" for MIT aircons in SG.

 

This guy is outsourced from my friend's coy and not under employ of my fren. The problem is my friend is overseas trip in a non-internet area and he will only be back mid nov. So I want to find out online before I bang table on him...

 

 

If you don't trust the guy get a 2nd opinion, but if you are not the expert don't come saying you poly grad la, know this know that but can't be sure.

 

Cause you can ask a rocket scientist why he don't know music although he is highly educated and it doesn't make sense.

 

It's just like you ask a person who only learn .NET about java it's useless cause it's not his discipline. Just seek a 2nd opinion if you don't trust him, don't need to tell us you so good with a poly or degree and you are smarter so you know better la... Wah piang

[Pocus]

If you don't trust the guy get a 2nd opinion, but if you are not the expert don't come saying you poly grad la, know this know that but can't be sure.

 

Cause you can ask a rocket scientist why he don't know music although he is highly educated and it doesn't make sense.

 

It's just like you ask a person who only learn .NET about java it's useless cause it's not his discipline. Just seek a 2nd opinion if you don't trust him, don't need to tell us you so good with a poly or degree and you are smarter so you know better la... Wah piang

Relax bro, I actually dunno why you so work up with my post.

 

My purpose is to get 2nd opinion online before I really go get a 2nd opinion, bcos it just happen this evening and I haven't call anyone yet.

Also bcos it's my fren's coy and I actually want to wait for his return to personally come down to my place and confirm the fault.

 

So I trying my luck online first ok. No harm right?

 

My highlight of basic electronic in poly (1st year lesson) is not to brag or say I smart (duh! not like as if I say I PhD word!) but to let you all know that I know abit of electrical/electronics knowledge to deduce that the repairman may be BSing. So your analogy of .NET and java can throw out of the window (want to talk .NET and java can understand if you use C# in .NET and speak fundamental OO concept)

 

peace..

[Adrianli]

Just get hold of the electrical circuit diagram and you will know liao. No need to guess who is right or wrong.

[Ckchong8]

Hi Guys,

I got problem with my aircon and I want to seek opinion from you guys. I'm hoping someone with industry knowledge can help me.

I have starmax 3-in inverter aircon. One of my room the aircon is not cold. So I engage back the company who install my AC. The coy is my friend's coy so I have trust in him.

 

But I became very doubtful on the guy who came to check. At first he suspect PBC board of the blower. He switched the board with working blowers but the problem still persist. The other unit still works so PCB board is rule out.

 

Then he say could be wiring of the "signal" cable. He suspect the wire that was laid during reno is faulty. So he took a spare cable to reroute direct to the compressor. True enough, the blower is now working with cool air.

 

But here's the problem. The "signal" cable is actually the POWER cable!

 

I asked him, "hey that's the power cable, not the signal cable! The blower is working and has power, it's just not blowing cool air that's all."

He explain say that the power cable is "dual function" which double up as a signal cable. There are 3 wires in the power cable. The "Live", "Neutual" and "Earth". He say that "Earth" is not in use for the blowers and it's used to transmit the "signal" to the compressor's PCB to no the compressor.

 

He say the laid cable's "earth" wiring is weak after a pen-test and that could cause the compressor not to start for this unit.

I was like WTF!! I may not be a mechanic or repairman but I got study basic eletronics in poly one leh. This sound more like BS to me. I suspect he is trying to pull a fast one so he can charge me higher price to re-lay the power cable.

 

Any mechanics/engineers can comfirm?? "EArth" wire not in use??? Aircon on AC current one meh?? Earth wire sustitude for signal to unit??? first time I hear of it! He still say it's "industry standard" for MIT aircons in SG.

 

This guy is outsourced from my friend's coy and not under employ of my fren. The problem is my friend is overseas trip in a non-internet area and he will only be back mid nov. So I want to find out online before I bang table on him...

 

 

i have similar issue like your, split unit 2, one unit blown out cold air but can't cool the room.

 

You check whether the air blow out, is it consistence, if not probably your coil fin must have dirt and block.

 

Clear it with the chemical wash it will get back to normal. I use to do the cleaning myself but my present aircon unit was with 2 layer of coil fin which my previous unit was single.

So all this while i been cleaning the front coil fin n neglected the one behind and all the dirt from the front instead of flushing out was stuck to the back.

 

Of course you have to get the aircon mech to remove bcuz he has to dismantle and refill the gas back after cleaning.

[BoneStock]

bro Pocus...sorry to hear about the issue.

 

Sounds like your Starmex is fairly new? My aircon comes with 3 year installation warranty. So any issues related to warranty should be done without any charges to you. You may want to check the terms of your purchase with your friend's company.

 

As for the issue of only one room is not cold, it is very likely that the problem lies with the blower. Because for inverter aircons, all blowers share the same compressor and the same pool of gas....so if it's pipe leakage or compressor related, all rooms will be affected

 

Coming to the signal, I am not an expert but when I saw how the new aircon was installed in my home. If I am not mistaken, I only saw one power cable and gas pipe to each blower. So what your tech said could be true. Also if you come across Home Plugs before, they also work based on the concept of transferring data signals over the power lines. So this is possible.

Edited November 1, 2013 by BoneStock

[RedEmber]

Hi Guys,

I got problem with my aircon and I want to seek opinion from you guys. I'm hoping someone with industry knowledge can help me.

I have starmax 3-in inverter aircon. One of my room the aircon is not cold. So I engage back the company who install my AC. The coy is my friend's coy so I have trust in him.

 

But I became very doubtful on the guy who came to check. At first he suspect PBC board of the blower. He switched the board with working blowers but the problem still persist. The other unit still works so PCB board is rule out.

 

Then he say could be wiring of the "signal" cable. He suspect the wire that was laid during reno is faulty. So he took a spare cable to reroute direct to the compressor. True enough, the blower is now working with cool air.

 

But here's the problem. The "signal" cable is actually the POWER cable!

 

I asked him, "hey that's the power cable, not the signal cable! The blower is working and has power, it's just not blowing cool air that's all."

He explain say that the power cable is "dual function" which double up as a signal cable. There are 3 wires in the power cable. The "Live", "Neutual" and "Earth". He say that "Earth" is not in use for the blowers and it's used to transmit the "signal" to the compressor's PCB to no the compressor.

 

He say the laid cable's "earth" wiring is weak after a pen-test and that could cause the compressor not to start for this unit.

I was like WTF!! I may not be a mechanic or repairman but I got study basic eletronics in poly one leh. This sound more like BS to me. I suspect he is trying to pull a fast one so he can charge me higher price to re-lay the power cable.

 

Any mechanics/engineers can comfirm?? "EArth" wire not in use??? Aircon on AC current one meh?? Earth wire sustitude for signal to unit??? first time I hear of it! He still say it's "industry standard" for MIT aircons in SG.

 

This guy is outsourced from my friend's coy and not under employ of my fren. The problem is my friend is overseas trip in a non-internet area and he will only be back mid nov. So I want to find out online before I bang table on him...

 

 

Just read up this thread, here's my input to help others.

 

What the technician said is true. Mine is a Starmex System 4 inverter. Faced same issue. 1unit worked intermittently, 2 units led blinking. At first my personal installer used a normal grade 3core 1mm power cable. It worked fine for more than 6months before the problem surfaced. He took 3days to troubleshoot but to no avail. Frustrated, I called in Mitsubishi Singapore to help. The guy came over and within 10mins he pinpointed the cable issue. He took a thick long spare cable and hooked up one of the faulty units direct to the compressor outside and fired it up. Unit ran fine with his cable. He then advised me to change all my cables to 4core minimum 1.25mm pure copper cable and left after charging $150 for 20mins work.

 

I went to my regular electrical parts shop and asked the owner to order for me a certified pure copper 4core 1.5mm cable. He ordered a roll of Tai Sin PSB Singapore certified cable for me. The cable roll 50m cost me about $200. I then asked my regular installer to come back and swop out all the cables which he sheepishly agreed to charge a nominal sum.

 

I did downloaded a copy of the Starmex service manual online and inside it was stated very clearly the importance of good quality cable, the proper wire gauge and the number of cores. The Mistubishi Starmex indoor units runs on 12-48VDC from the compressor. There are 4 terminals, Live,Neutral,Signal & Ground. Communications between the indoor units and the main outdoor unit is via serial signal on this 4core cable itself. The problem is that almost 100% of all installers will only use a 3core cable with light gauges to save cost. They will only connect the live,neutral and signal terminals leaving the ground unconnected as they thought the copper refrigerant piping will act as a ground. However, while this may work, it will leave the CPU in the outdoor unit not having a clean ground to operate efficiently. A roll of good quality 3core cable vs a 4 core cable can almost be 2.5times more expensive. Unfortunately Mitsubishi Starmex are very very choosy on cable type and that's why bulk of the problems related with Starmex are all cable quality issues.

 

My system has since been running daily for 5years. No problems at all other than parts wear and tear. Parts were reasonably affordable from Mitsubishi Singapore. I have recently changed all the indoor unit's motor bearings myself with parts from RS Components as they were getting noisier.I have even learned how to dismantle the indoor units to clean them properly (removal of entire fan blade, water tray, vacuum and bleach the drain pipes,oiling etc) and has been servicing them at 6months intervals regularly. Thumbs up for this Starmex system.

[Friendstar]

My mit is 14 years old.

 

Still serving me well.

 

Should I change or just stay put?

[Jeffc]

My mit is 14 years old.

 

Still serving me well.

 

Should I change or just stay put?

If you are using your air-con daily, better to change to new unit.

The saving for your electric bill from the new system will be worth it.

[Lala81]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

I'm using a starmex as well. So hopefully, won't experience such problems.

 

Just read up this thread, here's my input to help others.

What the technician said is true. Mine is a Starmex System 4 inverter. Faced same issue. 1unit worked intermittently, 2 units led blinking. At first my personal installer used a normal grade 3core 1mm power cable. It worked fine for more than 6months before the problem surfaced. He took 3days to troubleshoot but to no avail. Frustrated, I called in Mitsubishi Singapore to help. The guy came over and within 10mins he pinpointed the cable issue. He took a thick long spare cable and hooked up one of the faulty units direct to the compressor outside and fired it up. Unit ran fine with his cable. He then advised me to change all my cables to 4core minimum 1.25mm pure copper cable and left after charging $150 for 20mins work.

I went to my regular electrical parts shop and asked the owner to order for me a certified pure copper 4core 1.5mm cable. He ordered a roll of Tai Sin PSB Singapore certified cable for me. The cable roll 50m cost me about $200. I then asked my regular installer to come back and swop out all the cables which he sheepishly agreed to charge a nominal sum.

I did downloaded a copy of the Starmex service manual online and inside it was stated very clearly the importance of good quality cable, the proper wire gauge and the number of cores. The Mistubishi Starmex indoor units runs on 12-48VDC from the compressor. There are 4 terminals, Live,Neutral,Signal & Ground. Communications between the indoor units and the main outdoor unit is via serial signal on this 4core cable itself. The problem is that almost 100% of all installers will only use a 3core cable with light gauges to save cost. They will only connect the live,neutral and signal terminals leaving the ground unconnected as they thought the copper refrigerant piping will act as a ground. However, while this may work, it will leave the CPU in the outdoor unit not having a clean ground to operate efficiently. A roll of good quality 3core cable vs a 4 core cable can almost be 2.5times more expensive. Unfortunately Mitsubishi Starmex are very very choosy on cable type and that's why bulk of the problems related with Starmex are all cable quality issues.

My system has since been running daily for 5years. No problems at all other than parts wear and tear. Parts were reasonably affordable from Mitsubishi Singapore. I have recently changed all the indoor unit's motor bearings myself with parts from RS Components as they were getting noisier.I have even learned how to dismantle the indoor units to clean them properly (removal of entire fan blade, water tray, vacuum and bleach the drain pipes,oiling etc) and has been servicing them at 6months intervals regularly. Thumbs up for this Starmex system.

 

[Pocus]

Just read up this thread, here's my input to help others.

 

What the technician said is true. Mine is a Starmex System 4 inverter. Faced same issue. 1unit worked intermittently, 2 units led blinking. At first my personal installer used a normal grade 3core 1mm power cable. It worked fine for more than 6months before the problem surfaced. He took 3days to troubleshoot but to no avail. Frustrated, I called in Mitsubishi Singapore to help. The guy came over and within 10mins he pinpointed the cable issue. He took a thick long spare cable and hooked up one of the faulty units direct to the compressor outside and fired it up. Unit ran fine with his cable. He then advised me to change all my cables to 4core minimum 1.25mm pure copper cable and left after charging $150 for 20mins work.

 

I went to my regular electrical parts shop and asked the owner to order for me a certified pure copper 4core 1.5mm cable. He ordered a roll of Tai Sin PSB Singapore certified cable for me. The cable roll 50m cost me about $200. I then asked my regular installer to come back and swop out all the cables which he sheepishly agreed to charge a nominal sum.

 

I did downloaded a copy of the Starmex service manual online and inside it was stated very clearly the importance of good quality cable, the proper wire gauge and the number of cores. The Mistubishi Starmex indoor units runs on 12-48VDC from the compressor. There are 4 terminals, Live,Neutral,Signal & Ground. Communications between the indoor units and the main outdoor unit is via serial signal on this 4core cable itself. The problem is that almost 100% of all installers will only use a 3core cable with light gauges to save cost. They will only connect the live,neutral and signal terminals leaving the ground unconnected as they thought the copper refrigerant piping will act as a ground. However, while this may work, it will leave the CPU in the outdoor unit not having a clean ground to operate efficiently. A roll of good quality 3core cable vs a 4 core cable can almost be 2.5times more expensive. Unfortunately Mitsubishi Starmex are very very choosy on cable type and that's why bulk of the problems related with Starmex are all cable quality issues.

 

My system has since been running daily for 5years. No problems at all other than parts wear and tear. Parts were reasonably affordable from Mitsubishi Singapore. I have recently changed all the indoor unit's motor bearings myself with parts from RS Components as they were getting noisier.I have even learned how to dismantle the indoor units to clean them properly (removal of entire fan blade, water tray, vacuum and bleach the drain pipes,oiling etc) and has been servicing them at 6months intervals regularly. Thumbs up for this Starmex system.

 

 

Thanks bro for you detailed explanation.

 

Actually I forgot to post the follow up. My fren returned and I explained to him the analysis of the contractor. He say that the earth cable really does double up as a signal cable. Anyway he helped me fixed the cable with minimal costs.

[Jajoba123]

Just read up this thread, here's my input to help others.

 

 

 

can share your aircon seller and installer? thanks!

 

[Happily1986]

Hi Guys,

I got problem with my aircon and I want to seek opinion from you guys. I'm hoping someone with industry knowledge can help me.

I have starmax 3-in inverter aircon. One of my room the aircon is not cold. So I engage back the company who install my AC. The coy is my friend's coy so I have trust in him.

 

But I became very doubtful on the guy who came to check. At first he suspect PBC board of the blower. He switched the board with working blowers but the problem still persist. The other unit still works so PCB board is rule out.

 

Then he say could be wiring of the "signal" cable. He suspect the wire that was laid during reno is faulty. So he took a spare cable to reroute direct to the compressor. True enough, the blower is now working with cool air.

 

But here's the problem. The "signal" cable is actually the POWER cable!

 

I asked him, "hey that's the power cable, not the signal cable! The blower is working and has power, it's just not blowing cool air that's all."

He explain say that the power cable is "dual function" which double up as a signal cable. There are 3 wires in the power cable. The "Live", "Neutual" and "Earth". He say that "Earth" is not in use for the blowers and it's used to transmit the "signal" to the compressor's PCB to no the compressor.

 

He say the laid cable's "earth" wiring is weak after a pen-test and that could cause the compressor not to start for this unit.

I was like WTF!! I may not be a mechanic or repairman but I got study basic eletronics in poly one leh. This sound more like BS to me. I suspect he is trying to pull a fast one so he can charge me higher price to re-lay the power cable.

 

Any mechanics/engineers can comfirm?? "EArth" wire not in use??? Aircon on AC current one meh?? Earth wire sustitude for signal to unit??? first time I hear of it! He still say it's "industry standard" for MIT aircons in SG.

 

This guy is outsourced from my friend's coy and not under employ of my fren. The problem is my friend is overseas trip in a non-internet area and he will only be back mid nov. So I want to find out online before I bang table on him...

 

 

 

Yes. the aircon multi split system uses the power cable as the communication bus between the indoor unit PCB and the outdoor unit PCB. the signals are sent back and forth. control information includes an indication of on or off of a power supply or “in operation” of the indoor unit, a set room temperature and a current temperature, operating conditions of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and so forth. These pieces of data also include a header composed of address information of a transmission source and a receiving destination, a type, a size and a number of a message as well as a trailer such as error-correcting information, all of which are added to the data. The resulting data is communicated in the form of packets.

 

These data packets are sent by means of the power waveforms. However, i dont think that the bus rides on the earth line.

[Beehive3783]

Actually 4 core wire should be used for connections between condensor and FCUs, the 4th core being the signal wire for communication between condensor and FCU.

 

But many installers here use 3 core wiring only and use earth as the signal wire. Which may cause wiring problems in the long term.

 

 

Yes. the aircon multi split system uses the power cable as the communication bus between the indoor unit PCB and the outdoor unit PCB. the signals are sent back and forth. control information includes an indication of on or off of a power supply or “in operation” of the indoor unit, a set room temperature and a current temperature, operating conditions of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and so forth. These pieces of data also include a header composed of address information of a transmission source and a receiving destination, a type, a size and a number of a message as well as a trailer such as error-correcting information, all of which are added to the data. The resulting data is communicated in the form of packets.

 

These data packets are sent by means of the power waveforms. However, i dont think that the bus rides on the earth line.

 

[Bluepica]

I seconded that choosing right cable is very important for aircon.... my friends Panasonic system 3 wchih I helped him to get from a shop in Aljunied Ind. park, fails after a year due to power cable corroded. They wanted to charge me $150 to replace a unit, but all must be replace at one go, means 150x3. hell!

 

Luckily I found another company that charges me on a fraction of the total cost.