Air sealing oil

[Arron]

Anyone know what "air sealing oil" is? The context is that I read it in a manual for one of those el-cheapo mistral air conditioners.

thanks
Arron

[Cliff Rogers]

???? Can't find anything sensible, I thing it might be a case in Chinglish.

What was the whole sentence that it was used it?

[Wildman]

I read that in an El-cheapo Akai split system, I ignored it and just tightened up the piping and it seals fine. Put the split system in myself. No need for a vacuum pump, just blew the air out of the pipes with the system gas itself. Worked a treat.

Cheers
Ben

[Arron]

"Wipe the air sealing oil on the closing valve and the trump extended pipe. Screw down the pump of connecting pipe with the wrench."

"A layer of air proof oil should be coated on the joint before the pipe has been connected. Align the axis of each pipe and tighten screw nut with a spanner."

Yes, Ben, I am considering putting the unit in myself. It looks pretty easy - if the gap between units is less then 7 metres and therefore there is no need to add more refrigerant. One thing about the el-cheapo systems is that they come complete and ready to install as the marketers are obviously anticipating that many people who buy a aircon for $300 will then be reluctant to pay $500 to have it installed. If the manual is telling the truth, it looks like just a matter of connecting up the electrical wires as per the wiring diagram, connecting the pipes and tightening with a spanner, routing the drain pipe using a bit of common sense, and then bleeding the air out of the system. Has anyone put one of the mistral systems in themselves and is this how it panned out ?

Of course self installation may void the warranty - but I dont care about.

Arron

[tcns]

I have found a company in Brisbane that will come out and commission the aircon by vaccing it out and checking your install and will sign your warrnaty card, pretty good value for $88 and you keep your warranty

Oh and on the air sealing oil you don't need it just tighten the pipes till you feel the copper of the flare meet the copper of the convex fitting, you should feel it engage and squash itself - that is all that is needed. My manual suggested 55nM of torque from memory ?

If the moisture stay in the system it will react with the AC gas and form a mild acid - not what you want inside your air con system slowing destroying the components

Tom

[Arron]

Tom, what is the name of the company. I'll see if they have a Sydney office. I tried some of the local companies and they said they would be happy to vac it and check it over - but for the same price as a complete install !!!!

Anyone know of a Sydney company that will do the vaccing for a fair price - you may be able to save me a few more phone calls.

I rang the company that is the recommended installer for these machines and they quoted me 'from $600' for the installation. When they see the woodwork they would have to do to get it installed I know they will double or triple that as it is not a simple job getting it installed - or more likely just walk away from the job altogether.

I am happy to put it up myself and give it a good bleed to get the air and moisture out and take my chances, but I would rather get someone else to check it and vac it if for around the price you paid.

Arron

[Beaton]

So do the misteral air cons come pre gassed, and just a matter of fitting the to ends of the pipe and tightning, Went to kmart to have a look last night but they were all boxed up i take it they come with all the right gear.

[Beaton]

Does anyone know what the interconnecting cable ids between the outside and inside unit is, how many cores.

[tcns]

So do the misteral air cons come pre gassed, and just a matter of fitting the to ends of the pipe and tightning, Went to kmart to have a look last night but they were all boxed up i take it they come with all the right gear.

Yes all air cons come pre gassed but they need vaccing out to remove moisture
and to check the system holds vacuum.

They company is only a Brisbane company so it won't be any help there, in a few months you should be able to secure the services of a guy to come out and commission the system, other than that I all I can suggest is to look for smaller operations and offer cash.

There are two cables ususally one twin core for a control unit and a 3 core for the power. The small units I have installed draw power from indoor unit via a 3 pin plug and supply the outdoor unit via the cable.

If you are not familiar at this stage I would stop here, mount the units up in side and out, pull the cables through, join up the pipes and torque them up and then call someone to finish it off*


Tom


*There is my disclaimer - I really don't care what you do but don't blame me if you blow it up or yourself up.

Tom

[Beaton]

Don’t worry mate sparkey by trade, just like to no what I’m up against before I go and by the little sucker, Kmart had them all boxed up and trying to get info out of the person I was talking to was like getting blood from a stone. Thanks for the concern thou, I hopefully I want blow myself up.

[Fat Pat]

Um, guys.

Have a little think about what is happening with the installation process. The pipes have to be vacuum pumped to get the AIR & WATER out of the system.

The reason you want the WATER out of the system is that otherwise the water will FREEZE inside the system SOMEWHERE! Depending where it freezes will determine what level of inefficiency or DAMAGE may result to your system.

Sort of like a blood clot in the human body! Think about it....as in STROKE!

As for the WATER/ACID thing, dunno about that, I can't claim to be an expert about that. Vac pumping will sort that out anyway.

Blowing the air/water out of the system with the refridgerant might work, but is wasteful of coolant, and will lower your pressure - resulting in a less effecient system. Over time, that will result in a harder-working system, with resultant higher operating costs. An extra $3 a week will quickly eat into the money you saved on installation!

I have a mate who is always claiming that he can save money on this or that. Constantly railing against the injustices and conspiracies being employed by big business in their quest to remove money from our wallets. Funny thing is, he sometimes makes a mistake - sometimes a really BIG mistake. Ends up costing him 1,000's to rectify. All to save a couple of bucks!

Do yourself a favour, pay the $88 and get it professionally vac'c and seal checked. Otherwise it MAY be a FALSE economy.

BTW, I am not an A/C installer, a mate of mine is, and the work we had to do when putting in two splits showed me why you need to install one correctly.

At your peril boys!

[Beaton]

Does anyone now if someone charges about that price in perth, Preferabley south of the river.

[Fat Pat]

You could always ring up a few of the A/C mobs, and see what they will say.


How far south of the river though? Albany is south, but a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG was south of the river.

[Arron]

So do the misteral air cons come pre gassed, and just a matter of fitting the to ends of the pipe and tightning, Went to kmart to have a look last night but they were all boxed up i take it they come with all the right gear.

Yes - pregassed. Yes, they come with all the gear, right down to a handful of concrete nails and bonding tape. I think you would have to be a total DIY-retard to have problems putting these units together. The manual implies that you dont need to vacuum pump, but I take the point made that for the sake of $88 I'd rather have someone do the deed.

Id's on the pipes are liquid = 1/4, gas = 3/8 inch. The length supplied is roughly 4.3 metres. There is a three pin plug for power-in which (typically) is on a cable not really long enough to go anywhere. The electrical connectors between the units are all colour coded and diagrams are supplied - no chance of error on the electrical side.

Overall, seem to be good value, although expectations are low at $299. Good for occassional use in a bedroom or similar. Not the sort of thing I would buy if I was going to be running it a lot though.

Here is a copy of the manual. The unit at KMart is the MSS10.
http://www.mistral.com.au/Instructio...SS20_MSS25.pdf

Arron

[capedcrusader]

Anyone know what "air sealing oil" is? The context is that I read it in a manual for one of those el-cheapo mistral air conditioners.

thanks
Arron

Might be stating the obvious but air sealing oil might refer to drying oil (boiled Linseed Oil) used by gasfitters to seal pipe unions. You should only put it on the threads of a flared fitting though and youd have to use a sealer compatible with the refrigerant gas ie: youre not supposed to use "stag" only Linseed oil with NG.