FINISHED IN 2020! Sharward's Partial Garage Conversion

Post by **sharward** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:34 pm

Another milestone reached -- the mini-split is blowing cold! And warm!

In cooling and heating modes, respectively!

Today I had a licensed/certified HVAC contractor come by to finalize the hook-up, pump the air out of the refrigerant lines, and charge the system with some additional Puron® (due to the long length of the refrigerant lines).

I'm so pleased with the price too: $89 for one hour of labor, plus $75 for 4 ounces of Puron (actually got about 4.7), and $20 for an adapter: $184 total. That sure beats the $300 to $400 estimate I got from some other clown on Monday!

I'm amazed by how quiet the thing is -s inside and out!!

The indoor unit has has three fan speeds, plus there's a "full power" mode that temporarily bumps the fan speed even higher for 30 minutes.

I just need to do some final touches in the area of insulating some exposed sections of the refrigerant lines, cementing the cndensation line fittings, etc.

I have also come close to deciding on some shortcuts on the ventilation system. Rather than building four beefy silencers (two inside the room and two outside the room), I think I'll build just two. I'll put them (as I described a few posts back) between the joists between the ceilings, and I'll skip the ones I was planning to put in the attic. I can always add the two silencers in the attic later on if it becomes necessary.

--Keith

Ro · Post by Ro » Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:45 am

Thaz some great stuff, now innit?!

jwl · Post by **jwl** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:06 am

congrats sharward. That's really cool!

*groans at the bad pun*

guitardad72 · Post by **guitardad72** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:49 pm

Congrats on the AC man.

Glad your putting those silencers between the joists and saving some head room.

Marc

Mr. Tea · Post by **Mr. Tea** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:34 pm

Cool man, if for nothing else than the fact that you'll have something to keep you cool when you start drywalling and installing them doors

(yes I have read it all!) So what's next on the checklist?

Post by **sharward** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:27 am

Thanks guys!

I'm really excited about having A/C out there now!

I've scheduled an inspection for Wednesday. I hope to receive final sign-off of the mini-split system at that time.

Unfortunately I haven't even started on the fresh air ventilation work, so it's going to have to be a "partial" mechanical inspection, and then I'll have to get them back for the fresh air part.

I have to do it this way because if I don't get an inspection within six months of my last inspection, my permit will expire!

This weekend I finished installing the 14 electrical box enclosures I described earlier. I'll take some pictures of that once all the wiring is routed to them and the enclosures are sealed.

This is an example of my having to undo some work I had done previously since changing my mind on how to mount the electrical boxes. At first (on paper) I figured I'd use putty packs. Then I changed my mind and decided to use surface-mounted boxes, and I ran the NM-B (Romex) cable accordingly. However, I have since changed my mind again, deciding to do flush mounted boxes with several layers of drywall on the back of the frame, as per a post that John wrote somewhat recently (that I cannot find right now

, else I'd link to it).

--Keith

Post by **sharward** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:34 pm

I can't believe it...

My mini-split isn't working.

Both indoor and outdoor units operate, but there's no cool air blowing inside and no warm air blowing outside.

I fear a leak in the refrigerant lines somewhere...

I tried to be careful not to kink or overbend the lines when working with them...

Maybe the compressor is defective, in which case I'd have to ship the outdoor unit to Sanyo at my expense... And pay for the labor again to evacuate and charge it...

I'm very sad right now.

I spoke with the HVAC tech who did the hook-up. He told me to call him after 10 AM to get on their calendar. He said it shouldn't impact my inspection -s that they just care about the hook-up and not the actual functioning of the unit. I hope he's right...

Did I mention that I'm sad?

Mr. Tea · Post by **Mr. Tea** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:40 pm

Oh man i don't believe it. Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law? It seems to be working overtime in your case.
Well, at least you're well overdue for some good luck now

Hope you get it sorted anyways.

Ro · Post by Ro » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:41 pm

Damn, Keith...

Can I say that sucks.? Well, it does. I know you were looking forward to have your place cooled. If only to finally do some indoor work on yer studio

Major bummer!

camistan · Post by **camistan** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:25 am

Hey Keith, hang in there man, it won't turn out as bad as you think...(just a feeling). Anyway, are you still planning on putting in the HRV unit? I'll be installing my ERV next week if all goes according to plan. If you are still going to use a HRV there are some good tips the tech at Fantech talked to me about concerning your ductwork...ESPECIALLY the duct length from your HRV to the outside (both supply & return) Hit me up if you haven't already talked to them yourself.

Post by **sharward** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:41 am

I haven't bought my HRV yet, but I will be in a few days. I do intend to talk to Fantech soon.

I plan to use oversized ducts. The unit I'll be getting will have 6" ports, but I figure I'll use reducers (enlargers?

) to bring them up to 8", possibly 10". I plan to use insulated metal round duct, except for the short connection between the leaves which will be insulated flex.

I realize that the longer the duct run, the more static pressure build-up and thus the lower throughput. I'm hoping the oversized duct diameter and the fact that the unit will be oversized for the need will suffice in my case.

--Keith

Post by **sharward** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:47 am

The inspector came by today. He said there's really nothing for him to officiially inspect because there's no natural gas line on the mini split system, and there are no ducts. He said that system actually falls within the realm of "final electrical" and since I'm not past rough electrical on the rest of my build, he can't sign off anything.

After some amount of respectful pleading from me to register something on the record so that my permit doesn't expire... Well, let's just say that he's helping me out with a bit of creativity by "reinspecting" some stuff that I "probably" had to mess with since the last inspection.

So, with that, I'm good to go on my six-month permit extension.

As for the mini split not working

, I reached the tech who did the hook-up, and he said he'd be out sometime today.

Wish me luck...

--Keith

joey · Post by **joey** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:13 am

good luck man. i cant wait to see how your fresh air works out im trying to get my head round it, but as with most of your posts it all becomes clear after reading.

Post by **sharward** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:06 am

WAHOO!!!

There was a leak in the flare connection on the 1/4" refrigerant line at the indoor unit -- my tech didn't connect them tightly enough the first time!

We were both suspecting one of the lines had sustained damage, but his leak sniffer detected a problem at the connection. Once he tightened it up, the leak sniffer was happy!

Whew!!! That was a close one!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll resume my feeling awesome about my mini split again!

Thanks for the bestg wishes and the kind words, Joey.

Several of us are on the verge of installing fresh air ventilation systems and silencers, so hopefully this area will abe more effectively covered once we have them up and running with all the requisite pictures to go with them.

--Keith

Mr. Tea · Post by **Mr. Tea** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:23 am

Aw damn, and I had just found this
useful page

That's good to hear about the fix man. Got any pictures of the tech tightening the connection? ahaha