Mini split installation

[alex2929]

I bought a pioneer mini split for a bar room in my shop. The outside unit is getting mounted on the other side of the wall in my “cold storage”….unfixed up side of the shop. I know this isn’t how I should do it but there is a 20x18 that overhead right next to it and it’s what I’m going to do. Three questions…..
1. It came with 16’ of plumbing….I probably only need 5. Should I shorten this or coil it behind the indoor unit?
2. I’ve never installed one of these….I assume the outdoor unit will create some water? Should I put some sort of drain pan under it with a hose that goes outside or two a drain?
3. Im pretty handy at fixing stuff and figuring things out. I’ve watched Don’t videos and vacuuming the lines, etc doesn’t look too hard. Can someone who is pretty mechanically inclined figure that out?

 

[ipgenie]

I'm not sure why, but I read that the line set should be at least 10 feet. Many coil up the extra. It's better to lay the coil on its side. I just located my outdoor units at the end of the line set.

Both units (indoor and outdoor) need a place to drain water. They can make quite a bit of water.

I installed two last summer. They were my first ones and were easy to install, it sounds like you should be just fine doing it yourself.

 

[Kaizen]

Impulse buy? Is this a DIY with refrigerant already in the lineset? on a humid day the drain line is like leaving a faucet on so plan for that.

 

[jjrbus]

Daikin and a few others state no less than 10 feet of lineset or can cause noise and compressor failure. I find it bizzare that there are so many recommendations to coil line set online when it is an obvious oil trap unless done horizontally. I ran mine left to right horizontally on the wall behind the condensor making a couple loops. Not coiled. There is a word for that? The lineset can be coiled anyplace why does it have to be behind condenser?

 

[mike93lx]

When cooling, the condensate is all made at the interior unit. The outside unit will only make condensate if it is a heat pump and it's heating.

When cooling, it's going to put a lot of heat into your shop

 

[stubbsrodandcustom]

Personally I would slide the outside unit or inside unit to not coil the lines, Yes you can cut off the extra hose within reason, alot of them have minimum recommended length for a reason of harmonics etc. Like mentioned above coiling the line can cause trapping and that can cause compressor slugging and will kill it fast. If you are going to cut one line, cut the one going to the inside unit, and sweat on a soldered connection there. Best way to do it all in all.

Here is how mine is installed at my garage, I needed the extra length of the line set but you have a short run for sure, you may look at snaking the line set to the right and then down and back over to the condenser. 5 foot past the condenser and down and back over to it will eat up 10 feet fast.

 

[Jackfre]

If you are too close to the evaporator you need to lay the line set off behind the condensing unit in a serpentine fashion. It will eat up a lot of length. Do not coil the line set. Get a couple prices of unistrut on the wall to mount the line set and anchor it securely. Keep your condenser off the ground. If youy are in a humid area Kaizen is correct on the amount of condensate made in cooling. I was shocked when I first turned mine on when I lived in MA. It was like a faucet flowing. Here in the dry country I get hardly and condensate at all.

 

[Black Oak]

" Generally Speaking " , mini split mfgrs. tell you 10' minimum =25' max . Above 25' length you need to add some refrigerant , not something all that simple to do correctly . I'd locate the outdoor unit where it allows this issue to go away if possible . My last one was 41 ft.- I had a pro add the refrigerant .

 

[justinjoyal]

I bought a pioneer mini split for a bar room in my shop. The outside unit is getting mounted on the other side of the wall in my “cold storage”….unfixed up side of the shop. I know this isn’t how I should do it but there is a 20x18 that overhead right next to it and it’s what I’m going to do. Three questions…..
1. It came with 16’ of plumbing….I probably only need 5. Should I shorten this or coil it behind the indoor unit?
2. I’ve never installed one of these….I assume the outdoor unit will create some water? Should I put some sort of drain pan under it with a hose that goes outside or two a drain?
3. Im pretty handy at fixing stuff and figuring things out. I’ve watched Don’t videos and vacuuming the lines, etc doesn’t look too hard. Can someone who is pretty mechanically inclined figure that out?

1. Shorten it. It will look so much better and it will work just fine. Could be a tad bit noisier but most times it's not an issue.

2. The outdoor unit will create water condensate when in heating mode during defrost cycles. If you put a drain on it, make sure it doesn't freeze up if temps fall below 32*f. You can also just let it drip on the floor if it's not a big deal for you. Make sure the unit is not sitting directly on the floor.

3. Everything can be "figured out." You need the knowledge, but also the right tools and hopefully you don't run into an unpredicted issue.