My Self installed Mini Split system

[OzarkMan]

So of course its summer time and the "How do I heat my shop" threads are dwindling down as the summer sun bakes. Living in Phoenix, is more of a how do you keep your cool while the four most miserable months begin approaching.


My wife and I are blessed that we found a property 4 years ago in a non HOA area near two major highways for simple access. The house needed a ton of work which I am happy to say is almost complete. It sits on a little over an acre on a very quiet street. Four years ago we hired an architect to help design the addition of a garage, expansion of the back of the house, expansion of the front of the house and the addition of two wings. (A his and hers). Mine is a bright light filled room used as my office with the ability to convert into an elegant dining room when needed on those two yearly occasions. Hers is a 450 square foot dream closet with an island, chandelier and multi zone lighting. It is still under construction. The house has a 5 ton 14 seer roof mounted unit. I didn't want to cut into the ductwork for the new additions to avoid taxing the well balanced ac unit. Instead I opted for three mini splits. One is a 1 ton for my room addition and I don't have pics of it since they were lost on PB. It is also on the other side of the house. The other two I have pics for since I just installed them a few days ago. With the Closet addition, this gave me room to run refrigerant lines over the master bedroom and onwards to the garage. The other mini serves the closet which has two zones.



Here is the completed installation.



IMG_9020 by S, on Flickr




I pressure tested with Nitrogen and let it sit overnight while checking for leaks with soap bubbles. After that I vacuumed down to 40 microns and let it sit overnight. It decayed up to 80 the next morning but we also had air temp fluctuations. I was happy with the outcome and released the refrigerant very slowly using the liquid line first as per manufactures instruction. I then opened the suction line and capped the access ports. Now knowing I had installed more line set than the big unit was pre-charged with, I had to add 8.8 oz of R410A. With the scale zero'ed out, I began the process of adding refrigerant. I also picked up a device that I attached to the tank which converts the liquid charge into a gas. R410A must be charged as a liquid since it is a blend of two refrigerants.





IMG_8981 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr





IMG_8985 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr



IMG_8986 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr




IMG_8987 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr




My trusty little Bobcat delivering the ac load.



IMG_8855 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr




Garage before cleaning:



IMG_8370 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr




Garage ceiling cassette. Waiting on drywall guy to finish up. I hate drywall work. done my fair share.



IMG_8942 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr



IMG_8612 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr




Back of house



IMG_8842 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr




In the end, I find the cooling of these mini splits to be extremely quick, quiet and efficient. Its a great solution if you want to add climate control to your house, addition, shed, or garage. They are so much quieter and efficient over window units of which I had in my last house. They are easy to install with some basic common sense and heeding to the safe handling of refrigerants. Proper tools are must as is gloves, safety glasses and clothing.

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice install. Place looks nice all around.

 

[OzarkMan]

Thanks Justin! If the pool company can get their act together, I would be able to finish the yard. With the temps creeping into the 100's, I'm not so certain any landscaping will be done until the fall. I am losing my stamina each year when the temps get above 100. Just had a pergola put up and had the concrete guys pour solid columns around the posts this weekend. They still have another lift to do. Seems as if theres a concrete truck or two in my backyard every weekend. House was a flip that was nothing more than lipstick on a termite infested pig. Took three years to kill the multiple colonies of termites living under the house. Previous owners never treated due to non belief of poisoning the ground. Just terrible. We inherited the issue unknowing when we started moving our stuff in.

 

[bonneyman]

Nice install. Place looks nice all around.

^^^What he said.

 

[OzarkMan]

What the pool will look like....


https://flic.kr/p/2138hpW by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr




What it looks like now....

I divided the property with 4' staggered walls (to be painted and landscaped) for some privacy and future building on the remaining 1/2 acre. I didn't want to wall of my backyard neighbor since he is an awesome guy who maintains his property. He has mules, chickens, and ducks. Love the rural scene.






IMG_9023 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr

 

[OzarkMan]

I didn't document this little shop I built. Its about 700 square feet that I use for storage of leftover materials from jobs. The garage used to be for my tractor which I sold in favor of the little Bobcat. The concrete walkway went in this past Saturday.



IMG_9018 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr

 

[PoorOwner]

nice install. How did you add the charge without air getting in when system?
I saw a video where someone cracked it to have it lightly misting and then screwed it quickly onto the service port.

Also, you may want to add some kind of tape over the lineset insulation to protect from the sun.

 

[justinjoyal]

nice install. How did you add the charge without air getting in when system?
I saw a video where someone cracked it to have it lightly misting and then screwed it quickly onto the service port.

Also, you may want to add some kind of tape over the lineset insulation to protect from the sun.

Fill your hose first by cracking open the ball valve at the end if you have one until gas comes out (obviously just a tiny lilttle bit.), then shut it off and then connect to the service port and go from there.

Without a valve, the method you mentionned works.

OP: seems like you got it right. Would like more pictures of the property. I enjoy looking at buildings different from what we see here in Canada.

 

[mnwebb]

MezaACguy - What a great looking house and garage, very slick! How much do you figured you saved installing yourself and did a company help you with the install details? Also, I like the challenge that the middle white car has to get out of there with the other two cars parked next to it!
Cheers! -W

 

[OzarkMan]

I removed the air in my lines by purging. The EPA considers this as "De minimis". Exactly as was described by Justin. Of course I wear gloves while doing any refrigerant handling despite there not being much of a loss. Always protect yourself. I will most likely make some kind of cover for the line sets as the sun will brown the covering. Perhaps even a simple coat of paint or that flex seal paint. That stuff is awesome.

I was quoted by one company at 17k and another at 13k. I paid $6300 for both units and line sets. The expensive option was the ceiling cassettes. The outdoor units were $2300 and $1600. I have another $1400 in HVAC tools but you can never have too many tools. I bought the best professional tools I can get my hands on. I never want to be caught with an issue I cant at least try to fix before calling someone.

Regarding the middle van, The garage is really wide at 34'. I have the van tucked in the middle to make backing up the limo truck much faster. I don't use the van as much.

 

[OzarkMan]

Here's an overhead shot from January. Need to do another Quadcopter flyover for an updated pic. Neighbor to right of me is an *** and yells at me for flying it. He's 82 and a miserable grump.




DJI_0038 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr

 

[SALIV8]

Wow. Amazing. I'm in love with your setup and property.

Breathtaking.

Thanks for sharing.

Quick question. Could you post a link to your penetration covers? I never saw those before.

 

[OzarkMan]

I hope this works. I bought it from Amazon. Comes in 3" as well.



http://a.co/igsMkbV

 

[SALIV8]

Thank you Mesa for the link!

It worked.

I am in a trance with your setup. **** is all I can say.

Keep sharing please. Your property is essentially my dream pad.

I won't show this to my wife however. Lol.

 

[OzarkMan]

Thanks! This place was a termite terrace when we bought it 4 years ago. I've put in a load of sweat tears and blood as well as cash into making it more contemporary. Found an outstanding architect who helped us turn this 1800sq ft house into a 3000 sq ft house all while making it look like it was always built this way. We constantly get offers to buy our place but its hard to replace. When I retire in 20 years I may consider!

 

[ghnl]

Wait, before cleaning?!?

Garage before cleaning:

IMG_8370 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153164955@N06/, on Flickr

 

[Uncle Fester]

Now this is a place I could get lost in, it is beautiful. If I can I might be bothering you when I get to putting in my mini split. Turned out awesome.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

MAN, I would cut my left "you know what" off for a garage like that!




.

 

[Browneye]

I like it a lot. Got family over there and thinking of heading that way in 3-5 to retire. Love that setup. Nice job on the garage AC!

We were just over there last month - oldest daughter bought a house in Maricopa so we went to check it out - they live in the Seattle area so it's a AirBnB and vacation place. We drove over to Queen Creek/Santan and looked at some new HOA stuff on the golf course. Hmmm...much prefer what you're doing here.

We'll have so-Cal equity to work with.

 

[OzarkMan]

If you are in the area, I would be happy to show you around. My wife is also a Realtor when you are ready. We left NYC 17 years ago. always bought new houses except for this one. We wanted to make it our way. Kind of NY metropolitan on the inside. Also the acre plus property is nice.