Do-it-yourself installation of a split system (air conditioner)

Climate technology and, in particular, split systems, which are habitually called air conditioners, help to survive the summer heat and stuffiness. The equipment is not cheap, but the worst thing is that for its installation it is required to pay an amount slightly less than for the equipment. Because many think about self-assembly. Installing an air conditioner with your own hands is possible, but there are many little things and features, ignorance of which leads to rapid wear of the equipment. Detailed step-by-step instructions will help you do everything right. 

Site Selection

Installing an air conditioner with your own hands begins with determining the location of the equipment. Since split systems consist of two or more blocks, you will have to choose a place for both. In this case, it is necessary to take into account how cold air will spread in a house or apartment, as well as take into account technical requirements.

Let’s start with the technical requirements. When choosing the location of the indoor unit, we take into account the following requirements:

• from the block to the ceiling – at least 15 cm (for some manufacturers, at least 20-30 cm);
• to the wall on the side – at least 30 cm;
• to the obstacle against which the flow of cold air will break – at least 150 cm.

The outdoor unit is usually placed near a window or on an open balcony, if there is one. On a glazed balcony / loggia, installation on a fence (if it has sufficient bearing capacity) or next to a wall is possible. If you live on the first or second floor of a high-rise building, they try to put the outdoor unit above the window level – away from passers-by. On higher floors, it can be placed under a window or on the side.

If the installation of an air conditioner with your own hands is planned in a private house, a place is usually chosen based on the bearing capacity of the walls. If there is a ventilated facade, you can use a special mount or hang the unit on the plinth, if any.

When choosing the location of the split system blocks, you must also remember that in most cases the minimum and maximum distance between the blocks is normalized. Specific figures vary by manufacturer. For example, the minimum distance can be 1,5 m, 2,5 m (various Daikin models) and even 3 meters (Panasonic). For some manufacturers, the minimum length is not regulated, that is, it can be any. In this case, you can install the blocks “back to back”. Installers call this installation method a “sandwich”.

Slightly easier is the situation with the maximum distance between two blocks. It is usually 6 meters. It may be more, but then additional refueling of the system with freon will be required, and these are additional costs, and considerable ones. Therefore, they try to invest in the required 6 meters.

What you need for self-assembly

You probably know how much it costs to install an air conditioner by specialists. When asked where such prices come from, because the work is only 3 hours, they answer that very expensive equipment and its depreciation makes up a significant share of the cost. This may be true, but most of this equipment may already be on the farm. The exception is a vacuum pump, but many crews do without it, since a normal one really costs a lot, but a bad one is of no use.

Equipment

So, to install an air conditioner with your own hands, you will need the following equipment:

• A puncher to make a hole in the outer wall, into which communications are laid that connect the indoor and outdoor units.
• Drill for installing fasteners with a set of drills of different diameters.
• Pipe cutter for cutting copper pipes and rimmer for deburring. You can get by with a file / needle file and sandpaper, but not desirable.
• Expander for copper pipes.
  

For an ideal installation, a vacuum pump is needed, but usually there is nowhere to take it and on tracks up to 6 meters they do without it.

Materials

To connect and install two blocks of split systems, you will need the following consumables:

• Cable for power connection and for connecting blocks. The brand and parameters of the cable depend on the manufacturers and are usually indicated in the passport in the installation instructions. Usually it is a 4-core cable with a cross section of 2 mm2 or 2,5 mm2. The length of the cable is equal to the length of the route with a small margin.
• Copper thick-walled seamless pipes (not plumbing, but special for cooling and air conditioning systems). Pipes will be required in two diameters – larger and smaller. Specific figures will be indicated in the manual, the length of each segment is equal to the length of the track plus 20-30 cm for the margin. Once again, we draw your attention to the fact that copper pipes are not for plumbing, but for the refrigeration industry. In them, another copper is softer, which expands well and can provide the required tightness. It is necessary to transport and store copper tubes with muffled edges – to prevent dust from entering there.
  

• Insulation for pipes made of technical rubber. Available in dark gray or black. The color does not affect the quality, it is supplied in pieces of two meters. Required length – equal to the length of the route. We need insulation for both pipe diameters – larger and smaller.
• Drainage tube. Experts advise installing a special corrugated hose with a plastic spiral inside. With self-installation, it is often replaced with a polypropylene pipe. The length of the drainage tube is the length of the track plus 80 cm.
• Two L-shaped brackets for fixing the outdoor unit. Their size must correspond to the dimensions of the block, and the bearing capacity must exceed its mass by 4-5 times. This reserve is necessary to compensate for wind and snow loads. It is advisable to buy them in companies that sell components for air conditioners. Ordinary brackets can be unreliable.
  

• Bolts, anchors, dowels. The type, dimensions and quantity depend on the type of brackets and mounting plate for the indoor unit, as well as the type of walls on which the air conditioner is mounted.
• Plastic box 60 * 80 cm – so that you can close the laid communications.

This is all that is needed to install the air conditioner with your own hands.

Installation procedure and features of the work

There is nothing super complicated in self-installation of a split system, but there are a lot of nuances that can affect the durability and quality of the equipment. First of all, before starting work, you should carefully read the installation and operating instructions that come with the equipment. You compensate for the time spent by knowing exactly what and how to do with your air conditioner, because there are some nuances.

Start – mount the blocks

Before starting all work, it is worth looking for hidden wiring or heating pipes in the intended installation site. Getting into them at work is very sad. Next comes the actual installation of the air conditioner with your own hands. You need to start with the installation of the indoor unit. On the selected place we place a plate for its fastening. The block must hang strictly horizontally without the slightest deviation. Therefore, we carefully approach the marking and fastening.

We apply the plate, set it according to the level, mark the places for fasteners. We drill holes, insert plastic plugs under the dowels, hang the plate and fix it with dowels. We especially carefully fasten the lower part of the plate – there are latches that hold the block, so they must be firmly fixed. No loopholes. Then check the horizontal position again.

Having estimated where the track will be located (it should go at an inclination of at least 1 cm per meter – for normal drainage installation), we begin to drill a hole in the outer wall. We also drill the hole with a slope – again, so that the condensate normally leaves (the angle can be greater than that of the route).

The minimum hole diameter is 5 cm. If there is no drill of this size, you can make several holes of a smaller diameter, bring out not a common bundle of communications, but each tube / cable separately. In any case, it is better to drill two holes – one for the copper and electrical cable, the second for the drain tube. It must be laid below the rest – so that it does not numb on communications in an emergency.

Then install the brackets for the outdoor unit. If we are talking about a high-rise building, you will need climbing equipment and skills to work at height. This block must also hang strictly horizontally, so we also use the level when marking the holes. When mounting the brackets, we install fasteners in each hole, no matter how many there are – this is a prerequisite. Standard fasteners – anchors 10 * 100 mm. More is possible, less is highly undesirable.

After the brackets are fixed, expose the outdoor unit. We also fix the block in all the fasteners that are. This is the only way to ensure that it stays in place under any conditions.

Laying communications

Two blocks are connected by an electric wire, two copper tubes. Also, a drainage tube is brought out through the wall. All these communications must be properly selected, connected, laid and fixed.

Copper tubes

We start with copper pipes. One larger diameter, the other smaller. Dimensions are indicated in the instructions for the air conditioner. We cut off a piece of the required length with a pipe cutter, process the edges from burrs with a special tool, straightening and leveling the cut. It is undesirable to use a conventional saw, as well as a file to remove a burr – there will definitely be sawdust inside the pipe that will get into the system and quickly destroy the compressor.

Heat-insulating tubes are put on the prepared pipes. Moreover, the thermal insulation must be continuous and pass inside the wall as well. The joints of the pieces of thermal insulation must be glued with metallized tape, achieving a very tight fit of the edges. The quality of thermal insulation is important, since condensation will form on the non-insulated sections of the pipes, and it can drain inside the wall, causing frozen streaks, destroying the wall.

Copper pipes wrapped in thermal insulation must be passed through a hole in the wall. Before this, it is imperative that the edge that will be inserted into the wall be carefully sealed so that dust does not get inside the pipe (or it is better to plug both ends securely immediately after cutting and leave the plugs before starting the connection). This is a very important point, as dust will quickly disable the compressor.

Cable and drainage

The situation is simpler with an electric cable. Each wire is terminated with special lugs, installed on conductors that have been stripped of insulation and crimped with tongs. The prepared cable is connected according to the diagram, which is in the instructions.

On the indoor and outdoor units, above the ports for connecting copper pipes, there is a removable plate, under which there are connectors for connecting the cable. Before you start installing the split system yourself, remove the plates, consider what and where you need to connect – it will be easier to work later. Especially with an outdoor unit.

Connecting the drain pipe is generally simple: it is connected to the appropriate outlet on the indoor unit and led out through the wall. The length of this tube should be such that it ends at a distance of 60-80 cm from the wall. Laying the drainage pipe should be done with a slope towards the exit to the street. Slope not less than 1 cm per meter long. More is possible, less is not.

The tube must be fixed every meter so that sagging does not occur in it. Condensation then accumulates in them, which may end up on your floor or on furniture. When you pass the tube through a hole in the wall, it is also better to muffle it with something.

Indoors, pipes and cables are usually wrapped with metallized tape into a single bundle. Then they are fixed to the wall in several places, a plastic box is attached on top. Usually it is taken in white or a color suitable for finishing.

If you wish, you can hide all the tubes in the wall – gouge the track in the wall, lay it there and, after checking the performance, wall it up. But this is a rather risky option, since in order to repair something you will need to disassemble the wall.

Connecting blocks

Here, in general, there are no special secrets. The communications stretched through the hole in the wall are connected to the appropriate connectors. There are no problems with connecting the cable – connect the wires of the same color to the terminals that are already connected to them. In this case, you can’t really go wrong.

If the height difference in the installation of blocks exceeds 5 meters, it is necessary to make a loop to catch the oil (we lay copper pipes in this way) dissolved in freon. If the drop is lower, we do not make any loops.

Drainage

There are two ways to divert drainage from the split system – into the sewer or just outside, out the window. The second method is more common with us, although it is not very correct.

Connecting the drain tube is also easy. A corrugated hose is easily pulled onto the outlet of the drainage system of the indoor unit (a tube with a plastic tip at the bottom of the unit). To keep it secure, you can tighten the connection with a clamp.

The same is the case with the drainage from the outdoor unit. Exit it at the bottom. Often they leave everything as it is, and the water just drips down, but it’s probably better to put on a drainage hose too and take moisture away from the walls.

If not a hose is used, but a polymer pipe, it will be necessary to select an adapter that will allow you to connect the outlet of the air conditioner and the tube. You will have to watch on the spot, because situations are different.

When laying a drainage pipe, it is better to avoid sharp turns and certainly not to allow sagging – condensate will accumulate in these places, which is not good at all. As has been said more than once, the tube is laid out with a slope. Optimal – 3 mm per 1 meter, minimum – 1 mm per meter. Throughout it is fixed to the wall, at least every meter.

Freon circulation system

It is somewhat more difficult with connecting copper pipes. They are carefully laid out along the walls, avoiding kinks and creases. For bending, it is better to use a pipe bender, but you can get by with a spring one. In this case, sharp turns should also be avoided, but in order not to bend the tubes.

From the beginning, we connect the tubes in the indoor unit. On it, we twist the nuts from the ports. As the nuts loosen, a hiss is heard. It’s nitrogen coming out. This is normal – nitrogen is pumped in at the factory so that the insides do not oxidize. When the hissing stops, take out the plugs, remove the nut, put it on the tube, and then start rolling.

rolling

First, remove the plugs from the pipes and check the edge. It should be smooth, round, without burrs. If the section is not round during cutting, use a calibrator. This is a small device that can be found in any store. It is inserted into the pipe, scrolled, aligning the section.

The edges of the tubes are carefully aligned for 5 cm, after which the edges are flared so that they can be connected to the inlet / outlet of the blocks, creating a closed system. The correct execution of this part of the installation is very important, since the freon circulation system must be airtight. Then refueling the air conditioner will not be needed soon.

When flaring, hold the pipe with the hole down. Again, so that copper particles do not get inside, but spill out onto the floor. In the holder, it is clamped so that it sticks out 2 mm outward. That’s right, no more, no less. We clamp the tube, put the flaring cone, twist it, applying solid efforts (the tube is thick-walled). The flaring is finished when the cone goes no further. We repeat the operation on the other side, then with the other tube.

If you have not rolled pipes before, it is better to practice on unnecessary pieces. The edge should be smooth, with a clear continuous border.

Port connection

We connect the flared edge of the pipe to the corresponding outlet, tighten the nut. No additional gaskets, sealants and the like should be used (forbidden). For this, they take special tubes made of high-quality copper so that they provide sealing without additional funds.

You need to make a serious effort – about 60-70 kg. Only in this case, the copper will flatten out, squeeze the fitting, the connection will become almost monolithic and precisely sealed.

The same operation is repeated with all four outputs.

Vacuuming – why and how to do it

The last stage, which ends with the installation of an air conditioner with your own hands, is the removal of air and moisture, argon residues from the system. During installation, humid air from the room or from the street fills the copper pipes. If it is not removed, it will enter the system. As a result, the compressor will work with a greater load, it will heat up more.

The presence of moisture also adversely affects the performance of the system. The fact is that freon, which is filled with air conditioners, contains a certain amount of oil to lubricate the elements from the inside. This oil is hygroscopic, but saturated with water, it lubricates the insides less effectively, and this leads to their premature wear.

From all this it follows that the system will work without air removal, but not for very long and with possible shutdown due to overheating (if there is such an automation).

There are two ways to remove air from the system: using a vacuum pump or some amount of freon released from the outdoor unit (it is charged at the factory and has some excess freon – just in case).

“Phyka” method

On the ports of the external unit, unscrew the valve plugs (in the photo they are indicated by arrows).

We will carry out operations with the lower port (larger diameter), which sticks out perpendicular to the body. Under the cover there is a socket for a hexagon, we select a key that is suitable in size.

Next, with this key, turn the valve 90 ° for one second, return it to its previous position. We let some freon into the system, it created excess pressure. We press a finger on the spool, which is located on the same port. By this we release a mixture of freon and gases located there. Press for literally seconds. Part of the mixture should remain so as not to start a new portion of air inside.

You can repeat 2-3 times, no more, the second time you can turn the valve located above. With a track of 2-3 meters – you can 3 times, with a length of 4 meters – only two. Freon is not enough for more.

When the air is practically removed, we screw the plug onto the outlet with the spool (filling), open the control valves (under the hexagon) completely, launching the freon into the system. We coat all joints with soapy foam to make sure that they are airtight. You can run.

Vacuum pump

This operation requires a vacuum pump, a high pressure tube, a group of two pressure gauges – high and low pressure.

Without opening the valves on the control valves, we connect the hose from the vacuum pump to the inlet with the spool, turn on the equipment. It should work 15-30 minutes. During this time, all air, vapors, nitrogen residues are drawn out.

Then the pump is turned off, the pump valve is closed but not disconnected and left for another 15-20 minutes. All this time it is necessary to observe the readings of manometers. If the system is tight, there is no change in pressure, the pressure gauge needles froze in place. If the arrows change their position, there is a leak somewhere and it needs to be fixed. Tighten the connections, usually the problem is in the place where the copper pipes are connected to the outlets of the units.

If the leak remains, you can find it with soap suds. To do this, on the contrary, you need to pump air into the system.

If everything is fine, without disconnecting the pump hose, fully open the valve, which is located below. Some sounds are heard inside the system – freon fills the system. Now, with gloves, quickly twist the hose of the vacuum pump – a certain amount of ice freon can escape from the valve, and you don’t need frostbite. Now we completely unscrew the valve at the top (where a thinner tube is connected).

Why in that order? Because when filling with freon, the system is under pressure, which quickly closes the filling port when the pump is disconnected. That’s all, the installation of the air conditioner with your own hands is completed, you can turn it on.

In fairness, it must be said that such an operation – vacuuming – is carried out only in Russia and neighboring countries. In the same Israel, where air conditioners work all year round, nothing like this is done. Why is a question for thought.