Airconditioner blunder

[MikeInOr]

If coils are freezing over a bunch of time, it needs more freon... My AC unit was doing that a lot so I kept adding it, then at some point I had gone and overcharged it (it blew cold air but not as cold as I like), so ends up having to recover some until it got colder. Ideal pressure in the suction line is around 60 psi (this is where it reads 0C on the gauge) but I really don't have the means to measure "superheat" as it's a mini split.

I'm in Taiwan and R22 here is plentiful.

I work on my own AC too because the repair guys in Taiwan also charge big for any routine or small work, and I need to work on them in the middle of the night should problems develop. No AC guy is going to come in at 3AM when it's still HOT to work on your AC.

It is good to hear that it isn't only the AC service guys in the US that like to gouge their customers! I also do all my own work on my mini splits but they have been much less troublesome than the central air.

 

[MikeInOr]

Whole house AC is simply not a thing in Taiwan... the only time whole building/house AC was seen here is in commercial buildings or subway stations. Everyone either uses mini splits or window units. They still charge a ton of money for its install (not for the window unit, but for the mini split). Problem is the R value of most buildings here is crap because everything is brick and concrete which has poor thermal properties.

My father worked in Taichung for 5 years and I had a chance to visit him there for a couple of weeks. Beautiful country but very different than the US. I was lucky enough to visit sun-moon lake before the earth quake. My understanding is the earth quake uncovered a lot of cut corners in the construction... which probably isn't all that much different than the US.

 

[taiwanluthiers]

My father worked in Taichung for 5 years and I had a chance to visit him there for a couple of weeks. Beautiful country but very different than the US. I was lucky enough to visit sun-moon lake before the earth quake. My understanding is the earth quake uncovered a lot of cut corners in the construction... which probably isn't all that much different than the US.

I live in Taipei and I didn't really like Taichung much, too much gang activity there. I think building inspection is much stricter now because of that earthquake. Problem is concrete structure needs to be built right to be safe. There are really no "bad areas" as all areas look equally bad but crime in general is low all over. Good thing here is machine tools are cheap... I got a victor lathe for around 1500 dollars. The only problem is they are not the same as export. They don't use D1-6 nose instead use A1-6 (means the chuck is bolted on).

AC here is required. There's no way I can survive the long summers without it.