Beware Heatpump external unit rusting

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Beware Heatpump external unit rusting

1 | 2 | 3

2296 posts

Uber Geek

#3335314 24-Jan-2025 17:14

3 Panasonics here and all are quiet. no issues with noise. the Panasonic, Mitsi, Toshiba at work all work fine. so i don't have a preference for brands. i went with Panasonics because the installer, who is an actual tech not an installer, does Panasonic. plus i used to deal with Panasonic and F&P many decades ago.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

fastbike

201 posts

Master Geek

#3335651 25-Jan-2025 14:05

timmmay:

I use home assistant to control all my heat pumps, including the 15 year old one with an IR blaster, ducted which comes with WiFi, and new Daikin with the wifi card. They all work fine, IR obviously being slightly less reliable than wifi.

Mitsubishi Electric Heat pumps have the excellent github hosted open source wifi controller, which you can then use to integrate into Home Assistant, openHAB etc.Cost is around $10 per unit.

There is another thread on GZ discussing this

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=306435

or a good starting place is https://chrdavis.github.io/hacking-a-mitsubishi-heat-pump-Part-1/

Break free from the cloud, folks.

Otautahi Christchurch

timmmay

20429 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3335653 25-Jan-2025 14:12

Home assistant control of devices is usually local. I only have one integration that needs an internet connection, YoLink don't have a local option.

linw

2837 posts

Uber Geek

#3335659 25-Jan-2025 14:53

A look inside my outside unit!

fastbike

201 posts

Master Geek

#3335723 25-Jan-2025 16:33

linw:

A look inside my outside unit!

Crikey that's munted. How old was it ? ~~And coastal ?~~

I've just pulled the outside sheet metal off my 7.5 year old Mitsi Electric for a deep clean. I found two small areas where corrosion had started so cleaned them back and sprayed with cold galvit. We are in Otautahi Christchurch about 6km inland.

Otautahi Christchurch

linw

2837 posts

Uber Geek

#3335829 25-Jan-2025 20:02

Year bought date is unknow. We moved in 5.5 yrs ago. Prob at least 10.

Pleased if my post triggers some to have a look at theirs.

jnimmo

1096 posts

Uber Geek

#3336189 27-Jan-2025 12:38

Interested if these units were under cover or out in the rain?

I installed mine under deck but didn't consider until afterwards that the rain should help it not rust by rinsing off the salt periodically - next time would put it out in the open if I had the space.

fastbike

201 posts

Master Geek

#3336191 27-Jan-2025 12:42

jnimmo:

Interested if these units were under cover or out in the rain?

I installed mine under deck but didn't consider until afterwards that the rain should help it not rust by rinsing off the salt periodically - next time would put it out in the open if I had the space.

When I opened my up for cleaning the corrosion was on the base tray where dirt had accumulated (presumably trapping moisture) and weirdly on the inside of the "roof" panel. Neither areas cleaned by rain as far as I can see.

Otautahi Christchurch

nickb800

2715 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3336249 27-Jan-2025 13:38

dafman:

The WiFi on our Fujitsu is a breeze to use, I'd recommend the brand on this feature alone! From memory, was around $200.

The Fujitsu may have a better implementation, but my $850 (3.5kW) Midea came with WiFi included, and the app offers similar functionality - working as a remote control and setting different heating/cooling schedules

speshnz

75 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#3340830 9-Feb-2025 20:12

nickb800:

The Fujitsu may have a better implementation, but my $850 (3.5kW) Midea came with WiFi included, and the app offers similar functionality - working as a remote control and setting different heating/cooling schedules

How long you had it and how do you find it?

nickb800

2715 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3340889 10-Feb-2025 07:02

speshnz:

nickb800:

The Fujitsu may have a better implementation, but my $850 (3.5kW) Midea came with WiFi included, and the app offers similar functionality - working as a remote control and setting different heating/cooling schedules

How long you had it and how do you find it?

Coming up a year now, no complaints at all. Very happy.

I am mindful that being a cheaper unit it may not have the longevity of (say) a Japanese brand, so time will tell. That said, Midea make a few million units a year so they can't be too bad

speshnz

75 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#3340909 10-Feb-2025 09:34

nickb800:

Coming up a year now, no complaints at all. Very happy.

I am mindful that being a cheaper unit it may not have the longevity of (say) a Japanese brand, so time will tell. That said, Midea make a few million units a year so they can't be too bad

Yeah we're looking at getting ducted system for the back end of the house, we got a Daikin for the front/main areas. But started doing some reading around alternatives for replacing the other one. Midea seems good and at around 1/2 the price of the Daikin its hard to not seriously consider it

fastbike

201 posts

Master Geek

#3340919 10-Feb-2025 10:15

speshnz:

Yeah we're looking at getting ducted system for the back end of the house, we got a Daikin for the front/main areas. But started doing some reading around alternatives for replacing the other one. Midea seems good and at around 1/2 the price of the Daikin its hard to not seriously consider it

Make sure this is not your experience - "The sweetness of low cost is out weighed by the bitterness of low quality"

Installer I used for our house 7 years ago is only doing Daikin and Fujitsu currently - he has quoted Fujitsu for my wife's mother's house. Price seems decent.

We have a MItsi mini split (2 indoor units / 1 outdoor unit) which works well. Use the open source controller to integrate into home automation. https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=306435

Otautahi Christchurch

speshnz

75 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#3340929 10-Feb-2025 10:57

fastbike:

Make sure this is not your experience - "The sweetness of low cost is out weighed by the bitterness of low quality"

Installer I used for our house 7 years ago is only doing Daikin and Fujitsu currently - he has quoted Fujitsu for my wife's mother's house. Price seems decent.

We have a MItsi mini split (2 indoor units / 1 outdoor unit) which works well. Use the open source controller to integrate into home automation. https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=306435

Its impossible to make sure that's not your experience based purely on cost. Hence the questions.

Unfortunately we no longer live in a world where higher price = better quality. Daikin for instance have some of the most expensive Wi-Fi modules in the market and their WI-FI hardware and software is absolutely shit. Lucky for me i don't care as I'm automating the lot of it. Midea for example have Wi-Fi built in and a decent amount of support in the HA community.

From what I've read the Midea quality is good, the performance is good, after sales support can be a bit inconsistent. They arent flashy, but their efficiency ratings seem very good.

Seems mad to write them off for no reason other than they're cheap.

We probably need to put a split unit in the rumpus downstairs at some point so maybe i'll start with that and see how that works out

Kickinbac

414 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3341528 11-Feb-2025 15:16

There are options for additional corrosion protection but you've got to weigh up the cost vs. benefit as none of them increase the warranty period and may increase the life, but very hard to quantify.

At my company we offer this as an option of we can see a potential problem i.e they are near the beach.

Something to be considered is 'rain washing' as it helps a lot with reducing corrosion as its washes the salts and dirt through the unit. Be extra careful and attentive if the unit is undercover, continuously damp, near the coast - particularly if there is salt spray.

Be careful with the coil fins as anything sprayed on the coil that is not specific for coils can reduce the heat transfer.

Blygold - very good and expensive and a specific spray for the coils. Could be considered the Rolls Royce of corrosion protection. Usually from $300 - $700 for an outdoor unit.

Nyalic - This is very good for reducing corrosion at a more affordable cost. We charge about $180 to do this.

With all these, the outdoor units are disassembled as much as possible then sprayed then reassembled. Blygold is done at their facility in Auckland by their staff.

And then there is the Rotorua corrosion treatment! Which is another level again. But in Rotorua, A/C is a disposable item, some last some don't depending on where you are.

1 | 2 | 3