How to install an air conditioner with your own hands?

In hot summers, the demand for air conditioners grows the faster, the higher the thermometer rises. And even faster is the queue for their installation.

Installation of monoblocks (mobile air conditioners, window windows, stationary wall-mounted monoblocks) usually does not cause difficulties. To install a one-piece air conditioner with your own hands, you will only need to strictly follow the instructions and accuracy.

Is it difficult to install the air conditioner yourself?

Another thing is split systems. Imagine a hot summer. The long-awaited split system has already been selected, purchased, you are announced the price and installation date. The wait may drag on for a week, or even two. And the installation price often approaches the price of an inexpensive air conditioner.

Immediately make a reservation that it is better to wait for the professionals. But if you decide to install the air conditioner with your own hands (in order to save money or gain new skills), nothing is impossible. You just need to follow the technology and clearly follow the instructions. The instruction is the first thing you will need to install the air conditioner yourself. Reading the instructions is a must! Many installation instructions take into account the most common "jambs" of installations. Their task is to exclude the possibility of improper installation and ensure the correct operation of the equipment.

Preparing for installation. Necessary tools

Below is a list of the basic tools that you will need to install the air conditioner yourself. If you don’t have something from the list, you can always ask friends or rent. Very often, tool stores offer this service. Difficulties may arise with renting a specialized tool, but a little later we will show how to get around them.

Tool List:

• Large punch. For drilling holes under the freon line.
• A drill with a diameter of 40 mm. They can drill holes for air conditioners of low power. For more powerful air conditioners, a drill with a diameter of 80 mm is used or two holes with a diameter of 40 mm are drilled.
• Small punch. Also for drilling holes, but for self-tapping screws (for fixing the plate of the indoor unit) and for anchors (for installing the brackets of the outdoor unit).
• Screwdriver. Screw on the screws when attaching the plate of the indoor unit. With a one-time installation, it is quite possible to replace it with a screwdriver.
• Level.
• Screwdrivers.
• Roulette.
• The keys. To connect the interblock track with air conditioning. Rather, for the final tightening of the cap nut of the air conditioner. Hex wrenches.
• Pipe cutter. Hacksaw can not be used! Since during its application a lot of sawdust is formed. They will fall into the freon conduit of the air conditioner, then into the compressor and the air conditioner will fail.
• Flaring. Need to roll a copper pipe. Create a clamping edge between the brass nuts of the air conditioner.
• Faskosnimatel (example). It removes the chamfer formed by cutting with a pipe cutter.
• Vacuum pump.
• A set of pressure gauges for the type of freon corresponding to the installed air conditioner. Now the most common freon is R410.
• Electric tester or indicator screwdriver.
• Digital Thermometer.
• Ladder.

Finding the right place for the air conditioner is very important

To select the installation location, consider the following points:

• The cold air leaving the air conditioner should not cause discomfort. Therefore, it is better to hang the split indoor unit so that the flow does not directly hit the person. We choose a place when the cooled air will go parallel to or above people in the room.
• When choosing a place, it is necessary to observe the installation clearances (distance from the ceiling and walls). This is necessary for the normal operation of the air conditioner, the convenience of its maintenance and repair. These distances are prescribed in the installation instructions and are usually: 7 cm from the top edge of the air conditioner to the ceiling, 10-12 cm from the side surfaces of the air conditioner to the walls.
• It is necessary to provide for the availability of a power source near the installation site or to take care of the power supply.
• Drainage from the indoor unit must go by gravity (slope of at least 2 cm per meter of pipe).
• It’s good to know the material of the wall on which the air conditioner will be hung. This will allow you to choose the right fasteners.

Set of materials

Here is a list of materials needed to install a household split system:

• Copper tubes. Usually sold in bays of 15 m 24 cm each. The ends of the pipes must be plugged to prevent moisture and debris from entering the pipe. Not all sellers agree to cut off a piece from the whole bay. If you encounter this, try contacting a small HVAC company. There you will be more willing to meet.
• Insulation. Sold in pieces of 2 m. Buy insulation designed for installation of air conditioners. It holds the temperature better and restores shape well after crushing.
• Interconnect wire. The type and size depends on the power of the air conditioner and on the model (for example, a signal cable is provided in this model or not). The instructions say which cable is needed for a particular model.
• Drain hose. You can use either a special corrugated tube for drainage, or a metal-plastic tube.
• Self-tapping screws with inserts.
• Bolts, nuts, washers. For fixing on the brackets of the outdoor unit.
• Set of brackets.
• Insulation tape.
• Teflon tape. For winding the freon line.
• You may need PVC adhesive tape.

Today, for splits of small power, the materials of the freon line and a pair of brackets will cost 1200 rubles.

DIY installation of outdoor and indoor air conditioning units

Instruction:

• We start by mounting the mounting plate of the indoor unit. We mark and drill holes on the wall for its fastening, having previously outlined the place of installation of the plate by level. We use self-tapping screws and dowels with a diameter of at least 8 mm for fixing.

• When installing the plate, you need to trace the correspondence of the distances from the future indoor unit to the walls and ceiling recommended in the instructions.
• We plan and drill a hole through which the freon highway will pass. At the same time, we take into account that the design of the indoor unit provides for the possibility of removing the pipelines from under it in several directions. This will depend on the block locations you choose.

• We fix the brackets to the outer wall, taking into account the distance between the “paws” of the external unit. To do this, you need anchor bolts with a dowel. Preliminary we outline and drill holes. Tighten the brackets.
• Install the unit on the brackets. We fix it with bolts with washers and nuts with a diameter of at least 8 mm.

We form a pipeline

• Cut the pipe with a margin of about 15 cm.
• We put insulation on the copper tubes. If at the same time you need to use several pieces of insulation, then they are joined butt-butt. No gaps. The joints are wrapped with duct tape. For example, PVC tape.
• Chamfer with an example. We put on a union nut screwed onto the fittings of the outdoor unit or attached to the air conditioner.
• We roll a pipe.
  

Type of pipe ready for installation (with union nut, insulated and flared).

• We take the interconnect cable, fix it on the track.
• We also fix the drainage hose.
• Wrap the track with teflon tape. In the photo - the preparation of the freon line.

Attention! The drain hose in the correct route is located below the copper pipes to avoid counter-slope when draining the drain. The interconnect cable is laid with a small margin. Copper tubes are completely covered by insulation.

Connection of a freon line with split system units

• We stretch the pipeline through the prepared hole.
• We hang the outdoor unit.
• We hang the internal block.
• We connect freon tubes under the indoor unit split (there are nuts on the tubes of the indoor unit). We use the key for this.
  
• We connect the drainage hose of the freon route with the built-in factory.
• We connect the rolled tubes with the valves of the outdoor unit.

Attention! There should be no “bare” sections on the laid pipeline. We close all copper tubes with insulation.

How to make an electrical connection of the air conditioner with your own hands?

• We snap off the front panel of the wall block of the air conditioner.
• Unscrew the plug for connecting the interconnect cable.
• We insert the cable and connect it to the appropriate blocks. The connection diagram is in the instructions and (or) on the inside of the cover of the indoor unit.
• Check the connection.

Next, everything is going in reverse order.

Vacuum or not?

Evacuation is a must. With it, moisture and air are removed from the piping of the air conditioner. Vacuum the freon circuit with a vacuum pump. Freon is a specially invented substance. When the air conditioner is operating at one point, it condenses, at another point it passes into gas. This is the basis for the operation of the air conditioner. If moisture or air enters the freon circuit, the properties of freon change. For example, at the exit from the external unit, a smaller amount of it can go into gas. The system is getting worse. In addition, the air conditioning compressor has oil. It works only with a certain freon. If moisture or gas enters the system, the oil cokes, settles on the walls of the compressor, and the compressor's lifetime is reduced.

If there is no vacuum pump

If there is no vacuum pump, there are several possible solutions to the issue:

• Contact the climate company with a request to take on the job of evacuating the system.
• Start the air conditioner without evacuation. Briefly blow out the piping with freon located in the outdoor unit. Accepted standards (for example, STO NOSTROY 2.23.1-2011) are prohibited from doing this.

There are many videos on the Internet that show how to install an air conditioner with your own hands without a vacuum pump, using this method. Nevertheless, we advise against such an operation. It is better to contact the climate company. Indeed, in case of failure, the air conditioner under warranty will not be changed.

Starting the mounted air conditioner

If the track is more than 5 m, most likely, you will need to add freon. We check the need for this with pressure gauges and refuel to a normal level. Manufacturers usually recommend refueling by accurately calculating the amount of additional freon in grams per meter of gas pipe.

We check the tightness of the system. You do not have to buy a leak detector for this operation. You can simply “soap” the system under pressure (smear with a composition of any detergent and glycerol using a regular shaving brush). Bubbles will appear in the leak. Most likely, these will be places of rolling, connections of copper tubes with an indoor or outdoor unit.

Checking control parameters. This is the temperature difference on the indoor unit of the incoming and outgoing air and the pressure on the gas pipe in cooling mode. For R410 freon, which most air conditioners currently work on, the temperature difference is from 8 to 12 ° C. The pressure gauge can fluctuate within ten percent depending on the outdoor temperature.

Test points for correct installation

During the installation of the air conditioner with your own hands, you need to check some points:

• The hole for the freon line is made with a slight slope outward.

• The drainage is brought out in compliance with the slope and leaves by gravity without encountering any obstacles.
• The drainage tube in the Freon line lies below the copper.
  

• Pipe insulation completely covers copper tubes, does not leave “bare” sections.
• The outdoor unit is installed at the same height as the indoor unit or below it. The maximum height difference for a particular split model is specified in the installation instructions. Usually it is no more than 5 meters. It happens that the outdoor unit needs to be installed above the level of the indoor unit. Then it is necessary to provide a compensation loop to prevent the accumulation of oil in the indoor unit of the air conditioner.
• The supplied electrical power corresponds to the capacity of the installed air conditioner.
• The air conditioner is connected correctly.
• The junction of the Freon line with the blocks is “washed”, there is no leakage in them.

Can I install an air conditioner at home with my own hands? We think that installation operations are easy to carry out by ourselves, clearly following the instructions and observing the technology. A specialized (rolling, evacuation, commissioning) is better to entrust to professionals.