Watch This Before You Buy a Mr Cool Mini Split

HVAC service tech here, love the install. My only comment is that you can’t rely on time for the vacuum pump. The industry standard is to use a vacuum gauge and suck the system down to 500 microns. This is the standard to ensure that there is 0 moisture left in the system. Keep up the good work!

We've had a $900 Pioneer mini split (not the audio brand) bought off Amazon 7 years ago that weve never had a problem with. It's crazy that anyone would go for forced air these days. It blows around dust and allergens, etc. And the condensers are much quiter and even more energy efficient than a conventional AC unit. They also heat down to -20F in some cases. One of the best things we ever bought, along with a bidet. Those $30 bidets you can hook up to a toilet are life changing.

You didn't use a cable clamp on the back of the disconnect. The wires can rub against the sharp metal edge and cause a short. It's also a code violation. Honestly, I would have just used a 20 amp breaker since you used 12 gauge wire. A bit extra headroom on startup surge current is nice to have. It's fine as is, though. I hope you used that mastic stuff to fill in around the line set to keep critters out.

The electrical connections as shown at the 35:20 mark are dangerously poor. The wires needs to wrap at least 3/4 of the way around the ground(green) terminal screws. The one on the right is barely under the grounding screw. On the terminal block you have similar issues. The the L2 line side is especially bad, with one of the strands of the wire not even under the terminal screw. With stranded wires (especially connections to motors!), you should use crimp style split ring (or ring) connectors. Remember, there is a motor running on the condenser unit, and near 24/7 vibrations as a result. Your only ground is from the whip, and if it fails, and either one of the L1/L2 load connections comes loose and shorts against the metal enclosure, you have just energized all the metal parts of the entire system; potentially with lethal consequences.

Holy crap dude! That 240v connection inside the condenser is terrible! I hope you go back and clean that up. You can crimp on your own fork connectors and get a cleaner, tighter connection. I'm not trying to hate on you or anything. I applaud you for tackling this on your own, but you have to really be careful with electrical.

I would recommend adding a test step for the drain line. simple pour a cup of water into the drain pan and make sure water comes out of the drain line, and no water leaks.

That coil of line set, and high set disconnect is an eyesore. Should have installed the condenser somewhere where you could have utilized the line set length straight. Then you could have used line set cover and it would have looked professionally installed. And new disconnect in line with your central AC disconnect.

0:13 I think it was the comedian Steven Wright who pointed out in his deadpan manner, that "no matter the temperature of a room, it is always room temperature"

Nice install, I only have 2 suggestions. I'm only saying because im watching #1 When using a crows foot or dog bone have it at 90 deg from the handle so you don't increase or decrease length to change the torque range. #2 I would suggest to put a peice of rubber or plastic to disperse the pressure on the lines so the zip ties doesn't eventually cut throughthe uv tape and foam sheilding. I am definitely putting a few of these in my next house and shop.

10:51 What does “we dont have to worry about the neutral” mean? Is it just dangling in the panel? did you cap it with a nut? Cut it off? 13:37 How did you find the studs? did you find studs? 34:37 What is it at 3pm? That’s the real test.

Typically you get what you pay for. I went with a Mitsubishi and it’s flawless. Installed it myself 20+ years ago. I did pay an AC company to vacuum it down and open up the compressor. It was worth the $300. I saved $2500 over the quote to buy and install the same unit from an AC company. Also had to run power from the front to the back of the house. No idea what they would of wanted for that. It wasn’t included in the quote. It took me 4 hours to run it.

This line was clean and dry to begin with and likely doesn't need tons of evacuation time, but 10 minutes won't be quite enough to fully dry every lineset. I was taught to use a full hour, but 30 minutes is probably enough on a lineset that was already filled with nitrogen and which has not been exposed to atmosphere (uncapped) for more than a few minutes. While there will be no more obvious vapor after the first minute or two, it actually takes time for any moisture in the system to evaporate and then work its way towards the vacuum pump; once the initial air is gone, there's nothing to "push" out the water vapor so it takes time. You cannot measure vacuum with a dial guage. A proper digital vacuum gauge can be used, but they are fairly expensive and I never had one; we just ran the pump for as long as our schedule allowed, but I considered the absolute minimum to be 20 minutes if the line was already dry; you only get one chance to do this right. Pre-filling with nitrogen helps as the gas should already be quite dry. While the nitrogen charge does serve as a leak test, the primary purpose of pre-filling these lines is to keep them dry inside. Atmospheric air carries tons of water vapor and many refrigerants, oils, and compressor parts are quite sensitive to moisture.

I installed my mini-split a couple of years ago myself by watching YT. I had to watch multiple different videos to get all the information. I wish I would have had this video then. You covered everything in one video. Nice job!

The overnight cooling outside had as much or more to do with that 64° reading in the morning than the AC did. The AC can only maintain X° delta from ambient. Probably 20° of cooling was from outside the garage. You should let people know that because the implication was "Look, it's almost 30° cooler than outside!" and that is simply not the case.

If you're going to spit out codes. Let's start off with the national electric code and the mandatory need to install a ground fault circuit interrupter, as well as place the AC unit on its own circuit.

I have put in low cost 6 Senville mini splits now, 2 at our house, 2 in the shop at work, 1 in the office and one in a remote trailer in the lot. The office was still using oil heat and cost of not getting the oil tank filled 1 time just about paid for their mini split.

I'm planning on installing a mini split before winter. Glad I found this. I've been debating on Mr Cool or something like this. I need 2 Zones and Mr. Cool is twice the price. It has been 50 years since I did any refridge (Soda Machines) and have no tools left. You have given me the confidence to go the cheaper route, as long as I don't have to purchase any freon

I bought 2 EG4 120V DIY install units (one 12k, one 9k) late last year, and installed them myself. Had never done anything this involved before, but am a DIY kinds guy. The worst part was drilling through the wall, which I found incredibly nerve racking. But once done I was through the wall, I realized it wasn't that bad. Another issue was mounting the inside unit, as I was by myself. Try and see if you can have a friend help you if possible, it would make things much easier (I have no friends 😂 ). That was about the worst of the install. As for the performance of them, they are great. I live over 8200 feet in elevation in the mountains, and saw temps of -10F this past winter and the mini-splits worked great. I did experience some freezing over during snow storms, but it would quickly melt when hit with sun the next day. While it doesn't ever get too hot here, on the rare occasions I do need AC, they work super fast, and keep things nice and cool. Very pleased with my mini-splits.

Amazing video, you work for 40yrs to have $1M in your retirement, meanwhile some people are putting just $10K into trading from just few months ago and now they are multimillionaires

I installed the same Mini Split system in my home late last year, it's been keeping my home nice and cool all summer and except for the coldest days it kept my place warm so I didn't use my boiler much. It's also great on my utility bill. I would also suggest using a product called FlareSeal for the flare connectors I learned the hard way just using Nylog and the connection was leaking