Dismantling the split system: step-by-step instruction

Modern air conditioners are basically split systems of one of several varieties, from wall to ducted indoor unit. The consumer pays for the high energy efficiency, cooling capacity and sound insulation of split systems (in comparison with window models) by the complexity of installation and removal of such devices.

Split air conditioner removed for the reason:

• the owner moves to a new place of residence;
• replacement of obsolete equipment with a new (similar) one;
• moving the air conditioner to another room;
• for the period of repair (repainting, whitewashing, removing the block from the wall for gluing new wallpaper, installing wall panels, tiles, etc.);
• major overhaul and redevelopment of one room, the entire floor or wing of a building.

You will need the following toolkit:

• screwdriver and a set of bits for it;
• a device for evacuating and filling with freon, a cylinder with a compressed refrigerant;
• side cutters and pliers;
• a pair of adjustable wrenches (20 and 30 mm);
• a pair of ring or open-end wrenches (the value depends on the nuts used);
• flat and curly screwdrivers;
• set of hexagons;
• electrical tape or tape;
• a set of sockets for keys;
• clamp or mini-vise;
• assembly knife.

If the air conditioner is on the ground floor - from a stepladder or a lightweight "transformer" you can easily reach the outdoor unit. Dismantling the air conditioner on the second floor may require a three-section sliding ladder. A mobile crane is rented for the third and higher floors. Climbing above the 5th floor may require a dedicated outdoor lift used by builders or the services of industrial climbers. Dismantling the outdoor unit, if the storage of freon is required, is not carried out in parts. The compressor and the refrigerant circuit must not be separated. To remove the outdoor unit without disassembly, you need the help of a partner: a powerful split system weighs about 20 kg.

It is necessary to escort people who are unnecessary at the moment from the territory or place of work, to ensure the safety of passers-by by placing identification signs. If work is being carried out on the load-bearing wall of a high-rise building, the place is cordoned off with a red and white tape. The fact is that if a spare part or tool accidentally falls from the 15th floor, then this object can kill a passer-by or break the glass of a car.

If safety equipment is used, work out a plan for its use. He will save you from unpleasant and even disastrous consequences. Putting your tools in an accessible place will make your work more responsive.

Saving freon will help reduce the cost of re-installing the air conditioner at a new location, where it will subsequently continue to work. Correct pumping of freon - without losses, as reported by the operating instructions. Freon destroys the ozone layer of the earth's atmosphere and is itself a greenhouse gas. And refilling the air conditioner for 2019 with new freon, when you lost the old one, will cost several thousand rubles.

Be sure to pump freon to the outdoor unit. This is done in the following way.

1. Run cold mode.
2. Select the lower temperature limit with the remote control, for example 17 degrees. This will allow the indoor unit to quickly pump freon to the outdoor unit. Wait until it blows cold.
3. Unscrew the bronze plugs that close the valves of the "route" tubes.
4. Close the valve between the outdoor unit and the thin pipe. For air conditioners produced over the past few years, the valves are turned with hex keys.
5. Connect a pressure gauge to the outlet of the larger valve.
6. Wait a few minutes for all the freon to go into the circuit of the street block. It is convenient to track the process of pumping freon with the help of an arrow, which should reach the zero mark of the pressure gauge.
7. Wait until warm air blows and close the valve on the thick tube. Turn off the air conditioner. Its shutdown is indicated by horizontal and / or vertical blinds that close automatically after both units stop.
8. Screw the plugs back onto the valves. So you will protect the external unit from the penetration of foreign particles into the interior that interfere with its operation. If there are no separate plugs, cover these holes with electrical tape.

If it is impossible to pull the tubes out of the wall, then use side cutters to bite off the copper tubes at a distance of 20 cm from the fittings, flatten and bend the resulting ends.

Removal of electrical and piping is made according to the following scheme.

1. The housing of the indoor unit is removable. Disconnect and take out the electric wires.
2. The drain hose is disconnected and removed.
3. Freon lines are unscrewed and removed.

After that, the indoor unit can be easily moved and removed. The outer block is even easier to parse, but in the same sequence.

1. Disconnect the power cables. Re-label them - this will allow you, when re-installing the split system, quickly, in a couple of minutes, connect them to the corresponding terminals.
2. Unscrew the smaller diameter tube from the fitting. Likewise, remove the larger diameter tube from the other fitting.
3. Turn off the drain and drain the water not removed when the air conditioner is operating in blowing mode.

For removing the indoor unit do the following.

1. Determine the locations of the latches and locks of the case, carefully snap them off. To do this, use a special puller designed specifically for latches and locks. Flat screwdrivers (even those with a fine point), knives, and blade assemblies used to remove rubber from bicycle wheels, for example, can break these locks. Be extremely careful.
2. Using the arrows on the case, unscrew the self-tapping screws holding the indoor unit on the mounting plate.
3. After freeing the case from the lower mountings, move its lower edge away from the wall. Do not remove it completely yet.
4. Remove the power cable supplying the indoor unit. To do this, dismantle the cover of the terminal block, free the ends of the cable and pull it out of the indoor unit.
5. Disconnect the drain hose. Up to a glass of water can pour out on you - substitute a glass or mug in advance.
6. Remove the thermal insulator and unscrew the freon pipes from the fittings. Immediately plug the fittings so that dust and moisture from the air do not get into the freon pipes of the indoor unit.
7. Lift the outdoor unit up. Remove it from the retaining plate.
8. Set the block aside. Remove the mounting plate itself.

The indoor unit is removed. To remove the outdoor unit, do the following.

1. Remove the mounting cover from the side, disconnect the electrical wires from the air conditioner and pull them out of the terminal block. Tighten the terminal screws and close this cover.
2. Disconnect the drain hose that drains condensate from the outdoor unit to the outside.
3. Remove the freon pipes in the same way as on the indoor unit. Move them aside.
4. Remove the bolts on the brackets holding the outdoor unit. Remove the unit itself from these mounts.
5. Remove the bolts holding the brackets to the wall. Remove the fasteners from it.
6. Pull out the "track" and electrical cables from the holes in the wall.

If dismantling (remounting) a simple split system is relatively simple, then more complex devices, for example, duct air conditioners, are much more difficult to transfer. They have a large set of components and weight, and require special approaches when built into the interior of the premises. The electrical line is de-energized and disconnected before the hydraulics are removed, not afterwards. Before installing the air conditioner in a new place, it is necessary to purge and evacuate the freon circuits of both units. Rigid communications are simply cut off.

Do not store the disassembled split air conditioner for a year or more. Over time, the freon will all evaporate. Air with moisture will get inside through the crumbling gaskets of the valves and oxidize the pipelines. In this case, the entire circuit must be replaced. Often, not a single master has parts for an old air conditioner, since the entire line of compatible models has long been discontinued, and the owner is forced to buy a new split system.

Disassembly of the split duct system begins with the dismantling of the air ducts. The work begins where the air duct grilles communicate with the air in the refrigerated rooms. Having removed the channels, they proceed to the extraction of indoor and outdoor equipment modules. Run the air conditioner after pumping freon into the street block - the valves holding it must be closed and isolated with plugs. At the end of the purging of the system, the power cable is disconnected.

The ceiling air conditioner is installed when the armstrong hanging curtain is not yet fully assembled. So, at the place of installation of the air conditioning module, there are no tiled segments. For the frame, only suspensions are embedded in the concrete floor. In this case, the frames holding the aluminum or fiber tiles are outlined, but not assembled or partially installed.

Often the air conditioner is installed together with a new ceiling - when a building or structure is overhauled. To remove the ceiling indoor unit, remove the adjacent suspended ceiling tile sections. Then dismantle the block itself. Extreme care is required - the wall on which it rests may not be near. When the air conditioner is installed in the middle of the ceiling, next to the lamp. Do not forget to reinstall the ceiling sections in their original positions.

A modern air conditioner is both a fan heater and a cooler. In cold weather, thorough pumping of freon may not be required - the temperature in the outdoor unit is quite low to keep it in a liquid state. By closing the valves, you can almost immediately, as the freon pressure drops to zero (in seconds), close the valves, remove the electrical wires, drainage and freon lines. If the valves are frozen and do not move, warm them up, for example, with a hairdryer.Do the same with the compressor if it does not start.

Do not try the other way around - pump liquid to the indoor unit. It does not have the same valves. In theory, the coil of the indoor unit would withstand this pressure. But do not think that if there is a "minus" outside the window, then they act differently. Both in the heat and in the cold, freon is liquefied for storage in the outdoor unit, and not in the inner one.

See below for more details.