In connection with moving to a new place of residence or with a change in the location of the office, it may be necessary to dismantle the split systems of the air conditioners - removing the external and internal modules from the mounts. The process has its own characteristics regarding the type of device, season, and also requires the availability of appropriate tools.
A team of professional installers will be able to quickly and efficiently carry out these works, but their work costs money, especially if it is necessary to dismantle several split systems of air conditioners at the same time. If they have large power indicators, on which the price depends, then the total cost will be rather big. Is it possible to save on this, or will attempts to cut costs entail big expenses?
Of course, the dismantling of the air conditioner with your own hands is the first thing that comes to mind in a situation of lack of funds. It would seem to a man who is at least a little versed in technical topics, how it will be intuitively clear how to unscrew the fittings, pump freon, disconnect the necessary communications, remove everything and pack it in boxes. There are instructions and videos for dismantling the air conditioner with your own hands - I read it, looked and got down to work. But everything is not so simple.
Cons of self-dismantling
The main danger is not pumped freon. And this can happen if there is no special pressure gauge for measuring pressure on the gas line. Freezing water vapor in the air conditioner will damage the pump.
Operation with unprofessional tools will result in damage to the evaporator pipes of the indoor unit, which are very close to the place where the device is mounted on the wall.
If the pipeline has been cut too short, then it may simply not fit the length during subsequent installation. Building up a new one destroys the unit.
Evaporative blocks of channel split systems, in addition to pumping out refrigerant, disconnecting the pipeline, electrical wires and drainage hose, require careful disconnection from the air ducts. To do this without experience is quite difficult.
To dismantle the air conditioner yourself, you will need special tools, the cost of which is much higher than the cost of dismantling by qualified craftsmen, even if they are rented.
Oversized semi-industrial splits have considerable weight and dimensions. It is impossible to remove them alone. This can add difficulties with the removal of the external unit - it is located on the facade of the building, often at a sufficient height and a decent distance from the window. Here, in any case, you will need a team of industrial climbers, if the do-it-yourself master does not want to risk his life.
Nobody can guarantee 100% preservation of the functionality of the air conditioner when it is dismantled with their own hands. The risks of delivering the device to a new facility in a faulty condition are very high.
If these arguments do not stop a person in his decision to try himself as a master fitter, then you should carefully carefully study the instructions for dismantling various types of air conditioners below.
Dismantling a wall split system
Oversized wall splits are not particularly difficult to remove. The following tools should be available:
- pressure gauge;
- 2 Swedish keys;
- nippers or pipe cutter;
- set of hexagons;
- wrenches or a set of heads;
- indicator screwdriver; simple screwdriver;
- manometer for collecting freon (if the air conditioner needs to be dismantled in the winter).
They start work by downloading freon into an external unit, so that later it can be used again. To do this, connect the pressure gauge through the shredder valve to the gas valve of the pipeline. At the same time, the air conditioner operates in cooling mode. Next, remove the covers on the side valves and with the help of a hexagon screw the discharge valve. After a couple of minutes, the pressure should drop below zero. Now you can close the suction valve, turn off the device, turn off the power.
The next step in the dismantling of the air conditioner with your own hands will be the disconnection (trimming) of the main pipes by nippers or a pipe cutter at a distance of 15-20 cm from the fittings, their caulking and removal of the outdoor module from the bracket. It must be placed in a tight packaging container made of cardboard and coated around with foam. Then the brackets are unscrewed with wrenches or heads.
Condenser unit transportation is carried out only in vertical position.
Next, proceed to the dismantling of the indoor unit of the air conditioner, which must open the cover that protects the device. The module is held on both sides and unscrew the fasteners. Disconnect the pipe line, choke the ends of the tubes, disconnect all electrical interconnect wires and remove the unit from the mounting plate, opening the fastening latches and following the guides of the indoor unit.
Now they are moving to the removal of the fastening itself, the remaining pipeline and a decorative plastic box. Thus, the dismantling of the split system of the wall-mounted air conditioner is completely completed, and it remains only to carefully pack the system and move it to a new place.
If you do everything according to the proposed scheme, then with subsequent installation you will not have to completely fill the circuit with freon.
All the described works can be seen below on the video of the dismantling of wall-mounted air conditioners.
Dismantling a channel split system
The greatest difficulties arise with the independent dismantling of the duct air conditioner, since the weight of this design is significant, and you still have to disconnect the ducts from the blocks.
The toolbox in this case remains the same. Work begins with the dismantling of the ducts. Removed supply and exhaust adapters with a grill. Air ducts are removed by disconnecting them from the indoor unit. If they are metal, then unscrew the screws, flexible - remove the clamps. Next, Freon is pumped into the receiver of the external unit and engaged in its removal according to the dismantling scheme of the wall split system.
At the evaporative block, the fastening nuts are loosened, the freon line, drainage hose and electrical wires are disconnected. Next, carefully remove the block from the wall and pack it in a special container.
Some masters make the dismantling of the duct air conditioner with their own hands in the following order:
- Freon injection into the receiver of the external unit;
- removing the outdoor module and disconnecting its communications;
- air duct disconnection;
- dismantling the indoor unit of the air conditioner and its connecting communications;
- packing of a split system and its transportation.
Both options will be technically correct and will not bring subsequent problems with the functioning of the system in a new place.
Dismantling of column, cassette and console split systems
Column split system along with the wall does not present any difficulties in terms of dismantling. Everything goes the same way:
- checking pressure with a manometer and pumping freon into the internal module;
- disconnecting all of its connecting lines with the subsequent removal of the device from the outer wall of the building;
- disconnecting the connecting lines of the indoor unit of the air conditioner and its subsequent dismantling.
The indoor unit of the column does not have a mounting plate (like a wall), or studs (like a cassette, column and console), on which it would be mounted, so there are much less problems with it in this regard.
The cassette split system is dismantled according to the channel scheme. When working with the internal module, it is necessary to loosen the fastening nuts, and then perform the remaining manipulations. The only difference is that in this case there are no air ducts.
The indoor unit of the floor-ceiling (console) split system is attached to the wall or ceiling with studs, like a cassette or channel block. When removing it, instructions for dismantling the wall or channel split system will help.
Do not remove the outdoor unit during rain or snow, as moisture trapped inside the ports will damage the compressor.
Dismantling a split system in winter
Some difficulties arise if you have to dismantle the air conditioner yourself in the winter. What are the difficulties? The fact is that at outdoor temperatures below the permissible operating values of the device, it cannot be turned on, therefore, it is impossible to remove the working fluid from the line. In such cases, you will need a manometer station for collecting freon. The taps on the outdoor unit are closed, the station is connected to the shredder valve and the refrigerant is collected from the line and the indoor unit.
If this is not done, then a complete refrigerant leak will occur. You will have to re-fill the circuit and change the seals of the service ports. Therefore, it is better not to do the dismantling of the air conditioner with your own hands in winter.
You should watch the video of dismantling the wall split-system with your own hands for a complete picture of the process.
