Air Conditioner Puzzle

[stem]

I have a portable aircon unit (Delonghi Pinguino F11) which A colleague & I bought second hand to use in our office this summer. The office is 3m x 3m and just contains 2 PC's and us. In operation, the compressor can be heard running, and hot air is expelled out of the window via the vent hose. however, the air coming out of the grille at the front doesn't seem to be significantly cooler than with just the fan blowing. We ran it yesteday for half an hour and there was no change in the room temperature. Any suggestions?

 

[dynomo]

This unit is very basic. To start off with, I would check all filters and give them a thorough clean. Does your system have a water tank?
Worst case scenario is that you may have lack of refrigerant in the system which prohibits the unit from optimal function. But I doubt this is the problem here.

 

[stem]

Thanks Dynomo

There is a watertank but it's to collect condensate, not add to the cooling and it's empty at the moment.

I already cleaned the filters and there's a good air flow out of the grille it's just not very cold.

I guess there is refrigerant in the system because heat comes from the exhaust hose. Is there a way to check the refrigerant without specialised equipment? (my Honda Accord had a glass bowl in the A/C pipeline and I could check for air bubbles)

Having checked out the rating of the machine it's 1905W which I calculate is about 6,500 BTU/h which is not a lot, so perhaps I'm expecting too much from it.

 

[dynomo]

Thanks Dynomo

There is a watertank but it's to collect condensate, not add to the cooling and it's empty at the moment.

I already cleaned the filters and there's a good air flow out of the grille it's just not very cold.

I guess there is refrigerant in the system because heat comes from the exhaust hose. Is there a way to check the refrigerant without specialised equipment? (my Honda Accord had a glass bowl in the A/C pipeline and I could check for air bubbles)

Having checked out the rating of the machine it's 1905W which I calculate is about 6,500 BTU/h which is not a lot, so perhaps I'm expecting too much from it.

im afraid you need specialised equipment to check the refrigerant volume in your particular system. it is hard to give you a concise breakdown of the actual problem without analysing it myself. But with the price you pay for someone to come out to inspect, you may aswell buy a spanking new 1!! I suspect this unit cost you a little under £50, please tell me you didn't pay any more than this!!
For a 3m x 3m office, the Delonghi F11 does suffice. But then again, the fact that you have 2 pc's running can no doubt reduce the efficiency of the system. It may well be that the system is nackered as you mention that you did purchase it second hand. The only way to check this will be to connect to a manifold guage to check pressure and refrigerant volumes. Depending on your area, make a few calls to local companies, you should be able to get your system serviced for under £100. But some companies bare in mind only touch professional equipment and may turn you away, so a bit of a tedious task, but Im sure you'll find some nut who will take on the job. At the moment AC installers are mega busy, bare that in mind.
The water tank should be filling once the system is in operation and in cooling mode, you mentioned that it is currently empty? Leave the system running for a little while and double check the water discharge.

I am a specialist in Split-Air AC systems and have been installing for over 2 years now. They are far more efficient and last you a life time if maintained and serviced properly. I would recommend a new unit, preferably a 9,000BTU portable but if you can affford to spend a little more, then get a split air unit installed..

Better get to BnQ pronto because where I am, they are completely out of stock!! blimmin summer, has got evrybodys panties in a twist!!!

 

[racket]

The water tank should be filling once the system is in operation and in cooling mode, you mentioned that it is currently empty? Leave the system running for a little while and double check the water discharge.

Or just get a thermometer and check that the air is cooler coming out of the unit that it is going into the unit

 

[stem]

The water tank should be filling once the system is in operation and in cooling mode, you mentioned that it is currently empty? Leave the system running for a little while and double check the water discharge.

The instructions say that the unit "employs an exclusive condensation recycling system to dispose of excess moisture. In normal conditions condensation is disposed of automatically....Only when humidity is particularly high condensation may build up in the tank."

Having said that when I brought it home from work in the car it leaked a lot of water from somewhere (I have not used it since to allow the refrigerant to settle)

I would recommend a new unit, preferably a 9,000BTU portable but if you can affford to spend a little more, then get a split air unit installed..

The problem with a fixed unit is that the company keeps down sizing (there are 30 of us left in a building that contained over 300) and closing off more of the building so we are constantly moving office. Also we have been told for the last 5 years we will be moving off site imminently. Now we've just been told that we will be here until September, we couldn't bear the thought of another roasting summer in our roof top sweatbox so the two of us clubbed together to buy it.

I suspect this unit cost you a little under £50, please tell me you didn't pay any more than this!!

err.... £67 actually.... although I don't feel too bad about that as someone's just paid £87 for one here.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=230119163249&rd=1&rd=1

It probably is working only it doesn't produce as much cold air as the fixed systems you refer to and than I am more used to. I think we will try to sell it and buy a bigger one.

Or just get a thermometer and check that the air is cooler coming out of the unit that it is going into the unit

I will try that, although the key to the issue is wether it cools the office down or not.

Oh well, roll on autumn...