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chillymatt
24-02-2008, 03:05 PM
Hi ,
I have a small job to to do putting a casette unit up on a ceiling - thats ON the ceiling not IN the ceiling. The unit has been left outside for ages and the outdoor unit is in a bit of a state etc. I have told the guy that I cant take responsibility for it not working once I have re-installed it.
But I wondered if anyone can think of any obvious nightmare issues I may have in doing this.
I am basically putting the ceiling cassette on the ceiling ( customer will wrap around and enclose)
Connecting the pipework and electrics vac, charge and run.
It seemed pretty straight fwd to me although I have started thinking of potential problems like no controller, dirt in the cassette unit, problems on the condenser etc. The Casstte unit is really designed to be in the roof void not on top of the ceiling.

Wondering if i have taken on a nightmare.

chily matt

The Viking
24-02-2008, 03:13 PM
When you say "on top of the ceiling", I assume that you mean below the ceiling?

"has been left outside for ages"
"outdoor unit is in a bit of a state"
"potential problems"
....

You don't know the history of this unit....
You know you will get problems getting paid if it doesn't start up.....

Walk away.

chillymatt
24-02-2008, 03:21 PM
hi there,

Yes I am iclined to agree. Yes I mean below the ceiling. The guys says it was running fine and then they had building works done. Disconnected it and now want it back up. I was going tp get him to sign something re: it not firing up.
The outdoor unit has been pumped down and valves closed allegedly. But the valve 'seats' are rusty etc.
Think you are talking sense re: troubles. Maybe should just try and flog him a new ceiling mounted system. I just know he doesnt have a lot of budget .

Chillymatt

paul_h
24-02-2008, 05:04 PM
Hey if you need the money...
I mean really need the money to put food on the table, then make sure the agreement is water tight, and go along with it if you must.
Massive alarm bells here though, if it was properly decommisioned, why aren't the guys that decommisioned it doing the refit.
Could be that they are really busy, but if he can't give you the name of the people who did it, it could have been done by a builder who stuffed up the system in the process.

It really depends on how reliable you think the customer is, (as in following his word to pay you for labour even if the system doesn't work), and how well it was decommisioned.
I did a job for someone who wanted a split reinstalled once. Valves weren't capped, no refrigerant in the system. Straight away I know monkeys have ripped this system out. No fridgey would lose the ref charge as you can pump them down, no fridgey would leave the valves uncapped.
That was a huge risk in my opinion, odds of something like the compressor being stuffed were high, odds of the customer blaming me because it "was working when it was pulled out" and I'd cop the blame for a bad install.
I only did it because my brother knew them and wouldn't leave me high and dry, he would make sure his customer paid. If it was between me and someone off the street, I wouldn't touch the job unless I was hungry or did the decommisioning myself.

Brian_UK
24-02-2008, 10:48 PM
If you decide to go ahead with this then I would suggest a test run first.

Connect some pipework between the two units while they are both on the ground and un-installed. Get some power to the unit and after having evacuated the pipework and evaporator open the service valves and see what pressure you get.

If there isn't any pressure then it is decision point number one. Do you proceed knowing that the condensing unit was without gas or holding charge.

If there is some pressure then try running the unit up to see if it works. - Decision point two, do you want to continue.

At least you will have saved time, effort and cost in erecting the unit to find it doesn't work.

frank
24-02-2008, 10:51 PM
There's only one answer here - payment up front or walk away.

Have the pipes on the cassette been brazed up? a good sign that it was de-commissioned correctly.
Is it running on R22? - is it worth installing given the upcoming phase out. etc etc.

taz24
24-02-2008, 10:55 PM
payment upfront

taz

nedgus2
25-02-2008, 12:28 AM
give it a miss mate , i have had similar situations like that myself , odds are you will end up putting the system in and if it works and thats a big if, it probably will go down a couple of weeks after installation , then you will end up with this chap giving you grief why its not working etc ,
i fit a hitachi 14 kw cassette for a chap a few months ago , it had been removed by builders [ not good ] the place was being revamped , it didnt matter that he had spent best part of £85,000 on interior decor etc , bearing in mind this unit was his only source of heating , i guess it was at least 12 hard years old , but never the less it had to go back in , once installed i run the system up , yes it worked ,but the vibration from the condensing unit [ compressor getting tired ] sounded like a 747 on take off , directly on the outside of the ala carte restaraunt , in my opiniun tell the tight git to invest in a new system,
if not like the other chap said , get a signed disclaimer .