Shinco problems

Hi
I have a 12000 btu shinco unit kfr-35gwz/bm

The unit appears to work ok in cooling mode however it "cycles" in heating mode and also doesnt seem to defrost properly

The compressor will ramp up and run for a few minutes and then cut out, the indoor unit will go into stand by for a few minutes and then the compressor will kick back in and run for a few minutes and kick out again.

I manually defrosted the unit today by puting the unit to ac and ran it until the outside unit was ice free. durring this ac cycle i took the following readings

indoor air temp sensor 20
indoor pipe temp sensor 19
outdoor air temp sensor -1
outdoor pipe temp sensor 1 to 3
outdoor discharge sensor temp 22 to 14
compressor current 0.5 to 1.0
DC voltage 31
Compressor Frequency 40

Once the unit was ice free i flipped it over to heat and took the following readings as the unit was warming up but before the inside unit started cranking out any real heat

indoor air temp sensor 20
indoor pipe temp sensor 20 to 25
outdoor air temp sensor -2
outdoor pipe temp sensor -1 to -2
outdoor discharge sensor temp 11 to 14
compressor current 1.4 to 3.9
DC voltage 29 to 30
Compressor Frequency 47 to 78

once the unit started cranking out heat (indoor unit light went solid to indicate heating mode and louvres started moving) i took these readings

indoor air temp sensor 23
indoor pipe temp sensor 39
outdoor air temp sensor -2
outdoor pipe temp sensor --8
outdoor discharge sensor temp 36
compressor current 4.7
DC voltage 29
Compressor Frequency 75

the unit ran for a few minutes and the outside unit/compressor cut out and the inside unit went into standby/anti cool/;ight blinking mode and i immediately took these readings

indoor air temp sensor 24
indoor pipe temp sensor 41
outdoor air temp sensor -2
outdoor pipe temp sensor -6
outdoor discharge sensor temp 43
compressor current 0
DC voltage 32
Compressor Frequency 0

after a few minutes the compressor kicked back in and i took these readings

indoor air temp sensor 21
indoor pipe temp sensor 14
outdoor air temp sensor -2
outdoor pipe temp sensor 0
outdoor discharge sensor temp 24
DC voltage 29
Compressor Frequency 54

Any insight is appreciated

all readings are in celcius. I found this online but most of it is greek to me. ive had hvac guys out and know i'll likely need one again but just want to eliminate as much as possible first. I just had to drop a wad on a new fujitsu unit to replace an 18000 btu shinco that had an undetectable leak that i had 2 compaies try to isolate so ii'm trying to check out as much as i can first. I can check resistance in sensors etc and check any electrical readings, just nothing to do with the gasses.
http://www.thermospace.com/shinco/In...ice_Manual.PDF

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?bqkkeeh5e0kxb32 service manual, check discharge pipe temp is within range, also your dc voltage seems low

how do i check it other than taking the readings i gave above? i have a laser temp gun but i dont know where to take readings on the pipe with it.
what would cause the voltages to be low?

thin pipe on the compressor- may need to remove access cover for the compressor, use a cable tie or insulation tape to check the pipe temp whilst running. as for inverter voltage it states on page 58:When voltage value lower than 190V and keep for 10s, the low voltage protection start,
and when voltage value rise to 195V and keep for 10s, the low voltage proteccion finish.
When voltage value lower than 158V, the unit turn off, when voltage rise to 162V, keep
for 10s, the unit restart

i'm assuming the voltage reading i have is not the same reading that is looking for. the one i have says its dc and the display has no way of displaying 3 digits.
I'm not sure i follow what you mean to use a cable tie.... you mean use a cable tie to hold a probe to the pipe?

yep cable tie your probe to the pipe, if you cannot check a 3 digit dc voltage, can you test the running current as the power enters the outdoor unit, not on the wiring from the pcb to the compressor, on the terminals on the outdoor. if we ignore your 37v dc reading then indoor pipe sensor in heating mode should be over 30deg otherwise the indoor fan will stay in low speed, indicating either dirty coil,or low refrigerant

Quote:

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Originally Posted by afss

i'm assuming the voltage reading i have is not the same reading that is looking for. the one i have says its dc and the display has no way of displaying 3 digits.
I'm not sure i follow what you mean to use a cable tie.... you mean use a cable tie to hold a probe to the pipe?

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IM, he only has an infra red temperature gun so no probe to improve the reading accuracy.

i havent had a chance to take the temps but i did put the unit into "auto" mode and the thing ran for ages in ac mode with no problems, switched it back to manual heat only and it went back into its cylce of heat for a few minutes then kick out and then back through again. Dont know if this would help isolate the potential problem.

discharge pipe sensor at 70c verified byt 2 different sensors by reading the resistance on them as soon as the unit shuts off. I'm thinking its not likely a too hot on the discharge issue now and am thinking it is either the heat on the compressor itself or the inside coil temp too high.
I noticed the other day there was a lot of build up on the squirl cage style fan on the head and cleaned it off. Im now wondering if i may have some dirt build up on the inside coil not allowing it to wick the heat away fast enough. Can a person clean this coil while the unit is on the wall or does it have to be removed by a tech and cleaned that way?

ok, well this blows my mind.
i took the cover off the head unit to get at the sensors etc to check the pipe temps. When i took the cover off i turned the unit on and it ran, and ran, and ran, and ran... well you get the idea, no problems. So i figured with the cover off it must have increased the air flow. I checked the fins over and they looked clean, a few odd pieces of hair and some dust. i tried some compressed air and not much moved. i figured i may as well see if i could clean it so i killed the power and sprayed a small area of the fins down with some spray nine and let it sit for 8-10 minutes and then sprayed it with water. I couldnt believe the difference in the look of the fins after doing this so i did the entire head unit as well as the cage fan. i placed towels on the floor and sprayed the fan and let the dust and water drip off it. Not a whole lot of dust came off the fan and it didnt look like a whole lot came off the fins, just a fine coating. Any way, put it back together, let it dry for a bit and then fired it up and it still works.
For the record i have no idea if this is generally considered safe or acceptable and have no idea what sort of risk of damage to the unit or other this may carry. I tried it at my own risk, if you try it its at your own risk too. I am not recommending it.

bet your discharge pipe isn't 70deg now, ive done your method of cleaning out a wall mount , its messy but effective

just curious, what should the discharge pipe be at?

Cleaning the fins wasnt messy at all, what ever mess there was went out the drain line, the fan, the fan was a huge mess lol..... glad my wife wasnt home lol

ok, so it got colder last night and the damn thing seems to be back into its cycle. I timed it last night and its a 3 minute shut off for the compressor. The manual tells me that either the compressor is overheating or the ocr is tripping. What is the ocr? and why is the compressor overheating, if it is?

ocr- overcurrent relay- a small device next to the compressor terminals looks like a watch battery- if theres 5 wires to the compressor- if theres 3 wires to the compressor then the overcurrent protection is in the compressor windings and inaccessible. if the compressor relay is energised still when the compressor stops- usually the condenser fan will continue to run then ur compressor is on its way out- you need to clip the running current of the compressor to compare to the manual- I had a Panasonic unit 8yr old and was tripping every 11 days replaced the compressor relay as the contacts were pitted

Yeah this thing trips or resets every well i dont know 8-10 minutes. i'm going to time it tonight. When it dies you can hear the compresor unit ramp up just before it cuts, the compressor outside cuts. The head unit blows for roughly 2 minutes give or take, then slows down, then almost if not completely stops and then the compressor kicks back in. If its not exactly 3 minutes its damn close between the compressor kicking out and turning back on.
Pretty sure by memory its 3 wires to the compressor but i'll check it out.

I know i'm grasping at straws here but the emergency/reset button inside the head unit looks damaged/doesnt seem to do anything, are they a normally closed system that when you push the button breaks a circuit or a normally closed circuit that when you push the button closes the circuit? I doubt its related but meant to ask that any way.

Ive said it before, i'll say it again, spend a few extra bucks and buy a good name unit, not a shinco or similar

the emergency/reset button on the indoor is for when -ur batteries run out on the controller as your too tight to replace them or you throw the remote at the unit as I isn't working- this button should run the unit in 24deg auto mode and low fan speed. try it

the reset button was busted, luckily had a spare board around and swaped it. The emergency/reset button on these if pressed once just resets the unit.