Airwell Florida - outside unit won't work - no error LED

[AndY1]

My AC, so far, worked well, including this winter, when it was heating my apartment.

Yesterday, I tried to turn it on to cool the apartment.
1. Inside unit turns on, without any error signal and starts to blow air.
2. On the outside unit, the fan starts blowing fully, then I hear a gentle crackling noise inside the unit for 5 seconds. After that, the fan starts to blow gentler and it again starts gentle crackling noise inside the unit for 5 seconds. After that, the fan on the outside unit turns off completely and the whole outside unit is turned off. Inside unit still blows air and there's no error led lit.

I tried with the heating program, but the result is the same.

What could it be?

Thank you for your replies!

[tradybrad]

without model info etc just stabbing in the dark could be a burnt out connection or failed run/start cap contactor issue or even compressor problem

[AndY1]

The company is Ariwell and the AC Unit is called Florida (I think). They're not producing it anymore. It's 4 years old.

I just talked to the repair engineer and it will come this afternoon to check it out. I'll post the findings here.

[AndY1]

Ok, repair engineer called me an we went through a test procedure. He told me to hold the MODE button, on the inside unit, for five seconds, which starts the procedure and shows a sequence of lights for internal unit which were as follows:
2-2-1-2-1 (the number indicates the numbers of LEDs (LED of the HEAT and LED for the COOL) lit)

Then I pressed a MODE button again, but quickly. That switched to diagnostics of the external unit:
1-2-1-2-2

Can anyone tell me the results of the above diagnostics test? The guy wasn't in the office, but on the field, so he wasn't able to check the codes, but said he will do it when he get's there.

Edit: He called me from the office. Diag codes indicate that the compressor is blocked. Whether the outside's unit electronics is gone or if it's the compressor, he couldn't tell. He, at the moment, doesn't have any spare parts, so I'll have to hold until Monday.

[fancy]

i had a same problem..
i had to replace outdoor unit...
good luck..

[AndY1]

Thankfully it was only the outside ambient temperature sensor that was faulty and software prevented the compressor to start.

The most interesting part of it was, that notebook diagnostics software, which was connected to the unit, was showing the correct outside temperature, but still, when the service engineer replaced one after another, as he found no other problems, when he replaced the outside ambient temperature sensor, then the compressor started to work.

Interesting, even though the old sensor was showing the correct temperature, the compressor was blocked by the software. When the sensor was replaced with a new one, everything started to work.

If I had to replace the whole outside unit, which costs aprox. 600 EUR, I'd get a new Mitsubishi AC for a fraction of a cost more.
They're so much improved now compared to these 4 years old models. Quieter outside unit by a 10dB and higher COP rating.

But now, that this one is fixed, I'm a happy camper :-)

[fancy]

good for you,
you were lucky...
as you said ,AC is 4 years old ,so it is out of warranty....
your service engineer seems like a realy good person!
he could easily make you buy a new AC,and put a bit more money into his pocket ))
ps.: how much did you pay?
regards

[AndY1]

He's a good friend of mine :-)

I haven't received a bill yet, but I will post here when I will.

BTW: They're not installing Airwell ACs anymore. They prefer Mitsubishi.