Ductless Mini-Split: How to Take Apart & Clean DIY (Mitsubishi FH High Wall Series)
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- čas přidán 21. 11. 2016
- See a demonstration of taking apart and cleaning the Mitsubishi Electric FH-series ductless minisplit heat pump. Thanks to Garrett Beneker of Lincoln Air in Phoenix, AZ for sharing his expertise, and to Jim Clark of Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating for introducing us!
Here's the installation of this system: • Installing & Testing a... - Věda a technologie
I have searched videos everywhere online. I have 2 FH series 12000 BTU mini splits, so this has been the best video I have seen. Companies out there charge a fortune per unit to clean them and they are not as thorough as these. They spray, rinse and drain it into a bucket without taking the unit apart. Thanks again for an incredible video.
Awesome praise, thanks so much!
Purchased: August 2023 - still works GREAT!I czcams.com/users/postUgkxxsUnXhGsSJLim_XnMHyQK0u3XVaW-CGn live in a studio and during the summer it gets scorching hot - really old building with no ac units. I can’t express how EASY it was to install. This unit has been a life savior during the summer and some days during other seasons where it can still be a bit warm at night. In this small place is my friend, a husky, poodle mix and myself. We need AC - lolI don’t use the dehumidifier option - I’m not sure if it will leak in my house, since I did not install the small draining hose that came with it. May look into it late but I don’t worry about much humidity in the apartment. I don’t understand why the negative reviews since all things mentioned, I personally did not find issues with. Definitely worth it!
Huh? Where do you have the drain pan draining to? Water condenses on cold AC coils and the drain pain will fill with water.
A very lucid and well shot, well explained video. Calm, nice speaking voices and no excess verbage. One of the best I have seen while combing through youtube for how to dismantle, remove the blower wheel and clean the coils with the evap cleaner foam. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
High praise, thanks for following
You actually explained that in more detail than anyone else thanks mate from Australia
Happy to hear- glad you found us bud
Thank you so much for this video. Tilting the coil out of the way a few inches and removing the wheel made it possible to clean this MSZ-GE thoroughly like new. I could not find a tech who wanted to spend the time doing this like you guys, DIY'd it, and got the job done thanks to your video.
Wonderful! Glad to have helped!
The Hvac guy doing the cleaning had a simple articulate approach of explaining & great attitude thanks Home performance 👍
I took my time with our unit. Took a couple hours because it also ended up leaking all over the floor and other items. This was a great tutorial for what I needed to get the job done. Last time this leaked inside the house I used a bucket wet vacuum on the outside condensate line. For whatever reason ours gets clogged often. Seems like the whole unit should have been designed somehow so that this level of cleaning wasn't necessary.
At any rate, special thanks to you guys for the great video. Very much appreciated.
Great to hear we helped you, Kirk! That’s why we do this!
Finally, a good simple video! Mine started leaking the other day. Maintenance, hasn;'t been running calls because of the virus. After this video, I had it stripped down, cleaned out and back together in under 20 minutes. Thanks a ton!
Dude. Great story. So glad you found us.
Thank you guys soooo so much. Our apartment has this unit... wasn't used all winter and today noticed a massive amounts of white mold in this unit. Wouldn't have been able to take it apart and give it the cleaning it needed without this video.
** If anyone is hearing a loud knocking noise with the unit turned on after maintenance**
It is likely that the blower piece hasnt been put on the shaft far enough. I had to completely pull the unit apart again. Just loosen the screw slightly and push the unit from the left into the shaft a little more.
You are SO WELCOME. Grace and I love hearing that our vids help people like you!
By knocking noise do you mean like a helicopter?
I used this excellent video to clean my Mitsubishi MSZ-FE09. Garret Beneker knows what to say, and what not to say--no wasted time, and well produced. Even though my unit has additional sensors and bracketry, I was able to follow along and figure it out. The first one took a couple hours--I watched the video several times and followed it step-by-step, the next time I do it it'll be much faster!
Hell yeah my friend!
GREAT VIDEO ! START HERE IF YOU ARE TRYING TO CLEAN YOUR OWN UNIT. thanks guys for this video, Garret is one of the few Mitsu service guys who really knows what he's doing. Diamond indeed !
THANK YOU SIR
FH-series is the absolute pinnacle of split ductless heat pump design. I applaud your choice. It really is an excellent investment.
After numerous videos, yours was the one to help me get the outer cover off. Thanks for the detailed video and saving me $$$!
You’re very welcome, Todd! Glad you found us!
Awesome video! Short, down to business, informative and easy cleaning guide. Other videos got you buying cleaning kits and termite tenting then spraying down your ac unit lol. What a headache! You gave me hope for cleaning my 4 units in one weekend afternoon...THANK YOU!!
✊
Just took my M series apart to clean and adjust a noisy blower wheel. This video was super helpful. Thank!
So glad to hear! Congrats!
great video, clear and easy to follow. Note that spraying the foam on the coils can dislodge lots of water. Also, using a toothbrush to really clean into the plastic groves on each surface helped me. There are a lot of places were mold can accumulate. I made sure to open extra windows and doors to improve the ventilation for the foam cleaner. I'd recommend gloves as well.
Great advice all the way, Dan. Thanks!
I have cleaned my unit each year, but never took the blower fan out. It was So much easier and did a much, much better job now that you showed me how to do the job right. Thank you!
Great to hear!
Fantastic video from a pro to clean it the right way. I couldn't run this AC/Heat pump in my studio over the garage! It started to really bother my eyes and sinuses. I had no idea these units need regular cleaning for the mold (I've never cleaned the air handler in the attic in my whole house AC, and still no problems). Even still, I'm very happy with this unit which is the only heat and ac source for this space.
I have watched many CZcams videos on this subject and this by far the easiest to follow and understand!
I have had a 6k btu MSZ-FH06NA working in our tiny house for a year now and we started noticing that we could hear the fan and the air would blow inconsistently.
I followed the tutorial from this video and now it’s working like new again, quiet and a noticeable reduction in time to cool the tiny house.
In spite of cleaning the filters every 1-2 months, the blower fan was caked with build up. We have a dog and live in a rural setting so it seems like I’ll need to do this on an annual PM schedule.
Thank you!
One of the air handlers in my house had started rattling and the airflow seemed less than it had been. I have the exact model as the one in your video, and the video enabled me to take everything apart, clean and reassemble. It only cost me an $8 can of ac coil cleaner. It is working great now! Thanks for the informative easy to follow video!
HELL YEAH JUNICAT
Excellent video! Great walk-through of how to clean these units!
Thanks Doug!
Great video! Easy to understand and without the usual nonsense talking or annoying music. God job and thank you!
Thank you!
Just went through this exact procedure today with the help of this video. Had to pressure wash out the blower wheel, but now it looks like new! Thanks for this video!
So glad it helped you, John. I rewatch it every time I have to do it myself!
Just cleaned my minisplit, this video was amazing as it's the same model I have and made the job very easy! Thanks for posting!
🙌🏽
thanks so much guys.....tore mine down and cleaned today for the 1st time, had it almost a year.........oh my gawd!!! Surprised we are all not trying to eat each others brains! Back up and running, made a huge difference. I thought it was dying, turns out, was just filthy
thank again!!!
Glad to hear it!
Thank you!!! You have the best demo videos I could find + the best music. 🙂
just finished cleaning of mine after 5 years of usage, thanks for the video guys, did help
Great to hear- cheers
Well explained video. My Mitsubishi H2 unit was full of mold, by following this video I was able to disassemble, clean and reassemble the unit.
Great Video! Thorough and easy to follow,
Maybe a couple screw locations were not clear, but this is a great video for the homeowner or repairman. Thank you!
So glad it helps!
Excellent video, and super generous of the HVAC guy to share his knowledge.
Despite emitting a musty odor, my unit didn't initially seem that dirty. No streaks of dust on the blower wheel, and none of that black mildew anywhere inside. However, when cleaning the blower wheel, I found that a thorough outdoor rinsing with a garden hose (even at full blast) insufficient for removing the thin film of unknown substance collected on the undersides of the blower wheel fins. In the end, I had to manually scrub every fin individually with cotton q-tips - a very laborious process! Based on my experience, I would recommend anyone trying this themselves to spend the extra time needed to be a bit more meticulous with the blower wheel cleaning step.
Try using soap water next time instead of a q-tip!!!
Thank u
What about spraying it down with lemon scented Lysol, in addition to the soapy water?
I used kitchen degreaser diluted with water and a shoe polish brush, wheel like new
I have 3 of these exact units and was able to thoroughly clean them thanks to this video. I really appreciate it!
Wonderful, good work
Beautifull job, Thanks
Energywise Ductless Heat Pumps
Whidbey Island
Thanks for the run through. With the help of this a got mine spotless ( first deep clean since install 6 years ago )
NICE
Great video! Have installed many of these units but never needed to do a maintenance till I put one in my own house!
HAHA nice
This video is exactly what i needed! Thank you for being clear with every step.
Ours was so nasty! I jad no idea.
Funny story, i got everything reassembled and then when turned on, it made a noise... I hadn't tightened the screw holding on the blower wheel. I had to completely disassemble again. At least ot went quicker the second time.
Thanks again for a clear video.
Great video, cleaned mine in 1 hour following this video, thanks :)
You’re welcome Zoran! Glad you found us.
Great video.. thanks for the info! I'm going to be trying to clean my unit this afternoon! Wish me luck! :)
Good luck buddy! Be patient and give yourself room!
Thank you for this video! I have the same model, so disassemble and cleaning was exactly the same. Was afraid of breaking the plastic clips, but came apart without issue. Have to wait till the summer to clean the coils like you did with the cleaner. Thx again.
They break, now what?
This was extremely helpful. I have 4 units. No issues during the process but I chose to rinse the cleaner off the coils with a garden pump thingamajig. They didnt think about it during install to cover the drain pipes on the outside with a grate or anything. Had about 6 carpenter bees in each drain pan. Dead at least.
Yuck! Nice catch!
It is the best video that I have seen so far, thanks for sharing.
So glad it helped you!
My new heroes..I followed the video exactly and saved myself a big bill. Thank you so much. Two more to go....lol.
GOOOOOO CRYSTAL
I have the actual service manual for this, but that did not help one bit in taking the unit apart. This video however, was exactly what was needed to quickly take the whole thing apart, including the cylindrical fan. Thank you.
I know, right? That’s why we got Mitsubishi involved in the making of the vid- they hadn’t solidified a protocol before then.
I used your vid to irradiate the awful alpine condensate pump. Thank you!
This one video saves me $800 a year. Thank you
This is EXACTLY what I needed! I watched many videos that I was unhappy with before I stumbled upon yours. Thank you!
EXCELLENT to hear, Jayme!
John Thank you, very informative. I currently have a problem with the flappers. They won't open at all with the machine running.
could you please advise what the problem may be.
You should refer to your manual for troubleshooting and then hire a Mitsubishi diamond contractor.
Excellent video guys! Really best one out there - very clear and helpful!
+George Mandler thx for watching and complimenting!
clear and thorough presentation
Thx
glad I found this video. I already knew how the right side came apart (cn105 access) but not the entire unit and the little wiggle tricks needed.
Man did my oldest sons u it have mold. Took 3hrs to clean all the mold and that blower was caked with dust and mold. nasty!!! seems the air filters are not adequate enough. will need to clean this yearly going forwards.
As was stated by someone else, my blower was rubbing somewhere really bad, had to push all the way right. now it rubs less, maybe I moved it too far right. next time I pull it apart I'll have to adjust it again. .. again thanks for the great video.
Thank you for posting this tutorial. It helped me with cleaning my units.
The only thing I would add is that the drain pan is alot easier to reinstall if the coil mount screws are still loose on the left side of the unit. Once in place then tighten the mount screws. Regardless, very useful video. Thank you.
Wonderful, glad it helped.
Now , I need a video on how to level the unit!
Thank you so much for your video. It helped me out for sure.
Happy to hear it, Michael!
Awesome video. Thank you very much!
Glad you found us, Terry
From my experience at the Mitsubishi diamond dealer training center in Boston i was informed to never use anything but water to clean the coil because coil cleaners will strip the protective coating off the fins resulting in faster build up. I would prefer to use an actual cleaner over water. What are your thoughts?
Thansk a lot, very good and instructive clip! Helped me to clean my own.
This helped clean my unit! Thank you!
Glad to help, cheers
Great sharing. Thank you!
You’re welcome, glad you found us.
This was soooo helpful. Thank you!
This is the best heat pump maintenance video I've ever seen precise detail well done👏👏
Thanku..
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Millions of microscopic spores are floating in the air as he is wiping the “mildew” from the drain pan. We see HVAC techs normalize mold constantly. I can see why. That drain pan should have been cleaned outside. But thank you for this video! I learn so much from your vids. Almost every time I’m looking up something to do with IAQ or home performance, I’m brought here :)
Man these guys are trained to not sat mold smh
Thanks Pete! And don’t feel too hard on these guys- they’re not trained or equipped to do many of the things we explore on this channel, and they run from hot attic to nasty crawlspace all day. One of the most terrible jobs I can imagine, frankly.
@@HomePerformance 100% agreed! These guys see the worst of the worst daily. We need to change the standards of building and stop building vented dirt crawl spaces and unconditioned attics! Not to mention, placing HVAC installs in them, duh! Ultimately though, humans need to stop neglecting their homes…
This was super helpful! We had our unit in an attic that didn't see much action before, so we hadn't cleaned it more than washing the filters over the last five years. We've used the room as an office and now a hobby room, so a lot more dust has kicked up and a cat roams around, so I finally gave it a good cleaning. It would have taken way longer without this help!
Happy to help, Tom- thanks for sharing
Thank you very much. Cheers from Norway
Tusen takk Espein
this was absolutely clutch thank you
Glad it helped you Alden
Thank you this helped a great deal And now my AC is cool and the unit is blowing much harder.
Wonderful! Stay fit, Dad.
Wow! Thank you so much for this. I have had mini splits for about 3 1/2 years. I pay to have maintenance done twice a year. A leak has recently developed in the front of one of the units and I can see mildew in the back of both units. I have never seen them do this sort of maintenance on the air handlers. All they do is clean the air filters 😳 I thought it was strange they weren't doing these types of things. Thank you so much!! I will be in touch with my HVAC company to make them aware of what they ought to be doing with their maintenance routine.
Glad you found us, and good luck
@@HomePerformance Well, didn't have much luck in convincing them they should be doing the sort of maintenance. I got details on what they consider "maintenance". All it is is a look see inspection to how things are going. If you need anything done of the nature you guys were doing in this video, they will charge you to do it.
Same EXACT situation with us. Paid $400 for them to clean the air filters on 7 units. That's just insane. I called them and asked them why they don't do this level of service. They said, "We'll have our front desk schedule service." Nope. We'll do it ourselves now with this great info and it will be done right. Is there much difference with the MSZ models?
Should be about the same process, Debra- keep it up!
That’s wild because cleaning the air filters takes like 2 minutes and any able bodied person could easily do it
Thanks for the video! I have this exact same model and used it as a guide to do mine this afternoon
Always great to hear!
Do you have the FH series like the video? I did one of mine yesterday and was surprised to see rust on the right side of the coil. Also after reassembly the upper horizontal vanes don't seem to close as flush as the units I haven't taken apart yet.
yeah I do. Mine had some rust on the right side as well.. I think that's common on ductless as most of the videos I've seen have that. As for the vanes, it's not supposed to matter what position you put them back in as they should do a full sweep at startup to orient themselves
@@Cryptic1911
Mine do the full sweep and operate correctly, I just noticed the top vanes aren't fully closed and parallel with the front cover like the one in my son's room which hasn't been apart. I double checked and they're in right, not a big deal just being a bit particular I guess. I think the rust is normal there as well, they should have used stainless steel IMO.
Yeah I wish it was all stainless as well, but it's probably not nearly as good at heat transfer as copper and aluminum.. plus the cost :(
Thanks so much for this great tutorial! I followed along while cleaning my FH and everything was pretty much as seen. The only thing I ran into is that I had to pop off two little caps to reveal the bottom screws. I initially didn't notice the caps until I started getting the thing taken apart because they look like part of the housing. Fortunately ours didn't have any mold, however and unbeknownst to us, there was a bunch of blown in cellulose insulation that had come through where the hoses and cables pass through the wall and it filled all the spaces around i-See sensor servo.
Glad it helped
What a great video, thank you very much!!!
👍🏽👍🏽
Mildew also comes from not running these in Fan mode, after using as A/C, to give it time to dry, before turning it off.
Not mentioned, many health hazard warnings, on the evap cleaner foams: googles, gloves and high ventilation turnover needed when using these.
Thank you.
I’ve got 4 FH units.... I blow them out with compressed air every 2 months and spray coil cleaner after every Summer.
Great video! (HVAC-guy seal of approval)
+Neil Comparetto 😎
So... this video inspired me to clean my 2.5 y/o Daikin. Let's just say it's nowhere near as maintenance friendly as the Mitsubishi. 1 down, 3 to go.
+Neil Comparetto keep rockin it man
Excellent video
Video was super informative. The most important information I learned was that I would never have anything that needed that much maintenance in my home. What a user unfriendly design.
My air handler is 29 y/o. My filter is a Honeywell electronic air cleaner. I get no smell and I have never cleaned the evaporator coil.
It is not very easy to clean. But for once every maybe two years, it’s not too bad. It’s also exceptionally efficient, installed easily on my house which has hot water heat and therefore no ducts whatsoever. Each room has its own thermostat. Once it’s cleaned I know it’s completely clean. That said I wish it didn’t have so many plastic nooks and crannies to clean. But tbh it’s worth the advantages of the system. Mine never smelled, even though there was some buildup of gunk. I’d be scared to see what 29 years of no cleaning looks like, have you ever looked inside there?
Great video.👍
Thanks man
great info! Thanks!
Glad to help
Great vid. Used it today to save a great deal of $ on my cleaning. First cleaning since install 2 years ago. Now I am confident enough to do this every 6 months or so. Wife is black mold toxic.
Got any advice on the rotating electric eye noise. Kind of a clicking sound.
Thank you
Quite welcome
Wait, we're not just supposed to throw them away every few years like everything else? ;) Great stuff guys, keep it up!
Ha, Thanks P
The Mitsubishi rep should have provided a website for written instructions on this procedure.
Great video gents. You saved this retiree a little money.
I wish I had known about this when I had my unit installed 4 years ago. Now I'm sure I'll have quite a bit of cleaning to do and hope I can remember most of the instructions shown
Don’t have to remember, just come back and watch anytime
Sooo glad I ran into this video. My mini-split looks horrible. I thought the only thing I needed to clean was the filter. Also, your friend in all black looks like he ain't the one to play with. Like, on ANY given day, LOL.
Glad you found us too!
Just cleaned 9 of these. replacing the wheel on the larger units can be a nightmare. try placing the wheel centered on the shaft (maybe add some lithium lube) and push to the right while spinning until it snaps in. Can take a lot of trial and error.
this was excellent
Thx Pam
Very much appreciated!
👍🏽
@@HomePerformance Being not so brief, I've been getting some vibrations in my FH35, only cleaning filters every fortnight during the 4 years since installation. Your great video made me confident enough to get the fan wheel out, and o boy was it dirty. I ended up using a tiny brush to clean between all the blades, and cleaning everything else. Machine is like new again! Only thing I was unsure about was what kind of grease to use for the left bearing. I took a synthetic/ptfe grease and it seems to have worked fine, cleaning out the old stuff to avoid any mixing problems. Thanks again for taking the time to make such a comprehensive and easily understood video. I wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Thanks for sharing your journey my friend- so happy our work has helped you- Merry Christmas!
I have good results with mini uv lights really keep the mildew away. This is a problem in all mini splits even when they are installed correctly
Joe Shearer if you have uv resistant plastics than ok
That was what I was wondering. That and also do the lights make it more difficult to take the blower wheel out as it'll still need to be cleaned.
Interesting idea. Be aware though that the Mitsubishi Manuals have a trouble shooting entry for yellowing of plastics. The cause is exposure to UV light...
THX SO MUCH !
YOU ARE WELCOME SIR
Amazing good job
Thank you 😊
Helped me confirm an issue with my minisplit and identify another- it doesn't have a removable drain pan or any visible way to service the blower.
Damn
Thank you so much for rhe tutorial/video. Indeed one of the best video/tutorial/thos is how to do it I've seen. Been having issues with water dripping and with our Hospital maintenance crews busy elsewhere I'm glad I can do this and help them out. Will be passing this to our other crew members so they can also take care of the units in their rooms. Thanks again
One last thing.... any other alternative coil cleaning that can be purchased/used by us general public? If there is, can you update us? Thank you
Interesting, Juan, and happy to help! Quick search of Amazon for ‘A/C coil cleaner’ four stars and above shows 179 results. Have fun- with that much practice, your crew will be stellar.
Great helpful video - thank you. Did you forget to retighten the set screw on the blower wheel?
Thanks CC.
Thank you for the excellent video. My unit has been dripping water, with the drain pan overflowing. Do you have any tips / suggestions on cleaning / clearing the drain line from the unit? The rest of the unit seems clean.
www.oasiscoolingheating.com/blog/how-to-clean-your-condensate-drain
great video! I wanted to ask : I've cleaned everything and ok, now the "flaps" blades, touch each other a little while turning it on and off, I don't understand what is the problem, every seems fine, any idea? thank you a lot!
Thank so much for this video. Got some installed a month ago.
Off topic, do you think 811kWh extra for one month (27.97 kWh a day) to run 12000 and a 9000 head sound like a lot average temperature was 1C the coldest it got was -9C and 11c during the day. Good insulation in my house, had home inspectorcome for rebate for heat pump and insulation and windows. Heated my house to 18c. I have the cold climate system. As I'm in ontario. I had to have the remote set at 22C to even achieve 18c on the negative days. But on the days where it was above 0 it got up to 20c or 21c.
Just wondering if i have a refrigerant problem. My tech guy says well it blows out warm air so it is fine.
Thank again!!!! Love you video. Learning so much.
They get installed and then it feels like I'm all on my own. So got to do my own research. And your channel is my favorites for learning about split heat pumps.
great video! about to tackle my unit tomorrow... 2 questions for you: how does the drip pan just hang there? Is it made to do that (just want to be sure I don't damage it) and instead of removing the blower wheel - could I just use a soft small brush and vacuum up the debris? Not so sure I want to remove the wheel. Thanks!!
Yes, the drip pan is fitted in place and will stay attached if you get it out of the way. Trust me, take the blower wheel out. You want to wipe behind where it sits anyway, and you’ll have gone 95% of the way there already.
Have the split system Mitsubishi and have a few questions. Does it matter the outside unit is in a flower bed full of mulch not rock, for the dust factor? And what to use to clean drains, I have the bigger units down by the floor. And it seems even though I keep good cleaning on filters the barrel fan gets this black build up and starts spitting it out of vent. What if anything can I do to prevent this? Please help......
HVAC is what I do for a living and I would like to relieve my customers of this grief of having to go through this cleaning process due to mold mildew funguses that grow in different areas of the country that are more or less prevalent in different regions. This is why I install the RGF mini on all my small residential condensing heads to reduce or eliminate molds and fungus growth. The RGF unit creates a peroxide molecule that stir lyses the evaporator coil and drain pan and fan blades that developed a mildew that grow on their surface. Some contractors may argue that I'm giving service away and I'm making less money by not having the customer call me back for a few hundred dollars to clean out their air handler. But I happy customer with fewer maintenance callbacks will be your best advertisement, if they know you have their best interest to save them money and not just thinking about your own pocket and trying to pocket their money into your wallet.
+t lech great solution! thx!
When a customer delves too deep and screws up, guess who needs to come save the day?? Soo many people overstep themselves and expect techs to come immediately to remedy their self-imposed screw-up!!! CALL a tech!!
+Atom Atom quite true, but what if there are no local techs who will perform? What if there are, but they don't call you back?
I cleaned 2 and everything came out fine. Another units blower wheel looked clean and no mold was visible so i just sprayed the coil and let the condensate run out the drain pan.
How about adding an additional layer of filter material on top of the air handler? Will that help cut down the dirt on the blower?
Illustrates how poorly these air handlers are designed. It's analogous to removing a car engine to change the air filter. But the car engine filter will not blow all kinds of mold spores around. The minisplit (and all air handlers) bower fan should snap out for monthly cleanings like the filter!
You'll love this then:
czcams.com/video/81a1nhQhbyE/video.html
That's what I'm talking about! Thanks.
So what is it anchored to? What is it latched to so I know it is securely attached? Thanks.