Install ductless mini-split
Re: Install ductless mini-split
Picked up the remainder of the Rectorseal line set cover stuff from FW Webb. I added two more elbows bringing the total cost to about $678 before tax. If I bought three Mr Cool kits plus an additional 48" section (to match the 10 Rectorseal ones I have), plus two more elbows, that would be about $500. I don't know that $178 motivates me enough to continue to delay this project. I don't think it does. The reason I wanted the Rectorseal kit in the first place is because Mr Cool doesn't have inside/outside elbows. Or a tee. But I also don't fully like the way the wall cover mates with the Mr Cool wall tube flange. And I did demonstrate that I could probably adapt the inside/outside Rectorseal elbows to the Mr Cool parts.
Re: Install ductless mini-split
Drilling the holes and hanging the inside units was easy, as anticipated. In the end I had placed the template in a good spot in the living room to adhere to the min set back dimensions for the large 18k unit.
Then I began the line set cover process which is so tedious. It's basically carpentry with plastic. Measure, cut, level, screw. I did the upstairs 25' line set first as this one was going to not have a lot of extra line so it could potentially drive condenser placement. Fortunately, I did my homework correctly and I think that will work out fine. The living room 16' line set is way too long (as expected) by at least 4 feet I think.
Anyway, got both line sets rough hung and torqued. Initially I placed the left lower elbow in such a way as to decline the horizontal part of the line set as it ran toward the right. This was dumb. So I ended up removing the last vertical piece on the left, using my last 48" section and cutting it longer. This was better. Today I think it's all about the condenser. I need to rake the mulch away from the areas where the condenser will go and maybe where I think I may be able to transplant two of the boxwoods. Then I will buy landscaping stone, dump many bags of that on the dirt, level and compact it. I'll place the pad I got on that and somehow lift the 27k condenser up on those rails. I need to fit up the lines and do a leak check and I hope I can accomplish this today. Ideally I can also install my whip and power the condenser to do a system check, as well.
After that it is just tidying up the install. Most or all of this will likely happen next weekend.
- Sound deadening wrap on upper line set fittings
- Upper line set insulation
- Tie wrap the line set which I didn't do with my previous installs but seems like a good idea particularly for the upstairs line routing situation
- UV tape wrap the parts of the line set by the condenser that will remain exposed
- Measure and cut the line set covers, and install the inside and outside elbows
- More insulating at the condenser side of the lines
Then I began the line set cover process which is so tedious. It's basically carpentry with plastic. Measure, cut, level, screw. I did the upstairs 25' line set first as this one was going to not have a lot of extra line so it could potentially drive condenser placement. Fortunately, I did my homework correctly and I think that will work out fine. The living room 16' line set is way too long (as expected) by at least 4 feet I think.
Anyway, got both line sets rough hung and torqued. Initially I placed the left lower elbow in such a way as to decline the horizontal part of the line set as it ran toward the right. This was dumb. So I ended up removing the last vertical piece on the left, using my last 48" section and cutting it longer. This was better. Today I think it's all about the condenser. I need to rake the mulch away from the areas where the condenser will go and maybe where I think I may be able to transplant two of the boxwoods. Then I will buy landscaping stone, dump many bags of that on the dirt, level and compact it. I'll place the pad I got on that and somehow lift the 27k condenser up on those rails. I need to fit up the lines and do a leak check and I hope I can accomplish this today. Ideally I can also install my whip and power the condenser to do a system check, as well.
After that it is just tidying up the install. Most or all of this will likely happen next weekend.
- Sound deadening wrap on upper line set fittings
- Upper line set insulation
- Tie wrap the line set which I didn't do with my previous installs but seems like a good idea particularly for the upstairs line routing situation
- UV tape wrap the parts of the line set by the condenser that will remain exposed
- Measure and cut the line set covers, and install the inside and outside elbows
- More insulating at the condenser side of the lines
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Re: Install ductless mini-split
Sunday was indeed all about the condenser, and things around the condenser. I did not have a firm plan for the base so I just kind of winged it from my previous thoughts. Ended up starting by moving the mulch and digging up the two middle boxwoods. Then I dumped some general purpose landscaping rock in there but clearly that was dumb. There was no way that would compact and just hold weight without something to contain it. So back to home depot for some concrete block. Ended up building kind of a rectangle but it was fun trying to level everything in both directions. If I had smaller stone for the base that would have helped. But I made it work. I then realized that dumping all 12 bags in there was too much stone to work with while leveling the blocks. So I had to shovel half of it into a wheelbarrow. THEN I was able to complete one level of a rectangle, with 9 blocks. Leveled and compacted the stone in the middle and realized I needed another layer. Conveniently I bought 20 concrete blocks so I just used another 9, set them in a non-overlapping pattern and completed a second layer. Dumped the rocks back into the hole, leveled, compacted. Found a few extras laying around to finish and that was about perfect. Back raked the mulch. Honestly, this isn't too bad. It is pretty level, too. That took me up to like 2:15pm, just to get this far. Then it was condenser time. Got that placed on the rails (which just sit on the plastic pad). Next was the challenge of wrangling the lines to hook up. This was the next step as I had to do a leak check. Hooked up, opened up both A and B valves, plus king valves, and checked all fittings with soapy water. Good to go. Next was electrical. By about 5:15 I was about ready to test run this thing. It is pulled out a bit because it was so hard to work behind the unit. I probably should have wrangled the lines roughly into place before placing the condenser. I could have easily measured to see where the lines would need to line up. Poor planning. But yes, it worked great. Tested full heat and full A/C on both upstairs and downstairs units.kevm14 wrote: Sun May 31, 2026 6:44 am Today I think it's all about the condenser. I need to rake the mulch away from the areas where the condenser will go and maybe where I think I may be able to transplant two of the boxwoods. Then I will buy landscaping stone, dump many bags of that on the dirt, level and compact it. I'll place the pad I got on that and somehow lift the 27k condenser up on those rails. I need to fit up the lines and do a leak check and I hope I can accomplish this today. Ideally I can also install my whip and power the condenser to do a system check, as well.
Then it was time to struggle with the smart USB AC controller dongle thing. On my previous air handlers, you just pop the front cover open, and there is an exposed USB port that you plug the dongle into. Spent way too long looking and didn't find anything. None of the instructions had anything that I could see. The box for the dongles had instructions but they seemed to be unchanged from the previous generation. Copilot was useless though it tried. Eventually I realized the display module had a little wifi type symbol on it. So I pried that off and sure enough there was a USB plug inside. Annoying. Then I bricked it during setup by tapping back instead of continue after entering my guest wifi password. GREAT. Borrowed the second one, did NOT make this mistake, and that seemed to go perfectly. I submitted a request to IWAE to see if they'll just send me another one (or tell me how to reset it).
Later I went back out even as it had started to drizzle to transplant the boxwoods. Had to move my stone landscaping border a bit so now it looks a little out of place. Spec says no obstructions closer than 20" to the fan outlet, which I will meet. It's also not fully obstructed. This isn't perfect but it does somewhat conceal the unit from pretty much any angle, including the driveway. That's really all I can ask for I think. Sunday was a long day. And I'm not done yet. But the system is roughed in and works at least.
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Re: Install ductless mini-split
Then last night I chipped away at stuff.
Got the bed room lines insulated and began the line set cover process. The inner/outer elbow situation requires a lot of custom cutting and adjusting of the plastic for a clean install but it's worth the effort. It's like carpentry with plastic. Just slow.
Had the bedroom set on 69F which is our night time cooling setting. The outside unit was totally just idling and everything seemed happy and properly throttled. Maybe I didn't need to be worried about that part. So much for trying to read spec sheets. This Rectorseal stuff is more glossy but also heavier duty and seems to be a more engineered system with some interesting configurability. It is more complicated to work with but I like it. I don't know if the glossy finish would take paint like the matte Mr Cool covers, though.
Got the bed room lines insulated and began the line set cover process. The inner/outer elbow situation requires a lot of custom cutting and adjusting of the plastic for a clean install but it's worth the effort. It's like carpentry with plastic. Just slow.
Had the bedroom set on 69F which is our night time cooling setting. The outside unit was totally just idling and everything seemed happy and properly throttled. Maybe I didn't need to be worried about that part. So much for trying to read spec sheets. This Rectorseal stuff is more glossy but also heavier duty and seems to be a more engineered system with some interesting configurability. It is more complicated to work with but I like it. I don't know if the glossy finish would take paint like the matte Mr Cool covers, though.
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Re: Install ductless mini-split
IWAE told me to call Cielo who is the vendor for that. I called them, someone picked up, I told them my problem, they told me they can see 4 of my units. I gave them zero info. They had my number on file from previous issues I guess for my other units in the past. Wow. I am just stunned. Anyway, he said I need to plug in the "bricked" dongle and they will try some stuff. Also impressively, their hours are 9am to 9pm so that is incredibly flexible. This was a 3 minute phone call, from dial to hang up. Again, I'm stunned. If I had thought to plug in the bricked unit to my 18k, maybe we could have made progress but it would be better if I was home.kevm14 wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 4:33 am Then it was time to struggle with the smart USB AC controller dongle thing. On my previous air handlers, you just pop the front cover open, and there is an exposed USB port that you plug the dongle into. Spent way too long looking and didn't find anything. None of the instructions had anything that I could see. The box for the dongles had instructions but they seemed to be unchanged from the previous generation. Copilot was useless though it tried. Eventually I realized the display module had a little wifi type symbol on it. So I pried that off and sure enough there was a USB plug inside. Annoying. Then I bricked it during setup by tapping back instead of continue after entering my guest wifi password. GREAT. Borrowed the second one, did NOT make this mistake, and that seemed to go perfectly.
I submitted a request to IWAE to see if they'll just send me another one (or tell me how to reset it).
Re: Install ductless mini-split
Got home, plugged in USB dongle, called Cielo. Same guy answers. First he tells me to press LED on the remote 7 times. Didn't fix anything. Then he said to press set and then up. And press ok after the wifi symbol on the remote. This seemed to reset the dongle. The wifi light on the inside unit was blinking, and the wifi SSID suddenly switched to the correct thing that my phone detected. I was able to complete setup no issues. Call time from dial to hang up: under 5 minutes. Unbelievable.
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Re: Install ductless mini-split
Made more progress last night. Got the upstairs line set covers completed and snapped in down to the bottom elbow. Tie wrapped stuff internally. Turns out I must have used a 16 foot condensate hose because it was a bit too short. Fortunately I was able to cut the extra from the downstairs line (which is much shorter) and simply snap it together.
On the downstairs unit I got the upper lines insulated and the line set covers in place down to the lower elbow to match the other side.
Next steps are to insulate the lines at the condenser and UV tape wrap the exposed lines. Then decide if I want to position the excess downstairs line differently (or wait until I buy another layer of insulation like I have on the other installs). The manual does say excess line should be positioned horizontally, so if I feel like flexing it more, I could try to stow it under the condenser somewhat. Should be able to complete the line set covers and get that final tee cover in place at least.
I also need to buy a knock out cover and move the service whip to a different spot on the electrical inlet, because where I placed it blocks one of the screws for that. I'm not sure what else there is other than once everything is truly in place, I can scoot the unit back an inch or two on the pad and be done with it.
Oh, and I can return any unused Rectorseal line set cover parts to FW Webb and get a few bucks back. Also need to mount the remotes to the wall.
On the downstairs unit I got the upper lines insulated and the line set covers in place down to the lower elbow to match the other side.
Next steps are to insulate the lines at the condenser and UV tape wrap the exposed lines. Then decide if I want to position the excess downstairs line differently (or wait until I buy another layer of insulation like I have on the other installs). The manual does say excess line should be positioned horizontally, so if I feel like flexing it more, I could try to stow it under the condenser somewhat. Should be able to complete the line set covers and get that final tee cover in place at least.
I also need to buy a knock out cover and move the service whip to a different spot on the electrical inlet, because where I placed it blocks one of the screws for that. I'm not sure what else there is other than once everything is truly in place, I can scoot the unit back an inch or two on the pad and be done with it.
Oh, and I can return any unused Rectorseal line set cover parts to FW Webb and get a few bucks back. Also need to mount the remotes to the wall.
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Re: Install ductless mini-split
When I got home I mounted the remotes on the walls.
Then I wrapped the exposed part of the lines with that UV tape, added short sections of insulation to the exposed copper at the condenser and added the last sections of line set cover. Then I pushed the condenser back to its final position.
This seems to be my return pile for line set cover parts that I did not unwrap. I'm sure it's over $100. Looks like two 45 elbows, three straight section junctions and two of those multi-size connection junctions that I thought I might need.
This project is certainly done enough that I removed the window A/C from the master bedroom. That's a milestone 5 years in the making I think.
But I do have a list of remaining things outside if and when I feel like it:
- Buy knock out blank and move service whip to a hole not obstructing a cover mounting screw and snap the blank in the open hole
- Buy large insulation to go over the UV taped lines, similar to what I've done on my previous installs. It will add bulk to the back of the unit though and I wonder if I am not actually improving overall efficiency by doing that. What I could do instead is just use actual black sticky UV tape and go over the vinyl UV wrap.
- Just so I don't forget, consider adding some kind of anti-pull-through wire clamp to the inside of the disconnect box to prevent someone from pulling the wire back into the house. I hardly think this is necessary as it is buried up in a joist bay and behind insulation, and then the wire goes right into my main panel basically. But for completeness I am adding it here.
But I do have a list of remaining things outside if and when I feel like it:
- Buy knock out blank and move service whip to a hole not obstructing a cover mounting screw and snap the blank in the open hole
- Buy large insulation to go over the UV taped lines, similar to what I've done on my previous installs. It will add bulk to the back of the unit though and I wonder if I am not actually improving overall efficiency by doing that. What I could do instead is just use actual black sticky UV tape and go over the vinyl UV wrap.
- Just so I don't forget, consider adding some kind of anti-pull-through wire clamp to the inside of the disconnect box to prevent someone from pulling the wire back into the house. I hardly think this is necessary as it is buried up in a joist bay and behind insulation, and then the wire goes right into my main panel basically. But for completeness I am adding it here.
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Re: Install ductless mini-split
Got $105 back from FW Webb. Moved the electrical service inlet to the mini split and put a knockout cover in there. One of those black plastic ones would probably be better. Finally I did some UV sticky taping of the wrap.
I had a small amount of Nashua 444 line set tape but wanted to order more. I found it on Amazon for $20 but I also found that on Home Depot for $10. They offered free same day delivery so I did that and worked on some other stuff so don't forget about Home Depot delivery. It's saved me a trip to Warwick because my local store didn't have it.
I had a small amount of Nashua 444 line set tape but wanted to order more. I found it on Amazon for $20 but I also found that on Home Depot for $10. They offered free same day delivery so I did that and worked on some other stuff so don't forget about Home Depot delivery. It's saved me a trip to Warwick because my local store didn't have it.
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Re: Install ductless mini-split
Maybe I spoke too soon. The condenser will idle down but only if the outside temp is cool enough. Past a certain point it just seems to run at a much higher fan speed, and probably a lot higher than really necessary. Unrelated (mostly), I also assess that the 9k air handler on our bedroom seems to have a higher CFM fan profile than the 4th gen. Air outlet temps are warmer and based on condensate output, it dehumidifies less than my 4th gen systems. Also the 9k does overcool at night and the system is forced to cycle. It'll run the room a solid 3-4 degrees below set point before finally giving up and shutting off. Not super pleased but not much I can do. I assume everything is working as designed. But it does give me a little remorse that the 18k condenser wasn't available because in my head, that would "solve" this. That may not be true as I think I saw in the specs that the 9k does have a higher CFM fan profile than the 4th gen.kevm14 wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 4:37 am Had the bedroom set on 69F which is our night time cooling setting. The outside unit was totally just idling and everything seemed happy and properly throttled. Maybe I didn't need to be worried about that part. So much for trying to read spec sheets.
As far as capacity, we basically don't need the 18k at all. At least not yet. Maybe if it was back to back days of 95 and humid we might. I assess the system is really specified to provide good heat capacity. It is over sized for A/C, as I originally assessed.