Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation Re: Evaporative cooling myths 61Jan 11, 2013 9:14 pm Oh that's awful, hope you get helpful replies on this one Re: Evaporative cooling myths 62Jan 11, 2013 9:22 pm Horrible, terrible, never would have one. We rent a house and when the outside temperature is over 28 the unit struggles. The house is damp and horrible and when we go to bed at night every bed feels damp. In fact, we are moving over the next two weeks (been in our house for 18 months and first experience with EC) and went to pack up the wardrobes and everything has mould growing on it. Our son went to run out to the kitchen today and nearly slipped on the wet floor. That is with two doors and one window open which is still odd RC so much better. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 63Jan 20, 2013 1:58 pm Update on my last post where our Brivis contour evap died... I identified the problem as a busted solenoid. Replaced it for free from a kind appliance repairer who had some spare parts. For anyone with a Brivis evap cooler wanting to know why it keeps dying let me share my experience with these units... Brivis evaps seem to be notoriously unreliable. The main reason I say this is that Brivis seem to use COTS (commercial off the shelf) products instead of products designed for the task. For example, the solenoid which seems to be the most common item to die (ours has been replaced 3 times!) is your common washing machine variety. It's designed to work indoors under typical indoor temperature conditions. The top of the roof can get over 60deg with the sun being absorbed in tiles and no air movement. The solenoids that Brivis use are not designed for this! Do you hear that Brivis? As a result these parts keep dying and you need to call out an 'authorised' repair person to fix it (the reason I put authorised in quotes is that we have had some seriously amateur repair work done by Brivis repairers - a fan blade was not screwed in and I found out when the unit made a horrible noise). The very fact that a homeowner like myself can identify a systemic problem (i.e. solenoid issue) and Brivis haven't, tells me the company is not particularly interested in building a better product but more interested in profit and making money off repair work. Which leads me to repair costs... A call out for a Brivis authorised repairer is $240 - $270. The solenoid will then set you back over $100 so the total repair bill will be close to $400! Just to replace something that was not fit-for-purpose to start with. And keep in mind that evaps are meant to be cheaper than refrigerated. A $400 repair bill every 1-2 years means you're looking at a unit that costs twice as much in the long run as a refrigerant. So, how much did it cost me? $0. Once I identified it as a solenoid problem I sourced a replacement part (for free) and replaced it (oh and make sure you use a qualified electrician kiddies!) Here's an easy way to identify if the problem is a solenoid problem... When you switch the unit on does it give the message 'wetting pads please wait' and doesn't progress? if yes then take off the front water pad on the evap by undoing the 4 screws on top of the unit. Then using a hose or bucket manually fill up the water reservoir (bottom front) until the water reaches the middle water level sensor (3 metal prongs stacked at different heights in the centre of the reservoir). Once it's filled, switch the unit on and see if it pumps water and the fan comes on. If so then you've eliminated the sensor, pump and fan. Chances are it's the solenoid. At this stage you'll need a licensed electrician as the solenoid is 240v. It's a bugger to remove as Brivis in their infinte wisdom have stuck it in a place that is very difficult to get access to. Follow the hose going in and you'll find it. The electrician will first switch off the isolator switch under the left front, turn off the tap and then remove the solenoid (just slides out) A replacement solenoid can be found on eBay for around $15. Yes, no kidding $15. They'll have a standard 26mm thread and a 14mm (I think) outlet. The unit is an inline unit (not an angle unit) and is 240v. Once you've got the solenoid the above should be done in reverse. Okay so I've also replaced mine with a standard washing machine variety solenoid which may die again in a year but at least I know I can have it replaced for around $20 in the future. That's the end of the story. If I sound like I'm not a big fan of Brivis Evaps - too right. Aussie evaps are a rip off, badly designed and costly to maintain. In my mind they are the biggest air-con (see what I did there) over the last 20 years. Fortunately more homeowners are realising this and buying quality, efficient, refrigerants. It won't be long before evaps die out with the dinosaur. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 64Jan 20, 2013 2:32 pm You really do have a big weed on, which is understandable. However your rants are just that rants. These things have their place and for most people they run fine, so as much as you might like to wish so they are not going the way of dinosaur anytime soon. Morse to be replaced by refrigerative units, which BTW have their own issues. Ever heard an a refrigerative unit freezing over, dripping water all over the place? Now I am not going to say they are bad even though I have had bad experiences, just that each has their own place and like all machines they will break down. As for their design I am pleased they use off the shelf parts, it, as you have found makes them cheaper to repair provided you don't go through Brivis who are thieves when it comes to repair costs. Though I don't think you should be going around bagging Brivis as all the makers use off the shelf parts, which is good, especially when you consider what these things are. I mean to say all it is is a water reviour, pump and fan, you wouldn't want it too complex. Their (and other makers) heaters are the same. Off the shelf sensors, solenoids etc. The engineering is in making it work and making it work as efficiently as possible. As for the repair you don't actually need a sparky. The aircon unit is an appliance, so beyond the fixed wiring, so all you need is someone who knows what they are doing. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 65Jan 20, 2013 5:43 pm AJW Ever heard an a refrigerative unit freezing over, dripping water all over the place? Or catching fire, like ours did Re: Evaporative cooling myths 67Jan 20, 2013 7:54 pm There was a recent news report where two evaporative units in Melbourne caught fire on the same day. Typically, the media were beating it up to say that the problem was inherent of evap units - but we all know that ANY unit can catch alight. This might seem strange that I am defending evap units for once. I still don't like 'em, but I won't bag them just because of a media beat-up. As far as dodg-ee solenoids go (and I understand them, being a sparky), that is indeed unfortunate. The ONLY components that should be available should be, put in laymans terms, industrial strength ones. Even they are prone to failure, more often due to high duty cycles than ambient temperatures, but at least they come with an inherent robustness. Actually, thinking ahead, I can imagine the day when the average new home has an air conditioned plant room, housing the hot water heater, the central heating unit, the solar inverter, the air conditioning unit whatever its type, maybe an air scrubber, the switchboard, the gas meter, the water meter, (metering of fluids would be measured by vortex meters and carried out remotely via SCADA), your NBN node, etc. It could even house your central vacuum unit and spa or pool pump! Think about it...sheltered, no noise, everything in one place instead of being bolted onto the side or top of your house here and there, controlled operating environment...am I dreaming? Geoff - Decophile. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 68Jan 20, 2013 8:13 pm I love our evap a/c. We are in perth, whilst it is generally a dry heat in WA we do get humid days and we have never had a problem with our unit. Uses little power (our last elec bill was $70) and I like the idea of fresh air, rather than having to close everything up. If i Was to build again I would get another evap installed without a doubt. Our unit isn't noisy either? The road to success is always under construction House completed April 2011 - slowly making it a home... Re: Evaporative cooling myths 69Jan 23, 2013 1:43 pm last week I got to test a home (neighbours) with evap cooling double storey 44 sq 5 outlets upstairs and 2 downstairs it was 39 degrees outside, in melbourne, blinds were shut and theatre window open about 30cms and upper bedroom window open 30cms, the house is 6 star rated I must say i was very impressed with the temp inside, perfectly cool. just thought i'd post. I will post my review when we get into our home in a few weeks Re: Evaporative cooling myths 70Jan 23, 2013 3:28 pm Tengals, Note that the hot days last week was exceptionally dry in Melb. We were at a family member's house with evap cooling and it was great last week, but generally not so effective. I remember they use to work well in Melb, but in the past 10 years I beleive it has become less effective due to climate change. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 74Jan 25, 2013 8:53 am AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. Building the Riva by Dale Alcock Homes. Follow our progress here: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=57075 Re: Evaporative cooling myths 75Jan 25, 2013 9:28 am MissEm AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. That probably depends on your expectations of how cold you want it to be inside when it's 39 outside. We have always had evap. On a 39 degree day our evap cools our house down to approx 24 degrees, which is fine by me as anything under that inside and I am putting a cardi on. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 76Jan 25, 2013 11:30 am rellie MissEm AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. That probably depends on your expectations of how cold you want it to be inside when it's 39 outside. We have always had evap. On a 39 degree day our evap cools our house down to approx 24 degrees, which is fine by me as anything under that inside and I am putting a cardi on. Exactly they are not designed to uber cool a house, just take the edge off. That is one reason why when you set an evap it doesn't ask for a target temp, rather a comfort level. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 77Jan 25, 2013 12:02 pm tengals last week I got to test a home (neighbours) with evap cooling double storey 44 sq 5 outlets upstairs and 2 downstairs it was 39 degrees outside, in melbourne, blinds were shut and theatre window open about 30cms and upper bedroom window open 30cms, the house is 6 star rated I must say i was very impressed with the temp inside, perfectly cool. just thought i'd post. I will post my review when we get into our home in a few weeks If the house is designed properly it should be cool even with the evap turned off. 36 Degrees yesterday and I didnt turn on my aircond until 3:30/ Inside the house got to 26/27 degrees by the time and I want it a bit cooler to encourage me to get some stuff done around the house. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 78Jan 27, 2013 8:31 am MissEm AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. nope it was 39-40 degress outside, and lovely and cool inside, was working a treat. Maybe your unit was no good, or your house was not very energy efficient. Im just saying how this house was, thats all. Im hoping ours works the same... Re: Evaporative cooling myths 79Jan 29, 2013 12:22 am In Melbourne I would say they work ok except for approx 14 days during summer. During those 14 days you will wish you had gone refrigerated. Speaking from experience from house built in 2000, insulated well, right orientation, large eves, but no double glazing. I going refrigerated for the next house. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 80Jan 31, 2013 5:40 pm Yikes.......is this true? We were gonna go the evap but I had my reservations that it would be enough. The $14,000 price tag definitely is pretty nuts imho! I have two hairy cats and I worry about them getting overheated in the summer. HD |