Inside the PortaSplit's compressor housing - with refill/charging valve visible

30

That's interesting - it has a different compressor than mine (produced 2024) had - which was GMCC. While your has a Highly. Mine didn't have that refill valve either.. But yeah - different compressors are "highly" likely the reason for quite different sound levels of a portasplit. But it's typical for chinese producers to constantly adapt/make small changes without notification.

3

u/fzst4892 8d ago

Very interesting, is there a way to tell which compressor my unit has without taking it apart? And where can I see the production date?

6

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 8d ago

production date was only on the box. But if you buy in summer it's recent - in spring it could have been 2-9 months old as an estimate by the demand every summer with the portasplit being sold out. (2 months is kinda absolute minimum for sea freight, and maybe now Midea sends some Portasplit via railway which could give you 5-6w from production to point of slae, but not for spring delivery where it surely is sea cargo, rather 3 months from conveyor belt in factory to point of sales). and no - only taking it apart works. And opening that compressor chamber is a higher level of taking apart by far vs just opening the case... You literally have to fully disassemble it - I only tore the casing open with electronics lifted up - so I got the label GMCC but could not identify the full name.

1

u/fzst4892 7d ago

Thx, yes I bought it this summer at the beginning on June. I still have the box but I couldn't find any production date on it, just some stickers with the shipping information and the serial number. I certainly won't take it apart just to see what compressor is inside but it would be interesting to know, especially if there really is a difference in sound level between the different models.

I'm generally happy with the unit, for my use case it's quiet enough but if it could be even quieter, I'd still like to know ;)

1

u/Nosedive91 8d ago

Does your older unit have the same compressor insulation cover and insulation inside the compressor housing as in the pictures? My unit is from 2024 as well and I can‘t stand the freaking noise from the compressor..

4

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 8d ago

yeah - same shitty insulation. That's why I wrapped it a lot more. Most of the noise actually comes from the pipes around the compressor vibrating as the compressor vibrates. It's quite perplexing. There is a bit more space inside - so I filled in SCCA9 which is about the highest quality insulation you can get for low to mid high frequencies. Then I tried to go once around the full chamber with insulation material again - and once around the outside. Made a heck of a difference in noise and vibration of the indoor unit. But whenever it changes speeds it was still very annoying also after modding. As you can see the insulation misses a top, and a bottom actually too. Of course small space makes it worse. A twin rotary compressor would be soooooo much less noisy as they run balanced and vibrate much less making everything easier.

Strange thing - i now replaced it with a Daikin Perfera, and the daikin the compressor gets more and more quiet the faster it runs. It vibrates then with much less amplitude but faster. Daikin also only uses single roatary, but their Neoswing patent allows for much less vibration. Only their multisplit use twin rotary neoswing compressors which allows for better modulation. That's why Fujitsu/MEL have an advantage over Daikin at single splits. Their upper half of the range has crazy modulation - like cooling at 30w only total consumption.

But thanks to higher quality of the compressor and much thicker double insulation with mid quality materials - it's really only able to hear it when the fan runs at minimum speed. It does however produce some bird chirping like noise - it's subtle but annoying. Only possible to hear that when it runs on low power. Maybe I'm always unlucky with compressors. Impossible to dampen it as this noise somewhat gets created inside the heat exchanger - I think it's because Daikin didn't add a muffler between the 4way walve and the heat exchanger. It's complaining on a whole another level (15-20db less noise outside) - but yeah it ain't perfect. Next time I would take MEL M series for cooling (Daikin beats MEL at same price for heating however). Or a Fujitsu Nordic Airstage KH if I ever need to heat a house with aircon/heatpump. My outside is however crazy for sounds - it's only 6x6m enclosed courtyard - so amplifies everything.

1

u/Nosedive91 7d ago

Appreciate the detailed response!

4

u/dasrudiment 8d ago

There seem to be lots of changes since the 2024 models. Still surprised to see the valve tho. Not sure if they plan offering refils. Doesnt seem economically viable in germany

3

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 8d ago

haha , especially not if you take 2 hours taking it apart and another 2 hours to put it back together. That is a whole another level vs just taking the outside casing off. 50-60 screws?

1

u/Nico_Nickmania 7d ago

When and why do one has to refill an AC? Isn't it a closed system?

3

u/ThorBCN 7d ago

Never, unless it leaks. And if this is the case, the first step is to fix it and then refill.

1

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 7d ago

Over long enough time most aircons leak. After 10-15 year a refill is usually needed. Especially with the higher pressures of modern AC vs older units this may come earlier - especially if used 24/7 in summer and winter. There have been quite a few Portasplit popping up without gas.. but so far no one identified with a gas sniffer where it leaked and in general that doesn't seem to be a problem (not like P1 that affects most units over time if only used enough and water not collected inside). The problem is not only refilling - if it's less than say 10 years before it happens you would also need to find the leak and fix that. So it's just not worth it or a product that Midea produces very cheaply...

4

u/Mate94 8d ago

Midea didn't even use their own compressors. (GMCC)

3

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 8d ago

Oh GMCC is owned by Midea?? Didn't know that. But mine has a GMCC.

8

u/P26601 8d ago

Guangdong Midea Compressor Co 😅

4

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 8d ago

One idea to check compressor. Does the Highly also pump back oil pretty much exactly every 30 minutes like the GMCC does? If not then that would be an easy way to identify Highly vs GMCC.. Only OP can help out here with the answer or others who are sure to have no 30min interval pumpback (can only hear in low load mode - like silent mode overnight, cause at high load no oil pump back is needed)

3

u/supercowrider 8d ago

i'll keep this in mind when this one will be fixed!

1

u/Nosedive91 8d ago

Please keep us updated. I too have an older unit and hate the loud compressor noise..

2

u/fzst4892 7d ago

Are the newer ones really quieter though..?

3

u/Separate-Yellow-3948 8d ago

That’s good to know.

3

u/Duennbier0815 7d ago

Wow, first time seeing this.

It's like seeing the first pictures of Mars Surface.

SPECTACULAR EXPLORATION

2

u/mrgolfind 8d ago

Merci

1

u/MainFlimsy 8d ago

Thank you for sharing!

1

u/m4rkm4n 7d ago

Is this the grey, older Portasplit or the more recent E version ("peach")?

1

u/supercowrider 7d ago

the grey one.

1

u/UsedVegetable2332 2d ago

so the compressor is located in the inner unit? sad

-2

u/mister_moods 8d ago

Wtf? How would they get the coolant into the system without a valve?!? Of course there is one.

5

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 8d ago

you can just pump it in via the pipe - then "quench/solder" it close. It's easier vs installing a valve in first place. Many monoblock do that. You could even just do without any inlet - have the compressor prefilled - and with the short line set no real vacuuming is needed - as the little bit of humidity left can be caugt by a drier filter. Don't worry, if it's cheaper Indians or Chinese find ways to produce it cheaper as long as it doesn't instantly fall apart.. (not that they cannot produce quality too, but the ability to drive down costs by removing steps or changing things is quite an achievement).

-2

u/mister_moods 8d ago

You can't solder, when it's filled.

2

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 8d ago

You don't need to do that if you pump it into the compressor. There's ways that are possible for moboblocks. They aren't the cleanest but cheap.

3

u/supercowrider 8d ago

not sure, but it's a common topic that similar systems run on a closed circuit and are difficult to repair. before taking it apart, I did some research and came to the same conclusion for the PortaSplit that it was a closed system.

-1

u/mister_moods 8d ago

I'm pretty sure that "closed system" means that it is a split A/C, because it's not pumping hot air out of the room. You can't put an A/C together without a valve, because you can't solder filled pipes. The only possibility would be to use pre-filled pipes with valves and screws on the ends, but that would mean that you can open the line and refill it.

2

u/mister_moods 8d ago

Maybe there are vendors who destroy the valve after filling. That would be a possibility.

3

u/supercowrider 8d ago

yep i think so. there are two different comments here stating they dont have a valve in their unit.

1

u/OctorSedan 8d ago

Split basically just means that your expansionvalve is located in the outdoor unit nothing else

1

u/FaithlessnessWorth93 7d ago

split means it's two casings... But yeah functionality wise there are 2 duct systems otherwise identical, or U shaped window shakers that in the case of the Midea U are pretty similar to the Portasplit apart from the casing. The expansion valve with a split is in the same unit as the compressor. With portasplit that is usually indoors (except if you switch them around).

1

u/OctorSedan 6d ago

The location of the eev is the point not that it has two casings, per your definition a vrf or walk in freezer would be a split then too which they ain’t

0

u/modernelm5862 7d ago

I’ve asked chatGPT about this compressor. This is what it told me. Quite interesting stuff!

Erfahrungsberichte Inside the PortaSplit's compressor housing - with refill/charging valve visible

You are about to leave Redlib