Complete tutorial steps to Vacuum and Charge Refrigerant on a Split Unit

In this HVAC Training Video, I show which Tools to Use and the Setup Step by Step to Evacuate and Add Refrigerant into a Minisplit Unit. I Show Vacuuming the System, Performing a Standing Vacuum Test, and Breaking the Vacuum by Weighing Refrigerant into the System from the Bottle. Supervision is needed by a licensed HVACR Tech while performing tasks as Experience and Apprenticeship garners Wisdom and Safety.

ANALOG GAGES WAY

How To Vacuum Down a Mini Split and Release Refrigerant
Vacuuming down a mini split system is necessary before releasing the refrigerant.
It also is one way a unit can be tested for leaks.
The process is not difficult and easy enough for a DIYer with the right tools.

Tools Needed to Vacuum Down a Mini Split

Vacuum Pump
HVAC Gauges
Mini Split Adapter 5/16 to 1/4 Coupler
Allen Keys

HVAC gauges and a vacuum pump are needed to set a mini split into a vacuum.

Alternatively, a micron gauge can be used in place of HVAC gauges and do the same thing.A vacuum pump simply evacuates all the air from the system placing it in a vacuum.

The gauge will show the pressure, which will go negative as the air is pumped out.

There are many low-cost units that work well enough for anyone who only uses them occasionally.

Most mini split units will also need an adapter to connect to the low-pressure port.Example Budget Vacuum Pump on Amazon

ZENY 3,5CFM Single-Stage 5 Pa Rotary Vane Economy Vacuum Pump 3 CFM 1/4HP Air Conditioner Refrigerant HVAC Air Tool R410a 1/4″ Flare Inlet Port, Blue

Example Budget 410a Manifold Gauges on Amazon
ZENY Diagnostic A/C Manifold Gauge Set R134a Refrigeration Kit Brass Auto Serivice Kit 4FT w/Case, 1/4″ SAE Fittings

Mini Split Adapter 5/16 to 1/4 Coupler On Amazon
Mini Split Adapter, R410a Adapter 5/16″ Female Quick Couplers x 1/4″ Male Flare

Basic Overview of How HVAC Gauges Work

Manifold gauges are a necessary tool in HVAC and are easy to use once they are understood.

Here is the basics of how gauges work when pumping down a mini split system.

Manifold Gauge Hose Color Codes and Connections.

The Blue hose connects to the low-pressure line on an HVAC system such as a mini split.
The Red hose connects to the high-pressure line and will not be used during a mini split install.
The center Yellow hose connects to a vacuum pump when pumping a mini split down.

The pressure gauges will read any pressures once connected.

The two side valves turn open or off, which will direct the flow to the center hose.

A clockwise turn shuts a valve off. Counter-clockwise turns a valve open.The two side valves should usually be off unless in use.

When pumping down a mini split the red valve will always be shut, and the blue valve will only open once the vacuum pump starts working.

It is usually best to shut the blue valve off before turning the vacuum pump off.

The hose ports on the back go to nothing and are to keep dirt out of the hoses when not in use.

Steps To Vacuum Down a Mini Split

Be sure both High (Red) and Low (Blue) valves are shut Off at the gauges.
Hook the HVAC Gauges Blue hose to Low-Pressure Port on the outside condensing unit. (Usually the only port on the unit.)

Hook Center Yellow Hose to the Vacuum Pump.
Turn On the vacuum pump and open the valve on the HVAC Gauges Low Pressure Side (Blue).
Let the pump run until the system goes into a Vacuum, negative pressure.

Let the pump run for at least 20-30 minutes or more, turn the gauge Blue valve shut, and then turn the vacuum pump off.
Let the unit sit for some time 20-30 minutes or more and be sure the vacuum holds.
If the unit holds the vacuum there are no leaks, and refrigerant can be released into the system.
If the unit does not hold a vacuum there is a leak that will need to be fixed and the unit pumped down again.
Using an Allen Key, let the refrigerant into the system. Open both the high and low-pressure valves on the outside condenser. Open them all the way out, which will take several turns.

Remove the Low-Pressure Blue Hose from the unit as quickly as possible. A small amount of refrigerant will come out, which will be minimal. This is necessary so as not to break the vacuum.

Most units will require the system to be pumped down into a vacuum.

How To Vacuum Down a Mini Split with Analog Manifold Gauges

The vacuum process starts at roughly minute 10:50 in this video.

How To Install Senville Ductless Mini Split 9000 BTU 230 Volt Air Conditioner Heat Pump

BONUS VIDEO AND MANUALS

Budget Mini Split Installation for Beginners! w/ Vacuum Pump and Gauges

- Today we're going to learn how to install a heat pump a standard one without easy quick connects so this is not a Mr Cool and it's not an eg4 so that means it requires a vacuum pump and some gauges but if you know how to do it you can do it quickly and these cost a lot less and the cost savings can be substantial this unit is only 788 dollars if you were to use the Quick Connect systems it would be 1500 to 1800 so you're saving a ton of money by using one of the standard ones
- And if you have the right tools it's very easy to do so let's get started and I'm going to show you how to do it now when it arrives in the mail you're going to get two boxes the one on top that's smaller is the indoor unit the one on bottom that is larger and heavier is the outdoor unit so first we're going to install the indoor unit
-When you open the box you're going to get a cardboard template this is very useful when mounting the unit so you know exactly where to cut the hole the hole in your wall is the most important and difficult part of this project everything else is dead simple these are some leveling pads and this is for the outdoor unit so we'll use these later and then it comes with a cable that connects the indoor unit to the outdoor unit through the hole that we're going to drill and this is the drain hose this uses all the water collected by your indoor unit and expels it outside these are some random installation tools and accessories remote control Mount and now the head units we're going to carefully lift this out of the box now on the back of the unit you're going to have to remove this metal plate this is what we're going to use to attach
- This indoor unit to our wall we're going to use this template to mount this on our wall and then drill our hole this is the high and low pressure lines and the drain hose now for this installation these pipes need to be facing up perpendicular to the indoor unit and to do that you need to support the pipes down here and slowly move them until they are perpendicular but there's lots of configurations with these pipes so read the manual first to see what you can do but for most people if you're drilling the hole with the template this is how you want them and the drain hose is going to go through the hole as well so we're going to connect these together later
- But first we need to install the mounting plate and drill our hole in this installation is in my garage and I want to do it above the door but the lines are going to come out of this hole so I can't install it right here I have to move it over and make sure that that hole is not over any studs or water pipes because this is a door there's going to be a stud right there so I have to move it over just a little bit and then raise it up so then I can access the two clips on the bottom of the unit the stud is right here and another stud is over here so we're going to put the hole right here it's right about there I'm going to make it level I like to hold it in place with a screw now while keeping this level we're going to Mark where we need to put our screws for the mounting plate and the hole The Cutting hole so there's a stud right here but there is no stud over here so we're going to have to use some drywall anchors and these are the ones I use just make sure they're in the right location so that this thing is level that is crucial after this plate is mounted we can drill our hole this is going to be a large hole and it's going to be at an angle
please read the manual of your mini split to know what size hole you need and what inclination you need so that the drain hose can drain the water out of the indoor unit this is the most crucial step also ensure that there are no water pipes studs or electrical lines where you are cutting this hole thank you now we need to move this insulation out of the way so we can drill all the way to the other side you might want to break it up and then push it really far so it doesn't get in the way of drilling and there are no water pipes and there is no electrical so we are still good to go I can feel the heat coming from the outside it's like 115 degrees outside right now and this looks pretty good we've got the proper angles so it can drain and it's in the proper position now before we Mount this on the wall
we need to connect the wires and then connect everything to one piece that we're going to shove through that hole and this is the terminal block so I'm going to run the wires through this hole and then connect them right here make sure there's a good connection with lots of surface area and the insulation is not on the terminal now we can close it up I forgot this cover I'll put that on later next connect the drain hose until it clicks and for Extra Protection not from leaks but just so that it doesn't get yanked out I like to add some tape now after installing about six of these I've noticed that the install goes a lot smoother if you combine these with some electrical tape
so you can push it through the hole that you drilled out if not you're going to have a bad time so we're going to wrap this up with tape and then we're going to push it through the hole especially over here this is the spot that gets me every time so I'm going to wrap this whole thing up when you push this through the hole you're standing on a ladder so you want this to go as smoothly as possible we're going to remove this in a second but this will make the installation a lot easier
so first the electrical wires go in next the drain hose and now the unit so I'm going to lift it up on this ladder and push it through the hole
all right we're looking good here we go , perfect that was awesome oh we have to put that cover back on , and that's all you need to do for the indoor unit now we can go outside and install the outdoor unit , Now on this side you want to bend these pipes nice and slow with two hands and that will ensure that you won't Kink it right up here and then I added a plastic cover up here so that the bugs will not go in but you need to use Gap sealer and , also the putty that comes with the heat pump and shove it inside this hole and make sure it's sealed nice and tight next I remove the tape so that we can work on these two pipes right here these two connection points are going to connect to the line set but to use the line set you need to roll it out on the ground carefully so again you do not cause any kinks now that the line set is rolled out we can remove these plastic covers and hand connect them to these two connections make sure they're nice and straight at the very end where we're going to do the connecting
- Do you not use tools use your hands now that these are hand tight we can use a torque wrench and a special tool that I'm going to link below so that you can torque these to the proper spec and these are the tools you connect these to a torque wrench and then you can tighten these down to the proper spec
if you don't do that it will probably leak , or you can purchase one of these this is an HVAC specific torque wrench and the torque spec is in the manual so please read the manual and do this right unless it will leak that's perfect all right this one's torqued , now we do the second one all right that one's good too now I connected the other side of the line set and I torqued them to the proper spec and then this is the cable that connects to the indoor unit and there's a one two and a three and a ground and then this is an extension cord that goes to 120 volts , so we have a line neutral and a ground now the next step is evacuating these lines we're going to use a vacuum pump to take out the moisture and all of the other gases that are inside this line set in the inside unit now the first thing you need is a vacuum pump I bought this at Harbor Freight but you can also buy these online they're about a hundred dollars when you first get it you need to add oil to this level right here next you're going to need a manifold gauge set these are about 50 to 75 dollars and I'll have a link below for what I recommend
this one was from Harbor Freight and it's super easy to use and very cheap and the last thing you need for this is an adapter , this allows you to connect this manifold gauge set to the condenser at the service port , right here if you don't have this adapt adapter you won't be able to use these tools with your mini split now this setup is pretty easy we're only using the low pressure side so connect the blue hose to the low pressure side and then connect the yellow hose to the center connector and , make sure they're nice and tight and at the end of the blue hose connect your adapter now we're going to connect the yellow hose to the vacuum pump and make sure it's nice and tight we're going to put our gauges right here now we're going to remove these protective caps now we have a two-way valve and a three-way valve this right here is the service port these two down here are for opening up the refrigerant inside of this unit , do not touch these until we are done vacuuming the lines so first we're going to attach this adapter to the service port make sure everything's nice and tight now before we turn on this vacuum pump we need to open up the valve on the low pressure side
- We're going to loosen that up all the way now when I turn this vacuum pump on it will Evacuate the moisture and the gases in this line and there should be some steam or vapor coming out right here so let's turn this thing on ..... look at that perfect
- Foreign about 10 seconds The Vapor stopped now we have a vacuum on the line set so we're going to look over at the gauges and see what's going on this is what you want to see previously it was at zero but now that it's under a vacuum it's at negative 30 , and we want to hold this for about 15 minutes so it's been a solid 15 minutes and now it's time for the Moment of Truth we're going to close this valve on the low pressure side and then we're going to turn off the vacuum pump and we're going to see if the line set can hold this vacuum , if it can't and this Rises to zero that means we have a leak in the system but if it stays at negative 30 then we're good to go that means that the vacuum is holding and there's no error going into the line set but to ensure that there's no leaks we're going to hold this vacuum for a few minutes if it rises to zero then we need to check our connections if it stays at negative 30 then we're good to go , and check that out after a few minutes it's not leaking we are still holding a very good vacuum now we can move on to the next step
- now for the next step we want to put a positive pressure on the line set so we can safely remove this connector right here because if I were to remove it right now there's a possibility of air and moisture going in for just a quick second and that would mess up our whole vacuum and all you need for this step is an allen wrench the first we have a two-way valve for high pressure on the bottom and we're going to open it a quarter of a turn for five seconds .... one two three four five
- and then we're going to close it nice and easy now we're going to look at our gauge now we're at a positive pressure it's above zero so now we can safely remove this connection to the service port and it is scary for beginners because gas will come out while you're doing this but you just have to commit and keep unscrewing it and wear gloves if you have them just like that and then put the cap back on the service port now we can safely open up these valves and release the refrigerant into the line set we're going to start with the high pressure valve first and go nice and slow now you can open it all the way but when it stops do not go any further right there and then put the cap back on and then open the low pressure side until it stops and there we go the refrigerant is in the lines we have a closed system now we can safely give this unit power and turn on the compressor this will increase the pressure and then we can check for leaks so I'm going to flip on the switch and give this thing some power
- And here's the remote control and it's on now we're going to put it into turbo mode and then lower the temperature as much as possible and we have cold air this is fantastic and look at that you can hear the compressor running and the fan just turned on now we have a higher pressure on these lines so we're going to use this leak detector spray you can buy on Amazon pretty cheap we're going to spray it over all of the connections that we made and that looks good we have no bubbles even a small leak will cause tons of bubbles with this leak detector spray we're also going to spray down these connections and there are no bubbles so we're doing pretty good now everything is looking good but I like to run it for another 15 minutes or so and then check for leaks one more time , and then we can cover this all up and finish the installation
now if it was leaking I would try tightening it again with the torque wrench if that doesn't work I would try nylog and if that doesn't work I would try to redo this fitting and get a flare tool or get a professional if you're freaking out and everything's not making any sense just hire a professional to do this final step they can actually Evacuate the lines and everything typically for a smaller fee now the next step is leveling and securing this outdoor unit so it comes with these rubber pads and I use them to level it perfectly now I just need to add some concrete anchors and typically I use tapcons they're very easy and they work great for this application
[-] foreign perfect so it's level and it's secure the final step is using this UV tape to wrap the line set it should only take a few minutes and it is over 115 degrees today it's going to hit like 118. pretty hot that's why we wear long sleeves so we don't get burned
- And if you think this is ugly you can add plastic covers sold by these companies and it makes it look really good no one's on this side of the house so I really don't care there's almost enough tape it barely made it technically this new stuff is UV resistant so you don't have to cover it but I prefer to
- Now to secure this end you want to tape it down with some strong weatherproof tape there we go so there's a lot of steps but they're very easy I think most people could do it if they take their time and read the instruction manual , keep in mind each mini split is different the hole is different the size of the fittings is different so read the manual if you take your time you'll be fine these are very simple so thanks for watching and I will see you in the next video bye

------------------ Alternative see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mKwCmaR5Qg -----------------------

Now this is expensive but it's very nice especially if you're installing lots of Mini Splits this is an HVAC specific torque wrench you can use this on gas fittings and all sorts of other cool stuff also you guys should know about nylog blue this product will prevent leaks and will form a gasket and seal the threads on these fittings in pretty much every professional HVAC technician I know uses this stuff
it does not dry it stays nice and wet and it forms a perfect seal right here where it needs it we're going to add some nylon to these threads and the mating surface
also inspect it and make sure it's nice and flush and they did a good job at the factory
and then I like to wiggle it and then try to tighten it with my hands some more and then bend the pipe down a little bit and that one's good
- now this step is optional but it will clean up your install if you have excess line set instead of having it coiled next to the unit you can easily cut it if you have the right tools , so first we need a pipe cutter and then we need a flare tool to make a flare so that we can use this fitting with these connections right here
- first you need to figure out how much you need it's nice to have a little excess because you can't ever uncut it right about there this is some thick insulation wow just like that and that one does not look as good as the first one so I actually have a deburring tool and this is a deburring tool that looks good now I just don't want any of those metal shavings going into the system now you need to remove this nut for this one we need a 3 8
- you just stick this tool on here and then tighten it down just make sure you have a good cut to start with unless it will not turn out good
- and then we have a flare , looks good , now one more thing to finish up this video this is a Pioneer and it costs a little under 800 but while making this video I found another air conditioner that is exactly the same as this one has the same installation components it has the same outdoor unit and everything else is the same but it's actually cheaper , and this is the unit right here it's by Della but I was so surprised because when I opened the box it had the same template it had the same leveling feet even the outside unit everything is the same as the Pioneer , but the Pioneer costs more money
these are super cheap this thing was like 650 or something and yeah I'm pretty impressed also this actually has one feature that the Pioneer doesn't have , this has Wi-Fi connection and some people in The Forum actually bought these and installed them themselves and they've had zero issues
I have been running Pioneers for longer than these but they are the same thing so I trust that this will work just as fine
and I've been saying a lot of these heat pumps look the same but I've never found identical clones like this , so this is crazy and especially for the price difference I think you're saving like 100 or 150 dollars so I hope you liked the video there was a lot going on and I was super sick for half of it and I had to redo different segments but I hope you learned a lot and I hope it helps you , let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below and I will see you in the next video bye !!
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