What a Gympie system goes through
Two seasons of hard work
Bureau of Meteorology averages at the Gympie station give December a mean daily maximum of 31.3 degrees and July a mean daily minimum of 6.4. Both the cooling side and the heating side get real use.
Cold, damp mornings
Gympie's record low is minus 4.3 degrees. Mitsubishi Electric says that in heating, frost forms on the outdoor unit when it's cold and humid outside, and the unit stops for up to 10 minutes to defrost. The white 'smoke' you might see is vapour from defrosting, not a fault.
Floods in the cooling months
Most Mary River floods come between December and April. In February 2022 up to 3,600 homes were inundated in the city, and outdoor units sit at ground level unless someone has raised them.
Sea air on the Cooloola Coast
At Tin Can Bay, Cooloola Cove and Rainbow Beach, the outdoor unit also faces salt. Ask for a wash-down and a look at the fixings as part of each service.
What a Gympie service should include
- Filters washed, and the coil, fan and drain tray behind them checked and cleaned.
- The drain line cleared, so summer condensation runs outside rather than down the wall.
- A refrigerant check by an RAC01 licence holder, without a top-up unless a leak has been found and fixed.
- A run in cooling and a run in heating, with the electrical connections and controls checked.
- A written note of anything that needs fixing, kept separate from the service.
When should you book a service in Gympie?
Late spring is the sensible slot. Daikin suggests a licensed technician looks over the system at the start of every summer, and that also gets it done before the December to April flood season.
If your system does more heating than cooling, a pre-winter check is just as reasonable. Once a year is the usual answer either way: Mitsubishi Electric recommends a yearly professional service, and Gree's warranty card needs maintenance at intervals of no more than 12 months.
After a flood, before you switch it on
If floodwater reached the outdoor unit, the indoor unit or the switchboard, leave the system off. We'd have a licensed electrician check the electrics and an RAC01 technician check the unit before it runs again.
Then think about the next flood. Get Ready Queensland wants air conditioner units and switchboards above the flood level where possible, and our page on brackets and mounting covers ways to lift an outdoor unit.
What makes a service bigger or smaller?
The number of indoor units comes first, then how long since the last visit. A system that's gone years without attention may need a full coil and fan clean, and a low refrigerant reading turns the visit into a leak hunt. A unit that's been under water is a different job altogether.
Your part, and the technician's
You can
- Wash the filters as often as your manual says. Most brands say about every two weeks.
- Keep the outdoor unit clear, especially after rain brings debris down.
- Don't panic about steam from the outdoor unit on a cold morning. It's usually defrost.
- Keep service invoices together, because warranty claims can ask for them.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Opening the indoor unit to clean the coil, fan and drain.
- Any refrigerant check or repair, which needs an RAC01 licence.
- Checking a unit or switchboard after floodwater, with a licensed electrician.
- The mechanical services work itself, which needs a QBCC licence in Queensland.
Questions to ask a Gympie service technician
- Will you test it in heating as well as cooling?
- Will you clean the coil and the drain tray as well as the filters?
- Do you hold an RAC01 licence, and what's the business's QBCC licence number?
- If my unit was near floodwater, what would you check?
What we'd do
Our take
Book one service a year in late spring, ask for it to be run on heat as well as cool, and get anything wrong written up separately so you can decide later. If the unit has had water anywhere near it, don't switch it on until it's been checked. Where we have licence-checked service specialists near Gympie, they can see your job, and the one who takes it is the only one given your contact details. Should no Gympie specialist take it within 48 hours, service specialists elsewhere in Queensland may see it too.
