Switch it off and leave it off
If there's a burning smell, smoke or sparks, stop the unit and turn it off at the breaker, as Mitsubishi Electric advises. Do the same if the breaker keeps tripping, if water is dripping from the indoor unit, or if there's a noise it's never made before. Leave the covers on and the wiring alone.
Why Perth repairs look the way they do
Heatwaves
The WA Department of Health calls it a heatwave when three or more days in a row have forecast minimums and maximums averaging 36 degrees or more. Mitsubishi Electric notes that when it's very hot outside the cooling effect may not be enough, so a unit running flat out isn't always broken.
Wind and storms
Perth isn't cyclone country: Lysaght's guide puts a hilltop house in its suburbs in non-cyclonic wind region A. Ex-tropical cyclone Alby still gave the city a 130 km/h gust in 1978. After a big blow, look at the outdoor unit and its bracket from the ground, and don't climb up to check a roof-mounted one.
Salt on coastal units
Near the surf, salt eats at coils, fins and casings. Daikin's warranty card leaves extra corrosion protection in sea air to the owner and excludes coil damage from salt air, so a rusted coastal unit may be a repair you pay for.
Five checks before you book
The breaker
Check it hasn't tripped. If it trips again, stop there: that's for a technician.
The remote
Fresh batteries, the right mode, a sensible set temperature, and Timed Off or Sleep switched off, which Samsung suggests checking.
The filters
Clogged filters choke the airflow. Switch off at the power before you pull them out.
The outdoor unit
Clear anything stacked against it or blown into it. It needs open air to get rid of heat.
Three minutes
Mitsubishi Electric says its units won't restart for about 3 minutes after being switched back on. Then note any error code before you call. The main air conditioning repair page goes symptom by symptom.
Warranty first, then a repairer
If the system is still under warranty, the brand may decide who repairs it, so read the card before you ring around. Underneath whatever the card says, the Australian Consumer Law still guarantees goods of acceptable quality and services done with due care and skill. Our warranties guide has more.
Repair, or replace?
A small fix on a younger unit is usually worth doing. For a major fault on an old system, get both quotes: Solar Victoria says a system more than 15 years old typically uses over three times the energy of a modern reverse cycle unit.
On the coast, add corrosion to the decision. If the casing and coil are badly rusted, a new fan motor or board may not buy you many summers. The repair or replace quiz helps you weigh it up.
Who can repair it in WA?
Anything that touches the refrigerant needs a full RAC01 licence from the ARC. The restricted RSS03 doesn't cover service or repair work on the refrigerant, and the ARC says topping up before leaks are found and fixed is illegal, whoever does it.
On the electrical side, WA lets refrigeration and air conditioning technicians with a restricted electrical licence do only limited work when repairing or replacing equipment. New wiring means a licensed electrical contractor.
What we'd do
What we'd do
Run the five checks, find the warranty card, and if it's still covered, call the brand or your installer first. If it isn't, we'd book a repair specialist who works on your brand and system type, and ask for the fault and the fix in writing. On a coastal unit that's past its best, we'd get a replacement quote at the same time.
