[Maarkus]

A little background if you don't mind:
I've been doing many trades in construction for forty years but I'm not licensed and usually worked for licensed contractors although I did do quite a bit of handyman stuff. I stopped doing electrical and plumbing years ago out of respect for the clients and licensed pros (and to sleep better at night!) but I did quite a bit of those trades while working for licensed contractors and have advanced apprentice knowledge in those trades. I didn't feel qualified to sign up for the contractor site so here I am since I never was a contractor strictly speaking and I'm semi retired now.



I have a 2014 Gree Terra24HP230v split system and it's been fine for six years and was installed by a licensed HVAC guy. It's installed in a guest house on my brother's property. About two months ago when it was off it suddenly came on and then started going on and off very fast as if I was pressing the on button on the IR remote rapidly but erratically. I took out the batteries to rule out the remote and it still did it. I then discovered the manual override button on the unit and pushed that for thoroughness and it oddly solved the problem for about a month but then at midnight when it was off it suddenly started doing the same thing.


I also have decent shadetree electronics skills and have built my own computers, taken apart TVs and laptops etc and although I have no reason to not call the installer since my brother has to pay:smile: I really want to get some feedback before I do since I enjoy troubleshooting electronics.


There's a display panel (part #30565141) which I assume has the IR sensor in it and I'm thinking that component is shorting out. I looked up that part number and a few HVAC supply houses show no inventory across half the country and there's no sign of it on ebay or Amazon. Either it is a part that fails a lot or they just didn't make that many. I then thought I'd install the wired remote XK-76 wondering if it would override the signal path of the IR remote or would I have to remove the plug for the display panel when installing it.



Does this sound like a failing IR sensor?


Has anyone installed a wired remote for Gree mini split systems - do they get wired to the outdoor unit or the indoor?


I actually watched three videos by Gerry Wagner who does Gree installation classes for professionals mostly back East but I didn't see anything about the flaky IR issue or the wired remote.

 

[Maarkus]

UPDATE


I put off the removal of the display panel for a week for good reason since it means doing a lot of disassembly ten feet in the air from the calf abusing discomfort of a free standing ladder. Yes, my unit was placed high in the gable section of the vaulted ceiling.


I pulled out the inside unit's motherboard to unplug the display panel to see if the problem would be solved by taking it out of the equation based on my assumption it could be the IR sensor in the display panel.



Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem so I may have to call the installer since it's 95 here all week and after two weeks of hot weather I'm getting a little punchy. It could also be something on the outdoor unit MB but I doubt it. I actually watched three training videos on Gree split systems but they don't cover this particular problem which also wasn't showing any error codes. I can't find an email address for the instructor either.



If you decide to perform such a feat do yourself a favor and set up a six foot long scaffold with a safety rail if space allows to make it a lot more safe and comfortable. This makes building an entire computer look like a vacation. In fact, it almost sounds a like a vacation to replace the Tstat on a 2004 Ford Focus ZX3 and if you've done that you know what I'm talking about. If we're talking about changing the PCV hose that's a toss up.:vs_laugh: