H F Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 (edited) I'm curious to know how reliable your air source heats pumps are. In the past two week, our ASHP has gone "down" three times - it's not been a mechanical fault, but a software issue. Thermostats throughout the house have been calling for heat but the ASHP would go into standby mode and the temperatures would plummet. We had to call support and they had remotely remedy this. Three times in two weeks is poor. Does this happen to your pumps? Edited December 15, 2019 by Home Farm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 What was the "fault" that shut it down? I would want to know that and I would want to know how to reset it myself. Did you try a power cycle? One thing that our LG ASHP is fussy about is water flow rate. It will lock out with a "CH14" error if it detects low flow. A power cycle is needed to reset it but it will trip agin if the flow is too low. To get ours working when I installed it, I had to fit an external pump as the inbuilt one was not powerful enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 It's not an error we can correct ourselves. We have to call their support team which is available 24/7 and they do resolve the issues within 1-2 hours. The thing is, there's no error that we can see and it sounds like the system is working fine, it's just that it's in standby mode. Driving me crazy at the moment as it did it again last night for no reason and then it takes ages for the rooms to come to temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 It’s good that they can remotely sort it quite quickly but I would want a permanent fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 12 minutes ago, joe90 said: It’s good that they can remotely sort it quite quickly but I would want a permanent fix. Me too. And there are no answers forthcoming - might have to escalate the matter next week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oz07 Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 In reference to previous weeks post don't think ashp will graduate to mainstream until they are fit and forget. I wouldn't have the knowledge or understanding on how the fit an external pump or correct a software error. What chance does a non building person have?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 In the case of mine, it was an error I got installing the system. Once the issue was identified and the extra pump added it has been fine. In @Home Farm case I would be wanting to know what the issue is and both a local way to reset it, but more important what alteration is needed to prevent it. Is this support just because it is still in warranty? What happens after the warranty period? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Davies Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 Presumably there'll be some sort of subscription service. But how much will that cost and what if the company goes belly up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 have you actually tried power cycling it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Ed Davies said: Presumably there'll be some sort of subscription service. But how much will that cost and what if the company goes belly up? Yes, after three years they’ll charge us £100/year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 24 minutes ago, dpmiller said: have you actually tried power cycling it? Yes. Did it multiple times, and the problem always persists when it restarts. It’s a software issue, and I think I’ve identified it occurs after legionaries sessions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 I think you have to demand a conclusive answer as currently it’s “not fit for purpose”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 1 hour ago, ProDave said: In @Home Farm case I would be wanting to know what the issue is and both a local way to reset it, but more important what alteration is needed to prevent it. Agreed. I need a way to override this locally. I will be formally complaining next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 Just now, joe90 said: I think you have to demand a conclusive answer as currently it’s “not fit for purpose”. Totally agree. These pumps are stupidly expensive and I will be formally escalating this matter with a complaint. It’s just not good enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjseb Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 We had three Husky Heat Pumps at work. Constantly coming up with errors and always at the coldest times. Or when you’ve left on a Friday evening to come back on Monday to a building that’s 12c nearly all of them were software related. When we replaced them (only 4yrs old as Husky went bust) one of my stipulations was I only wanted a mainstream manufacturer as you know the software has gone though many more QA cycles. interestingly, Global Energy Systems quoted us but decided against for that very reason. They seemed very professional but I was just very cautious due to past experience. We’ve put in 3 Panasonic Aqueria at work and I have a Mitsubishi Ecodan at home. Zero errors on any of them so far. Personally I’d be asking for an engineer visit. If it’s something hardware related or firmware then a replacement is needed. If there’s a bug in their software then they either need to fix it quick sharp or give you a full refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Benjseb said: Personally I’d be asking for an engineer visit. If it’s something hardware related or firmware then a replacement is needed. If there’s a bug in their software then they either need to fix it quick sharp or give you a full refund. They are regularly ‘patching’ the software which happens behind the scenes. But it’s getting annoying that I need to keep tabs on things as they’re not real “errors” as the pump just goes into standby. I do agree. Three standby “errors” in two weeks is crazy, and I may just start demanding financial compensation for the inconvenience. To this point, support has been excellent, but as you’ve all alluded what happens if they stop trading or close this division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 You have probably said elsewhere , what make and model of heat pump? Do you have the manual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) It’s a Caernarfon 18kW ASHP. The manual provided does not cover the “hidden” settings that allow you to tamper with its settings. Users don’t even have access to changing flow rates or HW temperatures. It just covers simple things like how to restart it. Not useful. If you want things changed, you have to call them and they do it remotely. Edited December 15, 2019 by Home Farm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 Is that something re badged by a local supplier to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H F Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 2 hours ago, ProDave said: Is that something re badged by a local supplier to you? No. It’s a uk built and manufactured ASHP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 20 minutes ago, Home Farm said: No. It’s a uk built and manufactured ASHP. Pretty rubbish website, no technical information and no downloads. Do you have an electronic copy of the manual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 20 minutes ago, Home Farm said: It’s a uk built and manufactured Who makes the refrigerant pump? It may be assembled in the UK, or a cheap Far East model with UK controls in it. Take the covers off and see where the bits come from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 23 hours ago, Home Farm said: No. It’s a uk built and manufactured ASHP. TBH, I doubt that's wholly accurate. There are some companies assembling heat pumps in the UK, from parts manufactured elsewhere, and there are some badge-engineering heat pumps made by other overseas manufacturers that are made to look as iof they are wholly UK made products. To the best of my knowledge there are only two UK manufacturers of heat pumps, and both use sub-assemblies from other manufacturers. My money is on it being made from imported major assemblies, might even be an entire imported unit, painted a different colour and with different badges, like the products from another well-known "British" heat pump company. In order to qualify as being "British made" all it needs is something like a British control system, and it seems likely that this company may well have designed, or adapted the design, of the control system, particularly as they are able to fix it when it fails. They seem to be a micro-company, from their accounts filing history, which suggests that they most probably aren't really manufacturing heat pumps from the ground up: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06705069/filing-history Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 any views on the most reliable ASHP providers? I know its subjective but in the gas boiler market Veissman are top of their game and worcster have a good reputation (its used to be better...). ASHP's??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 13 minutes ago, redtop said: any views on the most reliable ASHP providers? I know its subjective but in the gas boiler market Veissman are top of their game and worcster have a good reputation (its used to be better...). ASHP's??? From reports here and elsewhere is seems that any of the very well known brands are pretty good, so Panasonic, Samsung, Daikin, Carrier (often re-badged as some other make), Mitsubishi, etc. My general advice would be to steer clear of unknown brands, not because they may be iffy, but more because they may be a bit of an unknown quantity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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