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Another cheap 12kW Kingspan Aeromax ASHP


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Bad specification and installation.  As delivered, the default settings on that 6kW unit would have meant it would be icing and defrosting all the time in cool weather, as it's the same as the Glowworm unit we have, and the default settings on that are way off what's needed to make it run efficiently.  It's far from easy to understand how the settings need to be changed to make these units work as designed, as they are not designed or set for the UK climate as standard (they are imported and badge engineered, and the re-sellers don't seem to have grasped the need to adjust the ratings and performance for the UK).

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I spoke to the seller the other day. He is removing quite a few units from an estate and replacing with gas boilers. The heat pumps had been set up to prioritise hot water at 55 - 60 C into small cylinders, struggled to do that, cost a lot to run and I think as a result didn't have enough capacity left for heating requirements, so Jeremy is spot on when he suggests bad specification and installation.

The seller does have another 6kW and a few 12kW heat pumps left / to take out apparently. I have his number if anyone is interested and wants to contact him.

Given their age perhaps more of a gamble in terms off remaining lifespan and reliability given previous poor installation.  For the right price maybe worth a punt.

 

 

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24 minutes ago, Stones said:

Given their age perhaps more of a gamble in terms off remaining lifespan and reliability given previous poor installation.  For the right price maybe worth a punt.

Looking at the state of the hole bored in the casing I would say they aren't going to be in the best of health ! They have wiring inlets which have been ignored.

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Am i correct in saying these kingspan units are rebadged couriers?

I'm thinking of taking one of those kingspans.....looks very much like they were very poorly specified and probably designed to act like a boiler....there simply not good at that.

@JSHarris Are the controllers for that freely available? I remember you saying that they would be near on imposssible to manipulate without them.

 

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Guest Alphonsox

They are Courier units, re-badged as Kingspans. The controller is required if you want or need to alter the default setting of the unit. The Kingspan installation manual details a "switch only" installation with the controller only being mentioned in passing as an added extra.

I bought my controller from Germany, Joe90 got his from Courier UK. They were readily available at the start of the year but probably worth checking that they are still available now.

I have added a new thread to provide links to these manuals

 

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@Alphonsox @joe90 do you have the contact details of the people you got those controllers off. Quick google doens't throw up any results for Courier UK or their equivalent. I searche for courier UK heat pumps with all sorts of exclusives and stuff but no results on the first four pages.

In the media industry they say the best place to bury a crime is on the second page of google....:P

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The Command Unit is definitely useful, as apart from allowing all the myriad of settings to be programmed to the unit (flow temperatures for heating and cooling, weather compensation curves, cut off limits etc) and acting as a combined thermostat and timer/programmer (if you are OK using its internal temperature sensor) it also has a display that tells you pretty much exactly what the ASHP is doing, so shows the flow temp, whether it's heating or cooling (or defrosting) and gives a one-button way of putting the unit into "holiday mode".  You can use the Command Unit as the primary thermostat and programmer, if you wish, although I'd be the first to say that it isn't a particularly intuitive thing to use in this way.

Had I realised that the Command Unit was as versatile as it is, then I would have run the cable for it to the hall, so I could have used it as the main thermostat and programmer.  It has the ability to programme spare relays in the ASHP and they could be used to operate valves, an UFH pump etc, I think.

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Guest Alphonsox
11 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Had I realised that the Command Unit was as versatile as it is, then I would have run the cable for it to the hall, so I could have used it as the main thermostat and programmer. 

I think this would only work if a buffer tank isn't being used. I can't see a way to let the buffer tank thermostat tell the controller it wants heat.

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If the buffer tank thermostat separately controlled the isolation valve and the no-volt contacts on the ASHP, then perhaps it would over-ride the Command Unit?  I'm not sure, TBH, as I concentrated on trying to decode and reverse-engineer things from the Glowworm manual, before you found the Carrier information, but it seems possible.

All the buffer tank control has to do is over-ride the heating/cooling selection, set the ASHP to heating mode, open the isolating valve to allow the buffer to take the heat pump flow and, perhaps, close the UFH isolating valve to prevent heating the floor if the ASHP was in cooling mode.  A simple thermostat and a relay would do this OK, or a thermostat and an isolating valve with a dry contact switch in it to select the ASHP mode..

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Guest Alphonsox

No its not - As far as I can tell the diagnostic box is a bit of Kingspan tat only containing a couple of LEDs.

I have added details on the controller to the thread above (Carrier 33aw-cs1)

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That's right.  There is an alarm LED outputs on the wiring panel and that, together with the 12V power, just feed the LEDs in this otherwise empty box.  If you wanted the same diagnostics, then two 10p LEDs connected to the connector strip would do the same job..................

The alarm LED may also be duplicated on the circuit board in the unit - it is in mine - so you can read out the code by just taking the cover off.

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Guest Alphonsox
43 minutes ago, Inchbyinch said:

I think I might have found one on an Italian site, look like the one?

cheers for all the help on these, it's a mine field but very easy to navigate if you follow some good foot steps!!

 

https://www.climamarket.it/vendita/termostato-programmabile-per-pompe-di-calore-carrier

That was the first place I tried - I couldn't get a shipping price from them for the UK and that was with correspondence in fluent Italian.

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Sorry the paperwork for mine is on site in Devon and won't be there till Monday pm, I will write myself a note to look it out and post the details here, when I spoke to the Carrier dealer they were very helpful and when I told them of my eBay purchase they indicated they stocked all spares should I need anything.

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Before I found the carrier dealer in Southampton I found a supplier in Germany, got the funds transferred, paid for conversion to Euros, then they told me it was out of stock and not likely to be in stock in the foreseeable future. I got my money back but not the fees for Euro conversion or transfer of monies. :(.

Edited by joe90
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3 hours ago, Inchbyinch said:

I think I might have found one on an Italian site, look like the one?

cheers for all the help on these, it's a mine field but very easy to navigate if you follow some good foot steps!!

 

https://www.climamarket.it/vendita/termostato-programmabile-per-pompe-di-calore-carrier

That's the same as the Command Unit I have, just with the Carrier logo rather than the Glowworm logo that's on mine:

Glowworm Command Unit.JPG

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