Diamond Air completed a job in Te Puna, Tauranga, where the existing Airwell heat pump was not working. Following some tests and upon removing the covers of the indoor unit, we found rodent droppings and chewed wires inside the indoor unit. The power was going to the indoor unit from the isolator, but no voltage or signal was coming out of the circuit boards.
With the age of the unit, and the amount of damage to the indoor components we recommended that the indoor and outdoor unit be replaced with a modern Mitsubishi heat pump.
We reclaimed the refrigerant and removed the unit for disposal in an environmentally responsible manner.
No mice or rats were seen; only their droppings, meaning that they had been in the wall and in the unit for some time.
The Airwell units weren’t all that great when they were new, so replacing the unit with a quiet, efficient 5.8KW Mitsubishi heat pump was the best option instead of going through the process of fixing it and finding parts.
This Te Puna property may be more commonly visited by rodents as it is in the country. To safeguard against future damage we sealed the hole up with expander foam, so hopefully, that keeps these pests out of the indoor unit.
The new Mitsubishi indoor unit looks a lot better, and as you can see by sun fading on the wall, it is also a lot smaller than the old Airwell system.
