Spiffy,
my aircon brand is Carrier. Pls do not use this brand next time. Mine came with the apartment, system 3. it has been giving me problems for the past 2 yrs now & then. the indoor unit takes turn to leak. once fixed, tne other unit in another room will leak! after servicing, the leaking stopped. then the PC board inside the indoor unit takes turn to spoil. My dh has contractors who work in the aircon industry. So he gets them to buy the PC board from the manufacturer & change for us. 2 of the bedrooms PC board has been changed. Each time cost $200 over.
last Nov, my master bedroom aircon blew out hot air. a check revealed that the pipes in the compressor outdoor unit of the system 3 are leaking. the service company i went to ask us to change. we refused & felt that he has marked up the price. so, dh got in his contractor friend again to "repair" the pipes & that cost another 300.
Today, the PC board in my master bedroom is spolit again! i dun wan to change any more PC board. so decided to get a new system 3 set. at IT show, we bought a Sanyo System 3 unit, where the outdoor compressor & all 3 indoor units will be changed. and the price is good. much better than the service company quoted me last Nov.
my bro also experiences the same problem. but he just changed the 2 indoor units where the PC boards are spoilt. which i feel that is not wise coz the outdoor compressor unit for his case was not changed at all.. and anytime, if that go bonks. that is it!