Field Guides — the research file
These are the open case files: everything that goes wrong with a machine, gathered
from owners who've been there, labeled by what I've personally verified. When I do
one of these fixes myself, the section graduates — and usually becomes an entry.
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Updated June 23, 2026
A mini split install is two different jobs: mounting boxes, which a careful homeowner can do, and HVAC commissioning, where the expensive failures live. The full map: sizing, flares, nitrogen tests, micron evacuation, condensate, and the rescue problem nobody warns you about.
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Updated June 16, 2026
Add Water with a full tank, constant defrost, screeching, black sludge: the fixes Opal owners keep landing on, organized by symptom, with an escalation ladder from no-tools checks to parts replacement.