How to remove blower wheel from MRCOOL mini split AC

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This is how I removed the blower wheel for my MRCOOL mini split for cleaning. MRCOOL has a great video demonstrating how to take apart the indoor unit (watch that one first, and check out the comments section) • How to Replace a MRCOO... but it's outdated for some of their newer models. Specifically, the instructions for removing the blower wheel aren't correct now. I purchased this 18K DIY model in July 2020. MRCOOL, please give us better maintenance instructions and make it easier to remove the blower wheel for regular cleaning!!
To get the louver off (the long white thing that aims the air stream): First unhook the middle tabs one at a time. The louver itself will flex a bit, and the gray piece that receives it will flex in the opposite direction a bit. Then you can unhook the end of the louver away from the motor. You do this by very slightly flexing the entire louver.
To get the blower wheel (fan) out after you loosen the set screw, you basically have to unscrew and loosen the left side of the refrigerant coil. Then lift the left side of the refrigerant coil just enough until you have enough clearance to remove the left side of the blower wheel. The left side the blower wheel has some plastic bracket that needs to be lifted up and out. These videos help too:
The official video for replacing the motor. Not helpful for removing the blower wheel (fan), but it helps understand how it all goes together.
• How to Replace a MRCOO...
Here's a good video showing how to remove it, but it's a different brand and this one removes at a different angle.
• Highwall Ductless Blow...
In this video, the blower wheel removes very similarly to the Mr Cool. It slides to the left and a little bit upwards.
• How to clean a (ductle...

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29 авг 2021

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Комментарии : 95

@edwardortiz8485 Год назад

Thanks a ton! And for those of you who replaced the blower wheel but still hear a grinding, it’s most likely coming from the plastic blower cover (the thing he drilled a hole in). I just removed mine completely and it’s perfect now. Not sure what the consequences are of doing that but I can’t find any that wound be major.

@slipstreamvids7422 Год назад

I managed to clean the squirrel cage fan without removing it or the motor. It was bit fiddly but less steps or disassembly. I got the cowling off easily and removed the black painted screens with three screws. I then pulled one screw out of the louver positioning motor and was able to pop the swinging louver assembly out. I then found the air directing fins to be only popped into place and removed them. Now I had a clear shot at the fan. I used a dry paint brush and shop vac and removed 95% of the dust. I kept the whole operation dry to avoid flinging crap on startup. The Mr cool is 4.5 years old and I had never done this before and frankly it wasn’t hella dirty but it’s a good winter project that takes a couple hours with breaks lol.

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

I tried that same approach myself first. I felt like I was getting 80% of it off. I had good success using a 1 inch drywall / spackle blade. Quite painstaking. If it works well for you, great! I've found that I have to clean mine multiple times per year in order to keep the airflow sufficient, so the hackjob work to get it removed was worth it to me. I can tell when the blower fan blades need cleaning when it doesn't maintain the temperature as well.

@daytona273 2 года назад

Thank you for sharing this information. On my unit, there was a circle marker in the plastic almost in that exact spot. It was as though it was there for this purpose? I drilled using that as a guide and was able to get to the screw without issue! Don't forget to get as much of the plastic shavings out so there won't be a chance of them stopping up the drain.

@lcash365 Год назад

This works! I had to drill mine to get my fan out, it was literally caked with either dust or mold, or both. My AC is blowing twice as hard now that it's clean.

@hannanshamsudin6829 Год назад

took me so much time to found this video. super helpful thanks a lot

@peterhamilton7218 2 года назад

This was super useful, even if only so I can see the inner workings without taking mine apart. True story, I'm on my 2nd Mr. Cool DIY unit because in about 1 yr of use, I noticed the output from the fan seemed very weak. Upon inspection, I found that the fins were all caked up with dust, despite cleaning the filters about monthly. So, I went through the process of carefully lifting up the coil and accessing the screw to remove the blower wheel and evidently in the process I caused a few super tiny leaks that resulted in the refrigerant leaking out over the course of the next couple months. When we got our second unit, it was the upgraded version, and the blower is in a slightly different position. More accessible, but still not very good.

@PatrickBoatner 2 года назад

Glad it helped! In your case, I wonder if you might have had a refrigerant leak all along? The fans getting dirty will certainly lower the cooling output, but perhaps you already had low refrigerant but the dirty fans masked the issue. If you didn't use a torque wrench with crow foot wrenches to tighten the refrigerant connections, I'd highly recommend it! Perfect for laymen like us getting them tightened properly.

@zaidhamid7269 Год назад

You saved me money and time my friend, thank you so much

@RonKris 7 месяцев назад

Okay, I just finished my fan motor replacement. The white inside plastic ones are easier, the grey ones are more difficult. Now, the grey plastic shroud covering the fan motor rod where it connects to the fan can be removed but it isn't easy. Pay close attention to the shroud. Above the fan motor, facing the fan there is a clip at the top part that must be pushed away from the motor towards the fan area. The second clip is against the area where the wall is. Release both of these. Now comes the hard part. Lift the fins/cooling coils from the far left, grab the grey plastic motor housing (the plastic where Patrick has drilled the holes), and start manipulating the piece up and down, left and right. It will come loose and expose the fan motor and the set screw. This took me several tries but I finally got it. While it was out I got my multi-tool and cut an approx. one inch long by .5 inch wide opening in case I have to do this again and I will not have to remove the grey shroud. Replacement was about as hard, but it can work. Oh, try and remove the black rubber gasket at the back of the motor when removing the motor... this helps. This MRcool I bought this at Costco about 2.5 years ago. My fan didn't have the cutout fins part either.

@JesseBergeron Месяц назад

Guys like you keep me in business, thanks bro💪🤣

@mr.monitor. 14 дней назад

He didn't create any additional problems, so what business was created? He doesn't need to call you.

@carlosmunoz7934 21 день назад

Holy cow no wonder I couldn’t take mine out ! I looked everywhere to get access to the freaking screw and I didn’t find one , I cleaned mine one the unit

@WESK18 18 дней назад

I have a Blueridge from Alpine Air and it looks similar to Mr cool, didn't remove the blower but managed to clean it but I bet the set screw is similar, It wasn't blowing air so my room wasn't getting cool, but now it does.

@Wideawaketoo 2 года назад

💯 this!! I feel your pain. I’m sitting here in the swamp (Aka Louisiana) and have been trying to take this POS blower fan out. It’s a comfort star (basically China brand mr. cool). So happy I found your vid. I’m literally grabbing my drill now. Lol. They need to make this much easier!! I think I’m switching to Mitsubishi. Their design makes the blower so much easier to remove.

@palarious 2 года назад

Yeah, I got a comfort star, too. Thinking of going Mitsubishi on my next one

@ohno-zx4if Год назад

Did you need to remove the drain pan to remove the blower wheel or is lifting the evaporator coil enough to slide out the whee.

@Wideawaketoo Год назад

@@ohno-zx4if I don’t think I removed the drain pan. But getting the blower out was a super tight squeeze.

@JayCharette 2 года назад

Thanks very much. I spent several hours tonight looking for the set screw and now I know why I couldn’t find it. Terrible design. Unnecessary to the point of being done on purpose.

@TrollHunterxXx Год назад

Absolutely … tried to remove mine to clean it … expecting easy removal … nope. Absolutely on purpose when all of the other companies have a set screw and easy removal

@ohno-zx4if Год назад

It’s unbelievable how your forced to drill into the unit like this. How could Mr cool not make it easy to remove

@brockbrawn1524 Год назад

Because they want people to buy new units or pay hvac guys to clean them.

@richardcote9663 2 года назад

Thanks for the video. My 18k was manufactured October 2020 and is very similar to yours. The blower cover is slightly different and putting a hole in it in your same location did not expose the set screw. Mine is located further inboard and is actually just behind the evap coil so had to lift up the coil assembly to gain access. Not user friendly at all. For this reason I can no longer recommend buying a Mr Cool brand. What good is having a unit that can't be cleaned. Makes it a throw away in my book. Planned obsolescence I guess. My 9k unit has the set screw inboard of the blower, just as in the MR Cool video, and I was wondering if the 18k could have that set screw bearing removed and reversed for easy access. Too bad the customer support falls short with this company.

@luizz_k 2 года назад

Just had the same exact problem with a Frigidaire uniy and there's no info out there. Ended up half cleaning it up there.. Not the same, not so clean..

@waymonwynn102 Год назад

I figured it out without drilling anything!! 3 screws in the coil and a plastic clip my friend

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

Feel free to post a quick video. I'm sure it it would help folks. Good to hear though!

@riviecc 10 месяцев назад

Please Post video of removing cover and blower wheels . I installed mine five years ago and water dripping into the house. Vacumed condensate line and a lot of junk came out . Hopefully this solves problem but still in need of good cleaning . Any videos or help appreciated

@ssrrocks22 Месяц назад

I have a Mr. COOL, and I can tell you I did NOT drill any holes in my unit. The manufacturer was able to install it without drilling any holes. It is never a good idea to start drilling holes in or near the coile tubes. This is asking for problems. Once you nick a tube, it is only a matter of time before you have a leak, and trust me, it won't be cheap to repair or replace the coiles and recharge your system.

@Lloyd.B. Месяц назад

I have an EletriQ one and they put the retaining tabs that hold the bottom of the shroud on upside down, (should be able to pull down to release if they were the right way up) so it's literally impossible to get it off once installed. I filed mine down before installing so I can get if off. I cleaned the blower wheel the other day, with cleaner and rinsed with water, coz of a stench and I think water might have gone some where it shouldn't go and now a tiny squeak has started >.< (It doesn't squeak once per revolution tho, more like once every 6 seconds, which makes zero sense). I am dreading the thought of trying to replace the motor, because EletriQ cares even less then Mr Cool about making things easy to fix.

@Lloyd.B. Месяц назад

Wow, that is odd. Turned it off and it still does it so it's not the fan. Some electronic component 'chirping' I guess >.

@Lloyd.B. Месяц назад

Found it! It's the wi-fi chip. Well at least that might be easier to fix/replace than the motor....

@dsnyder1212 Год назад

Can you give a hint how to get the louvre off--we are afraid we're going to break it

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

First unhook the middle tabs one at a time. The louver itself will flex a bit, and the gray piece that receives it will flex in the opposite direction a bit. Then you can unhook the end of the louver away from the motor. You do this by very slightly flexing the entire louver.

@dsnyder1212 Год назад

@@PatrickBoatner Thank you so much for replying-flexing the louver worked!

@edwardortiz8485 Год назад

After taking the screw off, did it just slide right off?

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

I just updated the description. Does this help? - To get the blower wheel (fan) out after you loosen the set screw, you basically have to unscrew and loosen the left side of the refrigerant coil. Then lift the left side of the refrigerant coil just enough until you have enough clearance to remove the left side of the blower wheel. The left side the blower wheel has some plastic bracket that needs to be lifted up and out. These videos help too: The official video for replacing the motor. Not helpful for removing the blower wheel (fan), but it helps understand how it all goes together. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kAY6i8VpTBo.html Here's a good video showing how to remove it, but it's a different brand and this one removes at a different angle. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2VvoER81-co.html In this video, the blower wheel removes very similarly to the Mr Cool. It slides to the left and a little bit upwards. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yVa6UyXPZZY.html

@raymondpalacios3032 2 года назад

Now that you have removed the blower wheel, would it be possible for you to remove one or two of the blades for easier access in the future?

@katelyn_civitello 11 месяцев назад

How did u take apart the whole white thing and vents?

@PatrickBoatner 11 месяцев назад

Check the description for a link. I think Mr cool's official video should help you. It's a couple screws and some clips up top.

@katelyn_civitello 11 месяцев назад

@@PatrickBoatner I watched that video! It shows how to get the white part off but they didn’t remove the white flap (that moves when air blows) or the vents or the black grate things in that video where in ur video u got them out! I can’t find anywhere how to get those out and that is what I need out to clean. I hope this makes sense what I’m asking!

@PatrickBoatner 11 месяцев назад

@@katelyn_civitello the white flap is called the louver usually. To take it off, first unhook the middle tabs one at a time. The louver itself will flex a bit, and the gray piece that receives it will flex in the opposite direction a bit. Then you can unhook the end of the louver away from the motor. You do this by very slightly flexing the entire louver. The black grate things, I totally butchered them. I'm pretty sure you can leave them on when you do this work. I clipped them with wire cutters when I was afraid to take it apart all the way. But once I took it apart fully, I found that removing the large white outer housing first (like Mr Cool shows) would allow the black grates to come out pretty easily.

@PatrickBoatner 11 месяцев назад

Oh I see what you're saying now. Yeah, remove the large white outer housing first, then you can see the top and bottom of the black grates. I think you'll see where the black grates clip onto something. You might be able to clean them with your fingers + a wet towel or similar once the louvre is out of the way.

@katelyn_civitello 11 месяцев назад

@@PatrickBoatner thank you! Going to try to do all of this tomorrow. I’ve been watching videos on people deep cleaning other units since there’s such limited info on Mr. Cool and I am curious do u know if Mr. Cool units have a drain pan ? I didn’t see one in the Mr. Cool video that u linked either

@cj-sp8ed 2 месяца назад

😬 just going to clean with it on.

@PatrickBoatner 2 месяца назад

I feel your pain. I tried that, scraping each blade with a putty knife - super laborious. You might try using foaming AC coil cleaner (usually for cleaning the coils, not the blower wheel), along with a cleaning bib / cover. Hardware stores will sell them for like $30 and it captures your spray and channels it down into a bucket.

@skylerhorton8737 2 года назад

How do you get it out after you loosen the screw?

@skylerhorton8737 2 года назад

The blower fan*

@PatrickBoatner 2 года назад

@@skylerhorton8737 if you search "replace Mr Cool motor" on RU-vid, there's an official video that almost shows the process. Basically you have to unscrew and loosen the left side of the refrigerant coil. Then lift the left side of the refrigerant coil just enough until you can lift up and remove the left side of the blower wheel. It's very similar to other mini split blower wheel cleaning videos that I've seen on RU-vid. Hope it works out.

@SirkillzAhlot 2 года назад

@@PatrickBoatner I’ve scrolled through videos of that search phrase and have yet to find any videos on the blower wheel

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

The official video for replacing the motor. Not helpful for removing the blower wheel (fan), but it helps understand how it all goes together ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kAY6i8VpTBo.html Here's a good video showing how to remove it, but it's a different brand and this one removes at a different angle ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2VvoER81-co.html In this video, the blower wheel removes very similarly to the Mr Cool. It slides to the left and a little bit upwards. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yVa6UyXPZZY.html

@erickraan Год назад

@@PatrickBoatner Great vid. Thanks. We have a similar unit, advantage gen 3, non-diy. Like yourself we had to drill to get to the set screw, and similar to others experience, it was far more to the left than expected. That said, once the set screw was loosened, and also having access to the motor, we were still unable to release the blower wheel from the motor axel, thoughts? The unit mgfr date 2/2021. The idea of not being able to easily access the blower wheel for basic maintenance is ridiculous and will certainly make it easier to seek other brands that are more user friendly.

@ohno-zx4if Год назад

I wish you showed how you removed the actual wheel

@brockbrawn1524 Год назад

Why didn't you just pull the motor screws out and popped it off?

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

It looked like the shroud was heavily attached to the refrigerant coil or something. I wanted to do this, but couldn't see a way. See if you can make a happen, record a video 💪

@brockbrawn1524 Год назад

@PatrickBoatner is where I could send you a photo of mine? I'm in the middle of cleaning mine. I think I have the same one as you do. How are you keeping the black box back in there? Since the clip is now cut? Would hot glue be okay?

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

So I thought I needed to cut the clip, so I could remove the black box. But that wasn't actually useful at all. Don't cut anything around the black box, if you haven't yet. If you have cut it, just study how the other parts are holding it in. Think about what ways it can move. I think it basically sits on top of something. It doesn't have to be super secure- I think it's not a mechanical part. I think it's just the computer.

@brockbrawn1524 Год назад

@PatrickBoatner I got it lose besides the top where that black clip is. And I'm stumped. On how to get it off without cutting it.

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

You don't need to remove the black box.

@SirkillzAhlot 2 года назад

Major design flaw. If the blower wheel is not broke and doesn’t need to be replaced, why not just clean it in place instead of taking it out?

@PatrickBoatner 2 года назад

I did try cleaning it in place first. I didn't have any success with just blowing air at it. I had some success with a 1 inch putty knife, but it was painstaking and wasn't thorough. If you did find some way to aggressively clean it in place, it would probably blow a lot of the dirt onto the coils, which is another problem! If you watch a video of a professional technician cleaning a more reputable system (like a Mitsubishi), they remove the blower wheel entirely. You can really do a great thorough job, and very quickly, with a garden hose sprayer.

@SirkillzAhlot 2 года назад

@@PatrickBoatner I agree removing it would be so much better. It’s hard to believe mr cool designed it that way and even more difficult to believe all of my inquiries about it go unanswered.

@SirkillzAhlot 2 года назад

@@PatrickBoatner is there anyway you could provide measurements relative to something on the unit for where exactly to drill the hole? I want to clean it properly but I’m afraid to mess up.

@PatrickBoatner 2 года назад

@@SirkillzAhlot I don't know if there's a good way to measure, but here's the idea: the screw you need to turn, it's right on the shaft. That shaft is in the center of the blower wheel. See the motor on the right? You can visualize where the center of the motor is, and that's where the shaft is. Now, the blower wheel can rotate. So really there are multiple places you could drill. But, there are copper refrigerant lines in the way! So for me, I knew I wanted to drill as far left as possible, and I needed a place that would go straight towards the center of the shaft. Just pick a spot like that, but with a comfortable distance from the refrigerant lines. I won't lie, it was really close to the copper lines. Basically, as far left as you can go, and directly towards the center.

@SirkillzAhlot 2 года назад

@@PatrickBoatner oh wow. I took off my air handler case and the plastic casing you drilled has an indentation with a screw. By the looks of it, that’s the set screw because it’s in the location you described. It’s a 3rd gen so I assume mr cool listened to customer feedback. But now I have another problem. I assume the blower wheel slides out one of the sides. Is that right? If it is, I don’t see a way that’s possible as it’s blocked by a bunch of stuff.

@LeuCustomKnives 2 года назад

In the video where it shows you how to change out the motor you have to remove a screw or two in the left of the unit and that allows you to lift up the coils to access the screw. But maybe you already saw that video. 😆

@calvinsFuntimeBounceHouse 10 месяцев назад

i have a mitsubishi, and i removed all the screws and still the blower wheel will not come out. it is held in there with the power of Christ

@AK-ky3ou 2 года назад

What? This is ridiculous. This is how to get the blower wheel off?

@PatrickBoatner 2 года назад

I know!! I hope someone can show an easier way. Thankfully this is a one time modification, and then it's pretty easy for subsequent cleanings.

@SirkillzAhlot 2 года назад

There’s gotta be a better way

@PatrickBoatner 2 года назад

I think the proper way involves removing the motor cover/shroud. On my unit, I think that would have required pulling up the right side of the coil WAY more than my refrigerant lines would allow. Or maybe there was some other constraint (I can't remember) but I just couldn't see any way to remove the motor cover with my skill level.

@alexmorton-adams4237 Год назад

Did you find a way to get to the motor without cutting or drilling? I can’t get the control unit out. Thanks!

@billiamc1969 Год назад

You butchered the unit...I will NOT do it this way

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

It's not pretty! But, I now have a maintainable mini split. I can now reliably and fairly easily remove and clean the blower wheel. It makes a huge difference in the cooling/heating output. 🤷

@alexmorton-adams4237 Год назад

Did you find a way to get to the motor without cutting or drilling? I can’t get the control unit out. Thanks!

@PatrickBoatner Год назад

@@alexmorton-adams4237 the control unit, there's an official video from Mr Cool that shows how to remove it and then remove the motor. I linked it in another comment thread. I tried going this route to see if it would help me avoid drilling the motor shroud access the set screw (it didn't!). I did have to do a tiny bit of cutting around the top tab I think, to remove the control unit.

@fiehlsport Год назад

Who cares? It didn't affect the structural rigidity, nor the cosmetics of the unit. Now it's serviceable.

@tiffanymartin2919 2 года назад

Wait wait wait-so you are saying one drill to fix this, then you show where you had to drill about 7 times? I hope to heaven you are not a professional tech. I would report that poor shoddy work immediately. Your “tool” is a damn drill bit for crap sake. Not a magic wand. 🙄

@PatrickBoatner 2 года назад

Ha, I'm just a home owner desperate for a way to clean and maintain the blower. I agree, it's quite shoddy. I would absolutely love if Mr Cool or anyone gave proper instructions for doing this. On my unit, the motor shroud (the piece I drilled through) appeared to have some metal tabs going under the coils. With the length of refrigerant lines they have, I think it would have required cutting the refrigerant lines to service this properly.

@broncoguy4862 Год назад

The man is offering advice based on his experience, free advice. YOU choose to be a complete tool and go 100% Karen. Maybe you should demand to speak to a manager. Threaten to get him fired. (Yes, I'm totally mocking you and your petty comment...I'm explaining this because you don't seem too bright)

@Criminaljustice79 Год назад

Jesus.. the guy is just trying to help home owners so we don't have to have some "pro" come to charge $100 dollars for a cleaning. If you have a better way Tiffany please.. I'd like to see lol

@fiehlsport Год назад

This is a video on a Mr. Cool DIY mini split, do you really think he's a technician? I'm gonna report your shoddy comment immediately. 🤣

@tiffanymartin2919 Год назад

@@fiehlsport whatever floats your boat. It’s been a year man-move on. 😂