The HVAC guy came Tuesday morning. He has the info to order the compressor for the one throwing the compressor code, and he said both units had leaked out all the refrigerant. He wasn't prepared to do all the leak detection and whatnot; this was just a diagnostic visit which is why he was able to fit me in on such short notice (I had just emailed him last weekend), but he recharged the second unit and we shall see if it holds. This unit worked until I switched from heat to cooling and then died suddenly, so I think as long as I don't change modes on it it will hopefully be okay. My assumption is that the leak is in the switching valve, but he would need to verify that for warranty purposes to get a new one on order. This issue also highlights something interesting about Samsung: their units have no safeties in them. The one that still turned on was happily chugging along with no refrigerant in it, which will burn up the compressor in very short order since the refrigerant is also the coolant for the compressor. It is possible (probable?) this killed the compressor in the first unit. When I worked at Carrier, we used to monitor the pressures (both inlet and output) and the temperature of the compressor but Samsung apparently has a "it'll go or it'll blow" mentality, and then just cost reduced all the sensors out would be my theory.
The difference it made was remarkable. In less than an hour it had knocked over 20% off the humidity. It made a notable air quality improvement inside as well. It really is amazing how despite decreasing the capacity (I had more BTUs in portable units, 23k, than one of my mini-splits, 18k) , the mini-split is more effective at everything.
I also went and picked up some new chairs for Jess and Heather.
I also picked up the stuff I wanted to try cold smoking. I don't have a smoker, but a smoke tube and a grill (which I do have) is sufficient for a little bit of cold smoking.
I got applewood pellets, though I wanted hickory (they were out of stock). Applewood is common for things like bacon, hickory is more common for cheese.
During lunches, since it is frequently too hot to go out for a walk at lunch this time of year, I have been cleaning up and organizing the CR-V. I finally have a plan for where to store everything, and more importantly, how to store it so it doesn't rattle since my previous haphazard storage system was really obnoxious and annoying. I still don't have a good solution for the cargo netting, I might just switch to bungee cords or something. Or maybe make a removable face board, I still have the underlay which is basically a 3/16 plywood (think wimpy paneling) that I put up and bungee in or something. I could also try the smaller one I originally started with, and just use carabiners or something to make it fit better (it was too tight). I also finally got everything but the toaster oven in the car last night.
I finally got my meal service box this week last night. I have to say, the fact that it has been screwed up literally every week is really getting old. It may be (mostly, if not all) Fedex's fault, but Factor chooses the carrier and if Factor can't get the meals to me it makes their service awfully worthless. The first week Fedex tossed the box on its side and ignored the "this side up" and some of the meals saw the trays get mixed. The second week all the freeze packs were destroyed, and while it was still cold I had to wash the gel goo off of everything. The third one Fedex sat on it and didn't bother putting it on the delivery truck, and thus was a day late and their ice packs were inadequate for the extra day of sitting in 90+ heat for shipping. This week is also a day late. Factor is one of the more expensive meal services, and if they don't figure out their logistics issues quick I am going to switch to a different one.