Mistral MSS25

Cheapie but can't complain about the 9yr trojan work it performed – We bought an MSS25 (24000BTU/6.5kWh Cooling, 25400BTU/7.5kWh Heatimg, 2.5Hp) reverse cycle unit for $749 from Kmart (Burwood Sydney) in 01/2006 with 5yr warranty. The unit worked well for about 4 yrs then the pcb had to be replaced. Mistral had disappeared (gone bust) and the Victorian electrical repair company (name escapes me) that took over… Read more

all Mistral's warranty work did everything in their power to avoid the repair - the excuse being that the original installer only had had a NSW Electrical trades licence which is all that is required in NSW, and not the Australian Gas fitters licence or something or other - ie all Crap. Anyway Fair trading NSW told me to in fact go to the original vendor (Kmart) as my "contract " (ie purchase) was with them, not Mistral and Kmart were responsible for the warranty (something that I didn't know as most people don't). So I contacted Kmart and they obliged without any fuss upon proof of purchase and the unit got repaired by a company from WA contracted by Kmart to do Mistral warranty work for them, and who organised an appropriate air con company in Sydney to do the work.

The unit continued working well for another 5yrs with the odd service here and there. It really worked liked a trojan almost 24hrs a day all through the year as I needed appropriate cooling/heating for my severely disabled mum who I cared for at home for 9yrs.

The unit only packed it in in May this year (2015) after Energy Australia/Ausgrid replaced the main electrical cables into the house, and upon turning the power back on to the house, and I turned the a/c on it caught on fire straight away (probably power surge) and burnt out. Off course Ausgrid did an "investigation" and denied all liability with a beauty of an excuse ... "they are entitled to do repair work to their infrastructure from time to time and problems can occur which are part of the process."

Anyway, at the end of the day, although the MSS25 was a "cheapie" unit, it worked tirelessly for 9 yrs for us and I couldn't complain about that.

Good – For the price a real steal,the units work fine,and with a 5 year warranty,that is now honoured as of Dec 2010 Im Happy. I purchased 3 of these units a couple years back when K Mart was quitting the product. Probably most of these folk commenting did likewise. The K mart units were a steal at approx A$400 or less. Problem as usual was getting… Read more ·  2

totally screwed by rip off installers who charged at approx $800 per unit + the sparkie.

The first year or so I could get No satisfaction from the warranty people.No return calls,no service for the couple of minor problems that occured with 2 of the units.

Several months ago I accidently found a refrigeration company tht does the warranty work for Mistral,and had prompt service from the company.

And the best thing is when I bought these they came with a 5 year warranty.

Later models sold at bunnings only came with a 1 year warranty.

The units, aside for minor faults like a noise from 1 unit caused by the cabinet being as bit loose after installation,and the directional swing unit not opening correctly on one unit, are all working fine,chilling and heating well,and now know I have another several years of warranty service,Im happy. Early on ,the warrany had no valadity.

That problem is now solved

Terrible – I was happy with this air conditioner while it was working as it was for a holiday house. After the first hot day of this summer, the indoor unit would still power on and the fan startup but there was no cooling. On several starts, it tripped the circuit breaker. Local air conditioning shop said it was a waste of their time and my money to even… Read more

look at it, as Mistral is out of business and there are no spare parts. I purchased the unit from Bunnings, so I thought I would go back and at least get some satisfaction from venting at them. To my surprise, they offered a full refund as long as I could produce the receipt and the compliance certificate from the installer. I have done this and returned the unit to them and they have refunded the purchase price, which will cover the installation costs for a new (and better unit). I must give Bunnings credit for at least backing up the product they sold, no matter how terrible it was. Worked well for the price Failed after 4.5 years

Mistral out of business so 5 year in home warranty is useless

Fix with a new capacitor – I will start by saying I own 3 of these units and every single unit worked flawlessly for many years until one of them just refused to cool. I spent alot of time researching a fix and even called in a AC Mechanic to have a look. He just said get a new one. He repaired it ??? and it worked for a few months until it stopped again (he put a dodgy… Read more

second hand capacitor in my unit ... I could tell because when the compressor casing was opened again the outside shell of the capicitor was dull and old in appearance ?????!!!!).

I was not so hasty and decided to investigate further. I bought a few 35uF capacitors on Ebay for around $12 each and had it installed in the faulty unit. That was 4 years ago and it has worked flawlessly since. imo, changing an ac capicitor has the same level of skill as changing a light bulb. It takes longer to take the outer cover off the compressor than it does to replace the capacitor !! The fact is a capacitor dries out over time since it is essentially oil and cardboard.

Since then the other units have experienced the drying out capacitor problem and they are also working still after I had them replaced with new ones. My mother-in-law also has a carrier with the same problem that is also working fully after being repaired the same way...so, don't give up !!! PS I also replaced the run start capacitor for the fan just in case (at a cost of $3).

11 years and still running – I turn this unit on every summer after getting local blokes ini for a yearly service. It works like a dream for three months straight then tun is off as the days turn cooler. Bought brand new summer of 2006 when we bought the house. It's only missed a beat once, when the outdoor capacitor failed, local bloke bypassed it, until part arrived. … Read more

Head unit, has a family of mice turn up every winter. And they chew their way through the drainage pipe. Local guys turn up repair it as part of the service and the unit ist keeps powering through.

Wish I could of got another one for the bedroom.

Check the capacitor first if failed – The a/c unit is with the house i bought. Failed after two years i own the house. Not produce cold air in summer but was found the outdoor unit capacitor failed. You could easily source one from Ebay about $35 and its easy to change. If you get a capacitor tester or multimetre, you can do a test to see if the existing capacitor is dead or not… Read more

before you buy a replacement capacitor. But it is usually the capacitor failed.

Heating is not so good in winter. Outdoor unit makes funny loud noise which i can even hear in bedroom. I can not figure out what the problem is.

No problems in 7 years – We have a large 9kW Mistral reverse cycle air cond and have not experienced any problems in 7 years. We purchased with a 5 year warranty and extended it to 7. I think most brands come out of the same factory in China  Show reply

Don't waste your money – Having worked at Bunnings Mistral went from a 5 yr warranty to a 1 yr. I have just replaced all the rubbish AC units in a house I just brought with quality Mitsubishi units. If your on a budget get a Samsung. Not as good but good service. Old saying pay for what you get. Mistral is just complete rubbish. Got an hour

Piece of useless junk – Unit did not work at all at first as there were faulty parts. Company tried to deny it. took a long time to get replacement part on warranty. New part also dodgy. needed to be replaced after short time of use new replacement part was no longer available so they had to replace the whole outdoor unit, again took weeks. swinging louvre thingy broke… Read more

after a short time and could not be fixed without replacing the whole unit so we have never had air direction control.Outdoor unit freezes up terribly and it does not cope well with -temperatures. It has never been efficiant and is not used in an area size past it's recomendation. After several years of use and serveral minor repair the compressor has completly died and we have to throw it away. Inexpensive. get what you paid for!!

Terrible – I'm a Air-conditioning mechanic and i use to be a warranty agent for mistral. DO NOT BUY ONE.... They went bankrupt about 1yr ago and there is no spare parts or warranty for them. If it's not working turn it off at the wall (or meter box) for 5min then turn it back on, this will fix 80% of the faults due to its normally a pcb issue. If it still does not work then get a new a/c

Terrible – never buy anything minstral or linda which is also the same company cannot buy any parts to repair these things do not buy if you dont want to lose money i brought 4 fo these worked for 3 mths and have never worked since

Terrible – I was stupid enough to buy 3 of these units,one works fine but the other just starts flashing all the lights and switches off.No service , because all their numbers are disconected.The third one hasnt been installed yet,Im thinking i shouldve read this first before i bought them.Anyone want to bye an aircon still in its box? Cheap...to buy. Expensive to keep working,

OK – I had similiar issues as others here, but eventually got a full refund from mistral. The service number in the boklet was not answering so I simply kept adding one digit to the number until someone answered. About six weeks later after a technician declared the unit beyond repair, mistral deposited a full refund in my account. Keep perservering people!! I got a full refund

Terrible – It is far too noisy and does not work well cooling a very small room. Kept making a ha loud noise and cutting itself off. Lasted 1 day after the repairman said it was leaking, regassed it and now after $300+ later, I have had to call him back again. It is now making the same high pitched squeal after about 15 minutes.He said they are just… Read more

endless trouble! Wish I had never bought it. 41 degree heat on the way. Nothing really. It worked for about 1 summer and then it has been trouble ever since. IT DOESN'T WORK!

OK – We purchased our house two years ago and it had two mistral air conditioners already installed. the one in our bedromm failed in which we replaced with a panasonic (fantastic) however the one in our open plan loungeroom is still working. It is a great unit we have used it a couple of times this summer and had no problems. It cools quite quickly… Read more

and very easy to use.

We have also used the heating component in winter although we do have a wood fire (nothing beats that). The only downside to this air conditioner is that it has quite a large head unit. It can be noisy when fist turned on but does quiet down.

With my hubby being asthmatic i have to clean the filters in our air con every month this unit has quite hard filters to pull out and clean.

Other than these little qualms we are very happy with the product. Cools area quite quickly, easy to use large unit, noisy, hard to pull out filters and clean

Terrible – dont buy under any circumstances this is a lemon get a brand name the noise this thing makes is unbeleivable heaps interesting to read comments had ours 5 years got mechanic out each year under warranty gave it up last night I give up having it replaced

Terrible – What a waste of money. Was planning on contacting Mistral to try and get compensation but after reading all these posts I think it would be a waste of time. Will have to bite the bullet and get another more reputable brand and write it off. has lasted 3 years just packed it in - needs new fan motor which I am told you cant get

OK – The warranty agent dj electronics went into receivership. This does not mean mistral has. It is now upto mistral to source a new warranty service agent. You can try calling mistral direct and ask for warranty or take it to consumer protection saying mistral has failed to provide its warranty. Please try and claim your warranty through consumer… Read more

protection its your best option. Great aircon but as below warranty not avaliable People mistral is still around; read below for warranty

Bad – Ok if i could find a answer for this. The problem is no communication phone number. All phones are dead or out of order. Please help me...the machine is just three years old It was working over last 2 - 3 years hopefully. Because i just bought the house and it is just a three year old house. Trying to contact but could not reached because the… Read more

nubmers are out of order. Pls. Give me a ring 0433 563022 and i am customer waiting for a consultation. The sleeping mode is always on and the heater is not working. Automatically switch off the system after blinking the red light (sleeping mode light) after some time.

Excellent – very happy hasn't missed a beat. It not onlt cools my room but heats it very well the trick is to get your room measured up right for the air conditioner which i did and it has been great. If you buy the wrong size air condtioner for the room it will not last. I'm so glad i got a bunnings to assist me. btw bunnings have a money back garantee :) Nice price

Good – Great air-conditioners all round. Most of the problems that are caused are due to do it your self installers (which is a breach of Australian law under many government departments) or an Electrician who is trying to play Refrigeration Mechanics. If the units are installed correctly and are sized right for your area you will have many hassle free… Read more

years with your air-conditioning system. For the best results with your installation contact you local Refrigeration Mechanic who will have an electrician that he works with to run the main power supply from your power board to the isolation point. (this is all the electrician is required to do) Ask to see the Refrigeration Mechanics Arctick licence card and the electricians contractors licence (take a record of these licence numbers as you will need them to make a warranty claim if ever required. Remember installation faults and non licenced installations VOID all warranty on the machines. So PLEASE leave it up to the people who know their trade and what they are doing Great value very efficent No information given at the place of purchase as bunnings staff know nothing about air-conditioning, and will often sell a system that is not suited to the area that you wish to cool or heat. Always ask a licenced REFRIGERATION MECHANIC for the correct air-conditioner for your appliciation, not!! an electrician or a store keeper.

Terrible – Don't buy one. Save your money. No one can get it working without leaking. It heats well, but summer is upon us and it leaks after about 10 minutes of being on. When it was working without leaking it was great IT LEAKS ALL DOWN THE WALL

Terrible – There should be at least a Guarantee for at least 5 years especially when I spent $800 on the unit and installation cost me $400.00 It worked great for 2 years The heating system died in after 2 years.

Terrible – WORST DECISION I EVER MADE TO GET ONE OF THESE THINGS. I CAN NOT BELIEVE MY AIR CONDITIONING CONTRACTOR RECCOMENDED IT. HE HAS NOW ALSO SAID HE WILL NEVER DEAL WITH MISTRAL AGAIN. Was reasonable when it worked I have been waiting 12 months for repairs. Been calling up and now all the phone numbers are disconnected. I went to the tribunal last… Read more

month to get this repaired and now the company has changed thei name to salesexpress pty ltd. So now have to wait longer. I know they received their second notice and a guy rang me and i directed him to my air conditining contractor to order the parts. Parts have been on order for almost 2 months and again excuses after excuses. NEVER AGAIN. Everyone with a mistral, take them to the CTTT for repair orders. Anyone who wants a cheap air conditioner, don't choose a mistral cause your just spending your money and just get an ugly thing on the wall that doesn't work

Terrible – DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE SYSTEMS FROM MISTRAL - You may as well burn your money because you will need to, to stay warm in winter. ABSOLUTE CRAP, I rang Consumer Affairs and was told "Good Luck with that". This company has no morals and is making money off of people that have bought a cheaper air cond because that is all they can afford - SHAME ON… Read more

YOU MISTRAL. I used a qualified Refrigeration Electrician and have an Electrical Certificate of Compliance, but fat lot of good that got me. It is not just the cost of the unit everyone has lost but also the installation cost the same as the unit. Absolutley Nothing Where do I start, It does not work and hasnt for well over a year. It has been fixed several times to work for a day. Warranty is useless, no one returns calls, no one has come to look at it for the last 9 months. My children had to suffer 46c heat during the last two summers and did they care NO!!!!!

Terrible – i brought mine 8 monthsago and got it installed it was great for the winter but my compressor keeps turning of when its on cooling and its getting hot sucks dont by one spend a little bit more and get good value as no one can get ahold of there warranty when somthing goes wrong

Terrible – As a refrigeration Mechanic these units are at very least pathetic and are hard to service cheap, loud and noisy, vibrate and aren't effecient at all. Service and spares are impossible to get. Buy one and be warned they are crap.

Terrible – never buy a mistral product .even comparing it to other cheaper brands it will not stand up.poor quality,zero service,not a fair dinkum product. the hole in the wall.i wil get more cool air from the hole in the wall if i remove unit then i will ever get from a working mistral split system a/c. the 5 year warranty that does not exists.the way… Read more

mistral people lets you wait for 35 minutes plus on the phone cause everytime the phone rings .they will say oh oh another aircon has stuffed up.its like the saying goes .theres a sucker born every minute.and here it is guys and we are all(suckers) thanks for mistral.

Terrible – Worst mistake I have ever made buying 2 of them the vent (which opens when you turn it on) broke on both in the first 3 months . Bunnings should be ashamed of selling such a poor product. Nothing the warranty is non existant same a likes try to get warranty and you will find it next to impossible

Terrible – dont ever buy one of these i have been waiting 7 months for a part, and cant get to talk to anyone on the phone about it, shame on you mistral.I wish I had reviewed this product B 4 I bought the bloody thing. and when it does work it is very noisey. I would never buy a mistral brand of anything again.

Terrible – i started installing these a few years ago when i became a warranty agent for mistral after 6 months i stopped installing and pulled out of the service contract. getting parts through mistral was impossible they wold only refer me to dj electronics who were never any help it started to become hard to explain to a customer why it took several… Read more

months to recieve parts and then when finally fixing one problem having to go back a few weeks later due to a new fault. they are a cheap unit which appeals to many WARNING DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT SAVE SOME MORE MONEY AND GET SOMETHING AT LEAST HALF DECENT!!! can be sold for scrap metal whole thing

Terrible – There is absolutely NO service, warranty or no warranty....no spare parts available, no-one wants to know about you....DON'T BUY ONE.. I will never buy anything Mistral or from the Linda company ever again...don't be fooled, they are one and the same company... When it worked it was great A small circuit board stopped the whole thing from working.

Terrible – Cheap is cheap and this gear is not much chop unless you hold its hand day in day out. Buyers beware stick any service problems back with the original seller. If they say No. Go to Dept of fair Trading and let them chase up the company or A current Affair likes to stir a bit too. Responsibility lies with the retail seller regardless of whether the… Read more

Brand name(MISTRAL) is uncooperative. Any questions would be delighted to talk.Ph 0428593485 Nothing.... glad I don't own one. Wouldn't even make a good anchor for the boat if I went fishing The Company . Mistral via DJ Electronics who are the company stooges in Australia.Biggest snow job ever for the poor suckers who still buy the rubbish. Sad to say I've been a service agent for 4 years now . Like all the other service guys, been stood up for our money for 8 months now nearly 2 grand. Reckon the service guys need to get a lynchin party going for this mob or they will surely vaporise overnight and leave us and the poor customers for dead.

Terrible – Save your money. Even if they gave these things away you are being ripped off. I got mine from Big W and one would think a large co like this may at least try and sell something that at least ran for a few years. i got sucked in by the warranty but they dont honour it anyway so when it breaks and you are in a rural area forget it. The agent who… Read more

services (used to) these in Tamworth said he will never do work for Mistral because they never pay! Nothing. Its a piece of landfill and thats being kind to it Everything, it broke down a few months after installing and despite many many calls to the Mistral service centre they never ever sent anyone out.

Good – Pros: Outstanding value for money, excellent cooling capacity, powerful fan. Quality item. Cons: Installation piping a touch short makes installation a little fiddly. Overall: Great value for money air conditioner.