LG 9000 BTU 260 sqft Portable Air Conditioner

We rarely give bad reviews, but the circumstances associated with this purchase have left us no alternative. We installed a new hardwood floor in our daughter’s bedroom and wanted to use a portable AC unit to cool the space. We bought a new LG 10000-BTU Inverter Portable Air Conditioner unit that is designed to shut itself off if there is a potential for leakage. The unit was installed in the bedroom and ran trouble free for several months. It was not moved from that location during this period of time. We then noticed water leakage on the new hardwood floor under the portable AC unit and immediately performed routine maintenance on the unit (cleaned filters and emptied the water collection tank). The leakage was substantial enough to cause permanent damage to the floor. To prevent further damage to the new floor we bought a drip tray to put under the unit and a leak detection system to let us know if it does leak. We then called LG Customer Service to determine why the portable AC unit did not shut itself off before leaking on the new wood flooring. After over 45 minutes of discussion, they agreed to schedule a service call by D.G. Appliance Service. A technician from D.G. Appliance Service arrived and discovered that the unit had a cracked water collection tank. He stated that he had performed repairs of cracked water collection tanks in the past but did not have the resources (helpers) to repair it now. He left without fixing the unit and reported that the unit had "Physical Damage" to his supervisor. He advised us to contact LG Customer Service to resolve the issue. We contacted LG Customer Service on the same day and were told that the warrantee did not apply since there was "Physical Damage" to the unit. We disputed the finding because the unit clearly had this damage upon arrival, and we reported it within the one-year warranty period. It took several months for the defect to manifest itself for several reasons: First, the LG technical support documentation is very explicit in their warnings that the unit is never to be laid on its side (or back) and should be kept in an upright position at all times - Otherwise, you risk damaging the cooling system. In order to have detected this damage upon shipment we would have had to lay the unit on its side to be able to visually inspect the water collection tank located at the bottom. This is exactly what the technician did to determine that the water collection tank was cracked. We had to help him support the unit in a horizontal position while he inspected the bottom of the unit with a flashlight. Second, for the first few months that the unit was operating the weather was fairly mild, and the unit was able to evaporate the condensation as it ran without having a buildup in the water collection tank. The heatwaves that started in mid-summer precipitated the condensation buildup in the unit's water collection system and led to the leakage through the cracked water collection tank. Since the unit was never moved from its initial installation location there was never an opportunity to damage the water collection tank except for in shipping or manufacturing. We were forced into buying an identical LG AC unit to replace the first leaky one since the permanent venting that we installed in our daughter’s bedroom made switching to a different brand difficult. Upon plugging the replacement unit into our wall socket the circuit breaker in our main panel tripped. No amount of re-setting the circuit breaker would cure the situation and we were forced to pay an electrician to trouble shoot and replace the circuit breaker. We immediately returned the replacement unit and received a third identical LG AC unit that appears to be working. We have contacted at least a dozen LG authorized and non-authorized repair centers to fix the first leaky unit but none of them will repair a portable AC unit. So we have this POS sitting in our garage waiting to get recycled…