Perks of the Job

Apologies for not being around but I decided a couple of years ago to jump into the HVACR biz with both feet and have spent a lot of time trying to get up to speed and soak in as much as possible as I am no spring chicken. Got through all of the needed exams for certifications and became licensed a couple of months ago so can finally take a few breaths. I would encourage anyone looking into a career change to consider HVACR as much of the country is short on tradesman.

I have been and will always be grateful to this forum as most of what I have learned about recycling metal was found in the archives here and since work produces some quality scrap, I know exactly what to do with it to make the job that much more profitable. Here's a few pics of recent work...

Many boilers used for building heat also will also heat domestic hot water and use a tank with a copper heat ex-changer in it. This tank is only 40 gallons but there are some large ones for apartment building that will have bigger loops of copper.




Got to love the roof top units. Condenser and evaporator coils always have some nice weight and now that steel prices are finally going back up, that helps too. Unfortunately many of the new RTU's have aluminum micro-channel coils and so they won't be worth as much when they need replacement.



As we all know some stuff isn't destined for the scrap yard and here is a parts washer from the old Gates factory that I turned into a utility sink in the laundry room...still need to pick a finish for the new door.

Stain it black. Looks good though.

Thanks...even has a door catch only a scrapper could love.

Welcome back my friend. We need to hook up for lunch sometime.

Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

Welcome back my friend. We need to hook up for lunch sometime.

Looking forward to it...have to check out your new shop.

Only Perk on this job was the work...fresh install of four RTU's so there were no old ones to scrap. Cut holes in the roof, set up curbs, sparky will run power to our disconnects and we will take it from there...still have to run natural gas lines to them.

It's F'n hot out there and business is good. This compressor weighs in at just under 700 pounds and was in a RTU about four stories up and blind to the crane operator. The core charge is around $3.5k so no scrap just labor to replace...but a reminder to do some research before scrapping larger compressors.

I rejoice in your success. Thank you for sharing showing others there are many opportunities out there. 73, Mike

Replaced this RTU from 1985 last week...20 ton unit that weighs about 3500 pounds. It was oversized do to it servicing the weight room of a gym when originally installed, new unit only needed to be 8 tons for what now is a smaller room with not much activity or occupation. Old unit had three large coils, good amount of copper piping and hopefully a compressor that can be turned in for a core.

Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

KZ....nice thread. Not sure how I've not seen it before.


Good stuff.

Now stop going away, even if you have good reasons for it!


To all you new people....do yourself a favor an search the forums for posts by KZ. The man is a font of wisdom, an no I'm not drunk nor is anyone holding a gun to my head. I'm willingly saying nice things. lol. Anyhow...check out his prior posts an threads, you can thank me later. Quite a few folks have also been on this thread...you should look up theirs to. Lots of good info out there just looking to be used. Further proof it's not all about ewaste when it comes to scrapping.

Keep it up KZ.

Sirscrapalot - OMG, Becky! Did you see the size of her goat? It's like sooo Big! - Baby, got goat.

There may be times when it might be difficult to agree with Sirscrapalot but he does know goats and I agree with him on KZ. Good to have you back to active status. 73, Mike

Thanks for the kind words men...I sincerely appreciate it!

Forgot to add a pick of the above beast when it touched-down on the trailer. Coils were a bit of a wrestling match to get out but it eventually puked them out. I was able to remove the coils, copper pipe, wire and compressor but still keep the unit structurally intact...so I could haul it to the yard. Compressor went back to Carrier for a core credit.

Hoping that this job gets approved and will be quite the undertaking. It's on top of a four story office building and measures 33ft long x 8 1/2ft wide x 7ft tall and takes 2 months to build once the order is placed. The old will have to be dismantled in the parking lot.

This furnace we replaced today was put into service in February of 1959...almost 60 years of service!