Air Conditioner Value

What is the rough estimate of the scrap value of the AC??

I know its got Aluminum fin, some copper fin as well as a compressor...

roughly what is the average amount of money that a scrapped AC is worth??

I found one today that looks like its only a year old.. not sure if its worth the same to scrap it or sell it for $20-$30

I wouldnt bring it in whole, I would disassemble it.. I have been told that Modern Air conditioners no longer have R-12 (freeon) but have R-134 refrigerant which is OK to release by cutting the lines...

Originally Posted by nyjetsfanx93

I wouldnt bring it in whole, I would disassemble it.. I have been told that Modern Air conditioners no longer have R-12 (freeon) but have R-134 refrigerant which is OK to release by cutting the lines...

The new freon is 410-A.
If it is just a window unit there maybe about $15.00 in scrap, if it is a central unit as a set they bring over a hundred if separated right.

I have been wondering what the copper/aluminum cores from central-house-air-conditioning systems are worth per pound as scrap.
If anyone here knows, I would highly appreciate a reply!
Thanks very much for your time!

here is a basic break down I get a lot of ac units. btw older ones yield more usually
5k btu 10-15 dollers
10k btu 13 -20 dollers
15k+ btu 20-40 dollars
central air units 25-60 dollars

once broken down they contain the following materials prices very by location
steel
electric moter
compressor
clean copper alum rads
#2 copper
#1 copper
#2 insulated wireing
sometimes alum and stainless(fan blades
Freon has a value if you can remove it safely .if not and if you get a lot .contact small hvac people to see if they will drain them for free
I have gotten good at ac units over the years if you have any questions ask

nyjetsfanx93 if you are talking about the large semi circle thing that wraps around the inside the called copper alum radiators .if you emove the steel end caps then there clean .if not then the are irony .prices very for them but usually sit between 1 doller -1 75 a lb

i break everything down as much as i can to maximize profits.especially when im laid off.ive been noticing that just like everything else the newer the airconditioners are the less goodies they have.ive got some nice 220 window units that wewre newer and some nice central air units that still paid well.but those really cheap made small window units have the lightes coils and compressors ive ever saw. it seeems like they keep getting lighter every year.i still break em down no matter what.as was stated above i cant junk anything that has a compressor unless its drained.last year the yard i use in ashland ky started making us sign a paper stating how many items we brought in with compressors,where we got em,and when we drained them.times keep changing .i think its funny this particular yard makes you sign a form for air conditioners and refridgerators but they accept automobiles without titles all day long

Scraping A/C's is one of the most high profit items a scraper should look for,its funny to me how different regions in the country respond to the scraping of a/c's.Being in South Florida where a/c;s are on 10 months we see plenty of them ,the values of a/c units depend on the size and unit ton of each system.The avg centeral a c system for a house is a four ton unit.It does not weigh four tons four tons is the size of the system,We are epa certified to recover freeon not hard to get certified they have online courses for that ok first we recover the gas from the system i will get about 8 lbs out of this system we are reselling the freeon for 7 dollars a pound=56.00 the motor with the fan weighs12-15 lbs @.35 a pond=5.00 the compressor or sealed unit weighs 70 pounds@.32=22.00the copper lines weigh 6 lbs @ 2.90 #2 copper 17.50the copper aluminum coil weighs 35 lbs@1.50=52.00 the wire #2 2 lbs @ 1.00 = 2.00 the tin/shread 100 lbs@ .09=9.00 so roughly $163.00 these prices are for 6/1/2013 today we pay for these units ten dollars a unit ton so thats 40.00 so when scrap out you will make 120.00 profit this is a rough estamate but its pretty close to the true value.the air handler that goes with this system will scrap out at roughly 70.00 so go get those a/c's

The newer window AC's may not have as much non-ferrous metals
to harvest, but their tear down time is a third of the older units.
the manufacturers nowadays have reverse logistics in mind. Meaning
they build them to be torn down easily compared to a 30 year old GE PTAC
that's held together with a thousand screws and a blower wheel that hangs on for dear life BTW
anyone have tricks to get blower wheels off of motor shafts? Besides wd40?

This thread has been revived from a few years ago.

It has some wrong information that needs to be corrected. The new refrigerants (134a and 410a) can not be released. Yes they are not as harmful to the environments as R12 and R22, but it is still illegal to intentionally release them.

I am going to say this once and not get into arguments with people here. If you are not licensed to recover refrigerant, please leave ACs to those of us who are licensed and properly trained, or bring them to a yard that accepts them whole and handles them properly. And for those of you that don't know, the EPA can fine you $37,500 for the intentional release of refrigerant. In addition, they may provide a finders fee of up to $10,000 for people that report those that are intentionally releasing refrigerant.

Originally Posted by mthomasdev

This thread has been revived from a few years ago.

It has some wrong information that needs to be corrected. The new refrigerants (134a and 410a) can not be released. Yes they are not as harmful to the environments as R12 and R22, but it is still illegal to intentionally release them.

I am going to say this once and not get into arguments with people here. If you are not licensed to recover refrigerant, please leave ACs to those of us who are licensed and properly trained, or bring them to a yard that accepts them whole and handles them properly. And for those of you that don't know, the EPA can fine you $37,500 for the intentional release of refrigerant. In addition, they may provide a finders fee of up to $10,000 for people that report those that are intentionally releasing refrigerant.

AC's leak everyday. Fridge lines, cars that are sent to the crusher and so many more. Yes I agree you may not want to be venting all this and it is WAY better to have someone harvest it to recycle after all that's what we do here recycle, Not sure if the EPA would go after a homeowner processing his own unit, but yes if you were breaking down a lot in your garage it could be very bad $, and more. I've been to scrap yards and seen fridges smashed refrigerant released in the steel pile. So get a price on whole units and go from there...

I just picked up a window AC unit this morning. Don't worry, I am reading the many SMF posts and doing my homework before I start any work. If my brother (HVAC tech) does not want my freon, I'll see if I can get a local HVAC company to pull it for me. Thank you to everyone who has posted over the years about the scrapping of AC units - it's a big help.