AC Unit

Originally Posted by Filthy

This guy, Gustsvus came out of nowhere with a wealth of information. Nice bro!
AC's i will break down everything. but thats because my yard wont pay more than shred price for a whole appliance. .30/# is actually a good price, but the education you7 get from breaking one down and seeing aprox what the components are and what they are worth will do you much better in the long run. It will give you a jump start on a whole new venture.

If you have the means, i highly recommend it. it is so choice

Thank you for you kind words, I came into this world like everyone else, with a blank memory card.

Every scrap of knowledge of I have gained is by reverse engineering other peoples discards, repairing some for resale.

I seen to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, if I may expand his this I will tell a bit more about my thirst.

As a youth spent some time in Haney Correctional where I entered into a 6 month long course in automotive mechanics, the parole board granted me a parole after 4 months, rather than take my freedom declined my parole so that I could complete my course.

Shortly after my release married an upper Fraser Valley girl, getting into scrap to pay the bills, gleaning goods from the scrap I was getting to maximize my income would save anything that could be sold to other shops as cores, good usable tires to these shops, good usable tire casings to the re-cappers, engine blocks and cylinder heads to the re builders, transmissions to the re-builders. Equipment such as forklifts and welders that could be repaired were then sold.

There was a transmission shop that I sold cores to that had just opened it's doors for business, I said to James one day it looks like you guys could use an extra hand, his reply was yes but we do not have the money. I offed to work for free providing that I was not stuck on the floor just doing Re and Re, I wanted into the rebuilding room to learn how to fix automatic transmissions.

I worked there a bit over a year before James was decapitated in an auto accident, I did not particularity care for his partner and decided it was time to move on.

Scraping appliances, sometimes it is only a broken belt on a two year old dryer, why scrap it when the belt only cost you $6.00 and a bit of labor. Once realizing this I read up on refrigeration then started fixing some of the junkers coming in.

Anyone getting a fridge in for scrap, first thing to check it where the temperature dial is set. It it's maxed out you have a winner on your hands. The defrost timer has malfunctioned.

On frost free fridges a defrost cycle is programed to take place every 6 hours which lasts about 20 minutes, this clears the evaporator of excess ice by a heating coil that has now come on, the water from this ice is routed through a plastic tube to a pan in the lower compartment where it will evaporate into the room.

To further check if it is the defrost timer, plug the fridge in, find the timer insert a flat blade screw driver then slowly advance it until the unit starts. Replace the timer the mechanical ones are cheap while the electronic ones will cost you more, usually you can find a deal on ebay for the more expensive timers.

What happens when the defrost timer packs it n, the evaporator clogs up with ice blocking the flow of air which cools the fridge down.

Many window AC units only require cleaning the lint and other debris from the fins to allow the free passage of air to once again flow freely.

Now you have something to sell for more than scrap.

Don't waste your time on chest freezers they're more often leaker's on the high side. A freezer has insulation set between two sheets of metal, were all familiar with the lines of ice that form on the inside of the freezer. This is the low side of the unit, now gently run your hand down the outside wall of the freezer when it is running you will find warm spots this is where the high side coils are hidden.

The high side coil is also looped onto the inner floor, well that ice to see on the inside of the freezer when you peek inside has also formed on the backside hidden from view and this is why you should never unplug an empty freezer this water will melt find it's way to settle out on top of the inner floor then rust out the tubing of the high side, it may only be a pin hole for the refrigerant will leak out rendering the unit worthless.

A leaker can be repaired by installing an external high side coil salvaged from an older refrigerator. Not worth the bother unless you want a cheap unit for yourself.

Just around the time I started learning about appliances, I had bought my wife a brand new matching set washer and dryer these were only 6 moths old when we resold them.

You do not have to be licensed to repair your own equipment, they did however make it more difficult to obtain refrigerants. Sorry I cannot make any comments here on how to reclaim it, other than to say it can be done

I will comment though that refrigerants are a liquid when compressed with a very low boiling temperature turning the liquid into a vapor when given an escape route. This is the principal of how refrigeration works.

Various refrigerants used in the past, propane, ammonia, brine aka salt water, sulfur dioxide then the freon family.

Again thanks for the kind words.

Regards
Gustavus