air conditioner compressors , a can of money or a can of worms ? - Page 2

Hey Olddude, wasn't there some kind of oil in them? And how did you drain it? I was thinking drill a hole toward the base and let it drain into a bucket.

As with most everyone else I also use an angle grinder to cut open my compressors, both from AC units and refrigerators/freezers. I have removed over 100 lbs total of number 2 copper from all the units I have cut open. Did I make "minimum wage"? Probably not. As much as anything else I do it for two other reasons. One is to maximize my take, and also to give me something to do in my spare time. I hate sitting around doing nothing as I get bored easily. I have about a dozen motors from compressors sitting waiting to be stripped, I am hoarding them for the time that I just want to relax on the porch and do something simple.

Not a problem. I can give you what I do on refrigerator/freezer compressors, as those are the ones I have the most time with. I have done some AC also, but those vary a bit more in how they are put together inside. One thing I do a bit different than a lot of folks here is when I get ready to take a compressor apart, I drill a couple of holes to drain the compressor oil first. This way I do not have a mess from the oil coming out of the holes from the copper lines I removed. When I get ready to cut the casing (using a angle grinder and a thin metal cutoff wheel from harbor freight), I start usually just above the seam weld. I will make a thin cut all around the casing. Once this is completed I go around again a bit deeper. Finally I do it again a third time all the way thru the casing. I found if I do it like this then it does not wear the wheel down as fast. When I use to just cut thru in one pass sometimes it would take more than one wheel to get it cut all the way open. This way I can cut over two casings with one wheel. After the final cut the top half of the casing should just fall away. From here if you are lucky all you have to do is remove 4 bolts and the electric motor will remove easy. After pulling the motor up most times it will have wire attached to the bottom. Just snip and viola, you have the motor removed. From there it is easy to remove the windings and you now have number 2 copper. Sometimes I found I had to remove the entire motor from the casing. Most of them sit on a set of springs. I use wire cutters and cut the springs, turn the casing over, snip the wire, remove the 4 bolts and again you have your electric motor. Hope this helps.

To be honest I hold with my left hand and cut with my right. With work gloves on both. Not the smartest thing to do, I will admit, but as I am not making large cuts I do not have a problem with the grinder trying to get away from me. And it allows my left hand to turn the casing after I have cut around as much as I can. Even with the final cut I do not have a problem as the remaining metal on the casing is thin enough the disk slides in easily.

I guess there may be more efficient ways to do this that will save time, but since this is not my main source of income and it helps to keep my butt from polishing the couch I do not worry about saving a few extra minutes.

some sorta lazy susan might work, no need for a motor.