Window ac units - Page 3

Originally Posted by hills

< sigh > This might not go over very well but most of the scrappers i know in real life don't spend money on tools. If they do spend ... it's often some old beat up tool from a yard sale or the cheapest thing from Harbor Freight. It really puts them at a disadvantage.

Can't say as i was any different when i first started out in the trades 43 years ago. I had to learn the hard way. Pound your head against the wall long enough ... you either figure it for yourself or end up with a wicked headache.

" You gotta spend money to make money. "

__________________________________________________ _____


" You gotta spend money to make money. "

Very true, but the secret is in spending it wisely.

Many are trying to make EA$Y money some magical EA$Y way.

I have always put plenty of thought into most all that has to do with my life and the world around me.

Seems I turned out all right.

Deep thinking and reasonable thought is tough when $TRE$$ gets in the way.

I'm the most stress free person that I know.

I do most myself as we ALL live in our own little worlds and my world is designed with plenty of deep thought and planning.

I also get along with a little help from my friends.

It's STRESS that causes most problems.

Originally Posted by hills

Well .... scrapping IS a trade.

Just like any other tradesman ... you have to develop your skills and invest in tools. You have to put something in to get something out. You can't do the job if you don't have the tool.

The other thing you need to succeed in most any venture where you are self employed is a strong work ethic. This is especially so with scrapping because it's production work. You need a certain sense of urgency. You've got to bang the work out and get to the next thing that needs to be processed. Wash ... rinse ... repeat.

Every so often ... you make a trip to the yard and get paid for the work you've put in. This is where spending your money wisely comes in. Take a portion of that money and re-invest it back into your business to make it grow. Maybe it's spending money on your truck to keep it in good repair. Maybe it's buying the RIGHT tool so that you can work more efficiently and double your production.

It's not a get rich scheme but if you work hard and consistently make good choices .... there's a better chance of building a strong business over the years. You might even end up with a profitable business that you can leave to your children someday. In this way .... you build generational wealth.

If you look at the big dawgs in the metals recycling industry .... so many of them started out as rag & bone men just like all the rest of us. It all started with the founder. This was the guy made the right life choices and got the job done.

Anyhow ... looks like we're off on a tangent again. This thread is supposed to be about scrap metal tips for processing window ac units. It looks like Mike has quite a bit of work ahead of him. I would hope that something offered up in this thread might be useful to him and make his job go a little easier. Best of luck Mike !

Oh yess all tips are useful that's for sure ��. I got a 12 inch extension today and some other things a diablo carbide blade 9 inch amped and a 12 in carbide blade had to get some new stuff anyways got some diablo Philips bits my spider ones are about done for haha. And some other blades got some diablo star blades for my front oscillator. I know the diablo sawzall blades are made in Switzerland what about the bits?

I don't know where the Diablo bits are made but i looked into the company. They're all about making quality cutting tools for the professionals. It's what they've built their reputation on. You probably won't go far wrong with their tools.

Originally Posted by hills

I don't know where the Diablo bits are made but i looked into the company. They're all about making quality cutting tools for the professionals. It's what they've built their reputation on. You probably won't go far wrong with their tools.

Sadly the bits are made in Taiwan and mayasia not Switzerland as I had hoped but still should be good hopefully. I can always buy some German bits

Originally Posted by mike1

Sadly the bits are made in Taiwan and mayasia not Switzerland as I had hoped but still should be good hopefully. I can always buy some German bits

Ahh ... see how it plays ... ya know ? It will probably work out.

I think the most of is the company and not the place where it's made. Some companies take pride in their work. Some just crank out lots of low quality junk. It's a mixed bag.

Originally Posted by hills

Ahh ... see how it plays ... ya know ? It will probably work out.

I think the most of is the company and not the place where it's made. Some companies take pride in their work. Some just crank out lots of low quality junk. It's a mixed bag.

True probably right. Question If the ac is real small is the compressor going to be the same as say a 8000 btu?. Does btu dictate the size of the rads and compressors?. I know the lower the btu the smaller the rads but is that true for the compressor as well or is it static with window units?.

Originally Posted by mike1

True probably right. Question If the ac is real small is the compressor going to be the same as say a 8000 btu?. Does btu dictate the size of the rads and compressors?. I know the lower the btu the smaller the rads but is that true for the compressor as well or is it static with window units?.

Originally Posted by mike1

True probably right. Question If the ac is real small is the compressor going to be the same as say a 8000 btu?. Does btu dictate the size of the rads and compressors?. I know the lower the btu the smaller the rads but is that true for the compressor as well or is it static with window units?.

I don't really pay attention to the btu's when i'm breaking down a Freon unit. I would imagine that everything is sized accordingly. My whole thing is to break a unit down in such as a way that the compressor and the rads can be lifted out as one intact piece with the Freon still inside.

It took a little while to get the knack of it but it all worked out.

I have noticed that some are heavier to lift than others. I'm not really scrapping them for the purpose of making money so the yields don't give me any cause for concern. I'm just prepping them for when the Freon technician comes in to do his part. He can tear through them in no time if i set the job up right for him.

I guess that's the main difference. My job and my goal is to keep everything about our whole transfer station running like a well oiled machine. Try and do a good job for the community i was hired to serve.

It's different when you're scrapping. Your main goal is turning a profit. You have to figure out if a particular scrapping job is worth doing or not. Some jobs are. Some jobs aren't. That's something that you have to decide for yourself.

Originally Posted by hills

Well .... scrapping IS a trade.

Where do I sign up for the lifelong apprenticeship.

Originally Posted by hills

My whole thing is to break a unit down in such as a way that the compressor and the rads can be lifted out as one intact piece with the Freon still inside.

Meaningless talk: nonsense _- don't give me that malarkey.

Originally Posted by alloy2

Meaningless talk: nonsense _- don't give me that malarkey.

Oh it can be done a long long time ago in 2016 I think not sure I had 4 window acs when I first started doing scrap I got the compressor and rads out without poking the lines. Malarkey haven't heard that word in ages. Does seem odd though being on a scrap metal website and someone not being a scrapper I figured everyone on here was a scrapper.

Also ac compressor motors are cool since the string has been sealed it's like brand new and easy to cut to get the copper out unlike the varnished electric motors sometimes that are a major pain since my yard you have to take off the plastic and string.

Originally Posted by mike1

Oh it can be done a long long time ago in 2016 I think not sure I had 4 window acs when I first started doing scrap I got the compressor and rads out without poking the lines. Malarkey haven't heard that word in ages. Does seem odd though being on a scrap metal website and someone not being a scrapper I figured everyone on here was a scrapper.

circumlocution

Originally Posted by alloy2

Meaningless talk: nonsense _- don't give me that malarkey.

Well ... somebody is in a mood. As i was saying before .... the three of us don't play well with others. It's our narcissism. We want it to be all about us. At least we think it should be. The world must be broken if it isn't.

Allright ... you called bull so go back and reason it through. I've been saying all along that i don't think the window ac's are worth doing. I related the story of how we changed our procedures for how we handle our freon units and how it piled quite a bit of extra work on to my shoulders.

You gotta role with it man ... ya know ? Make lemonade if you get stuck with the lemons. As it works out .... all that extra work the boss heaped on my shoulders made it so that i have to put in overtime. Time and a half for my regular hourly wage is reasonably good money. It's quite a bit more than you're likely to make scrapping ac's in your shop at home. The value is in the labor ... not in the material you harvest for recycling.

Lol ... go green ! Save the planet ! Play nice with the environmentalists and make a ton of money.

Apparently you weren't listening before. Too much in your own head just like all the rest of us narcissists.

Originally Posted by mike1

Also ac compressor motors are cool since the string has been sealed it's like brand new and easy to cut to get the copper out unlike the varnished electric motors sometimes that are a major pain since my yard you have to take off the plastic and string.

The other nice thing is that the windings come out a lot easier because they've been sitting in oil for years. Some of the regular electric motors can be a real booger cause they're wound so tight.

Originally Posted by hills

The other nice thing is that the windings come out a lot easier because they've been sitting in oil for years. Some of the regular electric motors can be a real booger cause they're wound so tight.

I would say that thats the only advantage of stripping sealed units is that the copper comes out easily. But way to much grinder action involved. I wanted to start buying electric motors from the yard so i crunched the numbers on electric motors.

I will use a furnace blower motor for example, if you spend the time to strip the copper out, you only make an extra 1.20 off it compared to selling whole, but imagine how less the profit would be after buying them at higher price than what the yard pays for them. So maybe .50 profit?? Not really worth the time if you ask me. so that idea went out the window.

Originally Posted by greytruck

I would say that thats the only advantage of stripping sealed units is that the copper comes out easily. But way to much grinder action involved. I wanted to start buying electric motors from the yard so i crunched the numbers on electric motors.

I will use a furnace blower motor for example, if you spend the time to strip the copper out, you only make an extra 1.20 off it compared to selling whole, but imagine how less the profit would be after buying them at higher price than what the yard pays for them. So maybe .50 profit?? Not really worth the time if you ask me. so that idea went out the window.

I hear ya. The best way i can think of to make money in that scenario is to get someone to pay you $ 50.00 - 100.00 to haul off the furnace. Anything you make off the scrap later on would be the frosting on the cake.

Your prime gig would be acting as a disposal service. There's pretty good money in it.