Window ac units - Page 10

Originally Posted by hills

I'm looking on ebay right now. The 6" to 8" pipe cutters are about $ 300.00 new and $ 200.00 used. You take some of the money you make from scrapping and re-invest it back into the business by purchasing tools and equipment that help you work more productively. It's true what they say .... you have to spend money to make money.

There's another way of looking at it too. You might say to yourself .... gee .... i saw on the video that there's this man over there in Pakistan that's set up to do the job a whole lot better than i can. Maybe i will just sell my sealed unit at the scrap yard and farm the work out to him. It makes more sense for him to do that kind of work than for me to do that kind of work. That will free me up do do something more profitable than struggling with the sealed units.

Basically .... i'm just trying to say that you have different options. You just have to decide what approach works best for your own particular situation.



I usually use my angle grinder on rivets and screw heads that have stripped. Gt's hammer and hatchet sounds like another good way to do the job. I've recently started using a meat clever to split stators apart.

I've seen videos of the machete being used never tried it myself .unfortunately I have to take the strings off the windings on the reg motors it can be a pain when the strings have a finish on them and are hard good thing about the oil ones in compressors no hard strings so that's a plus.

Ahh ... the forum is back online again. That's good news.

As it worked out ... a 4" pipe cutter was just the right size for the compressors coming out of the window AC's. I got a used one off ebay and did a trial run. It worked okay. I tapped on the side of the compressor with a ballpeen hammer. You can tell where the stator is by the solid or hollow sound. Made a mark where the top of the stator was and cut there. Made a mark where the bottom was and cut there. The stator lifted right out and i stripped it for the copper like i would any electric motor.

It was a pretty smooth process. No oily mess. No grinder dust. No smoke from a torch. No more sawzall blades to buy.

There was one unexpected thing. I think there are a couple of decent chunks of brass built into the shaft that runs up through the middle. I guess you would call that shaft part the rotor.

I think i'll have to do a few more compressors the next time they become available. Maybe the brass parts were just a one off and not what you would normally find when you tear open a sealed unit.

Originally Posted by hills

Ahh ... the forum is back online again. That's good news.

As it worked out ... a 4" pipe cutter was just the right size for the compressors coming out of the window AC's. I got a used one off ebay and did a trial run. It worked okay. I tapped on the side of the compressor with a ballpeen hammer. You can tell where the stator is by the solid or hollow sound. Made a mark where the top of the stator was and cut there. Made a mark where the bottom was and cut there. The stator lifted right out and i stripped it for the copper like i would any electric motor.

It was a pretty smooth process. No oily mess. No grinder dust. No smoke from a torch. No more sawzall blades to buy.

There was one unexpected thing. I think there are a couple of decent chunks of brass built into the shaft that runs up through the middle. I guess you would call that shaft part the rotor.

I think i'll have to do a few more compressors the next time they become available. Maybe the brass parts were just a one off and not what you would normally find when you tear open a sealed unit.

The forum was down? I just thought they suspended my account for some reason that's what it said when I tried to login a while back. Anyways I've done 117 window acs worth of radiators wire and tubes when I started the prices were higher I've gotten 3k so far I have 36 acs to get yet plus I have all the motors to do yet plus the tanks. Cut through 28 tanks so far with the carbide blade. Clean rad prices were at $1.50 when I started now $1.36 num 1 was $3.55 before election now $3.14 num 2 $3.30 now $2.94 aluminum is pretty good sheet is at .51 that's pretty high for that. Is 1/10 HP motor going to have a higher recovery vs something that. Isn't fractional? I never thought about tapping the tank that cool. Also doing silver contacts from the power supply I was thinking of sending it to a refinery is that a good idea?. Do I have to separate them from the copper ?.

Originally Posted by hills

Ahh ... the forum is back online again. That's good news.

As it worked out ... a 4" pipe cutter was just the right size for the compressors coming out of the window AC's. I got a used one off ebay and did a trial run. It worked okay. I tapped on the side of the compressor with a ballpeen hammer. You can tell where the stator is by the solid or hollow sound. Made a mark where the top of the stator was and cut there. Made a mark where the bottom was and cut there. The stator lifted right out and i stripped it for the copper like i would any electric motor.

It was a pretty smooth process. No oily mess. No grinder dust. No smoke from a torch. No more sawzall blades to buy.

There was one unexpected thing. I think there are a couple of decent chunks of brass built into the shaft that runs up through the middle. I guess you would call that shaft part the rotor.

I think i'll have to do a few more compressors the next time they become available. Maybe the brass parts were just a one off and not what you would normally find when you tear open a sealed unit.

A video would be cool to see it in action don't think there are any YouTube videos of a pipe cutter being used on them as far as I know. I do know you get 2lbs out of them no matter what the size of the ac I know centrals have 4lb of copper weather those are static as well I'm not sure.

Yea the forum isn't what it used to be seems different now. Yea carbide blades work good I'm going to see how many I can cut through before it can't do it anymore haha. One person said they could go through 60 tanks on one blade not sure about all that though. I got the 9 inch for the window ac tanks and a 12 inch for the central compressors. The motors I have have rivets not screws wish they did though some of the motors are 10 lbs so prolly one pound of copper in those. The small ones not sure I have some fractional ones to. I put the window compressors into my vicewoeks pretty well. I'm going to try the pipe cutter.

That's a good thought on the vise. I checked mine and it should work if i cut one of the ears off the base. It's been busy with the day job lately so i haven't had much time for scrapping. Things will quiet down after the winter weather settles in. Right now ... it's a mad dash to get all the outside work wrapped up before the window of opportunity closes.

You might double check the diameter of your ac tanks before ordering a tool. 4" seems to be the standard but yours might be different if they're older.

I found a used Rigid brand ... model No. 6-S pipe cutter on ebay for $ 129.00. That one will do tanks 4" - 6" in diameter. It wouldn't be a bad tool investment if you're planning on doing this kind of work for a few years as a way of making extra money on the side.

Originally Posted by hills

That's a good thought on the vise. I checked mine and it should work if i cut one of the ears off the base. It's been busy with the day job lately so i haven't had much time for scrapping. Things will quiet down after the winter weather settles in. Right now ... it's a mad dash to get all the outside work wrapped up before the window of opportunity closes.

You might double check the diameter of your ac tanks before ordering a tool. 4" seems to be the standard but yours might be different if they're older.

I found a used Rigid brand ... model No. 6-S pipe cutter on ebay for $ 129.00. That one will do tanks 4" - 6" in diameter. It wouldn't be a bad tool investment if you're planning on doing this kind of work for a few years as a way of making extra money on the side.

If I did 50 tanks that's 100lbs of copper current price is $294 every 100lbs I have to count the tanks but I'm looking at at least 200lbs if I do them all. Some tanks are different in weld spots also some are close to the top those suck haha. How long does it take to cut one with a pipe cutter? You said you do the top and bottom both how much time for one cut ?. Takes me 15min or so to cut the top off with sawzall and 23 or something min to pull the copper out depending if it cooperates haha. I chop the top off then pull the string then cut the copper wire with snips then pull it out through the top I wonder would cutting the bottom off work better would it just lift off the middle thing then do you think?.

I haven't timed it ... but it's fairly easy to cut the top off the tank with a pipe cutter. No different from cutting any steel pipe with a pipe cutter. Maybe three or four minutes per cut ?

Here's a video of a gent using a single wheel cutter. He gets done with talking and gets down to business at about 2.38 minutes in. You can see for yourself that it's not that hard.



Making the cut at the bottom would be about the same.

Imagine breaking down a regular electric motor. You can strip out the copper once you get the stator out. This is no different. A cut at the top ... a cut at the bottom ... you have the stator in your hands and you're ready to go.

I've got an old digital camera. If i can ever get the time ... i'll try to figure out how to upload a few photos here to the board. A good picture is worth a thousand words.

Originally Posted by hills

I haven't timed it ... but it's fairly easy to cut the top off the tank with a pipe cutter. No different from cutting any steel pipe with a pipe cutter. Maybe three or four minutes per cut ?

Here's a video of a gent using a single wheel cutter. He gets done with talking and gets down to business at about 2.38 minutes in. You can see for yourself that it's not that hard.



Making the cut at the bottom would be about the same.

Imagine breaking down a regular electric motor. You can strip out the copper once you get the stator out. This is no different. A cut at the top ... a cut at the bottom ... you have the stator in your hands and you're ready to go.

I've got an old digital camera. If i can ever get the time ... i'll try to figure out how to upload a few photos here to the board. A good picture is worth a thousand words.

That's pretty cool beats cutting the wires on the top and pulling them through haha id like to have the whole motor the string comes off real nice I watched a video on how they wind them pretty neat now I have a idea where to cut the string then just pull and it comes off. Then I have 20 or so fractional motors 1/10th to 1/4 and a couple 1/6 ones a wide range then I have some tiny ones 0.035hp then the 10lb motors that the horse power isn't marked on them I have lots of those so I'll be breaking those down until I get the 36 acs next month hopefully.

It sounds like you've been busy. It's still trial & error with the pipe cutter. I'm finding it's easier to just bolt the compressor down to the bench. The vise wouldn't hold it very well.

I've got a free standing machine stand that's a comfortable working height. Just a little below waist high. I think i'm going to weld a piece of 1//2" steel plate on the top and then drill & tap two different bolt patterns. One pattern will be for 3 bolt compressors. The other for 4 bolt compressors.

It makes the work a lot easier if the thing you are working on is securely fastened down. Control the job and it doesn't turn into an oily mess.

Man ... those Diablo blades are good ! One of the ones i got was an 8 TPI for thick metal. It had no problem going through 10" channel steel. There's a dump truck body that needs to be cut up into bite sized pieces. Gonna pick and poke at that one with the cordless sawzall as time permits. A chunk here and a chunk there .... this little mouse will eventually eat the elephant.

Originally Posted by hills

It sounds like you've been busy. It's still trial & error with the pipe cutter. I'm finding it's easier to just bolt the compressor down to the bench. The vise wouldn't hold it very well.

I've got a free standing machine stand that's a comfortable working height. Just a little below waist high. I think i'm going to weld a piece of 1//2" steel plate on the top and then drill & tap two different bolt patterns. One pattern will be for 3 bolt compressors. The other for 4 bolt compressors.

It makes the work a lot easier if the thing you are working on is securely fastened down. Control the job and it doesn't turn into an oily mess.

Man ... those Diablo blades are good ! One of the ones i got was an 8 TPI for thick metal. It had no problem going through 10" channel steel. There's a dump truck body that needs to be cut up into bite sized pieces. Gonna pick and poke at that one with the cordless sawzall as time permits. A chunk here and a chunk there .... this little mouse will eventually eat the elephant.

I just used a oscillator tool to cut down the side of one of the window ac tanks the used sawzall to go round I found a heavy brass piece connected to the aluminum center I used ocilator to cut through aluminum and it's held on by two rivets that will add up fast. One down haha 30 some Togo.

That brass piece fooled me too. It looked like brass but it was some kind of white metal underneath when i hit it with a grinder. You might double check your piece before you turn it in at the yard as brass.

Thought i had a little treasure there but it didn't pan out. It's like that sometimes.

Originally Posted by hills

That brass piece fooled me too. It looked like brass but it was some kind of white metal underneath when i hit it with a grinder. You might double check your piece before you turn it in at the yard as brass.

Thought i had a little treasure there but it didn't pan out. It's like that sometimes.

I'll do that today was it the top one or the bottom one ?

I only noticed a brassy looking piece on the top of the shaft. The lower parts are sitting in a pool of oil at the bottom. I avoid handling those even though i wear black nitrile gloves while i'm working.

Processing these air conditioner compressors could be a messy task with oil getting all over you, your tools, and your work area. It doesn't have to be that way if you manage the job right.

Lol ... it must be something that runs in the family. Grandpa was a diesel generator maintenance mechanic on the stone quarry back in the day. I was talking about that with an old timer in his 90's that used to work on the quarry in the stone cutting shed. The old fullas love to tell their stories about how things were back in the past if you can spare a few minutes to listen. Anyhow ... grandpa's trademark was that he went to work in a clean white shirt every morning and came home from work with a clean white shirt at the end of the day. That was a source of endless amusement for everyone else on the crew.

Originally Posted by hills

I only noticed a brassy looking piece on the top of the shaft. The lower parts are sitting in a pool of oil at the bottom. I avoid handling those even though i wear black nitrile gloves while i'm working.

Processing these air conditioner compressors could be a messy task with oil getting all over you, your tools, and your work area. It doesn't have to be that way if you manage the job right.

Lol ... it must be something that runs in the family. Grandpa was a diesel generator maintenance mechanic on the stone quarry back in the day. I was talking about that with an old timer in his 90's that used to work on the quarry in the stone cutting shed. The old fullas love to tell their stories about how things were back in the past if you can spare a few minutes to listen. Anyhow ... grandpa's trademark was that he went to work in a clean white shirt every morning and came home from work with a clean white shirt at the end of the day. That was a source of endless amusement for everyone else on the crew.

Right I love stories. The bottom one is brass for sure. It will still be attached to the aluminum middle should be able to cut it off without it going into the oil unless you have lots more oil in yours than that's in mine haha. Of course some oil came out of mine though when I cut off the contaminated copper it's a smaller cylinder you cut it off at the elbow then put it in a bucket. My oil is in the bottom of you cut slightly above the bottom of the blue sticker that's where the bottom of the motor is. You have the shaft then just below the bottom aluminum part is a brass thing on the bottom then you have after that a base then the oil. Oil doesn't really get on me to much it's mineral oil mostly. At least when I get the other 36 acs next month I won't have to deal with mouse nests and dead things I found one dead mouse that's it out of all the acs I broke down I'm lucky still nasty tho.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check out the bottom part for brass the next time i'm doing one. That would be a good find.

I usually make two cuts with the pipe cutter. One to lift the top part off. The second cut is lower down and let's me lift out the copper wound stator.

What's left over is the shaft and the lowest part that has all the oil in it. I just tip that upside down over a bucket and let it hang there for a couple of days. It's fairly dry by the time it eventually lands on the metals recycling pile.

I used to run into a lot of dead mice and rodents nests when i was pounding nails for a living. You open up a wall and find a nest. Nasty,nasty,nasty ... they pee and poop where they sleep. The worst ones i ever found were in the cavities of cast iron bath tubs. Had to break out the gloves, face mask, and HEPA filter vacuum for those jobs. There's a sickness called the Hantavirus in some of the nests that can kill you. It gets in your lungs and then takes out your heart and kidneys. It's not all that common but it's better not to take chances when you run into a nest. Just one of those hazards of the job.

The strangest thing i ever ran across when i opened up a wall was bare electrical wires. There was a stretch of romex running through there and the mice had completely eaten off every bit of plastic wire insulation. It's a miracle that none of those wires had ever touched. It would have burned the place to the ground.