Window ac units

I'm going to be getting roughly 80 window ac units not sure what sizes they are but but that's a lot for me I did 28 once so this is a step up haha. Plus 6 central ac compressors 6 central ac fan motors and 6 of the control parts the part with the small transformer and the capacitor. I can kinda guess Going to be close to 1k in scrap if I break it all down I think. I usually do it like this radiators first then motors then the compressor tanks last cause they take the longest time. Wonder what a rough weight estimate would be?. Space is going to be a issue tho even if I stack them 5 high that's lots of acs haha.

Originally Posted by alloy2

Have you factored in the cost for evacuating the Freon AKA CFC's.

Link: U.S.A. Schnitzer Steel Inc. has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1,550,000

LINK: Environmental violations results in $225,000 fine for CRC Canada Co.

Link: Environmental Justice Hotline · Phone: 800-962-6215 - Toll Free · E-mail: EJHotline@epa.gov

That's already been done by HVAC guy. I didn't pay for it so it's not a factor for me. So what would I be lookinging at value wise ?'clean rads are 1.65 a lb num 1 copper is 3.10 a lb and num 2 is 2.90 a lb currently as of writing this.

The freon guy just did ours Mike. It's nice because he pumps the oil out of the compressors at the same time as he is removing the Freon. We get window AC's, portable AC's, and dehumidifiers. I break them down as they come in. All that's left after i do my breakdown is just the sealed units and the al/cu radiators when i'm done. The whole thing is intact with the freon still in it.

Having it all broke down makes it easy for the freon guy when he comes in. He bangs em' out in no time. I just did about 25 units.

Just my opinion but you don't really get all that much out of it. Especially since it's so time consuming. You get a little bit of oily #2 copper. A little bit of steel. A couple of cu/al radiators that have to be cleaned. A sealed unit and a fair amount of plastic & styrofoam trash that has to be gotten rid of. All in all ... it's a fair amount of work for not all that much gain.

I guess it's a sign of the times. The ac's & dehumidifiers don't seem to last more than a few years now. Most anything i see with an electric motor these days is aluminum wound. It's in just about everything you run across. Even the Generac portable generators.

Point being: You may find that a lot of the sealed units you get are aluminum wound. You would be better off not to bother with trying to break them down. Just sell them whole and be done with them. It's all around oily and time consuming work otherwise.

As for actual yields and values at the end of it all .... i don't actually know. I'm not seeing all that much value for all the work that goes into it. I would recommend staying with the central AC's if they are what you know. They're quality built and costs thousands of dollars to buy new. That means more scrap value when they reach end of life.

The cheapo Home Depot AC or dehumidifier that sold for less that $ 100.00 ? There's not much value left when they go off to the scrap yard. Even some of the CU/Al radiators are all aluminum with no copper these days. It's what you get with cheap consumer grade goods that were made in China.

Hills nailed it, aluminum has defiantly replaced copper.

Aluminum is a fantastic metal with my home foundry was able to turn my scrap cast aluminum into a useful product I was able to maximize my profits.

Good luck with the window AC's Mike1, hope you turn a profit, I would take Hills advice - take them straight to the yard.

Originally Posted by hills

The freon guy just did ours Mike. It's nice because he pumps the oil out of the compressors at the same time as he is removing the Freon. We get window AC's, portable AC's, and dehumidifiers. I break them down as they come in. All that's left after i do my breakdown is just the sealed units and the al/cu radiators when i'm done. The whole thing is intact with the freon still in it.

Having it all broke down makes it easy for the freon guy when he comes in. He bangs em' out in no time. I just did about 25 units.

Just my opinion but you don't really get all that much out of it. Especially since it's so time consuming. You get a little bit of oily #2 copper. A little bit of steel. A couple of cu/al radiators that have to be cleaned. A sealed unit and a fair amount of plastic & styrofoam trash that has to be gotten rid of. All in all ... it's a fair amount of work for not all that much gain.

I guess it's a sign of the times. The ac's & dehumidifiers don't seem to last more than a few years now. Most anything i see with an electric motor these days is aluminum wound. It's in just about everything you run across. Even the Generac portable generators.

Point being: You may find that a lot of the sealed units you get are aluminum wound. You would be better off not to bother with trying to break them down. Just sell them whole and be done with them. It's all around oily and time consuming work otherwise.

As for actual yields and values at the end of it all .... i don't actually know. I'm not seeing all that much value for all the work that goes into it. I would recommend staying with the central AC's if they are what you know. They're quality built and costs thousands of dollars to buy new. That means more scrap value when they reach end of life.

The cheapo Home Depot AC or dehumidifier that sold for less that $ 100.00 ? There's not much value left when they go off to the scrap yard. Even some of the CU/Al radiators are all aluminum with no copper these days. It's what you get with cheap consumer grade goods that were made in China.

These are old from 80s and 90s acs. I'm looking at close to 1k I think with today's prices. Maybe more. Rough estimate . If I was able to put up pics from my phone I would but won't let me do it haha. I forgot what tools you need to unbolt the compressor?.

I got 65 lbs clean rads from 2 central ac units. Packaged units with vents no A coil I guess the part with the blower motor is the A coil ?.

Originally Posted by mike1

These are old from 80s and 90s acs. I'm looking at close to 1k I think with today's prices. Maybe more. Rough estimate . If I was able to put up pics from my phone I would but won't let me do it haha. I forgot what tools you need to unbolt the compressor?.

I hope it works out for you.

It took me awhile to develop a method for doing the teardown on window AC's. Hard to describe exactly. The two places i find the most difficult are the compressor bolts and the two phillips head screws that hold the fan assembly in place.

You'll need a really long phillips head screwdriver for the two phillips head screws that hold the fan. Sometimes they rust up. If that's the case .... flip the AC over and grind off the screws with an angle grinder. Take a pin punch and drive them through from the outside.

Most of the nuts that hold the compressor are either 10mm or 12mm. You'll need a socket,a wratchet, and a foot long extension to do those ones easily.

It just takes a little practice to get the knack of it. After awhile ... you can bang em' out without too much trouble. Most of the newer ones are pretty much made the same no matter what the manufacturer's name is.

Plasma.

Oh good I was wondering what the socket sizes were also is the thing that holds the compressor bolts in is that cast aluminum? I counted 36 acs in one trailer and either 3 or 4 rows of 5 high stacks of 15 each. Getting the rads off isn't to bad the hard part is as you said the fan lol. The compressor is easy enough if I had the right socket lol witch I didn't that's at home I was at work. I'm just going to have to transport 20 or 30 at a time can only fit 20 in the shed and probably 10 outside the shed being in a trailer park they don't like stuff siting outside or I would have them all there haha.

Also it's been a few years since I've done a window ac not since I did 28 of them in 2022 I think. This is the biggest haul I've ever had to do

Originally Posted by mike1

Oh good I was wondering what the socket sizes were also is the thing that holds the compressor bolts in is that cast aluminum? I counted 36 acs in one trailer and either 3 or 4 rows of 5 high stacks of 15 each. Getting the rads off isn't to bad the hard part is as you said the fan lol. The compressor is easy enough if I had the right socket lol witch I didn't that's at home I was at work. I'm just going to have to transport 20 or 30 at a time can only fit 20 in the shed and probably 10 outside the shed being in a trailer park they don't like stuff siting outside or I would have them all there haha.

It was a little quieter at work today so i started breaking down some of the AC & dehumidifiers for something to pass the time. Each compressor had a nut & bolt arrangement holding it to the base of the air conditioner. Most seemed to be metric. Somewhere in the 12-14 mm range. They aren't hard to do as long as you have a 12-16 " extension.

I've decided that the first thing i like to do with an AC is flip it upside down and grind off any small screws that are poking through the bottom. Then i take a 1/8" punch and drive them through. It makes it much easier later on when you open the air conditioner up. The fan assembly is already flippy flopping around. The whole works almost comes apart in your hands. No fussing with those small phillips head screws buried way down deep inside.

It seems like there's a lot of phillips head sheet metal screws holding an air conditioner together. I use a smaller battery powered impact driver for that job. You can buzz right through them all on no time with the right tool. It would be slow going with a screwdriver.

There's no aluminum to speak of in the air conditioners i've done so far. The base is steel. The outer shell is made of sheet metal.

The dehumidifiers i did today were almost entirely plastic. The only metal was in the compressor and in the rads.

You might not want to use a torch of any kind on an air conditioner compressor bolt. The compressor sits on rubber shock absorbers. Also ... there's a ton of plastic and styrofoam in that area that would catch fire and make toxic smoke with any amount of heat in the area.

All around ... the ac's and dehumidifiers aren't all that bad to do once you develop a method for the teardown. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of value in there. The main reason i dismantle them is just to have them all ready for when the Freon removal technician comes in. He can bang out 50 or 60 units per hour if i have the job set up right for his arrival. It keeps him happy and saves us a ton of money on his labor costs.

extensions

I have MANY extensions of all sizes as I find that they are the tool you need sometimes.

I also believe that you can never have to many drill bits and saw blades.

Have a nice collection of punches and chisels also.

Has anyone ever gotten different types of window ac units that have a fat small radiator on one side ? I noticed there are different window ac types how many types has anyone come across? I think it's a 1988 ? What's with the ones that are all frilly and look like Christmas tinsel? I don't see those often.

Originally Posted by mike1

Has anyone ever gotten different types of window ac units that have a fat small radiator on one side ? I noticed there are different window ac types how many types has anyone come across? I think it's a 1988 ? What's with the ones that are all frilly and look like Christmas tinsel? I don't see those often.

I had an ac with the tinsel stuff a number of months back. It's hard to remember but i think it was harder to tear down. Also had a dehumidifier like that. I think the rad coil might have been made of steel tubing or something like that. Not all that good for scrapping purposes.

Rather than fuss with them ... i just opened them up enough so that the freon tech could reach in and do his part. The whole works went right on the junk pile after the freon and oil were pumped out.

Did the disassembly part with a backhoe on those ones.

Originally Posted by mike1

Has anyone ever gotten different types of window ac units that have a fat small radiator on one side ? I noticed there are different window ac types how many types has anyone come across? I think it's a 1988 ? What's with the ones that are all frilly and look like Christmas tinsel? I don't see those often.

I had a all alum ac once. The base and shell were all aluminum and it had the weird tinsel coils in there. must have been from the 70s

I also came across 2 permanent wall mounted ac's from an aprt complex a few weeks ago and they both had 2 fan motors in them. weird

Well some window AC's have two motors in them or one big one that can be a pain to open haha. I think there is going to be a few with the tinsel not sure yet. Going to have a lot of loops when I'm done that's for sure a 5 gal bucket full I bet. I think it's going to be close to 80-96 window acs of different sizes. Some are heavier than others. Wow a all aluminum shell cool.

Originally Posted by hills

I had an ac with the tinsel stuff a number of months back. It's hard to remember but i think it was harder to tear down. Also had a dehumidifier like that. I think the rad coil might have been made of steel tubing or something like that. Not all that good for scrapping purposes.

Rather than fuss with them ... i just opened them up enough so that the freon tech could reach in and do his part. The whole works went right on the junk pile after the freon and oil were pumped out.

Did the disassembly part with a backhoe on those ones.

Haha a backhoe that's great I bet that is a site to see. I did encounter a coil that was steel didn't know they made em like that terrible haha.

Originally Posted by mike1

Haha a backhoe that's great I bet that is a site to see. I did encounter a coil that was steel didn't know they made em like that terrible haha.

The backhoe has a thumb on it Mike. It's pretty useful for doing the teardown on washers, dryers, fridges and stuff like that. The whole idea is to flatten them out and compact the metal so they can fit more on a truck when the scrap yard comes to pick up our metals.

The cooling lines that are built into the walls of a chest freezer are kinda weird. They aren't copper. I think they're some kind of steel. Maybe stainless steel ... i dunno. I don't see much copper in a household fridge or freezer except a little down by the compressor.

There was one thing about the rads i thought to mention :

You were asking about sawzall blades awhile back. It seems like different kinds are good for different jobs. The best ones i've found for cutting the steel ends off the rads are fine tooth sawzall blades. Look for 24 TPI. That's 24 teeth per inch. They give you a cleaner cut with fewer ragged edges. The steel ends come off a lot easier that way.

The finer tooth blades make it so the piece you're working on shakes a lot less when you're cutting it too.