Upsilon
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Useful parts in a broken AC unit?
Are there any useful components, metals, etc. in an AC unit? I happen to have a broken one right now. It's a large whole-house one, not a little
window unit. I'm pretty sure there is a decent amount of copper piping in there, but I don't know much about AC units. What else can I get out of it?
And yes, I am aware of potentially toxic substances inside.
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Magpie
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Yes, that copper coil is worth a few bucks. I tried to salvage my old one. The workers told me they counted on the salvage money when they bid my
job. So I left it to them.
I thought I could salvage the fan for my hood. But it did not have the right pressure/flow characteristics. That is, it was designed to move a lot
of air at a low pressure drop. A hood fan needs to be able to move less air but at a higher pressure drop.
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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Praxichys
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If the compressor is still good you can use it as a vacuum pump/air compressor. As Magpie says, the thing is full of copper or aluminum tubing, which
might be of some use. Certainly keep both fans. There is usually a large blower for the condenser coils on the outside part and a smaller, higher
pressure squirrel-cage type for the inside air. There should also be some switches and dials that could be useful, and possibly some thermocouples.
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battoussai114
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As already metioned, copper pipes and the pump are probably the two most interesting bits in it. There might also be some refrigeration gas that's
worth savaging if you've got equipment to do so... HCFC or something alike.
Batoussai.
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chemrox
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Maybe you could turn it into a condenser water cooler. You could re-bend the tubing to go into a water tank and move the water with a low pressure
pump. It might involve a new motor or recharging the cylinder with propane or ammonia. For the latter a different orifice would be needed but I think
propane will substitute straight across. Recycling water is a good thing!
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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Upsilon
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Thanks for the ideas. I'll start taking it apart this weekend to see what I can salvage.
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Texium
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There's also heating elements in them for the emergency heat system. These are likely made of nichrome or kanthal, or another similar high resistance
alloy. I salvaged the ones from my old AC a couple months ago. I haven't figured out what to do with them yet. I also kept the squirrel cage fan,
which I'm planning on attaching a standard plug to, fitting it with protective metal grates and setting it on a rolling cart. I'll use it to cool off
and air out my lab on hot days. My grandfather rigged up a fan like that and it moves a ton of air for its size.
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aga
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There is the Clue.
Scrap it as-is, get the $ for the scrap, then use those $ to buy what you really want.
(personally i'd tear it apart just to see what is in there, then get bored and leave the bits lying all over the place)
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cyanureeves
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i found two compressors discarded on a dead end street by thieves who only wanted the copper.a few dollars worth of copper cost someone at least 7-10
thousand dollars somewhere.the compressors were full of mineral oil and two pumps inside.the pumps were steel on steel and milled so close they didnt
need rubber gaskets.it reminded me of a rotary engine with the piston being an eccentric cam in a chamber.i shoved the pump in a bucket of water and
turned the pump by hand and it shot a stream of water about 40 ft. far and 15 ft high.the cool part was that i only turned the pump a fraction of an
inch and even felt force pushing against me as it squirted.the thing was locked solid by next morning and wouldnt turn at all.thing is, i got two
pumps and only cut open one compressor and it was not easy.oh! and most units now have mostly aluminum coils but still worth money because the fins
are aluminum as well.we sold about 20 compressors and they paid us more than their weight in scrap steel.
[Edited on 10-1-2015 by cyanureeves]
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aga
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Al is worth about 180% more than Iron/Steel when scrapped, weight for weight.
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Upsilon
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Quote: Originally posted by aga  |
(personally i'd tear it apart just to see what is in there, then get bored and leave the bits lying all over the place) |
This is me exactly. Honestly for me the fun of taking it apart and finding useful stuff is worth more than the money.
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aga
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Eventually the $ become really important, and tends to spoil the fun.
Heigh Ho. That's life for you.
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