PennSilverTaco's HVAC BS MegaThread!

@Speedytech7

My dad also found this long-obsolete computer cord that I tossed into the scrap pile...

 

Various bolts and screws...

 

@Taco critter

Yes, I am actually going to Sullivan Scrap in my truck, but I think can make good money on all of the aluminum and copper!

 

I would love to get a few Mitsubishi units, or maybe now that they're more common, one of the parallel styles. Yeah Mortgage is solid as hell, I've been in the house nearly a year

 

save that seal tite and connectors.

 

So don't chuck it? Why not?

 

Those appliance whips aren't cheap. Unless you're not going to do any home work. Then maybe you'll never need it

 

Good point. Certainly is durable; I tried hacking through it to get to the wiring, but no luck...

 

that’s a $30 setup to buy new at the store, and can be reused in multiple functions not just for A/C condenser power supply.

 

I saved it, along with the A/C compressor...

 

At the scrap place...

 

@Taco critter

Only $6 for the nonferrous metals, but almost $70 for the various copper, aluminum, and electronic HVAC parts, plus my old alternator and that computer cord!

 

So, AutoZone was willing to exchange the alternator and give me a new one, no questions asked. Problem is that I had Pete replace it with a Denso one back in August. Why would would I want another alternator that is going to crap out in less than a year?!?! No more AutoZone alternators for me!

 

Nice little payday

 

And no damage to my truck!

 

That's always a plus!

 

@6 gearT444E
@ColoradoTJ

We all have Goodman air-conditioners. When installed properly, Goodman products work just fine and can last many years. 2005-2006 is when quality drastically improved. However, the problem with Goodman is that they sell their products to unlicensed buyers (all major brands like Carrier and Trane only sell to licensed contractors; Amana, Goodman's slightly more expensive sister brand, won't even sell to DIY homeowners)! When you sell to do-it-yourselfers, shit like this is what often ends up happening...

 

HVAC equipment is only as good as the technician who installs it. My friend Gwyn's house was built in 1958 and she bought it in 2003. The house has oil baseboard heat, but did not originally have central air; Gwyn paid a friend, who happened to be a trained HVAC tech, to install central air in 2005. Because the house has hot water baseboard heat, ductwork had to be installed in 2005. Gwyn didn't have a whole helluva lot of cash at the time, so she went with a Gibson (NORDYNE) unit. NORDYNE products are flimsily constructed builder grade equipment that get the job done at best, and shoddily constructed shitboxes at worst. The one saving grace is that newer NORDYNE condensers have scroll compressors, and Gwyn's is just such a unit; Gwyn's Gibson unit is nearly 18 years old and as far as I know has had one or two service calls. The most recent one was the result of a mouse getting inside the unit, munching on some wires, and not only electrocuting itself but taking the A/C out of commission during a heatwave.

The one mainstream brand I would never install in my house, or recommend that a family member or friend install in their house, is York. This is because higher-end York products are annoyingly complex and all York condensers that stents heat pumps have microchannel coils that are prone to bursting if you don't know what you're doing when servicing one. Common practice among trained HVAC techs is "contain" all of the refrigerant into the outdoor unit when they have to open up the system for servicing. Valves on both the high-pressure and low-pressure lines allow this to be done very easily.

Doing this in a York with microchannel coils can supposedly cause the coils to rupture; I have performed rudimentary preventive maintenance on a few residential units in the last 12 years or so, but no house I've lived in has had a York and I've worked on a functioning York or "autopsied" a decommissioned York, so I know nothing about the guts of the unit that are unique to York.