PennSilverTaco's HVAC BS MegaThread!

@Lt. Dangle

I've been told it's from 1961 or 1981; I'm guessing 1961 due to the lack of a disconnect box...

 

I’m going with 60’s based on the color.

 

I had to cheat and look it up as either 60's or 80's looked to be a valid guess in my book lol. Either beginning or end of the run was completely feasible in my mind.

"
How to Read a York Serial Number: 1971 - Oct. 2004
A York serial number from 1971 through October of 2004 is made up of 10 letters and digits. The first four figures are alphabetical letters that indicate the location of the manufacturer, the month and year of manufacture and the type of unit. These four digits follow a specific nomenclature system to succinctly provide this information. Finally, the last six digits are Sequence Numbers.

In order to understand the date codes and nomenclature system, refer to the breakdown below:

Location of Manufacture

• A—Addison
• B—Blackville
• C—Canada
• D—Medina
• M—Mad’ville
• N—Norman
• W—Wichita
• X—Mexico
• Y—York

Month of Manufacture

• A—January
• B—February
• C—March
• D—April
• E—May
• F—June
• G—July
• H—August
• K—September
• L—October
• M—November

Year of Manufacture

• A—1971 or 1992
• B—1972 or 1993
• C—1973 or 1994
• D—1974 or 1995
• E—1975 or 1996
• F—1976 or 1997
• G—1977 or 1998
• H—1978 or 1999
• J—1979 or 2000
• K—1980 or 2001
• L—1981 or 2002
• M—1982 or 2003
• N—1983 or 2004
• P—1984
• R—1985
• S—1986
• T—1987
• V—1988
• W—1989
• X—1990
• Y—1991

Unit Type

• M—Mfg. Basic Unit
• P—Purchased Basic Unit
• S—Mfg. Low Side Item
• T—Purchased Low Side Item
• Y—Mfg. Accessory
• Z—Purchased Accessory
• O—Filler

To illustrate how this serial number system should be interpreted, we’ll analyze this made-up example serial number: ADFM654321.

The first four figures, ADFM, indicate that the unit was manufactured in Addison during the month of April, either in 1976 or 1997, and it’s a manufacturing basic unit type."

You show "MDLM" if my eyes don't deceive me.

M= Made in Mad'ville. No idea if this is real place or shorthand for something.
D= April
L= 1981 or 2002. It certainly isn't a 2002 unit lol.
M= Mfg. Basic unit.

Made in April of '81 is what I get. I worked for a York dealer starting in '98, I do not ever remember seeing one while there for almost 7 years. I did have a buddy who had one though and it lasted until about 5 years ago.

 

I always thought newer York tombstones were beige in color; I've seen beige ones before. I thought it was 1961 as well, but one of my buddies got 1981 from it. The house was built in the late 1950s and did not originally have central air. Rather than add A/C to the existing oil furnace in the basement, whoever owned the house at the time opted to do a separate A/C system in the attic; I've seen plenty of houses with central A/C and a separate baseboard heating system, but never two separate forced air systems for A/C and heat!

 

@Lt. Dangle

I scored this 1990s Fedders for free, and it is without a doubt the biggest window unit I have ever gotten; 18,000 BTUs (1.5-ton), as in it's as big as the smallest residential central A/C systems. Unfortunately, it was 100% scrap because it's not considered classic/collectable by the vintage HVAC community, and it was being given to me because it no longer blew cold air...

 

@Lt. Dangle

I really wanted to plug it in just for grins and see if it worked, but I didn't realize until I got home that it had a heavy-duty 220V plug. The only such outlets in my house are in the laundry room, which is on the second floor, and I didn't feel like lugging this thing upstairs. It ended up having no refrigerant in it, which would be indicative of the coil rotting out...

 

Newer rotary compressors are really only valuable as scrap...

 

This unit was reconditioned at least once, and was service at the place I got it from since at least 1999, so I'm guessing it from 1994-1997...

 

As stated above, this thing was essentially the same size as a 1.5-ton whole-house central A/C unit; I have never seen a window A/C unit with a curved condenser coil...

 

That plug is not factory obviously. Someone else doing high voltage wiring always gives me the willies. Especially when it's my house that would burn down.

Some questions are best left unanswered, like if this rewired old ac works or not lol.

Wall shakers aren't my area of expertise, but I would just scrap it if it were me.

 

My back hurts just looking at it.

 

With the exception of a few pieces of copper, the Fedders is now in air-conditioner heaven. Note how thick the evaporator coil (bottom) is, and that the outdoor condenser has three pieces...

 

I am scrapping the ductwork on Tuesday...

 

For some reason, the indoor unit had a disconnect box, but not the outdoor unit...

 

@Lt. Dangle

Here's the air handler!

 

Complete system...

 

@TnShooter was right, but it was eight years newer than I thought. Before loading the unit into the Taco for transportation to its new owner, I happened to glance into the air handler and notice a partial date; I looked closer, and this system was manufactured on September 29th, 1969!

The house it came out of was built in the late 1950s and did not originally have central air, but appeared to have been built with oil forced air heat. Instead of integrating the central A/C into the existing central heating system, whoever owned the house in 1969-1970 opted to do a separate central cooling system with the air handler and ductwork in the attic. The furnace, if anybody remembers, was in the basement. It was also a York and appeared to be from the same era as the A/C...

 

@Lt. Dangle

Note how the blower is belt-driven instead of directly attached to the motor...