Air Conditioner Repair
I could almost swear that in an early version of the RepairFAQ (about 8 years ago) there was a sizeable FAQ on repair and troubleshooting of air conditioners. Such an FAQ is nowhere to be found on the current RepairFAQ site. Have eight years of time fogged up my memory, or did Sam G. pull that FAQ for some reason? Anyway, here is the problem I was hoping to get some advice on. I recently picked up an old air conditioner in someones trash (I don't have the money to buy a new one). I thought maybe I could tinker with it and get it going. When I got it home and plugged it in, the fan worked great but as soon as power was applied to the compressor motor (turn up the COOL setting), the lights would dim WAY down and I'd have to turn it off immediately (otherwise a circuit breaker would blow). Once inside the unit (where I found the mfr date of Oct. 1975!), I disconnected the fan motor so I could hear what was going on in the compressor. Sure enough, it would just hum and dim the lights. At this point I figured it was shorted and that the unit was junk, but for some reason I kept cycling the power on and off to see what would happen. After several tries, the compressor loudly roared to life and the shop lights were no longer dimming. It was obvious from the noise, that the compressor has a very hard time starting up (seizing?). And it appears that the unit is sealed, so there's no way to service it (also, I don't want to fool around with the freon). My plan of action for now is to install a separate switch for the fan, so I can leave it off and listen for the compressor to start. Obviously this would be a bit of a nuisance, but it's still preferable to sweating my brains out in the 40oC summer heat! Anything else I can try, or is this the best I can hope for?
Answer:
I don't know about car a/cs but I had salvaged several fridge compressors and they all work fine as air compressors. I would have obtained a lot more from the recycling dump except there is a law against taking anything from the recycling dump. At this recycling dump I happened to meet a guy from a fridge business who has a contract (ie. permit) to remove the refrigerant from the dumped fridges. He drains them into a flexible bag. Its a win win situation where he gets free refrigerant and the city gets to comply with its own environmental laws. The city recycling center is a place where you can dump electronics waste, small and large appliances and harzardous materials. The harzardous materials are mostly paints and solvents. If you need paint and are not too fussy about color, you can pick that up for free from this dump. This dump is a fascinating place and I am amazed at the really good stuff that gets thrown away: good looking stereo sets, TVs, fully populated late model PCs, monitors, printers, microwave ovens, etc. darn, I wish they would let me take them for I think most of them need only minimal repairs to make them whole. This recycling dump called the EcoCentre is my city's way of dealing with hard to remove or harzardous household waste. Its within the city limits and easily accessible. I think it a great idea because the center gives a place for us to get rid of appliances like fridges, TVs and all the stuff that the garbage man wouldn't lift and stuff (solvents, paints, etc.) that should not be dumped raw into the regular dump. That way people won't be tempted to dump their stuff into the farmers fields or some vacant land.