SECOND HAND AIR CONDITIONERS
WHY BUY A SECOND HAND AIR CON?
The outside temperature hasn’t been below 34 C in days. The temperature inside feels hotter than out. Work starts in six hours and you haven’t slept properly in days. Many of us have real trouble sleeping during those unbearable hot spells that seem to come along twice to three times every summer. You’re not alone. At these times. second hand air conditioners can seem very attractive.
As Europeans we perform at our best when it’s cold outside. The lack of melanin in our pale skin provides next to no sun protection, but enables us to absorb vitamin D in climates where there is no direct sun for six months a year. Fortunately or not depending on how you look at it – our ancestors settled all parts of the globe. They subdued the local tribes and established the countries we now call home. They didn’t get to choose the climate of these new lands. Our climate in northern Australia is one of the harshest on earth. One you must endure or tame, to perform at your best.
Every year the winter chill is chased out to sea by the Queensland sun, the local classifieds fill up with second hand air conditioners. Units that may have been pulled out during renovations, unit’s maybe scavenged from houses being demolished or units that have been replaced with the latest and greatest. All second hand air conditioners will have three things in common. They :
- Were working perfectly when removed
- Have been removed by a proper refrigeration mechanic
- Will not work for long – if at all – once installed again
We install hundreds of new split system air conditioners per year. If there’s one thing we know: It’s air conditioners. Far too often in our early years a customer would call up and request that we install the AC they got second hand from their brother in law. “It’s only a year old and was removed by a qualified frigy. Guaranteed to work.”
So, we would quote the buyer around $500 to install the unit. If we arrived at the job and the unit looked too old, we would advise the customer. “We don’t reckon this will work – but we can go ahead, as long as you know if it doesn’t work, there’s a bill to be paid anyway. It’s a 5 hour job for two men.” Of all the second hand installs we did, around 60 – 70% worked on installation.
The remaining ones the customer has just paid $500 for zero. Less than zero because he now has two holes in his wall behind an air conditioner that doesn’t work.
DO YOU FEEL LUCKY?
This is the simple question one must ask when buying second hand air conditioners .Of the two thirds that worked on power up, around half had noticeable flaws, noisy fans or gas pressure too low. The remaining would be installed, and to the delight of customer would cool the intended room and save them some cash. A week later the phone calls would start. “Ummm hi that unit you installed last week has lost it’s cool or started rattling or now won’t turn on.”
As we did not supply the unit there’s no way a warranty can be offered, and the customer is now left to find a repairer of X brand air con that has no warranty remaining. Anybody that has tried to organize an air conditioner repair over summer will know how futile it can be.
Why do second hand VCR’s and TV’s have a better strike rate than second hand air conditioners? The simple answer is that a television has a lot less moving parts. Most appliances today have very few moving parts, perhaps a microwave or a washing machine, a dryer or dishwasher would be exceptions. Few appliances have the constant chemical gas / liquid / gas conversions that a modern AC must have. The constant circulation of liquid chemicals and oils relies on the purity, distribution, viscosity and consistency of every ingredient.
USED AIR CONDITIONERS ARE NO GOOD TO ANYONE
Even very small amounts of H2O in an air conditioners system can cause severe damage if not complete failure. Fair dinkum electricians who take pride in their installs will use a very expensive 2 stage vacuum pump to remove all impurities from pipe work before gassing the system. The ‘evacuation’ procedure as it is known will be measured in microns as to the level of air and moisture remaining after vac.
Do you really think that Victor’s demolitions will take care not to get dust, mud, asbestos or concrete into your system?
How many of you are aware just what goes on in your air conditioner? Maybe this will help you to understand why most second hand units will never work as well as they did before. Look to your left at the diagram. The beginning of the cycle has liquid refrigerant gas pumped to evaporator where it becomes a gas. The gas is then pushed back down the pipe to the condenser where it becomes a liquid again.
COMPLEX OPERATION OF TODAY’S SPLIT SYSTEMS
How many of you are aware just what goes on in your air conditioner? Maybe this will help you to understand why most second hand units will never work as well as they did before. Look to your left at the diagram. The beginning of the cycle has liquid refrigerant gas pumped to evaporator where it becomes a gas. The gas is then pushed back down the pipe to the condenser where it becomes a liquid again.
As if that wasn’t difficult enough, then air must be pushed through the reaction in enormous quantities to cool the room, and the cycle must be reproduced only about six hundred million times in the average 15 year lifespan of a Mitsubishi Heavy industry air conditioner. Compare that to a cylinder in a car which fires ninety six million times in only a hundred hours doing 1600rpm and you get an idea of how white man’s incredible engineering prowess has changed the world. Feel free to express your gratitude anytime now.
As if that wasn’t difficult enough, then air must be pushed through the reaction in enormous quantities to cool the room, and the cycle must be reproduced only about six hundred million times in the average 15 year lifespan of a Mitsubishi Heavy industry air conditioner.
Compare that to a cylinder in a car which fires ninety six million times in only a hundred hours doing 1600rpm and you get an idea of how white man’s incredible engineering prowess has changed the world. Feel free to express your gratitude anytime now.