Pumpdown How to...

[tangledwebster]

I need to relocate my a/c and I've been told all I need to do is do a pumpdown to keep my refrigerant contained.

Is this true and if so how do I do this...?

Thanx,

tangledwebster

[Edited by tangledwebster on 06-28-2005 at 11:08 AM]

[pecmsg]

Call a contractor, This is not a DIY job.

[smokin68]

Absolutely true. does yuor unit have service valves? Is it a scroll compressor? Is the disconnect nearby? do you have the equipment to evacuate the system? Do you have the means of re-charging the system to proper specs? If you answered no to any of these questions, call a pro. Proceeding with pump-down will only cost you more....

[dhvac]

pay now or pay later either way it will cost you
had a customer "disconnect" his own a/c to save a few bucks well needless to say he has a brand new unit now :)
it will be a lot cheaper to get someone to move it than to buy a new a/c

[ct2]

go to HD and get a pumpdown machine from the rental section

[beenthere]

You need to be EPA certified to do it.

Not a DIY project.

[tangledwebster]

Yes, I can rent a vacuum pump and I have gages, it's a scroll, and I have access to the service disconnet etc.

This unit is a used one located an hours drive away. It would be impractical for my to pay labor to disconnect the unit and then pay again to connect. I can only seeing paying once, and in FLORIDA a/c service labor is averaging to several hundred dollars just to show up to the door and look at the thing.

I just want to relocate to my business since its about $800.00 and seems to be in good shape an running good.


How about this guys...?

What do you think I should do?

If I hire someone to dissconnect it, then what are they doing exactly and how much money is reasonable?

If I hire out someone to hook it up again, then what are they doing and what is a resonable price.



Thanx,

tangledwebster

[t527ed]

what ever they charge you would be cheaper than the $20,000 dollar fine if you get caught. we have video cameras and we are watching. reward is easier money than working for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[knippknipp]

Originally posted by tangledwebster

If I hire someone to dissconnect it, then what are they doing exactly and how much money is reasonable?

If I hire out someone to hook it up again, then what are they doing and what is a resonable price.

tangledwebster



A reasonable price would be the cost of having it installed correctly. Rule 3 when you signed up should explain it better:

Home Owners - no pricing questions please

Only people who actually see your job can price it. Also, this is a site to promote the learning of HVAC technical knowledge and as such, questions of the type "$5,000 for a XXX system, is this a good price?" do not fit in with the theme of the site. Home owners, do NOT post prices.

Posts of this type will be deleted.

[rabelrouser]

tangledwebster:

For being a legal DIY you can get a EPA 609 license off the web for a few hours study and an open book test (you can't hire yourself out with that license) and you need to paint an old propane tank grey with an yellow top, etc. since you look like you got everything else or can rent it.
To get past most the pros here, in the future pevaricate like Clinton did and phrase your questions differently, such as:

"the epa lic. tech I hired says he does not have to evacuate my system to move it, only to pump it down and evac the remainder so I don't loose as much R22. Is this right or should he just evac the freon and recharge, was told freon gets old with age" <G>

[Reliant Air]

In your first post it sounds like you are just moving it a little but in your second post it sounds like your moving it to a different location. Are you moving the air handler too? Moving a complete system from one location to another would normally be more expensive than a new unit. Even if it is just next door.
Where in Florida are you?

[miami mike]

Originally posted by tangledwebster
Yes, I can rent a vacuum pump and I have gages, it's a scroll, and I have access to the service disconnet etc.

This unit is a used one located an hours drive away. It would be impractical for my to pay labor to disconnect the unit and then pay again to connect. I can only seeing paying once, and in FLORIDA a/c service labor is averaging to several hundred dollars just to show up to the door and look at the thing.

I just want to relocate to my business since its about $800.00 and seems to be in good shape an running good.


How about this guys...?

What do you think I should do?

If I hire someone to dissconnect it, then what are they doing exactly and how much money is reasonable?

If I hire out someone to hook it up again, then what are they doing and what is a resonable price.



Thanx,

tangledwebster




Call around and get some quotes.

[tangledwebster]

I am moving the whole unit from one neighboring city to the next.

The whole unit, air handler and compressor, should fit nicely in our trailer.

Yes, I have been told by one quote that the freon is too old and needs to be replaced by them, an EPA card carrying pro, at the tune of several hundred bucks.

Other EPA card carrying pro's say they can probably use the existing refrig' just fine after a good scrub with their equip.

My background is in military robotics. Gas theory, liquid dynamics, electrics/tronics, etc. is not a problem.

What is a problem is getting good solid service and a cost that is reasonable.

I find that an informed customer makes better decisions and is happier overall.

I am a professional by trade, own my business, and know all too well the turbulence that exists among a quasi-free market.

Y'all have my respect, and hats off to the working man...!

By the way, this thing nees a spell check bad...

Thanx,

tangledwebster

[Edited by tangledwebster on 06-29-2005 at 06:12 PM]

[coco]

shut down the valve on the little line and run the unit until it starts making loud bangs then shut the other one and hope you can run fast

[smokin68]

Yes, I can rent a vacuum pump and I have gages, it's a scroll, and I have access to the service disconnet etc.

This unit is a used one located an hours drive away. It would be impractical for my to pay labor to disconnect the unit and then pay again to connect. I can only seeing paying once, and in FLORIDA a/c service labor is averaging to several hundred dollars just to show up to the door and look at the thing.

I just want to relocate to my business since its about $800.00 and seems to be in good shape an running good.



You're buying a used air conditioner here in Florida? Be afraid....be very afraid. Put your money towards a new in-expensive brand....you're better off. I wouldn't pay squat for a used air conditioner....and I could install it and fix it if necessary. JMO

[beenthere]

Originally posted by rabelrouser
tangledwebster:

For being a legal DIY you can get a EPA 609 license off the web for a few hours study and an open book test (you can't hire yourself out with that license) and you need to paint an old propane tank grey with an yellow top, etc. since you look like you got everything else or can rent it.
To get past most the pros here, in the future pevaricate like Clinton did and phrase your questions differently, such as:

"the epa lic. tech I hired says he does not have to evacuate my system to move it, only to pump it down and evac the remainder so I don't loose as much R22. Is this right or should he just evac the freon and recharge, was told freon gets old with age" <G>


609 is not a cert for non mobil refrigeration units.

608 is.

[billva]

Originally posted by t527ed
what ever they charge you would be cheaper than the $20,000 dollar fine if you get caught. we have video cameras and we are watching. reward is easier money than working for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, beware of the epa police (nannies?)

they watch closely from mars and swoop down in the middle of the night in thier ufo's. then take you to places unknown (area 51 maybe?)where a microchip is implanted behind your left ear. the microchip is actually a tiny version of the d-tek refrigerant detector so that any time in the future refrigerant is noticed near you, THEY will know.

how many people here can honestly say they have encountered the refrigerant nannies? i'm guessing 0, because there is no such thing.

[smokin68]

Littering is a $500 fine,so don't spit that cherry seed out the truck window,you have more of a chance of being caught than by the EPA. But I personally follow their guidelines,because I'm the one with the luck of being the first one in Florida fined $27,500, and that's alot of vacation money,so I don't chance it. :)

[Black Adder]

put your gauges on the unit, shutdown the supply (liquid line) turn on your unit and watch your gauges, when the pressure is below a couple of pounds. Close off the suction valve and shut down the power. cut it lose and take it away. Used A/C for 800 bucks doesn't sound like too good a deal. Be better off with a Goodman off Ebay, warranty may be the sh*ts but at least it would be a new unit. Good luck m8

[beenthere]

LOL...

I'm not telling anybody that the epa is gonna catch them recovering a unit without their cert.

But, anybody telling someone they have section 609 cert, so they can recover a non mobil, doesn't know what their talking about.

[MikeJ]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tangledwebster
[B]I am moving the whole unit from one neighboring city to the next.

********All I see is some future problems and he will need one of those high priced professionals to solve it. Maybe a couple of them. A new unit, properly installed, with an extended warranty, written off as a business expense, would cost how much more? Geez, I can't do the math, it is verboten here.

Y'all have my respect, and hats off to the working man...!
By the way, this thing nees a spell check bad...


*********"Naw, that would take all the fun out of reading some posts":

Quote from a recent post:
"I see that tranfer among the ambient air kitchen and outside air to close 90F and 95F What happen when for moment retainer? What happen with the disch-pressure? And what happen with the oil in the system?I Thing you have too much oil in one of the cap/tube. not too much too much but something oil, This biginning the problem,"

*********He may not say it like some professor would but I damn well bet he knows the ins and outs of a system better than most and could install or troubleshoot your system. He dun't need no stinking spell checker.

QUOTE]