how old are you?

[cboe]

I was just wondering!
are any of you older enough to remember GACs? Gas Air Conditioners.
Arklar Seville, Day and Nite, and Whirlpool just to menton a few.
The gas companys wonted to keep there sales up for natural gas in the summer time as well as in the winter.
so to push the sales of gas air cond. they agreed with the costumer if they would have one installed they would service the air cond.for free. I can't remember for how long. long story short the gas Co's. bit off more than they could chew. they weren't pactial, the didn't work worth a d**m. so they quit quit servicing them. you might say the gas CO. laid a golden egg for us service guys. I think I just gave away my age. I think I might be the oldest retired X service tech. here on the forum.

[AC5096]

I remember them. Worked on one residential gas AC about 20 years ago. Tended commercial natural gas and steam lithium bromide chillers.

[t527ed]

never worked on one, but did tear quite a few out.

they were heavy freakin monsters that you had to be careful bleeding the ammonia out of.

53 yrs old, glad i don't see them anymore.

[Crazecodyk]

Im 26 and have been in industry for almost 7yrs. I still see all of those brand units and have to repair them. Screws are wallared out and bigger screws in places..pieced together as well as duct tape can!

[drife678]

28 never seen one

[rglasgow]

51 years old. I saw one in 1983 when I started in the field, did not have a clue. Never seen another one.

[timebuilder]

In fact, my friend Julie, who passed away on May 2, had a very reliable Arkla Servelle gas fired absorber.

It was installed when the house was built.

In 1973.

It worked until June, 2011.

Imagine. No compressor. A condenser fan, and a belt drive pump that has very little load.

The darned thing needed less than six service visits in 38 years.

[timebuilder]

Oh, yes.

There is dirt that is younger than I am.

[mark beiser]

I'm 44, been in the trade for 20 years.
I worked on a number of Arkla Servelle units when I worked for a company that serviced them.
We only worked on the gas side and electrical.
If there was anything wrong with the ammonia side, they were SOL, because nobody knew of anyone that would touch them.

I would say we yanked plenty of them out, but those things were so pig heavy that nobody was yanking one anywhere.

Scrapping them out was the best remedy for sinus congestion that I've ever encountered.

[sprmktrefertech]

Does anybody remember the old Rheem/Ruud condensing units, I think they used to call them the 'coffin'.....They were heavy and used to have to set them on lentiles.

Two condenser fan motors and compressor in the middle.

and, yes I do remember the arkla chiller, although I never worked on one.

[Crazecodyk]

Ive repiped in many a compressor in those rheem rudd style..only thing original on them is coil and sheet metal...they could have been replaced 6 or 7 times for the amount of money that was spent on those

[garyed]

We had a gas unit in Philly back in the 60's in the house where I grew up.
All I remember about it was it was huge & the gas man complaining about servicing it. How did they work? I assume they heated the refrigerant with the gas but how did it move through the system?

[54regcab]

I remember the York units that used a gas engine that ran off NG. Great concept but didn't work out so well.