Split unit removal and disposal

[oncebitter]

Hi,
My new house has a wall-mount Fujitsu split-unit air-conditioner. I had to cut its power due to shoddy installation (real DIY hack-job) and now just want to get rid of the whole thing.

So, how does that work? Do I have an AC contractor come and capture the refrigerant then just disassemble it? Or can the contractor also do the disassembly? What sort of cost am I looking at?

Once disassembled can it be resold as a functioning unit, or does it have to be scrapped?

Thanks in advance for the info.
-B

[dan sw fl]

W-o-W.!

Worst-of-Worst.!

[lytning]

My thought would be to call a contractor. The refrigerant must be removed, after that disconnect the power at the panel and remove it. I would guess that you could do this yourself after having refrigerant removed. The question you have to ask yourself is; DO I FEEL LUCKY?

[jpsmith1cm]

Once the refrigerant has been removed, there is no obligation that I am aware of requiring the demo work to be done by a trained professional.

Re-selling the equipment is a bad idea, IMO. Or rather PURCHASING the used equipment is a bad idea... Selling it? well caveat emptor, right?

I'd haul it to the scrap yard myself.

[Mike19]

Call a contractor to recover the refrigerant. Pricing isn't allowed, but it should only end up costing you about an hour labor, plus trip charge and possible recovery/refrigerant handling fees. You could call some local companies on the phone and they could give you a pretty good idea what it would cost.

You're not allowed to sell used refrigerant, however no laws prohibiting selling used equipment that I know of. If it works and you can find a buyer all the power to you, but like JP, I would just plan on scrapping it.

[lytning]

Wonder why OP didn't just fix it and use it. Best heating value for the buck.

[hvacvegas]

if it's that bad, why would you want to push that headache on someone else, just to make a buck?

[lytning]

It is the hooray for me and the hell with you thing that is becoming the new standard in this country. I think it started in Washington.

if it's that bad, why would you want to push that headache on someone else, just to make a buck?

[rickboggs]

give it the dude that pumps it down

[Rodney28334]

Has an tech from a licensed company looked at it? Before I write something like that off I would get a few professional opinions saying its not worth fixing. Do not see many new totaled systems as usually only one part is causing the problem, and it cant be an external (ductwork) problem being ductless. Wouldn't scrap a new car just because transmission is bad for example. I would think a close HVAC company would remove it cheap, if not free if you let them have it, as I assume it is still under warranty. A new line set would surely be needed as they don't handle uninstallation well. Would be good for a shop office or maybe the owner or employee would want it for a garage or something. I would not resell it for a lot of reasons, your experience for starters. After refrigerant is removed you can do it yourself if so inclined and take it to ol scrap yard and get a few bucks, but I would hate to see a newer fujitsu mini get scrapped and it is something worth fixing, then you have to get another system. It being ac only you will not need ac for a while, but why not have quotes for a new system and see if the contractor will take a little off of it for letting them have the mini?

[ga-hvac-tech]

It is the hooray for me and the hell with you thing that is becoming the new standard in this country. I think it started in Washington.

IMO it started with the voters that put the folks in Wash...

[oncebitter]

Wonder why OP didn't just fix it and use it. Best heating value for the buck.

I live in San Francisco, where it never gets above 70 so really no need for A/C. The previous owner built a music studio in the garage, so if you had 8 sweaty dudes plus amps doing rails all night the A/C was probably pretty useful. For me it's just one more thing to maintain.

if it's that bad, why would you want to push that headache on someone else, just to make a buck?

The unit itself is fine, but it was wired up by squirrels on meth. They pulled so many wires through the conduit it scraped off the insulation and energized the conduit. Amazing no one got hurt. This was all the work of the previous owners, and I'm 10 months into fixing all their mistakes.

I would hate to see a newer fujitsu mini get scrapped and it is something worth fixing.

My thoughts exactly! If someone else can find a good use for it, beats just scrapping it. Just wasn't sure if it was even possible to install a unit elsewhere. Thanks for your thoughtful reply!