I had an AC unit break down, compressor seized up right in the middle of fucking summer.
I ordered a new compressor from Taobao (they’re all made in China anyways).
It came in just now.
So I just spent better part of the day replacing it. I had to get someone to braze a little tube onto the compressor outlets because my torch wouldn’t get hot enough…
Schrader valve is that same valve that you fill bike tires with. It’s a spring loaded pin that lets out gas when you press the needle.
It wears out over time and the core can be replaced. There’s a special tool to replace it while there’s gas but when the system is empty you don’t need special tools to replace them, so might as well.
Do you need a special tool or do they just come off using a normal spanner? Would a Schrader valve removal tool that you can buy at bicycle stores work?
That bike tool thing looks like it may work but you have to do it while the system is empty, or you need special air lock like tools to remove the schrader core.
I hate that, because HVAC workers are few and having broken down AC is an emergency. Also this is what China thinks of a bunch of westerners making weird rules on refrigerants and all that…
R22? That’s the most damaging and old coolant. Time to buy a new AC with less damaging coolant.
‘R22 refrigerant has been banned due to its high ozone-depleting potential, R22 leaks are highly toxic and can damage the environment and people’s health. The use of R22 freon in air conditioning units has been restricted and banned from being used in any new products. The ban on R-22 refrigerant has been a work in progress for decades, starting in 1987 with the Montreal Protocol’
Which China seems to not care much about, as they still manufacture R22 by the gigatons…
I’m sure they signed it, but it’s like Taiwan, not enforced.
And every year they keep coming out with expensive refrigerant that promises to be less toxic or damaging… and then that one gets replaced with something more expensive.
And now a bunch of perfectly good R22 units are thrown away because “the planet”.
By the way Ammonia is actually a very good refrigerant, and non ozone depleting or whatever. But anyone knows how nasty they are, and so they invented CFC/HFC so they have none of the bad problems that ammonia has. By the way they are talking about using CO2 as refrigerant, except these are extremely difficult to work with and require extremely high pressure. R410A is already hard enough to deal with, since it’s a mixture that includes R32 if it leaks, you have to recover the entire system and start from scratch or else the system will suck. My other AC is R410A and it really does suck… I’m even wondering if the reason is that it had leaked and they just filled it with more R410A.
You can just replace it with R290 or R147a or whatever.
R290 can’t or shouldn’t be used in any AC unit because it’s basically propane, that means sparks nearby if there’s a leak, BOOM! They’re only approved for refrigerators or small commercial freezer/fridge.
But don’t throw out perfectly good R22 system, because it still works and it’s even less ethical to throw away perfectly good product just because.
But you can’t say R22 is unethical because it’s not like you had to murder a bunch of dolphin to make the stuff. It’s not ecological, but that’s not the same as unethical.
False Dichotomy is formal fallacy based on an “either-or” type of argument. Two choices are presented, when more might exist, and the claim is made that one is false and one is true - or one is acceptable and the other is not.
When released in bulk quantities, this chemical causes ozone depletion and significantly increases the risks of global climate change. In fact, R-22 emission — among other hydrofluorocarbon compounds (HFC) — can be 10,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, per ounce.”
