Is learning to remove freon worth it?

Is it worth going out and learning to do it and buying the containers to remove this from refrigerators and air conditioners? After you fill your tanks, what do you do with it as I surely don't have any other use for it.



Thanks in advance
Tim

Definitely. It is a large investment though...and of course more work than just snipping ac's and fridges.

It also costs money to dispose of the freon evacuated into the containers. Around here it's $50+ to get rid of a 30 lb tank.

If you're in this business for the long haul...You HAVE TO learn how to remove freon.

You also have to take a state test, and get your certification before you can legally work with freon directly.

Best of luck to ya!

Sounds promising. I suppose we will have to save some profits and put towards the certification I have 3 air conditioners sitting out by the shed right now that the twister dropped off in our yard, so I'll have to do that then.

Also, where do you take the tanks to dispose of them? Just to an air condition center?

Thanks
Tim

It is. You generally take the tanks to an HVAC place. If you have an FW Webb around there, they'll probably take them. The tanks themselves are like a 250 dollar innitial investment, but when you take them in they exchange it with a new one with the 50 dollar disposal fee.

Also you must know that you need multiple freeon tanks, hose setups and filters to work properly. You cannot mix freon types in the recover tanks at all. You'll get charged up to 10 dollars PER POUND when you exchange your rank, so be very careful.

You'll see when you start learning about it, there's a lot to it. Refrigerators alone hold all different types of freon. So if you snag 5 fridges somewhere, and you evacuate them all into one tank without checking to make sure they all have the same freon first...your SCREWED!

Well I hope that helps. CLICK ON the little red heart so I can get some feedback power lol!

I've been looking into this myself, as there is a lot of competition in our area. Flyers everywhere, and tons of craigslist ads, yet almost no one wants the ac's and fridges because of the freon. A 30lb recovery tank goes for like $75 or so on Ebay, and there are places you can sell the recovered refrigerant to. Addam is right though. Make sure you have separate tanks for each refrigerant, because mixed refrigerant has to be incinerated. Expensive mistake!!

However, once you get it, you may be able to have people pay you to take their scrap ac's and fridges, make the scrap off the appliances, and money off the refrigerant! Good deal! And the EPA test for small appliances is an open book test! Count me in!

And another option could be to have other scrappers pay you to evac their units. Maybe either a percentage of the total scrap if their load is all fridges, or just a set price for each unit.

Originally Posted by wayne1956

And another option could be to have other scrappers pay you to evac their units. Maybe either a percentage of the total scrap if their load is all fridges, or just a set price for each unit.

Most guys just cut the charge loose. If asked they just say the unit had a leak in the coil!
Not good for the planet but that is what happens most of the time. Even people with recovery equipment don't bother, they just say they do the right thing.
One guy I talked to said it takes to much time and is a pain in the a$$ to filter and reuse it.

My yard won't take appliances that have the lines cut/removed, unless I have certification it was done right.

Once I'm done with parting out an A/C unit, they can't tell it was an appliance. Maybe other than the compressor motor I sell separately anyway. The condensers gets stripped down to the copper tubes and I take the aluminum fins and put em in aluminum pile.

Haven't done an AC yet. I have a couple fridges and a freezer. I think for now I'll use them as scrap bins.

Originally Posted by injunjoe

Most guys just cut the charge loose. If asked they just say the unit had a leak in the coil!
Not good for the planet but that is what happens most of the time. Even people with recovery equipment don't bother, they just say they do the right thing.
One guy I talked to said it takes to much time and is a pain in the a$$ to filter and reuse it.

But, if you recover it, you can sell it to someone else who will filter it, clean it, and sell it again to be reused. Lots of places will pay for recovered refrigerant. Especially if it's the right kind of refrigerant. R-22 is hot right now.

Originally Posted by injunjoe

Most guys just cut the charge loose. If asked they just say the unit had a leak in the coil!
Not good for the planet but that is what happens most of the time. Even people with recovery equipment don't bother, they just say they do the right thing.
One guy I talked to said it takes to much time and is a pain in the a$$ to filter and reuse it.

Ditto - Cut the copper and run!

Originally Posted by lady scrapper

I wonder if you guys get the same. I will meet someone, eventually convo turns to what do you do. I own my own business, then always WOW! what do you do? I answer, I recycle Cars (which is my main focus). Then always the .....ohhh...so you pick up scrap? LOL! Seriously, as scrappers we can make as much as a lawyer...even more! So why the stigma attached to us? Is it just everyone makes a stereo type of us? We can (in a good week, make more than they can in 6 weeks!). Do you get this kind of silly behavior?

Gee, I dunno...

Not to many people watch me when I strip my appliances.....

Originally Posted by Saroro

But, if you recover it, you can sell it to someone else who will filter it, clean it, and sell it again to be reused. Lots of places will pay for recovered refrigerant. Especially if it's the right kind of refrigerant. R-22 is hot right now.

Not the case here in Florida. There are tons of R-22 units left. And a good part of them leak, getting R-22 is not as hard as the chemical giants made out to be.
It was just marketing to sell the new 410-A.

I don't know of any AC companies around here that will pay a dime for unfiltered used, perhaps burnt freon. There are hundreds of AC companies in my county.
When you warranty your work it is much easier to just use new freon. With used you would want to add a dryer, to much added cost!

When you think about our scrap trucks are much worse for the atmosphere then 118 oz. of freon!
How about rubber mulch? What is the thought on that. "GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT" ? I don't get it!
Grind up petroleum products and spread over your garden. It is a fact that they leach out over time into the soil.

So save the freon, feel good about yourself and have a salad from the garden and perhaps some seafood from the Gulf Of Mexico.
Don't worry "They" said the oil is all gone.

Oil rigs all leak a little oil all the time, not to mention the fumes they burn off 24/7. So spend hundreds of dollars on recovery and save the earth!