Air Conditioners What's an Honest Man to Do?

Well I felt up to taking in my ac. I had been saving since before I got sick. We the yards want take them. Said I needed documents that I replaced my ac in my house. Well I have build up a stock pile. I guess I should have got them in before the new year. Well where there is a will there is a way. They try to make it hard for a honest man!

Got them broke down. Sold compressors and wire. Have to get reef in.

Depending on the degree you will tear them down certainly any yard will take them at the point of RAW . The sealed motor case shell is great SHORT I've seen on Utube some even cut the AL to get at copper tubes . The point of RAW it is basically not recognizable.especially when mixed with other items.

A honest man will do it the right way. Either sell the unit to an a/c recycler or get the certification to do it yourself (on-line open book test). It's not rocket science and it will open up a lot of doors for you.

What about ac's picked up in front of houses? do you knock on the door and have the owners write a letter stating you got it from them?

Az trying to pass this... C. A scrap metal dealer shall not knowingly purchase residential or commercial air conditioner components, including evaporative and cooling coils, condensers, radiators and compressors, unless the air conditioner components are purchased from an industrial account. END_STATUTE

Ocedy.....I am in the Houston market as well. I work in the commercial roofing field. We reroof a lot of warehouses and shopping centers. We always identify all the obsolete roof top eqipment that is no longer in use and usually remove it in conjunction with the reroof (why flash in penetrations that are not in use??). In doing this, many of the old penetrations are old A/C units. So I end up with quite a few coils. Often it is a package unit that has had the condensor coil stolen but the evaporator coil is still in there. But I also still get quite a few of the complete units as well. Either way, I end up with around 50 sets of coils a year. When prices are up, I will haul them in. The scrap yards within the city limits of Houston require you to have a TACL license #. Being in commercial roofing, I don't have that. You can go to scrap yards outside the city limits but they generally pay .20, .30, .40, and even .50 less than the guys in the city limits because they know the game. I have a non-ferrous scrap yard in teh city limits that historically has the best prices on non-ferrous stuff that I go to that takes my coils without the required TACL license. This is provided I document who I am, how I came about possessing them, our tax ID #, the information of the HVAC guy we used to recapture the freon and perform the disconnect, and the locations that they originated. I have done this a few times now since the law was passed down here and it works every time. I am honest and my stuff is always acquired legally. Approach them and offer to provide the best paper trail you can.

You have to have a EPA 608 license where I'm at and you are expected to sign off a waiver on transactions for AC/Fridge/Freezer/Dehumidifier units. I'm trying to be as legit as possible and making all the proper certifications before I get involved. If you want to do it "the right way", You'll need to find a place that will certify you, that usually is about $150, then go grab some equipment; Tanks for each kind of refrigerant, an evac unit, manifold gauges, a line punch tool. I was lucky and found a bunch of retired hvac guys on Craigslist and bought their equipment for pennies.

I live in ky. Scrapping window units is fine, get paid cash. Central air units u have to wait 3 days for the scrap yard to write a check, and it has to be mailed to a physical address no po boxes. The scrap yard told me to cut the raidors up (in the curve) and that will be fine.

Here in Texas you need to have a license, or proof you switched out a unit, or a receipt saying you bought the item for recycling.

Originally Posted by Copper Head

Depending on the degree you will tear them down certainly any yard will take them at the point of RAW . The sealed motor case shell is great SHORT I've seen on Utube some even cut the AL to get at copper tubes . The point of RAW it is basically not recognizable.especially when mixed with other items.

I thought that until a 2-3 years ago, i had broken down my first window ac unit, took the copper tubes in, and scale operator said they wouldnt take that copper because of the lines on the tubes left by the aluminum fins would indicate it came from an air conditioner. but said they could take the elbows i cut off the ends. (i thought that was very weird). Over my next few trips i would cut up the copper tubes up into like 1 inch pieces ( a pain in the you know what) and mix in with the rest of my #2 copper. 3 years later I have finally pulled the copper out of the fins from 4 air conditioners that have been in garage for 2-3 years lol bUT FUNNY PART IS they said they would take the complete air conditioner on the ferrous side of the yard with no problem

Anyone who is young, and has time to kill, can become certified by an entry level maintenance position at an apartment complex, or any multi living establishment that requires maintenance men on staff. If you really search, you will find a place that provides the test in-house,and pays for it, because it is required by most state laws. You will also get hands on training, before they let you go,lol. A certification without experience is useless without hands on training. And in my state you only have to pass 2 of the 3 sections. Universal is difficult without training, but they let me use the book,lol??? PLEASE STOP TURNING CO2 TO CO3!!!! It takes a real human being to do it correctly. I feel remorse for my younger days. Wisdom is a *****!!!