refrigiirator compressors redux

[metaljacket]

I was reviewing another thread on this forum re refrigirators compressors and that a buyer was paying up to 7 or 8 dollars per unit.

I thought that these compressors could be sold as sealed motors for whatever the going price is---.25 to 40lb. Is this correct? If so I don't see the above deal as being that attractive if the above pricing is correct. I have been saving sealed and electric motors to get a meaningful load. Am I wasting my time?

[newattitude]

Personally I don't think they are worth $8 bucks a unit. Once I take them apart there is about a lb of copper in each and then you have the leftover metal. If you cut them yourself for the copper its worth it if you got them for free but you are losing money to pay that much for each unit, you don't recoup it. I have also turned them in as motors once I have drained them for the .14 cents and up per pound, depends on how tired and lazy I feel that day.

[injunjoe]

I was reviewing another thread on this forum re refrigirators compressors and that a buyer was paying up to 7 or 8 dollars per unit.

I thought that these compressors could be sold as sealed motors for whatever the going price is---.25 to 40lb. Is this correct? If so I don't see the above deal as being that attractive if the above pricing is correct. I have been saving sealed and electric motors to get a meaningful load. Am I wasting my time?

You bring up a good point. I do see your quote for sealed motors may be a bit over market at this time but still you make a good point.
I am not sure of the average weight of a refer compressor as I deal with mostly HVAC but they do weigh in well.

As a small time collector I cut 'em as I get 'em.

No you are not wasting your time! Money is money, but I would be cutting them open! Over time it will add up! Think of them as a savings account with ten fold the interest offered by Fanny pack.

[freonjoe]

He wanted them to re-use in refrigerators with bad compressors. I've seen a few shops try that as a way to low buck a repair. Not a good business practice, sounds kind of fly-by-night to me.

[tackleberry]

At the yard I sell to they pay 0.15/lb for compressors compared to 0.25/lb for elec. motors. From what I've found the average fridge compressor weighs in at 20lbs, that would be $3 at the 0.15/lb I get. I have never broken one down to see what that would yeild.

[EcoSafe]

now is the time to buy them not sell them.

[IdahoScrapper]

He wanted them to re-use in refrigerators with bad compressors. I've seen a few shops try that as a way to low buck a repair. Not a good business practice, sounds kind of fly-by-night to me.

I noticed that. Seems like a waste of time to put a used compressor in. Who knows if it will last 10 years or 10 minutes.

The few I've gotten in they said they had quit cooling so I am guessing that means compressor was shot?

[Mechanic688]

The few I've gotten in they said they had quit cooling so I am guessing that means compressor was shot?

Or the freon had slowly leaked out like it does in a car,,

[eesakiwi]

I'm getting 2 Lbs, near 1 Kg of copper, per fridge compressor. Ours are 240V AC.
With most of them, theres nothing wrong with the actual compressor, only a few have had any actual broken bits in them.
Some have a little rust & theres been a broken conrod or 2, a few with a loose bolt, a couple of them have been sabotaged by the looks of it.
Thats out of over 100 compressors.

Its nice, like yesterday, when I find a real old one & the freezer lining is made from copper too, thats another 5Lb.
Best one I ever found was a huge brass & copper with all silver soldering, had to lever it out with a steel pole.

I'm convinced that with most of the non working ones its because of the thermostat.
Or the persons just trading up, doing up the kitchen, insides too dirty or worn to bother fix/clean.
Only a few don't have actual pressure.

My cat pissed on the dehumidifier, it got onto the tiny thin copper tube & ate thru it = Dead dehumidifier.
So I plugged in one I was about to scrap, & it worked....

[Jeviduty]

Im the person offering up to USD8.00 per compressor. Just going to clear some things up and offer some insight.

OP: Im not sure where you can get .40 per lbs but that seems to be a good deal but is certainly not available in all areas. For most people it is not lucrative to go after compressors, but if you have the compressors you might as well get the most for them.

Like someone said, I can pay above market because they are not going to be scrapped. We have found about 90% percent of compressors are in good working condition if recently pulled, so most refrigerators probably fail for other reasons.

Also recall we export these compressors to the Dom. Rep where a technician makes in 1month what yours makes in a day or two. Fixing broken appliances in most cases is not cost effective for you guys but is for us. But our company model is one of wholesaling and national distribution. So we dont actually replace the compressors ourselves but instead distribute to the many small appliance repair shops around the country who do.

Alex

[freonjoe]

Alex, is it worth the time to test used compressors when new ones are only 80.00 apiece? I've dealt in used appliances for 20 years and have found re-using compressors seldom worth the hassle.

[gustavus]

Im the person offering up to USD8.00 per compressor. Just going to clear some things up and offer some insight.

OP: Im not sure where you can get .40 per lbs but that seems to be a good deal but is certainly not available in all areas. For most people it is not lucrative to go after compressors, but if you have the compressors you might as well get the most for them.

Like someone said, I can pay above market because they are not going to be scrapped. We have found about 90% percent of compressors are in good working condition if recently pulled, so most refrigerators probably fail for other reasons.

Also recall we export these compressors to the Dom. Rep where a technician makes in 1month what yours makes in a day or two. Fixing broken appliances in most cases is not cost effective for you guys but is for us. But our company model is one of wholesaling and national distribution. So we dont actually replace the compressors ourselves but instead distribute to the many small appliance repair shops around the country who do.

Alex

Yes I agree most refrigerators fail for other reasons, usually the defrost timer fails. Homeowners hesitate to call in a technicians with hourly rates of $75,00 an hour then add this to the service call it makes the decision to repair difficult when the stores make it so easy to purchase new appliances on credit.

It is good to see that your country has learned the value of recycling our discards.

What I found being self taught in refrigeration is as a technician you take special care to assure your not going to have call back over warranty issues. I've used many used compressors with great success, after running a series of tests that told me the condition of the compressor head and motor would discard those not meeting OEM specifications,

Your refrigeration gauge set will tell the technician the condition of the valves, if the reeds are cracked or leaking the unit will not build pressure on the high side or vacuum on the low side, leaky valves will leak down just a a balloon or bicycle tire with a pin hole will not hold air for very long.

Clamp on amp meters show starting amperage and run time electrical draw, if the bearings are worn and the armature rubs against the fields your amp meter would show an abnormally high amperage draw indicating an internal problem. I sued worn bearings only as one example.

A meager is another bit of inexpensive test equipment, the meager when hooked to the start or run windings, that copper wire were all after, if the insulation is breaking down and leaking across to another winding the meager sees this problem and reports back the unit no longer meets OEM specifications.

Oil sample from the compressor if an analysis shows acids or metal content in the sample you know there are some internal problems, the compressor is not suitable for service even though it still runs. It has not met OEM specifications.

If a compressor has been removed from service and sat for awhile sometimes the piston with become stuck, by using a pair of capacitors wired to a rocker switch with is normally open you can rock the piston free by reversing the start direction of the motor rapidly using your rocker switch. If the motor does not start within the first 30 - 45 seconds of rocking abandon the procedure before your capacitors become over charged they could explode with over exertion.

White, Avocado Green and Brown were popular colors for appliances then Almond came onto the scene, no one wanted the old colors and I was getting these appliances by the truck load most in working order. Those that were in good cosmetic condition and met other criteria I would sand and repaint, it takes less than a quart to do a complete color change.

The repainted appliance brings in more than enough to cover your paint and labor.

On a side note there was a time that I made an attempt to get into the overhauling of the larger hermetically sealed compressors, If you grind the welded seam to open the canister there is certainly enough material left of the seam to re weld the can closed once the repairs have been carried out. The snag in my plan turned out that the manufactures would not make available pistons, connecting rods, reed valves or gaskets.

Failure of hard parts is not common, mostly burn outs or a motor mount spring had become detached from rough handling and transport. In the latter case these were brand new compressors with a manufacture defect that could have been repaired at zero cost to me other than the labor to open the hermetically sealed canister reattach the spring mount then re-weld the can and test for leaks.

As you can see I do know a bit about the refrigeration trade, self taught in Canada from American books.

If I were not so old I would pack up and move to the Dom Rep, sounds like there is plenty of opportunities for the entrepreneur.

[PartTimeScrapper]

I think most of us are missing the point here. They are going to the dominican republic. In the DR the average school teacher makes 23000 DOP a year which is like $600 USD. So I would think an $80 new compressor would be out of the question. I bet they cant afford the used ones alex is silling them but they havnt a choice.

[freonjoe]

Thanks PTS, I know I missed that point. Sometimes I get a little jaded with our disposable society!

[PartTimeScrapper]

No problem Freonjoe. Yeah we take for granted sometimes how good we as americans really have it.

[Jeviduty]

Alex, is it worth the time to test used compressors when new ones are only 80.00 apiece? I've dealt in used appliances for 20 years and have found re-using compressors seldom worth the hassle.

We do find it worthwhile to test them, of course our cost of labor is minimal. But if you have a matching used compressor, I would defitnetly go with that one and not a new one since most are working. Testing as you need them might work out for you. Testing usually takes 2 mins max for our guys.

Also we have different arrangements, some clients pay less per compressor and buy them untested. We have two people on staff contantly testing compressors in a manner increibly similar to the one gustavus detailed. In all honesty I could not describe the process so well myself, im glad he did.

Addtionally to what gustavus said, we also change around the relays and capacitors to see if those are bad. Those compressors that end up being totally bad we sell as scrap at pretty good rates. Enough to recover a substantial part of the initial cost.

We would also love to import whole refrigerators which are no longer working to fix and restore down here. But current Dominican laws do not allow us to import used white appliances. As you can imagine thats against the interests of certain big retailers we have down here.