r-22 and compressor ?

[sweetk30]

getting new unit installed soon and old works good on house .

figure why not make it fit my central heat wood stove in shop instead of scrap it . old unit is 22 years old and no leaks works good . has full load of r-22 gas .

should i have it saved and try and reuse or am i asking for problems ? ? ?

its a yes or no thing . no long drawn out reply's please / thanks .

its i need to scrap no problem . if i can use great .

 

[American Locomotive]

It's not a "Yes or No" answer.

It depends on the size of the garage, and what do you mean by central heat wood stove. Many "central heat" wood stove systems are passive with ducts and have no fan. If it does have a fan, is it powerful enough to to suit the size of the AC system?

 

[sweetk30]

has fan / has 2 8" ports out the top . shop is 1,800 sq ft and insulated spray foam .

just trying to do a/c on a budget and not scrap a decent older unit if i can .

 

[Dumber than lumber]

Kind of a cool idea. Pun not intentional.
If you can handle the install; if you don’t try you won’t know.
However, you say you want to cool, but you talk about heater. So maybe you left something out.
FWIW - I have heard that some of those older low efficiency systems have thicker metal where the new ones skimp on .... everything.

 

[sweetk30]

North east living . Cold winters and hot summers . . . . Trying to get a/c on the cheep if worth my time .

 

[Jeepster04]

doo it

 

[BillK]

The only problem I see is that you are going to lose a bunch of the R22 when you disconnect the system. There might be shut off valves at the outside unit but probably no way to save what is in the lines and inside unit. Unless you have a evac machine that will save it. If you are willing to get the R22 that you need to recharge it when you are done then I say go for it.

 

[lonestardiver]

R-22 is expensive if you have to replace any or all.

 

[BillK]

R-22 is expensive if you have to replace any or all.

But its cheaper than a new system I just fixed a leak in my 20 year old R-22 system at my house last fall. Even a couple of hundred bucks of R22 is less than 3K or more to replace the system.

 

[lonestardiver]

But its cheaper than a new system I just fixed a leak in my 20 year old R-22 system at my house last fall. Even a couple of hundred bucks of R22 is less than 3K or more to replace the system.

True...

 

[Jim greengo]

The only problem I see is that you are going to lose a bunch of the R22 when you disconnect the system. There might be shut off valves at the outside unit but probably no way to save what is in the lines and inside unit. Unless you have a evac machine that will save it. If you are willing to get the R22 that you need to recharge it when you are done then I say go for it.

Pump the freon back into the condensing unit.

 

[Brilis]

There are drop in Freon's for R-22 such as R-407 and NU22. They are a good deal cheaper and you need to do nothing but put it in.

 

[inphx]

I assume it's a "Package Unit" to make that move easy (as opposed to the compressor outside and condenser in attic/closet which would require stashing and restoring freon).

 

[dave*99]

I assume it's a "Package Unit" to make that move easy (as opposed to the compressor outside and condenser in attic/closet which would require stashing and restoring freon).

In phoenix that's a good assumption. In the Northeast, prolly not.
Let's see what the OP says.

 

[InsanePyro]

Can you still get R22? I thought it was illegal to sell

 

[Yankeefarmer]

Remember that from a design standpoint, you want about 400 cfm of airflow for every 12,000 BTU/hr of conditioning. I have been told that the tolerance on that is plus or minus 20%. Do you know how your wood system air flow compares with your AC air handler flow?

 

[grounded-b]

Can you still get R22? I thought it was illegal to sell

Not illegal to sell.

Illegal to manufacture "new" R-22

N.O.S. is still available, as is reclaimed and filtered "used" R-22

Steve

 

[PoorUB]

I would be concerned of the discharge temp of a wood burner and the effects on the A-coil, more so if it has a plastic condensate pan.

 

[Dagny]

pump it down. unless you have very long lines the unit will hold it all.

 

[Jackfre]

Ok, 20 yr old ‘good” unit. Is the new install going to have the same balanced and sized air flow that the household unit has seen? Likely, no. It may work, but I think you are best going with a new mini-split for the garage. Don’t throw good money after seemingly also good money.

 

[InsanePyro]

Not illegal to sell.

Illegal to manufacture "new" R-22

N.O.S. is still available, as is reclaimed and filtered "used" R-22

Steve

Good to know. Genuinely didn't know.

 

[danski0224]

No vote here.

 

[Bert_]

I wouldn't be afraid to do it but like others am a little concerned if your wood burner blower has enough cfm.

Guessing 2 8" ducts is 3-400 cfm. That's good for maybe 1 ton. Most house units will be 2-3x that size. You'll end up with a froze coil.

Maybe with a separate blower.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Can you still get R22? I thought it was illegal to sell

It's banned for production and use in new systems after 2020. You can get reclaimed R22.

Tommy

 

[BD1]

It's banned for production and use in new systems after 2020. You can get reclaimed R22.

Tommy

Local supply house in Illinois still has new 30 pounders. Last year was $320.00, boxed and sealed.


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[86turbodsl]

R22 was sky high for a while, now that many of the old systems have been replaced, it's dropping in value again. It's not illegal to purchase unless you don't have a certificate. Propane is a drop in, but isn't legal to use. I'm a fan of personal responsibility. You do what you want. Please reclaim the R22 though, even if you need to pay for it.

 

[harley jim]

In the north east it's probably an A/C only, boiler heat. That would make it easy if it was a package unit. If it is a split then pump the juice into the unit and close the Schrader valves. This traps all of the freon in the unit, move it to its new home solder the lines back to it replace dryer canister open valves and check for leaks. Imagine some guy asking for a short answer from this group, I about fell out of my chair laughing. Short as I can get.

Sent from my SM-A102U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[MrSurly]

Imagine some guy asking for a short answer from this group, I about fell out of my chair laughing.

^^^^^
THIS

Also: a full TWENTY posts before “mini-split”. I swear, you guys are slippin!


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[LS6 Tommy]

Local supply house in Illinois still has new 30 pounders. Last year was $320.00, boxed and sealed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They could be reclaimed, but, yup, it's still out there. It's NOT banned for sale.

Tommy

 

[metlmunchr]

No such thing as a yes or no answer when no one knows what a "unit" is.

If its a condensing unit and air handler, just pump it down and move it. Repipe, replace drier, evacuate, and let er rip.

If no air handler, you'd spend more on buying an air handler than the system would be worth.

A wood stove with a fan feeding a couple 8" rounds doesn't have enough fan to work with a cooling coil, so trying to integrate an existing coil onto the top of a wood stove would be a waste of time and money.

Based on the original post and the idea of fitting something to a wood stove makes me think you've got a condensing unit with an A coil or slab coil mounted on the outlet of a furnace. If so, your best bet would be to have the installer pump the CU down and valve it off before removal, and then cut the liquid and suction lines about 4" out from the original connections so they can be capped.

I wouldn't try to re-use it but rather try to sell it. Plenty of people out there who would like to have air but don't have $6000 to have it installed new. A handy DIY type could pay you $250 for the equipment and end up with cooling added to his existing furnace for not much more than 10% of the going rate for new.

Another thought.... If an installer tells you they can't pump the unit down but rather have to recover the refrigerant, tell him to pack up his **** and hit the road. Its a lie, and a strong indicator that he intends to illegally sell the recovered refrigerant to another service customer and pocket $300-$400 in the process.

 

[TangoFoxTrot]

Yes, use it. Especially if it has no leaks and works fine. I'm assuming it's a unit that works for your application. Is it like a package unit?

FWIW, I can buy R-22 for around $15 a pound, it's really not that big of a deal. I have a 2 units at my house that have a small leak and I just nurse them along with a few pounds a year until I decide to replace with a new unit. About the price of filling up a tank of gas once a year.

I won't open that can of worms but there are also cheaper drop in alternatives (RS44b) that are good enough and some other alternatives not legal in the US, but legal in other countries. It's just not that hard to keep an R22 unit going and for something like a garage unit, just no big deal if it does stop working eventually.

 

[HAP]

That's what I did in my shop. Undersized for the application, but it works to lower the humidity. The heat pump feature is actually more beneficial in the winter.

R,
HAP

 

[AP514]

Yup Pump it down...

Turn AC as low as it will go then shut the valve(base of condensor-line going back to the evap) let AC unit run for a minute or so then shut off valve going into the condensor-other line ) reach up and pull the disconnect to kill power.
You will have all or most of the R22 captured in the condensor unit.
Do your Move and hook everything up. Pull a small vac on the evap side. after a neg psi then open the valves. You might have to add a small amount of R22 but not much.