repairing GE spine fin coils

[Cybrvanr]

I have an old GE fashionette window unit that I used in my shed when I was working out there. The little air conditioner ran great, and got really cold. It made 38 degree coil temperatures, and that did a great job on the humidity because of this. I also used the air conditioner to help dry out the interior of the shed aftera few heavy, drenching rains flooded the inside. Well, a few months ago, some vandals came through and broke the coil on my shed air conditioner, and some of my neighbors AC units in their sheds too, including a porta-cool I picked up from a junk pile and repaired, then gave to my next door neighbor. Luckily, they did not damage the units cooling our homes, just to garages and shed units. I have heard some rumors from some of the local HVAC techs that some of the delinquents like to breathe the freon to get high off of

Now, I know how to add refrigerant to window units. Most have a fill tube coming out the side of the compressor that connects to the low side. In the past, I have just cut the crimped end off, and then added a schrader valve fitting, and then just shot the R22 in after repairing. This, of course has been repairing the regular copper-fin air conditioners. The copper coils can be sweated just like plumbing pipe. The GE air conditioners though have the alumnium "spine fin" coils (patent sold to Trane when GE got out of the AC business).

Can the alumnium coils be repaired as easily? Yes, I know a new air conditioner would be more efficient, and that Wal-Mart sells window units for $100, but I don't want a cheap Chinese junker from Haier or LG. They don't dehumidify anywhere near as good, nor will they last. This air conditioner is not used continually anyways, just on occasions, so efficiency isn't too serious of an issue. Yes, it may cost $200 to repair and I'll still be stuck with a 30 year old air conditioner, but that's the point! I hope this little unit won't be destined to the scrapyard!

 

[toggleswitch2]

~I have heard some rumors from some of the local HVAC techs that some of the delinquents like to breathe the freon to get high...

If one can get medical advice from TV shows (*eyes roll*) doing so may permanently damage/scar the heart and surrouding veins/arteries.

..or at least so says an episode of "House" that aired last night.

Sorry to hear of your case of vandalism.

 

[panthera]

Wouldn't

you need the specialized welding equipment used for thin-wall aluminum work? I remember a friend of mine who did refrigeration here in Germany having to invest quite a bit in special welding equipment to work on aluminum.
I'd check the local junior-college or vo-tec center or whatever they call it in your neck of the woods. They'd either have or know who in the area would have the setup to deal with it.
After my partner's flood this last summer, we used five units to de-humidify. The older, R-12 units did a better job, that coil temperature makes a difference. I understand why you'd want to keep this one.
How dumb can kids be? Several in the UK died not too long ago from sniffing spray-on cooking oil (PAM in the US) and here we have idiot kids offing themselves sniffing spray can epoxy paint...I know mother nature uses any means to practice natural selection, but, gosh...