What's best for A/C? Leave in window or store out of season?

[red_october]

Here's a bit of a question... Is it better for the Air Con unit to leave it in the window out of season or store it? I've always been a "leave it alone" sort of guy, especially since the last time it mattered the A/C was rather inacessible, but now seing as I'm about to acquire a vintage unit that I want to preserve, I want to know what's best for it. I know that refridgeration appliances have to be used to stay in good shape, and about keeping air flow paths clean, etc, and I own a fin comb, but what about this?

 

[danemodsandy]

Ouuuuuuut!

It's best for the unit to be in a dry, climate-controlled area, instead of in a window. It's even better for your furnace, because leaving a window air-conditioner in the window during the winter is tantamount to leaving that window open. Those air-conditioner covers don't do very much to eliminate air transfer, either.

What I've always done is to remove the air-conditioners, clean the windows and their frames and sills of dirt and spider webs, etc., then clean and service the air-conditioners before putting them away. All screws and hardware used in each air-conditioner's filler panels, etc., get put into a ZipLoc bag and taped to the air-conditioner to which they belong.

Come Spring, you have clean air-conditioners and you know where all the screws and stuff are. Just heave 'em into the windows and turn 'em on.

 

[red_october]

Thanks... "heaving" it into the window will be fun... I'm told it's in the neighborhood of 200 pounds. But yeah, I want this thing to last another 50 years. All my other A/Cs have been uninteresting modern units and I really didn't care about them. This will be different.

 

[danemodsandy]

Sleeve Design?

Red october:

If you know this already, my apologies for bothering you with Old News...

One thing that can help with those mammoth, recycled-anvil A/C units of the '50s and '60s is that they're usually made with a "sleeve" design. The innards come out of the outer casing; you usually have to remove several screws first. The reason for this design was so that you could install the casing in the window first, then get a helper to assist with the old heave-ho. Doing it this way is far easier and safer than trying to get Moby Dick lined up correctly in the window and then lowering the sash. Install the casing (not neglecting to install a safety bracket on the window sash), slide the innards into place, put in the screws, put the front grille on, and you're done.

 

[whirlcool]

This thread reminds me years ago of installing a window A/C in a former girlfreinds house on the north side of Chicago. She lived in one of those mid rises near Belmont Harbor. She was on the 14th Floor. We put in a 10,000 BTU unit and it cooled the place pretty good. It was one of those set it on the window sill, lower the window into a channel and then extend the sides. Easy.
Well later in the summer she said that she needed to buy a new window a/c. I asked her what happened to the old one? She said she was cleaning the window above the a/c unit, and it FELL OUT OF THE WINDOW! And not into the apartment, either! Fortunately, there was a car park below. I asked her what she did, and she said that there is no way in heck that the a/c unit would be any good, so she just closed the window and acted like nothing happened at all!
A few days later I got up there and looked in the parking lot below and sure enough, there was a rather deep hole in the asphalt of the parking lot pretty close to under her window. Thank goodness nobody got hurt. But in mentioning this to other people later on, I found out that this was not that uncommon of an occurance!
"Any You'd Better Be Good, missy, or someone may drop an A/C unit on you too!"

 

[red_october]

food for thought indeed...

And to think I park my Corvette under the window I intend to put this beast into. I shall take precautions. I know of and love slide-out chassis air con units. I do so hope that the one I am going to get is one. I had to pass, about a month ago, on a Fedders with "Weather Wheel" on the side of the road because it sincerely looked like it fell out a window. The whole chassis was bent and everything was no longer lined up with other thigns.

And in other news, about ten years ago on my way into Lowell to go to school I saw what for all the world looked like a washing machine (no tears, it was pretty recent even then) that someone had dropped out a 2nd or 3rd story window to the curb below rather than hump it down the steps. This was about two blocks from Gene's Appliance, the best appliance parts store I've ever seen.

 

[danemodsandy]

Brace Yourself!

Red:

There's a very cool window brace you can buy at any Home Depot or Lowe's, or at Amazon. The brand name is "A/C Safe". It's metal, and attaches to the window sill with screws. A folding leg with a rubber pad transfers the downward forces of the air-conditioner to the sidewall of your house. There are different models for different weight air-conditioners. I have one for my large unit (the little 5000-BTU bedroom units don't really need them), and it works very well. It has lasted with no problems for about seven or eight summers now. I uninstall it when I take the air-conditioner out of the window in the Fall, and re-install it when cooling season begins again. It feels much more secure than any home-made brace I've encountered. Here's a photo and an Amazon link:

Amazon.com

 

[red_october]

Wonderful!
I shall get one tomorrow after work. That's soooo much better than the ol' standby "cut a 2x4 down to fit under the A/C and put it on the sill" trick...

 

[danemodsandy]

Great

Red:

They ain't cheap, but mine has been well worth what I paid for it.

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S., Red:

Be sure whichever A/C Safe you buy is the correct one for your unit- they come in different models according to how large and heavy your air-conditioner is.

 

[Cybrvanr]

When you take your AC unit out of the window for the season, it also gives you the opportunity to clean it out as well. All sorts of bugs and spiders like to make their homes in those things with all the moisture and gunk inside. A good thing to do at the end of the season is to remove it from the window and vacuum out the coils and the bottom pan.

 

[danemodsandy]

And...

...It's a great time to wax the cabinet with car wax. Prevents rust, makes the paint shine.

 

[sudsmaster]

The 5K BTU Daewoo window AC came with a little bracket to help hold up the part outside the window. The challenge was rigging it to hang out of a horiz. sliding window frame. I got one installed, and it seems very stable. If anybody's interested I'll take photos of how I install the second one and post them.