Before I start to chronicle this very exasperating job, there are a few things I have to say. I knew it was going to be my swan song. I do not expect to renew my license and if I do, there are not many jobs at Camp Sonshine that I can still do while standing on the ground. For several years now I have chosen to renew my license with the status "not for public contracting".
This summer, good Lord willing, I am going to turn 70. He has been telling me things for the past few years. It became clear that I couldn't fly when I fell through a ceiling (of a church) and it broke my neck and back. That makes the equipment and tools all seem heavier. When my stepladder collapsed at Camp Sonshine and broke my leg it confirmed my nonflying status and it didn’t lighten anything at all. The eyes are not nearly so acute so the welds and electrical connections are more difficult to see.
I think he allowed me to become a teacher so my feet would stay on the ground. I break that rule sometimes at home but it’s easier to be selective (careful). These injuries and a fused right wrist mean that I am no longer spry.
This summer, good Lord willing, I am going to turn 70. He has been telling me things for the past few years. It became clear that I couldn't fly when I fell through a ceiling (of a church) and it broke my neck and back. That makes the equipment and tools all seem heavier. When my stepladder collapsed at Camp Sonshine and broke my leg it confirmed my nonflying status and it didn’t lighten anything at all. The eyes are not nearly so acute so the welds and electrical connections are more difficult to see.
I think he allowed me to become a teacher so my feet would stay on the ground. I break that rule sometimes at home but it’s easier to be selective (careful). These injuries and a fused right wrist mean that I am no longer spry.
Don Perkins was my nurse and my chauffer when I broke my leg three years ago.
It has been my privilege to work with John Davis at the Free Will Baptist, Central District Camp, Camp Sonshine for the past 3 years. It wasn’t all fun. I did not appreciate breaking my leg in the slightest. However, the cooperation from John, the Board, the Toppings (especially Chuck and Elisha) sure made it something. In fact, once I became one-legged, Chuck and Elisha pretty much finished the job under my limited supervision as the license holder. Don Perkins was the glue that held that all together. He drove me and helped me get around when I got there. Both are stories that need to be told and maybe I’ll get to it. There are so many stories and only one of me.
Anyway, I told John that I had decided to stop doing all this AC mechanical stuff for the reasons above. Shortly thereafter, Chuck Topping called me and told me that the air conditioner had stopped in one of the dorms. After looking it over, I told John that it was pretty much his last chance to get a new one at cost . The board decided to do so.
Now the old one could have been fixed but it’s had a recent history of electrical problems so the board made the right decision and I am not second guessing myself for suggesting it. Then life (or Murphy and his law) intervened.
What had looked like an early spring turned rainy and chilly so I didn’t get to it till the thursday before Easter. The unit sat in my truck for more than a week waiting for the weather to improve. Not so good.
Anyway, I told John that I had decided to stop doing all this AC mechanical stuff for the reasons above. Shortly thereafter, Chuck Topping called me and told me that the air conditioner had stopped in one of the dorms. After looking it over, I told John that it was pretty much his last chance to get a new one at cost . The board decided to do so.
Now the old one could have been fixed but it’s had a recent history of electrical problems so the board made the right decision and I am not second guessing myself for suggesting it. Then life (or Murphy and his law) intervened.
What had looked like an early spring turned rainy and chilly so I didn’t get to it till the thursday before Easter. The unit sat in my truck for more than a week waiting for the weather to improve. Not so good.
It was a pleasant little trip to the job and that’s good. It’s almost 2 hours from my house to the camp. The only problem is that when you are transporting enough parts and equipment for an installation there is no room for a passenger. That’s why my faithful companion Bob stayed home this time. As you can see the bed was pretty full but no pictures of the cab. That’s intentional. Everyone has some pride.
This is the new unit pulled out of the truck. That’s the old one sitting by the tailgate. It made a fine workbench. The hardest part of any job is loading the old unit into a truck. It’s full of sharp edges and you need to go up instead of down. Gravity is a big assistance and being in a box, as new ones are, is a help. So far, so good.
When I had surveyed the job a couple weeks before, everything looked good. When I returned to do the installation some enterprising fire ants had built a new home right where I needed to be to do the job. I didn’t have any ant spray because this was a totally unanticipated development. I found a flat bladed shovel and scattered most of the dirt in the hill.
I had always been told that horses will fight to return to a burning barn. I’ve never seen that, but ants will fight to return to a demolished hill. Once most of the dirt was removed with a shovel, the former ant hill was swarming with ants. I took my torches and had a fire ant barbecue. I have no idea how much the ants might have enjoyed that because they seemed to disappear.
Time to get back to the job.
Then came the wasp. Just flying around and minding its own business, one might suppose. Every time I tried to work he came flying around. I finally discovered he was coming out of the wall from the hole for the freon pipes. I watched him go inside again and duct taped the hole.
By the way, you can kill wasps by shooting them with liquid refrigerant. That’s a trick from days gone by but today the Freon Police don’t like it. Neither do I but for a different reason. Besides being illegal to vent this stuff, this bottle of R22 cost over $400. The wasp lived to sting another day if he escaped my duct tape barrier. Maybe not so far so good but I didn't get a bite or sting.
I had always been told that horses will fight to return to a burning barn. I’ve never seen that, but ants will fight to return to a demolished hill. Once most of the dirt was removed with a shovel, the former ant hill was swarming with ants. I took my torches and had a fire ant barbecue. I have no idea how much the ants might have enjoyed that because they seemed to disappear.
Time to get back to the job.
Then came the wasp. Just flying around and minding its own business, one might suppose. Every time I tried to work he came flying around. I finally discovered he was coming out of the wall from the hole for the freon pipes. I watched him go inside again and duct taped the hole.
By the way, you can kill wasps by shooting them with liquid refrigerant. That’s a trick from days gone by but today the Freon Police don’t like it. Neither do I but for a different reason. Besides being illegal to vent this stuff, this bottle of R22 cost over $400. The wasp lived to sting another day if he escaped my duct tape barrier. Maybe not so far so good but I didn't get a bite or sting.
Most modern units have the copper freon lines basically coming from the same low spot. This allows the service industry to have an easy time fitting in new units. The unit being removed was built in 1988. The point I’m getting to is that they did not fit. This little work of art adapted the suction line and a similar (but smaller) one did the liquid line. As you can see we got the last bit of service out of the old unit by using it as a work bench. So far, so good. Or maybe so far, so so.
Then when they were welded and pressurized I congratulated myself on a job well done and opened the service valves. There was no gas inside the unit and the high side service valve did not work. Uh oh... Then it would not hold a pressure or a vacuum. So far, so bad.
I called the supply house to see what the procedure was because I had no desire to void the warranty. They put me in touch with the tech who manages such things and I was told to find the problem. I had to fix it or, if it was real big, just find it. I am sure that he felt I would find a weld that was leaking and I agreed. After all, I’m a big boy now. Honestly, since I knew it wouldn’t be used until summer, that made a lot more sense than you might think. Further, I might be able to find the problem right on site.
I called the supply house to see what the procedure was because I had no desire to void the warranty. They put me in touch with the tech who manages such things and I was told to find the problem. I had to fix it or, if it was real big, just find it. I am sure that he felt I would find a weld that was leaking and I agreed. After all, I’m a big boy now. Honestly, since I knew it wouldn’t be used until summer, that made a lot more sense than you might think. Further, I might be able to find the problem right on site.
I pulled the panels off and dove in. Found a small leak that I could not believe could lose that much gas. I fixed it and it seemed to stop leaking. It held 100 psi for several minutes and I decided to proceed.
I pulled a long vacuum that you see here. As you can see the high side is not in a vacuum. That is because the service valve would not work. I wanted to continue with what I knew I could do and come back later. There was a family reunion starting and I wanted them to have AC. When I left that day (thursday) it was charged and cooling.
The next day Sally and I wanted to go to the Mission conference at New Beginnings Church in Bryan. I told John we would drop by to check the unit on the way. When we did I found it had no charge. It had all leaked out. Not good at all.
The next day Sally and I wanted to go to the Mission conference at New Beginnings Church in Bryan. I told John we would drop by to check the unit on the way. When we did I found it had no charge. It had all leaked out. Not good at all.
I returned the next day with my truck. After cutting it loose, John and a couple other men who I do not know helped me throw the unit on the truck. When I got home I moved it from the truck to a trailer that I intended to use for a work shop.
You can’t see it but there are probably 500 pounds of dirt in the front of the trailer. That acted as a counterbalance for the unit, my tools, and myself when I needed to jump up in the trailer. Actually I no longer jump but I did get up there. Also, no need to get on the ground to do the work. Just make a seat because getting down is easy. Getting back up from the ground not so much.
As soon as I got home the promise of an early spring, once again turned out to be false. It became chilly and wet. I normally do not work on air conditioners unless it is warm and dry. Far too often cold weather work means pressure readings that make no sense. I did not bother the distributor while I was waiting for acceptable conditions.
About a week ago the weather improved. I found 2-3 spots in the welds that my leak detector did not like. I fixed them. The unit then held 100 psi air pressure but I didn’t like the way it held a vacuum. So I pressurized it some more. The unit held 200 psi air pressure for two days and I thought I had it fixed. I bought a filter dryer because the unit had been apart for so long and told the distributors what had happened. Then the next day I put a long vacuum on the unit and charged with 50psi freon 22. It leaked out overnight. Not good at all.
When I took all the panels off I found some discolored copper (bright red) that made soap bubbles and another leaky joint. I cannot tell you that I am right about all this. The leak detector is old and so is the operator. I can say that I have proven without a doubt that the leak is inside the unit. Also, my repairs have taken it from not holding air pressure at all to holding 200 psi for two days. It just won’t hold freon and it won’t cool using air. Also, not good at all.
I had to call the distributors again and tell them what happened. I told them I would not install the unit and they said to come back and get another. I paid for an upgrade in the unit and this is it. All loaded and ready to go along with the ton of equipment I need when I play air conditioning guy. The distributor apologized but I don’t want apologies because they got stuck just like I did.
I did not work on it when it was cold and rainy and I didn’t bother to tell them what was going on. When I told them, they got concerned. Then they took the appropriate action. I would have taken different action if it was going into an occupied home and so would they. I would mention their name because of how well they responded when I contacted them but I doubt they would want that. Therefore, they can remain anonymous. So far, very good.
I did not work on it when it was cold and rainy and I didn’t bother to tell them what was going on. When I told them, they got concerned. Then they took the appropriate action. I would have taken different action if it was going into an occupied home and so would they. I would mention their name because of how well they responded when I contacted them but I doubt they would want that. Therefore, they can remain anonymous. So far, very good.
Took all the stuff up to the camp. It’s beautiful up there but my allergies just about killed me. Just like home away from home.
I had to make the connections over again and you have to be a contortionist the way this thing is built. At least all of the wildlife stayed out of my way this time. If a fat guy like me can hook this up I think everyone should be able to work on it.
When the unit works right this is what you are supposed to see. I think the suction side is a little low and I I think the problem is in the attic. Oh well, enough technical jargon. Will return to check the pressures before the summer camp. Never say "never" but you know how the old gunfighters would hang up their guns when finished.
When the unit works right this is what you are supposed to see. I think the suction side is a little low and I I think the problem is in the attic. Oh well, enough technical jargon. Will return to check the pressures before the summer camp. Never say "never" but you know how the old gunfighters would hang up their guns when finished.
Time to put up the freon.
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