Man it's hot.

[LCHIEN]

The AC Compressor was replaced last week.
Good news... it was under warranty, 8 years old and 10 year warranty.
Bad news... even though the compressor was warrantied the labor was 1200 and refrigerant (freon) was $70 a pound and needed 13 pounds.

Now I lie awake thinking someone is going to start stealing freon like they do copper and catalytic converters which is rampant right now.
I mean some guy with a vacuum tank, and a set of AC gauges can walk up to my outdoor unit and steal $910 worth of freon in about 15 minutes.
I mean the only thing stopping him is a pair of finger tight screw on caps. No fence, no noise. Pretty much on every house down the block. Most of them with 2 units.

At $70 a pound the stuff is worth more than copper scrap which is $.50 to $4.00 per pound. and no cutting and stripping required.

I looked and they do sell locking freon caps but the A/C guy said that's usually to keep people from huffing the gas to get high. He said that freon theft is not an item.
At least, not yet.

[leehljp]

It was not uncommon for an outside compressor unit to go missing from a house or building or church, particularly if it is behind the house where the culprits can't be seen removing it for the copper. In the last few years video cameras have put a stop to most.

In the rural church that we have almost completed, the AC/heat pump split unit is next. One of the general contractor volunteers and myself are gathering material (steel angle iron) to build a frame around the unit we buy to protect it from being easily removed. And a heavy duty locking gate to make it possible to replace if needed. The AC unit is behind the church next to a field. Easy to sneak in and steal in the night without a protection frame.

[capncarl]

Copper theft was a big deal all over the country. Authorities supposedly clamped down on the recycling centers, ha ha, they just came in the back gate. It just made it hard for legitimate recyclers to sell scrap. We had an out of business distillery, about a block long facility that was just closed and padlocked hoping to be sold. Nobody paid any attention to the workers dismantling the place, forklifts moving around around and trucks coming and going. It hit the local news that copper thieves had gutted the distillery, cutting up all the copper pot stills, removing all copper piping and wiring. Little follow up on the news makes me believe it was an inside job.

[capncarl]

Boy it’s hot! 94, feels like 104, rh 48%. Earlier it was 95, feels like 111, rh 65%. A cloud showed up followed by some thunder, I guess it blew some humidity away and cooled I down the heat index. Still feels like 120 to me!