Portable AC unit making horrible noise and tripping the breaker...

[dbhost]

The weather is miserably hot and humid, so what is my AC gonna do? You betcha, dump on me... It's making an awful screeching / chirping noise and then throws the breaker. I suspect a bad bearing or two in the motor / fan shaft but I can't be sure until I get the thing apart... Anyway, here is a short video with a sample of what it is doing... Maybe one of you guys can give me pointers, or at least let me know I am on the right track?
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[capncarl]

Sounds like the squirrel cage fan turned loose. To fix it, get in the car as quick as possible and go to Home Depot and buy another one. Woodworking in this heat is impossible!

[leehljp]

Sounds like the squirrel cage fan turned loose. To fix it, get in the car as quick as possible and go to Home Depot and buy another one. Woodworking in this heat is impossible!

That was my thoughts. Squirrel cage fan is loose. Allen wrench tighten - if it is that.

[dbhost]

I can muddle through by opening the man door to the house and blowing air in to cool it off sufficiently to tear into the unit. The problem with replacement is the rig is done for a two hose setup, which aren't easy to find these days... If I have to do it over again, I would build a manifold box, rigged for dual hose, with a blower to keep air moving through it, and drop in a 12K BTU window unit.

[dbhost]

Well guys, I am busily digging through cleaning up the shop and making space for the AC on my bench. I think the hardest part of the diagnostic and fix is getting the housing apart...

[leehljp]

Have you gotten into the AC yet? What is the prognosis?

[thiggy]

Oh, the suspense...

[capncarl]

Are we there yet?

[dbhost]

Okay guys. Be patient. My shop is a disaster, I am busily cleaning up the shop in order to make room to put the AC on the bench...

My priorities for this weekend are...

#1. Finish the railing around the deck / access ramp for my father in laws trailer. Safety first!
- This means cutting roughly 80 uprights at 40" so I can have the hand rails at 36"
- The hand rail itself will be 2x4 by request, to be cut to proper angle on the miter saw and then routed.with a roundover to relieve the edges more than a regular 2x4 to make for an easier grip. Again by request.
#2. Change the oil in the car. It's overdue. Thankfully I run full synthetics.
#3. Scan in and document receipts from last year. I filed an extension to my taxes, and need to make sure I get every penny I can in sales tax exemption, not to mention other expenses.
#4. Clean up in the shop.Assuming the first 3 things don't kill me.
#5. THEN I put the AC on the bench and try to figure out how to open that housing!

[capncarl]

Just throwing this out.....There was much discussion a while back about window ac's and hoa's and neighborhood covenants. One of my friends use to install patio rooms and tells me that he installed a number of terminal ac units (thru the wall air conditioners like used in motels) in glass patio rooms in houses that had covenants that forbid window units. The units were usually hid from view by shrubbery.

[dbhost]

Not a bad thought, but the exterior walls on my garage / shop are brick. Completely windowless, which is why I went with a portable unit in the first place. I could duct using oversized dryer ducts through the wall between garage doors without raising eyebrows.

Another way to do this is to enclose a window unit in a ducted box, with a blower. Duct it up into the attic and then out the soffits. Pull cool air in from one soffit, pull it across the coils and then blow it out another soffit opening.I saw the idea on Sawmill Creek years ago... Heck, if I could dump into the attic if I had a shorter run to the vent fan, but I don't.

A mini split would be my best plan, but also most expensive. I would need about 12K BTU to maintain climate well. I would need to run the lines through the attic until it goes behind the fence, and then put the outside unit behind the fence...

The cheapest unit I know of that is any good, will still run me about 2K to get and get installed. That's 2/3 of a really nice SawStop.