Got an AirConditioned work space!

[leehljp]

In the early '90s, my dad made a "play house" of about 20 x 20 with a side screened in room (screened from 4ft to the ceiling) of 12 X 20 for picnics. The play house was in the back yard of the main house. Dad passed away in 1996. This property became ours after my mom passed in 2005. The 12 X 20 side room became my "shop" after I returned from Japan in Dec 2010. Mom and Dad let the 20 x 20 become a nice "storage" shed for my daughters as they came home, went to college and moved around until settling down (1992 - 2004). Then we returned home in 2010, we had barely enough space for the everything we brought back. Over a year, we managed to get rid of some of mom's older furniture and made room in the 20 x 20 for some shop room, or so I thought . Then in 2012, my youngest daughter and her husband went to Brazil for 2 years as international school teachers and suddenly it was full again.

About 6 months ago they came and got most of their furniture. I did some of the bunk bed work there.

Well, it is getting hot! On one side of the room, there are 2 ft deep shelves to the ceiling, and there is a 220 air conditioner that was placed there back in the early '90s. (Dad had a frame built into the wall for the AC when he had the house built). I moved the last row of boxes that was stacked in front of the AC, and dusted off the shelf under it and the AC itself. Then shook the fibered filter expecting it to disintegrate. It didn't. The last time I think it was used for more than a hour was in 1996. I think it was turned on for about an hour or so in 2000, when we were home for 10 months.

So, my thoughts were - Would it come on? It's a 220 unit, turning it on could be dangerous. If it did come on, would it cool? I wonder if it still has freon (yes, real freon) in it?

I turned it on - it worked. Turned the exhaust, it worked fine - this told me that there was no corrosion, or at least minimized over 20+ years. Listened for noise, nothing abnormal. Moved a few things around the room and came back - cold air coming out. Left it on for about 15 minutes and it was effectively cooling the room down when I needed to go do some honey do things for LOML.

I HAVE HALF OF AN AIR CONDITIONED WORK ROOM! I am ready to work through the summer. If I can just move my lathe in there.


Do I need to watch for a problem with a 20+ year old window unit that hasn't effectively been used in that length of time?

[LinuxRandal]

I would download an owners manual (could be for a current one) and see its recommendations. My personal ones would be to pull out the drain plug on the outside and make sure the tray looks clear, and to spray some coil cleaner on the cooling fins.

[capncarl]

AC's are sealed units with the oil for the compressor mixed in with the freon so you should not have trouble with the compressor or internals of the coils. Thiis old of a unit probably didn't have any computer controls to go bad, this is a good thing. Your only problem is the fan motor bearings being dried out. They usually have 1 motor with shaft sticking out both ends with a squirell cage on 1 end and a fan on the other, and no obvious way to lube the motor, especially the side in the cage enclosure. These units would probably last forever if the mfg installed lubrication lines to the motor bearings. My shop window ac has a slight rumble when the unit cycles off. I've tried a couple of times to get some oil on the bearing without any luck. It's been making noise 5-6 years and hasn't gotten worse. I usually leave it on continuous fan. The day it dies is the day it gets replaced! Im from the camp that says you must have ac in your shop, alternating current and air conditioning!
capncarl

[leehljp]

I would download an owners manual (could be for a current one) and see its recommendations. My personal ones would be to pull out the drain plug on the outside and make sure the tray looks clear, and to spray some coil cleaner on the cooling fins.

Good idea. The eve/roof extends out over the wall by about 18 inches, and it has gutters on the roof line there that have been kept clean. There has been very little outside water/rain on it. I will give it a good going over, WD-40 on moving parts, and pick up a new filter this week. And I will check the model number and search for a manual.

capncarl: If from the camp that says you must have ac in your shop, alternating current and air conditioning!

I had the smallest A/C available in my shop in Japan and it only barely cooled down on days over 90°. I am looking forward to doing some work in even a mildly cool environment. Got a little more work to organize the room for woodworking. I am just now getting around to installing a DC system on the 10x20 side, but I think I need to move the DC system inside or get another unit.

[capncarl]

South Georgia is just too hot to try to work in a woodshop without air conditioning, not to say other areas are not hot and need air conditioning. I use to try to cool the shop with fans, work early mornings and late at night, what a joke, sawdust sticking to you like a magnet and gnats swarming around your head. Pure misery. When if picked up my 14000 btu heat pump window shaker cheaaaaaaap 8-9 years ago I planned to only use it when I was using the shop. 14000 is borderline too small for my shop size but it does well, and the heater does better. I quickly learned that it wasn't much good if I only turned it on when I was in the shop because it took more time to cool off than I would be in the shop, so I leave it on most every month. I really can't tell much difference in my utility bill either, maybe $15 a month. Money well spent.

[leehljp]

In summertime Japan, as soon as I got home, I would go turn on the shop AC, go in the house eat and change clothes or catch up on news, then an hour later go work in the shop. Winter time took about 30 minutes to warm up the shop room to 60°.

My mind was thinking of things I could do all day today. Tonight, I will move things around and contemplate which tools I will bring into the "cooler"!

[leehljp]

I turned the AC on at about 6:30 PM this evening and at around 7:30 it was plum cool in there. I did a little work moving some things around, but still have lots more to move, organize and stack to get effective work room. Love the AC cooled room. My daughter just bought a house just north of Dallas, so she will get the remainder of her stuff in the next few weeks.

[capncarl]

Leehljp, you need to quickly fill the shop up and maybe everyone will see their at-will storage facility is occupied.
My behind me neighbor has a nice size shop that his wife and grown kids seem to think it is their own personal junk storage room. He has come home from work and found that one of his kids dropped off an old washing machine, another time there was a full bedroom suite piled in there, and another time it was a couple of stainless gas grills that one of the his kids neighbors gave them and they didn't have room for at their house. I suggest that he pitch a fit and tell them to find another junk storage area!

[dbhost]

I would LOVE to have a fully dedicated 20x20 shop that I can effectively keep my wife from putting her junk in... My space is 18x20 and shared, with plenty of big stuff like lawn and garden tools, the big upright freezer etc... Heat is always a problem in the summer months. I am insulated, and as recent posts show, my AC is on the blink... It was fine when the AC worked, but now, not so much... I am getting to the point of pulling the AC onto the bench and trying to fix it. Hopefully I can be back in cold air again soon!

[poolhound]

The outbuilding that I converted into my shop last year also has an ancient 220V Sears AC unit. I have never managed to track down much about it but it seems to work just fine. It is rather strained right now trying to keep up with our 115+ heat but its better than not having it. LOML keeps saying that I should upgrade to a new more effcient and larger unit. I may take her up on that if I can find a deal on any items left around after the summer. I did wonder what the pros/cons of 220vs110 are WRT wall mounted AC units. I guess as its already wired for 220v I should keep it that way.

[dbhost]

The outbuilding that I converted into my shop last year also has an ancient 220V Sears AC unit. I have never managed to track down much about it but it seems to work just fine. It is rather strained right now trying to keep up with our 115+ heat but its better than not having it. LOML keeps saying that I should upgrade to a new more effcient and larger unit. I may take her up on that if I can find a deal on any items left around after the summer. I did wonder what the pros/cons of 220vs110 are WRT wall mounted AC units. I guess as its already wired for 220v I should keep it that way.

After what I've been through with Window and Portable units, and what I've seen with the Mini Split systems, if you can pony up the extra bucks for one, get a Mini Split... FAR less hassle than a window or portable unit. Second best is a good Window unit.

220V halves the amperage load required to run the appliance.

The big problem is, around here, getting a 12,000 BTU mini split system installed runs about $1,500.00 and up around here.

[leehljp]

We had the split units in Japan going back into the '90s. It sure cut down on the electric bills and the Japanese brands were highly efficient. I would like to get our house outfitted with the split units. Many/most of the split units also heat.

[capncarl]

Problem with mini splits is the make up air. They can not add outside air into your house to offset the gassing off from furniture, pet odors, farts, cooking odors and who knows what. That said, most house central units that I've seen don't have that feature either. My window shaker does and I use it. Having been instrumental in installing 100s of mini split systems in my Marine base job I still like a good window unit! A mini split unit has to have a good spot to install the outside compressor unit, power to the outside unit, route the freon lines up the wall and over the ceiling, power to the inside unit, and the biggie..... How to get rid of the condensation from the inside unit. That's the biggest problem with most of the units, their little bitty condensate pumps are not the same quality as the rest of the unit and fail quickly, and there must be a discharge hose routed outside or to a house drain. Mini splits are good for the right application but for cooling a workshop it is hard to beat a window shaker. I still see good buys on window ac units in the local classified ads, as well as split house units where someone is updating.