So, just like a couple years ago, my AC stopped working. I called a local place and said I probable need a new one. The sales rep suggested having a service call first. The tech came out and said it just needed recharged and likely has a small leak. Good honest local company. Now, it happened again, and i learn they were bought out by a state wide company. They came out and said the coolant (RM22?) was no longer available and the unit would need to be replaced. We called a local business to give us an estimate on a new unit. The gentleman arrived in his pickup with no business logo on it. His high school son with him. I showed him the unit that needed replaced and explained the issue with the bad-evil coolant. He said he has that coolant with him and will have me going. 200 bucks instead of thousands. His son is spending the summer learning the job. I told the kid it was good he was going into this work as it is needed. He also did an internship with his family business during the school year. My house has two AC units, and I explained the unit made in the early 70's is still going strong. He looked at it and said it has very generic parts, that he keeps in his vehicle- if it ever breaks down, he can get it going again. He said doing business this way pays off in the long run- true, because we called him after a person referred them to us. Its good to see a company with this philosophy will still be doing this for decades to come, as one day the son will assume the helm.
I had the same thing...1970's Coleman AC unit that still worked fine...my repair guy had been out a time or two over the years, but a simple part or two, maybe a recharge, back in business...I ran that thing until it literally rusted away...and even then I ran it one last summer, kinda rigged up just to get by. And then my repair guy asked if I would be interested in a used unit that was removed from a newer home that was bought by an amish family and they took the AC out since it could be seen from the road...was 10 years old but the house sat empty for something like 5-6 years, so it had very low hours on it...and that also means that it is still old enough that it has more standard serviceable parts on it...I was happy to get it, especially at the price...he even included coming over to do the vac n charge after I installed it.
I installed central air for a customer and took their window unit home with me. Put a new cord end on it instead of the self-tripping gizmo that was on it and cleaned it up. Worked great! Kept the cottage cool for years! Thats pretty much my window AC story. Glad you got yours working again.
It really is great when you find someone like that. Too many are just into selling new stuff rather than fixing. Too many just don't care.
So the first guy wasn't necessarily being dishonest. It is no longer legal to make or import R22 coolant into the US. However, it can still be recycled or some places may have some in inventory and it is still legal to use it that way. My guess is only the smaller, local companies would bother with it, and perhaps not all of them. When I had my minisplit put in last year, I asked about getting the old, 1960 unit in running shape (it was locked out when I bought the house in 2013 so I didn't know when the last time in ran was). I would have also needed them to run new super insulated ducts since they run thru the attic, and several were no longer connected. The first guy, an old timer, said that they didn't recommend that as by the time all was said and done it would not save much up-front cost and it would be way more expensive to run. I was fine with that since that had been my feeling to begin with. I didn't even bother asking the younger guys that came out. However, that was on a non-working unit that had other issues too, so I'm gald you could find someone who could help out in your circumstance.
