Inside My Broken Air Conditioner 

Unfortunately with the higher running pressures of R-410a refrigerant and thinner wall tubing they use now is why leaks are more common in the newer window units than the older units unfortunately. They don’t build them like they used to.

Gree is one of the largest Chinese manufacturers of air conditioners; a lot of their production is white-label OEM designs that then get sold under better known brands all over the world. You can clearly see a Gree label on the compressor in your broken General Electric unit, in fact!

A/C units do not run out of coolant unless they have a leak. If they have a leak, you need to fix the leak before recharging them with coolant. I would have done some diag before taking it apart. Plug it in, turn it on, crank the thermostat down. Does the fan(s) run (no: dead outlet)? Does the compressor run (no: bad thermostat, bad starter cap, stuck compressor)? If the fan(s) and compressor run, but the evaporator and condenser coils don't get cold and hot (respectively) then you probably have a leak. If the fan runs but the compressor doesn't, it could be the thermostat which is cheap and easy to replace, and easy to diag with a multimeter. It could be the starter cap, which is also cheap and easy to replace. I probably replaced starter caps 100 times more often than finding/fixing leaks and recharging. And the vast majority of the time when I recharged a unit it's because the compressor was stuck (stuck motor hum, then click when the internal thermal breaker trips) from sitting all winter and couldn't get unstuck with a stack of starter caps and had to be replaced.

The stain on the sheet metal is likely compressor oil, which has come out with the refrigerant. It could be regassed, but without addressing the leak, you'd soon be back in the same place (it has also clearly lost oil, which may need to be replaced as well). The oil stain might give you some clue where the leak is, although I couldn't see an obvious source in the video.

I fixed a ton of those back in the day. We kept a nice quantity of valves to install (step one) to check the charge. Very rarely was the problem in the circuitry, and the two fixes that were worth it, was the fan motor, and if we could find the leak and fix it, then charge them up. The compressor was not worth replacing if the unit was older. The number one fix on any window unit is dirty coils. Once in a while a burned wire, which would be visible. The amount of gas that was released from these things across the country in the 80's and 90's, at apartment complexes was staggering, because they were worth scrapping and back then nobody reclaimed the gas.

If it lost coolant, you have a fair vacuum pump to play with. You might be able to invent your own kind of low pressure ionized gas display now. For just a cheap temporary demo, JB Weld and glass tubing are good enough as long as the compressor really sucks. If you end up liking vacuum stuff you could eventually add A/C repair as an excuse to buy an AC vacuum pump, maybe recharge the other unit with a hydrocarbon gas...maybe. Someone I watch I watch on YT managed to make liquid nitrogen, I think using a regular a/c compressor and a mix of hydrocarbon gasses. Not sure how long it will work but at least relatively light on environmental damage as long as the building doesn't burn down:-)

HVAC companies won’t work on those because usually if there is a leak the cost to repair (and replace the dryer) outweighs the cost or value of the unit.

An aspect of this is that I'm glad you can repair your own stuff. Repairs, and general better knowledge of how things work, is so much needed these days.

You could of bought a piercing type valve that installs on that suction tube with 4 screws and try to re gas it yourself.

Check the Main Big Can Capacitor!!

Just today i repaired our "Miele" washing machine. It was just the small switching mode psu for the microcontroller. Okay, first it was a bit tricky without any circuit diagram, but finally working again. Just some cheap and easy to get components like the tinyswitch IC as so often and some generic components around...

Right there with ya, I'm out here learning about replacing starter caps today.

5:15 the tank of the old one is also "GREE" branded!

I'm glad that the two window units I bought for my apartment in 2020 are still working, despite never being taken out during winter. I will usually seal them off with plastic, but I'm too afraid to try and take them out myself on the third floor over an area where cars are sometimes parked.

Okay, I'll be "that guy"! You have more than enough skills to repair that AC unit. Make a multipart video. I'll follow every step you take. You will have to invest in a few tools; service manifold/gauge set; vacuum pump (think Harbor freight here) and possibly a mapp gas torch for silver brazing/soldering. And Yes, you probably invest more into it than it's worth, but it's very good content. You're a scientist and there's some quality science in refrigeration/AC. Any it's it's within you skill-set, i'm sure.

Disappointed you didn't do any testing. Most AC failures come down to the big capacitor or the overload switch. I don't think I've had a unit leak and outgas in 30 years. You can test the cap and the switch pretty easily. Most of my units have rusted out... and eventually the chassis would develop enough sag that parts would rub... my old LG rusted so bad one of the compressor feet ripped out and it would jump around every time the compressor kicked on. I had another one that the fan bearings would seize after every winter. I've replaced a couple of the big caps in other units. I also had to replace a control board because the transformer had a lead corrode off... and I couldn't find specs to just replace the transformer. No, I don't do this for a living... just a home DIY'er.

America has become a (Throw Away) society. Manufacturers have designed it that way to keep the profits up. I had a Rudd 4 ton A/C central air unit put in when the house was built in 1985. It's still going strong & was made in America. Have it serviced every year. And it isn't a crappy heat pump but a true A/C unit. House is 1,500 sq.ft 1st floor plus same in basement.

Would make a cool bunch of repair vids if you could fix it. Give it a go!!

I don't know about this unit but the new refrigerants coming out now are flammable so it makes brazing on a new fitting unsafe. They're only allowed to braze if they can purge with nitrogen first. Need a fitting for that. Chicken and egg. Thanks EPA!

Such a waste that it went down in just five years and couldn't be regased. I had a lizard cremate itself on a split system controller board. Thankfully the technician did a warranty claim for me although it wasn't a manufacturing fault.Thanks Fran.

I would love to see the solder side of that PCB. Cracked solder connections around connector pins and relay pins are quite common, and if it is a higher current connection, the cracked joint could heat up enough to cause that burned smell you noticed.

I know people recharge these ones in Hungary, They cut out a section and put in a T divider tube, and they solder a recharge inlet onto the T divider tube. The liquid/gas in air-conditioners just threads onto the inlet and then you can fill them up either directly from ac liquid can or with a pump similar looking to what car ac systems use :33 PS: The pump might just be the same as a car ac pump. Project Farm made a video about car ac refrigerants named How Dangerous is Fake Car A/C Refrigerant? Let's Find Out! and you can see the pump in that video

I recharged the air conditioner in my car. I had to watch several videos to understand what I needed to do. I bought a vacuum pump on sale at Harbor Freight. I had already purchased a Yellow Jacket manifold and automotive fittings several years ago in anticipation. I put dye into the system, but couldn't find a leak. When I pumped it down, it held vacuum for over an hour, so I went ahead and recharged it with the exact amount of refrigerant. The high side pressure is low, so the compressor is probably going out. But it cools, and that's what matters. I spent about $260 to diagnose and recharge the AC. Normally it would cost about $435, and I have the tools to fix AC in the future. If I have to replace the compressor and condenser, it will cost about $300 on my Buick. Typical costs are north of $2000. It took me quite a while to get the confidence to try, but it feels good to know how to do it.

6:18 - Don't you dare call it a 'Start' capacitor! I just used that term with an appliance parts person recently and had to be insulted and demeaned during a 15 minute tirade because it's a 'RUN ' capacitor.

There's almost a zero percent probability the unit lost it's refrigerant. It just doesn't happen on window units. The tubing is brazed, which is a permanent weld. More likely, the circuit board probably sustained a fault, from a power surge, like lightning. If I lived nearby, I'd fix it for free, just to have a chance to meet you.

At 5:16, you can see the GE unit has a GREE compressor. I'm sure the entire unit was built by GREE, as GE don't seem to actually make anything anymore.

If you get more than THREE years out of ANY appliance these days you are doing pretty well. Doesn't matter how much it cost new.

Gree is a major AC and heat pump manufacturer, very common in Europe.

9:56 that capacitor is growing "tin whiskers". 😁

Fran, I think you mean FÜLL BRIDGE RECTIFIER *eybrows intensify* 😂

Were the compressor and fans all running but no cooling? If so then it wasn't an electronics issue. If the compressor wasn't starting it could be the big start/run capacitor. Very easy to use a meter to check the resistance of the coils in the compressor. I've revived so many small fridges by just replacing the starter. If the compressor is dead or it's out of refrigerant I don't think there are any companies that will work on them, even if they would the labor charges would end up costing more than a new unit.

buy a "bullet valve fitting", and one of those compressed air can pierces. wipe a bit of the ink out of a highlighter on the fitting before hooking it up. you can/should probably use a vacuum pump to get the air out first but who cares. get 10$ worth of canned air/computer duster from walmart and fill the machine with it. use a uv light to find the leak from the highlighter ink, basically the same stuff. canned air is pretty close to old school freon r12, and much lower pressure than the new flammable stuff. also about 30-40% more efficient than the new explosive stuff. leaks out a lot slower and isnt that bad on the ozone. if you learned to braze you could probably remove the bullet valve and seal the leak and have it running like new. all the new air conditioners are much less efficient than the older lower pressure refrigerants. ironically we traded a lot of extra co2 in the air for our ozone layer which has basically already healed itself. not to mention all the asthma drugs that were allowed to renew their patents during the obama admin because of the change in cfcs to hfa. probably the one thing that frustrated me most.

Thanks for the investigative report! 🔎 🔎🔎👍👍👍👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏

Are you sure it's the gas? It's hard to find a GOOD motor run capacitor these days. When the capacitor fails the motor just hums because the rotor doesn't see the right magnetic field.

Send it to Hyperspace Pirate, he's always looks for AC unit guts. Maybe this has a beefy enough compressor to not burn up from his shenanigans.

Sad that so many of these offshore mfg units fail so prematurely. I've rescued some from curbside that failed merely from the blister pad control buttons getting wonky rather than a Cap failure or loss of refrigerant. Such is the way of disposable commodities these days..

The equipment to fix a leak and refill the gas is the same as with central. The time and money would probably cost more than just buying a new one. People do fix window units. Finding them is another story. A few years ago, I had an old 12kBTU window unit pass gas. Just two years earlier, I replaced the fan motor. It was a real shame. In the early 2000s, we bought a couple of window units with dead digital controls for cheap. We realized the manufacturer had included the spec sheet inside the air conditioner. I don't know if they still do that. We just wired the compressor and the high fan speed directly to the cord. After that, you could just externally control the air conditioners using an external relay and thermostat. They still function to this day.

Hmmmm.....that controller PCB, with a voltage regulator that is probably not for the two Darlington transistor array DIP packages, no other ICs apparent on the board (?), quite a few things on the PCB to control and no doubt a sensor or two to monitor......where's the logic being done? Is there another IC that passed unnoticed? Or perhaps one on the back of the board or in an unusual form factor?

Gree is a very common brand here in New Zealand and pretty sure they are the same parent company as Daikin . Here in NZ, Mitsubishi is generally considered as the best of the brands available in our market... but Gree is certainly fairly well respected.

240V is nice, almost European domestic! Good enough for Australia. Nice teardown. You could put that compressor to a good use too. The electronics looks pretty simple - I'd take a look at the solder side of the board, if there are any SMT components.

HVAC companies service equipment without service ports all the time. They just happen to be things like reach-in coolers at restaurants and such.

How’s the new unit? Is it doing a good job?

Shielded MOV… shielded to prevent fire damage when one fails short? If that’s the case, this is a great example of “planing to fail” being superior to “failing to plan”. I’m actually surprised we don’t see those more often.

GE probably didn't actually make it, same PCB used in GE/Hotpoint/Haier looks older than 5 years

2 phase 240 volt window mounted AC unit??...wowza

Weyland-Yutani transformer in that old unit?

Hi Fran... yup it's a shame that no one services those types of units. Very common up here in Canada as well. We call them sleeve air conditioners. I'm sure that's a regional thing !!! 240 volt split phase is common for our power so those can easily be installed here. I am not an HVAC guy, I do automation, but I have repaired those units before and you can cut the "charge nipple" off and solder on a shrader valve socket, on the lo side, and charge them yourself. Most of the leaks, I have found were bad solder on the piping. Quick reheat with a torch and some good solder and problem solved. Good luck with your replacement unit.

braze on a low side and high side inlets and fill with N2 to 200psi . Then start spraying it with soapy water!

They sell a schrader valve on a small pipe. You drill into an existing pipe and braze the schrader into the hole. Remove the core while brazing. Put some nitrogen in and do a bubble leak check. Hope you can fix the leak by soldering aluminum. Evacuate and recharge. Problem is a new AC is cheaper than the repair because parts from China are non-existant or they cost more than a new AC. When ACs were made in the US they were $500 new, and parts were $100 plus labor and you might be able to justify a 50% repair cost. You need to jump the compressor to see if it works. You can remove the compressor and turn it into a vacuum pump.

Somehow I doubt that there are too many things in Fran’s world that she can’t fix. (Except maybe where air conditioning gas tools are required)

I had an AC stop working because the darlington array that controlled my compressor blew. It had a spare, so I sliced the trace and jumpered it over to the known good spare. Ran it a year that way on the partially defective chip. I had ordered the chip and replaced it when the partially bad chip eventually blew another darlington pair. at 7 years fro m that AC, but it eventually stopped cooling, even with the compressor running. It's infuriating that an AC can cost so much, yet not have the longevity of older units. I think my current AC is on it's 5th or 6th year... I think if it goes again, I want to see if I can find something closer to a mini split than a wall/window mount AC.

That massive silver cap probably failed!

Did you check that Fuse?

For the technician to say that it isn't repairable is incompetence. You can install a piercing type valve on the low side and recharge it. You would also have to locate the leak, however, or else the refrigerant will just leak out again.

I'm holding on to my 15 year old dual-hose Danby portable.

Fran please check the large start and run cap. I will bet you lunch that cap is bad.

I'm just inland from the coast on what might be considered to be a desert. For the last couple of weeks it has been 110 in the shade with no clouds what so ever. And. The air conditioning broke. Guys came out and looked at it, then had to wait for the part. Ok, to the info. In that time I watched a lot of youtube videos on the subject. You could unbrase the tubes and put in valves with caps. The board and the cap are for the compressor starting and the temperature regulation. Can't see why they would have so many chips on them. They don't use freon which is a brand name anymore so you have to check what kind of coolant goes into it. The air conditioner consists of two radiators a fan a compressor a expansion tank a regulator and probably a temperature sensor. There are now regulations, some for safety that you cant vent coolant into the air. Then again don't see why you can't just install valves and treat it like a car air conditioning system. Put valves on it and call the guy back and don't tell him you put them on there.

your camera technique is unique and sophisticated

I work on mines, as an engineer I figured it out

Amazon sells a cheap device that taps into the line to refill the coolant.

You're a gutsy gal, Fran ! What guts she has!

Really enjoyed the take apart! Cheers!;-)!

love ya' Fran!

2:50 that's BS. There's clamp on connections that fit unto the pipe, piercing it that allow you to charge it, and before that test where the leak is and fix it. Lazy people are lazy.

You got your moneys worth in five years. Send to landfills. Nobody fixes anything because nobody now’s how!!!!!!!!!!

❄️☃️❄️

It seems they are not making a lot of the big window/wall units. Not much to choose from. Any breakthroughs in AC design/tech? We need them. Climate change... cough cough. Turns out it is real after all. LOLOLOL

The china syndrome, it is impossible to repair economically.

It's too bad they cant make stuff that lasts anymore, its criminal really, perpetrating a huge fraud upon everyone with planned obsolescence nonsense. I've fortunately been able to keep my parents original old 1978 Sears havc system going with some fan motor replacements , thermostat and sensor rplcmts, and various capacitor and solenoid rplcmts. It had a "energy conservation" device installed on it way back when it was new i guess and it went bad and then it turned into energy wasting & fan brake device as it went crazy and tried bogging down the outside fan motor and it overheated the compressor. I disconnected the device out of the system and luckily was able to simply run the lines directly around to where they needed to go and the system took off working perfectly. But now after 3 yrs its acting like the coolant is low as it will cool but only to like upper 70s before the A coil begins to ice up if i try making it colder than that. Ive not seen any leaks of coolant/oily spots anywhere. Im trying to just keep it going for another five years and then i wont have to worry about it. Lol Im looking into maybe separate small AC units for different sections of house to just replace the main unit with when it gets to where something major goes wrong with it. Probably cost more electricity to run those though.

GREE brand hmmm maybe they left the N off because it's not totally "GREEN" haha

Have not seen a good electrical fire lately.......just saying