A/C locks?
So apparently the hot thing in the local neighborhoods is stealing the freon out of A/C units (townhomes with low fences, easy targets). they sent out an email saying that for $80 (parts + labor) someone could come install locks on the A/C units to keep the freon from being stolen.
has anyone had experience with these locks? how much do they cost? if its a decent amount less i’d like to do it myself and possibly go around doing it for everyone that wants it for just a few bucks.
They’re not stealing the freon. They’re stealing the copper and getting cash for it as scrap. Big cash. There’s a lot of copper tubing in an AC compressor.
You don’t need a lock. You need a locked cage. Any welder can fabricate you one pretty easily, and they’ve probably done several at this point, as many as there are being stolen. It’s a huge problem for builders, apartment complexes, etc.
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They’re not stealing the freon. They’re stealing the copper and getting cash for it as scrap. Big cash. There’s a lot of copper tubing in an AC compressor.
You don’t need a lock. You need a locked cage. Any welder can fabricate you one pretty easily, and they’ve probably done several at this point, as many as there are being stolen. It’s a huge problem for builders, apartment complexes, etc. |
QFT. A chainlink enclosure with a lockable door is probably the easiest way. The theifs probably will skip past yours bc it’s more of a hassle to get at. I’m sure if someone wants something bad enough, they will find a way to get it.
sounds like a scam if they are saying its due to freon theft
honestly… thats what the email from the head management company for all the neighborhoods said
You can make one, goto home depot and buy a 4 square box, in electrical. cut it in half, notch the halves to fit around the king valve and drill in two hasps to lock it.
This is silly. If I want your refrigerant, all I need is a two inch length of exposed tubing. I’ll bolt on a piercing valve, and take out the refrigerant.
That being said, I need a 120 VAC receptacle to power the recovery pump. It isn’t a 5 minute process, so don’t confuse freon stealing with finding yourself in a bathtub of ice.
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They’re not stealing the freon. They’re stealing the copper and getting cash for it as scrap. Big cash. There’s a lot of copper tubing in an AC compressor.
You don’t need a lock. You need a locked cage. Any welder can fabricate you one pretty easily, and they’ve probably done several at this point, as many as there are being stolen. It’s a huge problem for builders, apartment complexes, etc. |
i cant believe you said this. and even more so that some one quoted you for truth.
1.people COULD be stealing freon. it would be easy. and freon is expensive. the company i work for charges 30 dollars a pound for adding r22 to a system.
2. there is NO copper tubing inside a compressor. there is quite a bit of it in an ac system. but you would need to steal the hole unit and take it somwhere to strip it, or just sell the entire unit to a scrap yard.
you can try picking up a set of these caps to put over the service valves.
the probably what the company would charge you 80 dollars plus parts to install. my company charges 80/hr plus parts. you can probably pick these up at a wholesale/supply house.
even if they refuse to sell to you because your not in the trade, offer a technician whos there, or even some one who works there a little more then they cost to buy them for you.
and you dont need a 120v outlet to plug in a recovery machine. you can use a cheater cord. i use one on rooftops all the time. cut the female end of an extension cord off, as far away as you like from the plug then attach an aligator clip to each wire. clamp one on one leg, clamp the nuetral and/or ground leg to any metal section of the unit itself.
Well, I ran a call the other day where someone was indeed stealing Freon. Not for any normal use. He was huffing it. It was such a bizarre call.
He didn’t huff it to get high. It was like his version of cutting himself. When he got upset or couldn’t handle life, he would go on a freon binge for days at a time. He’d pierce a high pressure line, huff the freon directly, pass out, repeat again. He had killed 6 apartment buildings worth of freon in a day. Granted, most of it probably went into the atmosphere while he was passed out.
Dude had frostbite, burns, and blisters all over his hands, arms, face, mouth, and probably inside his lungs. Probably just put his face right down in it. He said it stemmed from when he was in Iraq, and was drowned and nearly killed in a freon leak (I’m assuming a large freon line ruptured), and since he came back, this has been his escape. I’m guessing it’s kind of like he’s trying to recreate that near-death experience all over again.
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Well, I ran a call the other day where someone was indeed stealing Freon. Not for any normal use. He was huffing it. It was such a bizarre call.
He didn’t huff it to get high. It was like his version of cutting himself. When he got upset or couldn’t handle life, he would go on a freon binge for days at a time. He’d pierce a high pressure line, huff the freon directly, pass out, repeat again. He had killed 6 apartment buildings worth of freon in a day. Granted, most of it probably went into the atmosphere while he was passed out. Dude had frostbite, burns, and blisters all over his hands, arms, face, mouth, and probably inside his lungs. Probably just put his face right down in it. He said it stemmed from when he was in Iraq, and was drowned and nearly killed in a freon leak (I’m assuming a large freon line ruptured), and since he came back, this has been his escape. I’m guessing it’s kind of like he’s trying to recreate that near-death experience all over again. |
that’s fucking crazy.
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