Is my AC still safe?
June 9, 2011 1:56 PM Subscribe
Is my air conditioner safe to use?
I installed my air conditioner, a Zenith ZW5010, in my new apartment the other day. I didn't realize it was slightly tilted in, however, and woke up to find that it was leaking water into the room. Half asleep, standing in water, I went to turn it off and was promptly shocked. Annoyed, I went back to sleep.
In the morning I dried the floor, unplugged the unit, opened the window to pull the unit out and was shocked as soon as I touched the metal window frame. Fucking capacitors, how do they work?
I left it there to dry, came back from work, and,having learned my lesson (fool me 3 times, shame on you), grabbed a volt meter and confirmed that the window was no longer energized. I took it out of the window and put it down. Curious, I went to check if perhaps the insulation on the cord had gotten stripped from friction, and touched near it, and was shocked.
At this point I became really pissed off, carried it downstairs and bought a new air conditioner.
Fast foward a few weeks. It is 97 degrees with 50% humidity in New York. My new air conditioner isn't big enough to cool my whole apartment. Now that my old AC has had a time out and, presumably, dried, should I give it another go? Or am I asking for a Darwin Award at this point?
I installed my air conditioner, a Zenith ZW5010, in my new apartment the other day. I didn't realize it was slightly tilted in, however, and woke up to find that it was leaking water into the room. Half asleep, standing in water, I went to turn it off and was promptly shocked. Annoyed, I went back to sleep.
In the morning I dried the floor, unplugged the unit, opened the window to pull the unit out and was shocked as soon as I touched the metal window frame. Fucking capacitors, how do they work?
I left it there to dry, came back from work, and,having learned my lesson (fool me 3 times, shame on you), grabbed a volt meter and confirmed that the window was no longer energized. I took it out of the window and put it down. Curious, I went to check if perhaps the insulation on the cord had gotten stripped from friction, and touched near it, and was shocked.
At this point I became really pissed off, carried it downstairs and bought a new air conditioner.
Fast foward a few weeks. It is 97 degrees with 50% humidity in New York. My new air conditioner isn't big enough to cool my whole apartment. Now that my old AC has had a time out and, presumably, dried, should I give it another go? Or am I asking for a Darwin Award at this point?
I guess being dead would cool you down significantly. No, no, no, in all seriousness it is definitely not worth injuring yourself to be a few degrees cooler. If you can afford it, take the old unit to a repairman and let them investigate, otherwise leave it be and take dfriedman's advice.
posted by smithsmith at 2:18 PM on June 9, 2011
posted by smithsmith at 2:18 PM on June 9, 2011
Best answer: Don't use it again. Sounds like a ground wire somewhere in the unit failed.
posted by Splunge at 3:18 PM on June 9, 2011
posted by Splunge at 3:18 PM on June 9, 2011
Addendum: Having spoken to a friend of mine who is a HVAC guy, I was correct. As well according to him, Zenith hasn't made ACs for something like ~20 years. So the unit is an R12. This means that it uses Freon as a coolant. You won't find anyone that will repair this.
Your best bet, and I know you don't want to hear this, is to junk the old unit. In the USA you have to get in touch with sanitation in your area and get a number that basically says that you are putting a Freon unit on the curb. They will send over a person who will remove the coolant to a holding tank and then place a sticker on the unit allowing the regular pickup guy to toss it in the garbage truck. Without that sticker they won't touch it.
According to my friend, the capacitor in the old unit should have a bleeder resistor on it that drains the charge. If that resistor has been damaged by corrosion or such, this won't happen. It's likely that you touched the window frame wand grounded yourself in such a way that you got a shock.
I, personally, would also check that the wiring in the wall was sound as well.
Good luck.
posted by Splunge at 4:23 PM on June 9, 2011
Your best bet, and I know you don't want to hear this, is to junk the old unit. In the USA you have to get in touch with sanitation in your area and get a number that basically says that you are putting a Freon unit on the curb. They will send over a person who will remove the coolant to a holding tank and then place a sticker on the unit allowing the regular pickup guy to toss it in the garbage truck. Without that sticker they won't touch it.
According to my friend, the capacitor in the old unit should have a bleeder resistor on it that drains the charge. If that resistor has been damaged by corrosion or such, this won't happen. It's likely that you touched the window frame wand grounded yourself in such a way that you got a shock.
I, personally, would also check that the wiring in the wall was sound as well.
Good luck.
posted by Splunge at 4:23 PM on June 9, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for the advise Splunge, I already checked the wiring on the outlet... the ground works and the polarity is correct. The heat wave just broke and I think I can live with 1 AC at the moment.
posted by nathancaswell at 4:34 PM on June 9, 2011
posted by nathancaswell at 4:34 PM on June 9, 2011
Splunge: "Addendum: Having spoken to a friend of mine who is a HVAC guy, I was correct. As well according to him, Zenith hasn't made ACs for something like ~20 years. So the unit is an R12. This means that it uses Freon as a coolant. You won't find anyone that will repair this."
Side note: The brand name "Zenith" is owned by LG Electronics and is used by LG for lower-end[1] residential appliances. A ZW5010 unit is a current unit (my local Home Depot has one for sale).
I agree with Splunge in that it sounds like a ground wire is making contact somewhere it shouldn't. You might be able to have a local A/C repair shop have a look at it for around $50 (half-hour of time), which is about 40% of replacement cost.
1 - *sob*, poor Zenith.
posted by fireoyster at 5:51 PM on June 9, 2011
Side note: The brand name "Zenith" is owned by LG Electronics and is used by LG for lower-end[1] residential appliances. A ZW5010 unit is a current unit (my local Home Depot has one for sale).
I agree with Splunge in that it sounds like a ground wire is making contact somewhere it shouldn't. You might be able to have a local A/C repair shop have a look at it for around $50 (half-hour of time), which is about 40% of replacement cost.
1 - *sob*, poor Zenith.
posted by fireoyster at 5:51 PM on June 9, 2011
Splunge writes "Addendum: Having spoken to a friend of mine who is a HVAC guy, I was correct. As well according to him, Zenith hasn't made ACs for something like ~20 years. So the unit is an R12. This means that it uses Freon as a coolant. You won't find anyone that will repair this. "
Even if this unit uses R-12 that won't prevent anyone from fixing an electrical problem unless the current leak is in the hermetic unit (unlikely but possible).
The real show stopper is labour costs make small window A/Cs disposable. No one is going to spend $50 fixing something you can replace for $100.
When you go to dispose of it cut the cord off right where it goes into the unit and cut the plug off the other end so that no one unsuspecting attempts to reclaim a dangerous unit.
PS: It is unlikely that your installation mistake caused your problem. Units are supposed to be sloped out to shed condensate water to the outside not because the interior sections are vulnerable to water damage.
posted by Mitheral at 6:47 PM on June 9, 2011
Even if this unit uses R-12 that won't prevent anyone from fixing an electrical problem unless the current leak is in the hermetic unit (unlikely but possible).
The real show stopper is labour costs make small window A/Cs disposable. No one is going to spend $50 fixing something you can replace for $100.
When you go to dispose of it cut the cord off right where it goes into the unit and cut the plug off the other end so that no one unsuspecting attempts to reclaim a dangerous unit.
PS: It is unlikely that your installation mistake caused your problem. Units are supposed to be sloped out to shed condensate water to the outside not because the interior sections are vulnerable to water damage.
posted by Mitheral at 6:47 PM on June 9, 2011
Response by poster: Yeah, I kind of figured there was no way water could cause a serious ground fault for just that reason but my dad gave me some false hope.
posted by nathancaswell at 7:09 PM on June 9, 2011
posted by nathancaswell at 7:09 PM on June 9, 2011
Actually newer units take advantage of condensation via a fan blade that splashes water on the hot side to cool the coils. My bedroom unit is exactly horizontal. I get no water on the porch outside. Not even on the most humid and hot days. Of course it's a good idea to know what type of AC that you have, because some have a drain hole for condensate that is supposed to run off.
My bedroom unit has no such drain and according to my instruction manual, plumb to horizontal is the way to go.
posted by Splunge at 7:50 PM on June 9, 2011
My bedroom unit has no such drain and according to my instruction manual, plumb to horizontal is the way to go.
posted by Splunge at 7:50 PM on June 9, 2011
Anecdata: The first time we installed it we also had water pouring inside the house. Live and learn, says I.
posted by Splunge at 7:52 PM on June 9, 2011
posted by Splunge at 7:52 PM on June 9, 2011
If your Zenith 5000 BTU was replaced with something that didn't cool your apartment, I have to ask, what was the replacement model??? Does anyone make anything smaller?
posted by Frasermoo at 1:23 PM on June 10, 2011
posted by Frasermoo at 1:23 PM on June 10, 2011
Response by poster: Frigidaire FRA052XT7 5,000 BTU. But it was a new apartment. I never really ran the Zenith in the new apartment either. I bought the replacement without thinking cause I was pissed about getting shocked and just ordered the cheapest one I could find.
It wasn't till the needle hit 100 and my computer room became absolutely unbearable that I realized a 5,000 BTU unit wasn't going to cut it, at which point I wondered about setting them both up.
posted by nathancaswell at 1:29 PM on June 10, 2011
It wasn't till the needle hit 100 and my computer room became absolutely unbearable that I realized a 5,000 BTU unit wasn't going to cut it, at which point I wondered about setting them both up.
posted by nathancaswell at 1:29 PM on June 10, 2011
You might do yourself a favour by setting up a simple window fan up to draw the hot air out of the computer room if the heat load in there is pretty high, rather than trying to battle it.
posted by Frasermoo at 4:50 PM on June 10, 2011
posted by Frasermoo at 4:50 PM on June 10, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you know how many BTU your air conditioner has and the square footage of your apartment you can do a quick check to see if the air conditioner is sufficient. This seems like a good reference.
posted by dfriedman at 2:01 PM on June 9, 2011