Notice FLA....17.5 Amps on a 2 ton condenser. 2 speed condenser motor would swap to low speed at night. They marketed those as " Good neighbor " units. Ran quieter at night so not to annoy neighbors with out AC sleeping with thier windows open. I had a customer who was first on the block to get AC. It caught a .22LR in the center of the condenser the first weekend.
Amazing you got that old beast running again. This design was commonplace in the 60s and 70s. I have tremendous respect that you swapped out the cap and kept it going when it would have been easy just to say it has to be replaced!
Before they had computer design, they had to make coils and motors heavier. Now they can engineer them to be just strong enough to last through the warranty.
I am 53 Now and I was born in 1968, so I was probably around 2 or 3 years old when that Until was installed Wow! My Parents have already Went through a Dayton, A Trane, and A New One Last Summer since that Unit was installed.
I'm still running my old Sears unit of the same vintage. I asked my HVAC guy about changing it when he installed a new furnace and he said "Run it 'till it dies!" That was 15 years ago. I changed the starting cap on the fan motor since then. Other than that I vacuum it out and blow out the condenser every year(ish) and she still keeps the house cool. (That HVAC guy? He's got a customer for life.)
I found an r22 unit from 1956 once. Original blower and air handler. Only new part was the capacitor on the outdoor unit. 😂 I've only been in the trade for 3 years so I'll probably see more of that soon.
First of all Ted I commend you for fixing the unit and not just telling the customer that it is dead. A lot of tech’s wouldn’t of even tried to fix it to get a bigger sale. Unfortunately honesty is not a trait of all tech’s.
Good Job! All the old girl needed was a cap and go! From looking at that schematic it looks like someone replaced the fan motor at some point and disabled the two speed switch. I doubt anything made today lasts 45 years. Very cool video!
Flare nut line set, really surprised it still had refrigerant. In my short time as a service tech I saw a Chrysler from 1977 running like a champ, and a Singer, like the sewing machine I think, that needed the evaporator coil and blower wheel cleaned (smokers house). That was the nastiest thing I've ever seen. Once it was cleaned I checked the charge and it was bang on.
I serviced a 69 Sears a few months back. The capacitor was the size of a brick and weighed a couple pounds. Not sure if it had been replaced along the way or not. All I did was clean the coil and left it to keep on rocking.
My parents' house had an old Sears A/C that was older than that. Lasted into the early 2000s with an occasional charge top off and a condenser fan motor as I recall when I was a little kid. As I recall, my dad (long deceased) told me he and my grandfather bought it pre-charged and installed it themselves.
Appears that the switch that was disconnected was for a 2 speed condenser fan motor. Better in my opionion than fan cycling. I used to not like old equipment but now I like it more because the new equipment has so many more problems(I do commercial and industrial hvac)
Hey they speak my language. This thing reminds me of the old Whirlpool horizontal discharge unit in my warehouse. There is a old Carrier with a Carlyle 3 phase 208 still kicking ass from the 60's also. They def built them better back in the day.
i still had my 1974 rca unit till 2011...we had a big hail storm ..well it bent all the fins flat .....time for a new one then but that rca never had to be worked on...
Ol' Ted bringing back another antique from the brink. We had a good old Armstrong package unit for a mobile home back in the 1970s. Two speed fan just like that one... Piston compressor sounded just like the one in this video, just purred. 47 years old and still cooling despite all the dog/cat/squirrel/whatever urine trying to destroy the condenser coils. Ah, the good old days!
Ted, I know of a tri-plex here in ga that has 3 units that look just like that except I think they're Heil's. They all still hold their charge and won't die, even though the renters never change the air filters (which usually freezes the coil up) the acts still have the original gray capacitors with ground straps on them. Amazingly well built machines.
I wish they still made them that durable. I worked at a church, before I retired last year, that had two self contained Chrysler ac units, R22, no idea how old they were, one of them developed a small leak, both still working today.
Had that exact same condensing unit, was original to my house built in 1984. It ran well up until the summer of 2020. 36 years ain't nothing to sneeze at!!
6:45 according to the wiring diagram, that is a 2 speed switch. Was this used to put the fan into a lower speed during colder days? like if this was used in an office or whatever...
My "Clare" HVAC unit from 1980 hasn't been recharged since. Still working like a champ. There's a REASON "Clare" went out of business...they designed and built their stuff TOO well. You rarely have to fix or replace anything.😎
I had a customer who had one of those all the way up into the late nineties and It was still running smoothly when I changed out the system and it still had its original two speed condenser fan motor. The customer would always come out and bum a cigarette off me and sneak a cigarette away from his wife every time I showed up,,, lol.. FYI that capacitor was manufactured during the 16th week of 1974...
lol I have 2 customers that still have those units, have changed all caps & contactors over the years .. They take a pound or 2 every season and run like crazy, I keep the coils clean too. The case were like tanks Armstrong made good stuff back in the day👍
I worked at my grandfather's HVAC wholesale supply business when I was a kid stocking shelves and pulling orders. All capacitors were huge like that one. Occasionally I'll come across one in the field and they are almost always reading the proper mfd. Damn sure don't make 'em like that anymore. Good job Ted! If they're planning to continue to do mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions on that unit, I'd wash that condenser coil.
Was designed after the old Fedders units. They ran high head pressure (Fedders) because the metering device was 1/4" copper tubbing (12 feet or so ) all wound up and that was the metering device. Armstrongs were bullet proof units in the day just like Fedders and GE.
I think My Best Friend when I was growing up's Parents had a Central Air Conditioner like that. They got it when My Parents had a 8'000 B.T.U. Sears Window Air Conditioner in the Kitchen and a 6,000 Feeders in a Back Bedroom. They ran 24/7 in the Summer, but they kept Us Cool, plus My Parents have a Brick house too. It is like an oven when the Sun shines on it all day. We had a Big Oak Tree in the front yard that knocked some of the Sun off of the House in the Morning, but it died a few years ago.
It’s from the 70s pressures are going to be a little high, sometimes you got to overcharge them because the compressors are wearing down, But old ones from the 70s and 80s are really good they were built to last and unlike today
Not often you see a relic that was brought over on the mayflower still around today, And running quite good to say the least! Boy those pilgrims built stuff to last.
The good ole days and a good ole guy, I mean hippy. I'm a hippy too. I highly recommend 3M double sided sticky tape for oddball capacitor mounting. It's red peel and stick, and only at auto parts stores. Just clean spot and stick it.
Saw one of those last week. Don’t think it was as old but those things work! Fixed a leaking valve core, gave it a little gas and the dang thing works like almost new.
Somethin inside just makes me smile seeing old school equipment still hangin on even if it is by a thread lol. That coil definitely seems to show manufacturing methods were just a wee bit more for the ends of longevity in the old days then they are today even if they were far less efficient. Could almost swear that condenser coil took a nuke or two during the great ant apocalypse >.
The house I just sold had a old unit like that in it when I purchased it.It didn't work so I cleaned the condenser and evaporator and ran it from 1992 to 2010.Done a change out and old unit was still working at that time.👍
Nice job keeping that old beast running. That old school wiring diagram with what appeared to be from the hand drawn days was interesting. No CAD back in those days!
At my job, we have singer outdoor units from 1981 or '82 that use capacitors like that. I think we only have 2 or 3 of those units left. They were workhorses.
Amazing I love that my parents have a refrigerator that's 55 years old avocado green oh but it's not energy efficient yes but it will outlive anything made today
These are such great units. Now Armstrong is the same as the Lennox units. When i replace a Lennox condenser and evap and use the original furnace, i sell the customer an Armstrong unit which is much cheaper thsn the Lennox brand. cool to see these old units going strong. They just don't make them like this anymore.
Well Ted as always another great video I also just had my package ac unit repaired it had a bad condenser fan motor but the guy fixed it he found a better motor than what it had from the factory
I spotted the old two speed fan thermal switch with snipped off wires right away, lots of dinosaur sightings around these parts or used to be anyway :)
I'm pretty sure any ac unit can run for long.time given the right conditons I'm testing that out with 3 mini splits 1 of them is a 1 ton inverter drive other is 2 ton inverter drive 3rd one is 1.5ton contactor all 240v except one
I have a 1978/79 unit still cranking for me with the original capacitor that is marked "manufactured 1976" a little taller than the one that you replaced here.
Have you tried putting a cap meter/test across it for shitz & giggles? I'd guess there's a 50/50 chance its still within acceptable specs, as they made them very well back in the day. Seems that the more 'toxic' their chemical makeup was, the longer they lasted.
yes, folks I normally see a unit like this and just walk away BUT for giggles let me open it up and take a peek..oh, it only needs a capacitor.. I needed to sell another Trane this week. Can't do it now, I peeked..lol
They probably save money if they changed the unit , because this unit didn't look very efficient. But i liked the fact that it worked for so long , they made it strong, was it Armstrong brand?
I just thought my great Aunts a/c was a dinosaur, tag gone, paint gone but serviced every year since new in 1969, one compressor and two condenser fan motors and one evaporator fan motor and lots of gas from time to time. NOTE; she only turned it on when the temp got over 80 during the day and at night to get the temp down to 75 and off completely when at work, my great Uncle installed it in 1969. I am sure it was the cheapest one he could find. 🤣
Man that old girl should be in a Museum. Amazing!!!!!
PS I really like that old school schematic! Clear, easy to read and properly drawn. Sigh... the good old days.
I know they are not as efficient, but I love to see these old units still going. Just like seeing an old classic car.
Well done Ted, that is a Classic video, and another old A/C up and running again 👍
Now that's back when they built a capacitor!! Love seeing that old equipment still running!
Awesome watching videos made me take apart my old unit and cleaned the drain pan and condenser and evap coils and running better than it ever has lol
back when things were made with quality parts. Nowadays you see freshly installed units with failed compressors caps etc etc
So cool to see a nearly 50 year old compressor still going! Especially after being overheated. Nice one!
Notice FLA....17.5 Amps on a 2 ton condenser. 2 speed condenser motor would swap to low speed at night. They marketed those as " Good neighbor " units. Ran quieter at night so not to annoy neighbors with out AC sleeping with thier windows open. I had a customer who was first on the block to get AC. It caught a .22LR in the center of the condenser the first weekend.
Looks like that cap was the original! It was marked 1974 16th week! They don’t make them like that anymore.
Amazing you got that old beast running again. This design was commonplace in the 60s and 70s. I have tremendous respect that you swapped out the cap and kept it going when it would have been easy just to say it has to be replaced!
Before they had computer design, they had to make coils and motors heavier.
Now they can engineer them to be just strong enough to last through the warranty.
A oldie and a moldee, but still running, a testament that they did build em better back in the dark ages !
I am 53 Now and I was born in 1968, so I was probably around 2 or 3 years old when that Until was installed Wow! My Parents have already Went through a Dayton, A Trane, and A New One Last Summer since that Unit was installed.
I'm still running my old Sears unit of the same vintage. I asked my HVAC guy about changing it when he installed a new furnace and he said "Run it 'till it dies!" That was 15 years ago. I changed the starting cap on the fan motor since then. Other than that I vacuum it out and blow out the condenser every year(ish) and she still keeps the house cool. (That HVAC guy? He's got a customer for life.)
i have never seen a schematic with that choice of font i like it!
I love these videos working on old equipment like that. It's interesting to see how things were made back in the day.
My house was built in 1977. I had that same condenser when I bought the place in 2015. Might be a year or two older if it sat on the shelf.
I found an r22 unit from 1956 once. Original blower and air handler. Only new part was the capacitor on the outdoor unit. 😂 I've only been in the trade for 3 years so I'll probably see more of that soon.
We sell Armstrong air at my company. We see plenty of older Armstrong’s still out there tagging along. Pretty crazy.
I swear, when you put the Fieldpiece down on the unit I swear I saw the paint jump. That's a real survivor!
I came across the same condenser today on a service call. It was still holding refrigerant and running like a champ.
Its rare to encounter that type of ac nowadays not as efficient as some slightly modern ac but for sure they build the unit as hard as rock back then
First of all Ted I commend you for fixing the unit and not just telling the customer that it is dead. A lot of tech’s wouldn’t of even tried to fix it to get a bigger sale. Unfortunately honesty is not a trait of all tech’s.
Its nice to get genuinely lovely people as customers 😊
How many capacitors have you discharged with your bare hands like that?
Had an apartment complex with like 20 of these and 30 bigger ones with dual squirrel cage fans on the condensers. All still running.
Good Job! All the old girl needed was a cap and go! From looking at that schematic it looks like someone replaced the fan motor at some point and disabled the two speed switch. I doubt anything made today lasts 45 years. Very cool video!
Flare nut line set, really surprised it still had refrigerant. In my short time as a service tech I saw a Chrysler from 1977 running like a champ, and a Singer, like the sewing machine I think, that needed the evaporator coil and blower wheel cleaned (smokers house). That was the nastiest thing I've ever seen. Once it was cleaned I checked the charge and it was bang on.
Love seeing videos of old stuff still running Thanks
I have a customer with one of these on his rental… also have a Lennox slab monster, and a carrier tube… I miss working on the old singer horseshoes…
I serviced a 69 Sears a few months back. The capacitor was the size of a brick and weighed a couple pounds. Not sure if it had been replaced along the way or not. All I did was clean the coil and left it to keep on rocking.
My parents' house had an old Sears A/C that was older than that. Lasted into the early 2000s with an occasional charge top off and a condenser fan motor as I recall when I was a little kid. As I recall, my dad (long deceased) told me he and my grandfather bought it pre-charged and installed it themselves.
Appears that the switch that was disconnected was for a 2 speed condenser fan motor. Better in my opionion than fan cycling. I used to not like old equipment but now I like it more because the new equipment has so many more problems(I do commercial and industrial hvac)
that unit should be a museum
An old Armstrong from Fraser-Johnston?? A neighbor of ours had two for their split-level house built in '74. I loved those units.
Hey they speak my language. This thing reminds me of the old Whirlpool horizontal discharge unit in my warehouse. There is a old Carrier with a Carlyle 3 phase 208 still kicking ass from the 60's also. They def built them better back in the day.
Wow, a SEER 4 condensing unit ! We had one in the 1960's, a Fraser Johnston unit. What a mack truck of a unit it was.
The compressor actually sounded good
i still had my 1974 rca unit till 2011...we had a big hail storm ..well it bent all the fins flat .....time for a new one then but that rca never had to be worked on...
Ol' Ted bringing back another antique from the brink. We had a good old Armstrong package unit for a mobile home back in the 1970s. Two speed fan just like that one... Piston compressor sounded just like the one in this video, just purred. 47 years old and still cooling despite all the dog/cat/squirrel/whatever urine trying to destroy the condenser coils. Ah, the good old days!
Ted, I know of a tri-plex here in ga that has 3 units that look just like that except I think they're Heil's. They all still hold their charge and won't die, even though the renters never change the air filters (which usually freezes the coil up) the acts still have the original gray capacitors with ground straps on them. Amazingly well built machines.
I wish they still made them that durable. I worked at a church, before I retired last year, that had two self contained Chrysler ac units, R22, no idea how old they were, one of them developed a small leak, both still working today.
Damn I can’t believe that old beast still works! WOW! I can’t even imagine what that air handler looks like. Ted you definitely preform a miracle.
Had that exact same condensing unit, was original to my house built in 1984. It ran well up until the summer of 2020. 36 years ain't nothing to sneeze at!!
6:45 according to the wiring diagram, that is a 2 speed switch. Was this used to put the fan into a lower speed during colder days? like if this was used in an office or whatever...
I tore one out, but never serviced one. They're heavy too lol
My "Clare" HVAC unit from 1980 hasn't been recharged since. Still working like a champ.
There's a REASON "Clare" went out of business...they designed and built their stuff TOO well. You rarely have to fix or replace anything.😎
I had a customer who had one of those all the way up into the late nineties and It was still running smoothly when I changed out the system and it still had its original two speed condenser fan motor.
The customer would always come out and bum a cigarette off me and sneak a cigarette away from his wife every time I showed up,,, lol..
FYI that capacitor was manufactured during the 16th week of 1974...
I didn’t even get 7 years out of the condenser I had. That thing is a beast. Wow.
lol I have 2 customers that still have those units, have changed all caps & contactors over the years .. They take a pound or 2 every season and run like crazy, I keep the coils clean too. The case were like tanks Armstrong made good stuff back in the day👍
I worked at my grandfather's HVAC wholesale supply business when I was a kid stocking shelves and pulling orders. All capacitors were huge like that one. Occasionally I'll come across one in the field and they are almost always reading the proper mfd. Damn sure don't make 'em like that anymore. Good job Ted! If they're planning to continue to do mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions on that unit, I'd wash that condenser coil.
Was designed after the old Fedders units. They ran high head pressure (Fedders) because the metering device was 1/4" copper tubbing (12 feet or so ) all wound up and that was the metering device. Armstrongs were bullet proof units in the day just like Fedders and GE.
wow, the installer actually stamped the total charge weight on the tag!
I think My Best Friend when I was growing up's Parents had a Central Air Conditioner like that. They got it when My Parents had a 8'000 B.T.U. Sears Window Air Conditioner in the Kitchen and a 6,000 Feeders in a Back Bedroom. They ran 24/7 in the Summer, but they kept Us Cool, plus My Parents have a Brick house too. It is like an oven when the Sun shines on it all day. We had a Big Oak Tree in the front yard that knocked some of the Sun off of the House in the Morning, but it died a few years ago.
Look at the big ol' GE dumpling! Looks like it's about 9 1/2 months pregnant. 😎👍
It’s from the 70s pressures are going to be a little high, sometimes you got to overcharge them because the compressors are wearing down, But old ones from the 70s and 80s are really good they were built to last and unlike today
Not often you see a relic that was brought over on the mayflower still around today, And running quite good to say the least! Boy those pilgrims built stuff to last.
400 yrs ago
We had a similar one even I was growing up under the Sears Brand... It gave my dad an issue only one time in 34 years.... Was just a dirty coil.
My original 1979 Carrier lasted until 2018. Almost half my neighborhood still has their original units.
Looks like the original cap and maybe the 74 was the year it was made. That would make it 4 years older than myself!
The good ole days and a good ole guy, I mean hippy. I'm a hippy too. I highly recommend 3M double sided sticky tape for oddball capacitor mounting. It's red peel and stick, and only at auto parts stores. Just clean spot and stick it.
Saw one of those last week. Don’t think it was as old but those things work! Fixed a leaking valve core, gave it a little gas and the dang thing works like almost new.
That thing looks and sounds almost like the old Fedders AC condenser we had at my house growing up (was probably an early 1970's model).
Somethin inside just makes me smile seeing old school equipment still hangin on even if it is by a thread lol. That coil definitely seems to show manufacturing methods were just a wee bit more for the ends of longevity in the old days then they are today even if they were far less efficient. Could almost swear that condenser coil took a nuke or two during the great ant apocalypse >.
I like how you discharge the capacitor with your fingers then say these old caps will knock the fire out of ya lol
The house I just sold had a old unit like that in it when I purchased it.It didn't work so I cleaned the condenser and evaporator and ran it from 1992 to 2010.Done a change out and old unit was still working at that time.👍
The installer and the unit need to be in the Hall of Fame
Nice job keeping that old beast running. That old school wiring diagram with what appeared to be from the hand drawn days was interesting. No CAD back in those days!
At my job, we have singer outdoor units from 1981 or '82 that use capacitors like that. I think we only have 2 or 3 of those units left. They were workhorses.
Amazing I love that my parents have a refrigerator that's 55 years old avocado green oh but it's not energy efficient yes but it will outlive anything made today
These are such great units. Now Armstrong is the same as the Lennox units. When i replace a Lennox condenser and evap and use the original furnace, i sell the customer an Armstrong unit which is much cheaper thsn the Lennox brand. cool to see these old units going strong. They just don't make them like this anymore.
I'm sure that capacitor did have PCBs (polychlorinated biphenols) in it because they were used in electrical components until 1979.
That unit should be in the HVAC hall of fame.
High superheat high subcooling..,.indicating a restriction on the high side some where.Probably filter drier.
Thanks Anti DIY for helping this DIYer...
I could hear Gene Wilder saying...."He's Alive! HE'S ALIVE!"
It's pronounced Frankensteen 🧟♂️
The AC unit that I just replaced last year was a sold by Sears installed food top unit ac only in 1974! And was still operating!
Wow amazing that's one of the oldest I've seen, thanks for posting
Well Ted as always another great video I also just had my package ac unit repaired it had a bad condenser fan motor but the guy fixed it he found a better motor than what it had from the factory
Original compressor too. Impressive.
I hope you cleared all those leaves out and gave it a good inspections and clean.
Good on you for going the extra mile! I bet you won a new customer for life there!
1978, wish they still made them this simple. Contactor, capacitor, fan motor and compressor. Easy peezy
Abandoned two speed temp controlled fan relay is very interesting. Got me thinking and wondering. appreciate the content and subbed.
those were the good old days where stuff was made to last not like junk they make these days
Wow that condenser sure has seen better days, but I doubt that the units made today would last as long as this one!
Worked on a 1974 Lennox last year, put a new capacitor on it and away she went.
Wow I have never ever seen one of those huge capacitors be bad.. this was quite a find good sir
I thought they lasted forever LOL
Cowboy you have a great video today !
I spotted the old two speed fan thermal switch with snipped off wires right away, lots of dinosaur sightings around these parts or used to be anyway :)
Awe quick connect fittings, precharged linesets, what a pain in the butt they were to bend to get connected to the unit. The good ol days
I'm pretty sure any ac unit can run for long.time given the right conditons I'm testing that out with 3 mini splits 1 of them is a 1 ton inverter drive other is 2 ton inverter drive 3rd one is 1.5ton contactor all 240v except one
the old grey ones (caps) were even bigger and heavier. had a 20mfd almost a foot tall and weighed 8 pounds.
I have a 1978/79 unit still cranking for me with the original capacitor that is marked "manufactured 1976" a little taller than the one that you replaced here.
Have you tried putting a cap meter/test across it for shitz & giggles? I'd guess there's a 50/50 chance its still within acceptable specs, as they made them very well back in the day.
Seems that the more 'toxic' their chemical makeup was, the longer they lasted.
That disabled device looks like a thermostat that controls the condenser's fan speed.
I have the exact same unit at my house! You can’t kill those things!
yes, folks I normally see a unit like this and just walk away BUT for giggles let me open it up and take a peek..oh, it only needs a capacitor.. I needed to sell another Trane this week. Can't do it now, I peeked..lol
They probably save money if they changed the unit , because this unit didn't look very efficient.
But i liked the fact that it worked for so long , they made it strong, was it Armstrong brand?
I just thought my great Aunts a/c was a dinosaur, tag gone, paint gone but serviced every year since new in 1969, one compressor and two condenser fan motors and one evaporator fan motor and lots of gas from time to time. NOTE; she only turned it on when the temp got over 80 during the day and at night to get the temp down to 75 and off completely when at work, my great Uncle installed it in 1969. I am sure it was the cheapest one he could find. 🤣