Air Conditioner equipment salvage query

[jerry]

for anyone who's gone through the effort to retrofit or return to service a Behr or Frigiking A/C system, what components are absolutely necessary?

i have two Behr center consoles with the internals and one Frigiking center console. At one time or another, i'm sure i had the complete units, but i'm reorganizing at present and i'm sick of hanging on to the odds and end hoses, dryer canister and heat exchanger. i know the York compressor is obsolete so they were tossed awhile ago, along with the cast iron bracket (boat anchor).

i'm not wedded to A/C where i live, but i'd at least like to know what to hold onto should i ever want to re-install one. and yes, i do have the tii A/C crankshaft pulley,... somewhere....

[dtortoise9]

Behr center console is really all your need. You will need to get new hoses, dryer and condensor. I have used a parallel flow condensor and it seems to provide better cooling than factory add on. Good thing it is also less expensive. Call La Jolla Independent and see who they use.

[thehackmechanic]

Largely agree with dtortise9. If I'm doing a resurrection of a dead Behr system, I keep:

--The console

--The evaporator assembly inside the console

--The condenser if the nose of the car hasn't been hit and if I'm sticking with R12

--The electric fan in front of the condenser if the nose of the car hasn't been hit

I replace:

--The condenser with a parallel-flow condenser if I'm converting to R134a

--The compressor with a Sanden 508 rotary-style compressor

--The receiver/drier

--Every hose

[Mike Self]

more attractive than the Frigiking, the Behr unit has the radio mounted at the very bottom of the console.

The location makes the radio's face plate difficult to see without really taking your eyes off the road. And if you have a CD player (or are going vintage and have a cassette tape player!) you're not gonna change tapes or CDs with the car in first or third....and even second and fourth are both close clearances between disk/cassette and shift lever. Also, the Frigiking unit uses standard blower and thermostat switches that can be bought at most any A/C shop, while the Behr unit uses German switches that are harder to find.

One final thing--the Behr is wired so that the heater blower is disconnected when the A/C blower is operational, but the Frigiking allows both to run at the same time, and thus is much easier to wire into the car's harness. The Behr's wiring is tricky.

cheers

mike

[jerry]

thanks guys for the info.

that is exactly the kind of information i was looking for.

those sticky tar-wrapped stiff hoses are history.

mike's comments have given me a new-found appreciation for the lowly Frigiking unit. i had always considered them 2nd rate.

i'm gonna whittle it down to the three consoles and perhaps a fan.

[tashakes]

more attractive than the Frigiking, the Behr unit has the radio mounted at the very bottom of the console.

And that's why I moved it to the top

[Conserv]

more attractive than the Frigiking, the Behr unit has the radio mounted at the very bottom of the console.

And that's why I moved it to the top

Very clever but, as an FYI, that is a Clardy console rather than a Behr unit.

Steve

[c.d.iesel]

mine is installed in the neighbors pool

A/C in an o2 is a crime

[riggs]

The Parrot Asteroid is THE radio system for a Behr unit. No CD/DVD slot. has SD slot and the Android operating system. Crazy features and less than 300 buck online. Very shallow install.