How To Purposely Destroy My Air-conditioner

[Orangutan]

I live in a small one-bedroom apartment. My apartment came unfurnished, just a bed frame and mattress. I've made several improvements including buying new water heaters, for shower and my washing machine, as well as painting, wallpaper, new appliances etc. I had the cabinets in the kitchen refinished, and retiled the bathroom.

The wife and me love the place now except for the noise that the 16-year-old air-conditioner makes. It rattles, and makes awful noises that I can't describe. We cannot sleep, etc.

The landlady is notoriously cheap, and has told us that she will not replace it..."it still work, feel the cold air". She's happy to get the mark up on the electricity it uses.

What can I do to destroy the compressor and end the life of this thing. Would appreciate any serious suggestions.

Thanks in advance,

-O

[londonthai]

wait till the temperatures go up in a month or two - and run it 24h. At some, unpredictable, time it should give up.

[besth]

Running it 24/7 is something you can try, but I wouldn't do it in the hope that it would just burst. It might happen eventually, but appart from the fact that you would have to live with the noise for maybe a very long time, you might be in for a very expensive electricity bill (more than what a new unit would cost) and still end up with that noisy machine.

See if 24 hours running for a couple of days gets it leaking and freezes the circuits. Then the air won't be cold. If after 2/3 days it doesn't happen, give up on this.

Any other ideas I come up with could probably get you into trouble and I'm sure you have thought about all of them and then some during your noisy nights. Good luck

[britmaveric]

A hole in piping - leak all freon out, run AC - unit burns up.

[fruittbatt]

Have you tried wedging tissue between the rattling parts?

Or calling in a technician at your own expense to see whether something needs to be tightened up?

Or ensuring that the filters are clean, snug, and not loose?

[TAWP]

Our A/C has been running pretty much nonstop for two years - and it wasn't new to begin with. So that plan will fail...

[Orangutan]

Have you tried wedging tissue between the rattling parts?

Or calling in a technician at your own expense to see whether something needs to be tightened up?

Or ensuring that the filters are clean, snug, and not loose?

In fact it has been serviced, the guy's my landlady sends just say "you need new one". I clean the filter, and compressor the 1st of every month. Even after they pull the cover off the compressor and check everything it still makes noise, it's better at first but in a short period of time it's full blown noise again.

-O

[simon43]

Assuming you don't live on the ground floor..

1 - Locate compressor unit (on your balcony)

2 - Unscrew retaining screws from brackets

3 - Check for persons below!

4 - Push compressor off balcony

5 - Explain to landlady that compressor doesn't seem to be noisy anymore, but also doesn't seem to be cooling anymore...

[DragonQuest]

ROFLMAO, ya your better off destroying it, dont run it 24/hours cause you dont know how long it will last , just crush it like you would in insect, but dont make it obvious lol

[roamer]

Assuming you don't live on the ground floor..

1 - Locate compressor unit (on your balcony)

2 - Unscrew retaining screws from brackets

3 - Check for persons below!

4 - Push compressor off balcony

5 - Explain to landlady that compressor doesn't seem to be noisy anymore, but also doesn't seem to be cooling anymore...

:D

Shouldn't be difficult to short the motor out ? Won't be that easy to replace if 16 years old .

[Gumballl]

Discussions of vandalism. Gotta love it. Let's see how long this thread stays open if this continues.

Why don't you contact another serviceman (or two or three for that fact) and ask them to provide you with evidence that the A/C unit should be replaced. Then take this to your landlady. Tell her to replace it or tell her that you will hire one of the servicemen to do it, and then deduct your expense from the rent payment.

Edited January 24, 2007 by Gumballl

[glenbat]

Shouldn't be difficult to short the motor out ? Won't be that easy to replace if 16 years old .

Knowing the Thai's though, they'd salvage one from a passing truck or tuk-tuk and bolt that to the unit

[Orangutan]

Discussions of vandalism. Gotta love it. Let's see how long this thread stays open if this continues.

Why don't you contact another serviceman (or two or three for that fact) and ask them to provide you with evidence that the A/C unit should be replaced. Then take this to your landlady. Tell her to replace it or tell her that you will hire one of the servicemen to do it, and then deduct your expense from the rent payment.

Gumballl,

In all due respect I don't thik you understand engrish, reread my post. The old landlady will never go for that, she's tight! I've already suggested paying for it and taking it off the rent, and the idea was turned down.

-O

Edited January 24, 2007 by Orangutan

[bino]

Does your compressor have a drive belt? Perhaps you could try increasing the tension on the belt to be as tight as possible. This would stress the bearings in the motor and compressor, ultimately causing a catastophic failure.

[sriracha john]

I'm almost certain that urinating directly into the unit will certainly cause damage of some sort.

Hope that helps.

[qualtrough]

Short of blowing it up nothing will work because the unit is pretty much infintely repairable here. Com blows, install new one. Fan blows, install new one, and so on.

[Jet Gorgon]

Some rats did a fine job of destroying mine.

[davidjtayler]

If you are planning to stay there for a long time (ie over a year) Mr Orangutan then why don't you suggest going halves with your landlady on a brand new unit ... small units aren't that expensive and once you equate the amount per month becomes a very wise and cheap investment ...

Just think of it ... nice, new, quiet, efficient unit .. no more noise, lower electric bills, quality of life and no more stress ... just imagine how much nicer the beers will taste ...

[elkangorito]

A hole in piping - leak all freon out, run AC - unit burns up.

This is by far the best way but the trick is to put the whole/crack into piping that cannot be repaired easily or cheaply. In this case, I suggest breaching the condensor coil...it's too expensive to replace & they will buy a new one. A hole in a coil is very hard to find & fix, mainly because the coils are normally aluminium.

[Gumballl]

Gumballl,

In all due respect I don't thik you understand engrish, reread my post. The old landlady will never go for that, she's tight! I've already suggested paying for it and taking it off the rent, and the idea was turned down.

-O

My English comprehension (and spelling!) is quite good. What I probably lack is knowledge of renter's rights in Thailand. If a similar problem such as your were to occur in my country, the owner would have to fix it, or I would pay someone to fix it or replace it, and then deduct the cost from my rent payment(s). If the owner does not like it, then they can take me to court. I would win the case, especially if I had documented proof from third-party professionals that the a/c unit is defective/broke.

The alternative is to purchase a new a/c unit, have it installed and the old one thrown outside. When the day comes that you move, take your purchased product with you. The landlady can reinstall the old one if she wishes.

[kmart]

Mix Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer with Diesel oil,.......

Joking. Call an aircom repairman. I'm sure a service of the machine will be a big improvement.

[jumnien]

Reading thru the thread I see how some Thais might feel a bit xenophobic.

[sfokevin]

I'm almost certain that urinating directly into the unit will certainly cause damage of some sort.

Hope that helps.

Make sure you are well grounded when trying this technic...

[papaya9]

Put a sunlamp under the thermostat so the heat rises directly under it.

[pampal]

Hook it up to three phase power source, this will burn out the motor for sure.

[steveromagnino]

Gumballl,

In all due respect I don't thik you understand engrish, reread my post. The old landlady will never go for that, she's tight! I've already suggested paying for it and taking it off the rent, and the idea was turned down.

-O

My English comprehension (and spelling!) is quite good. What I probably lack is knowledge of renter's rights in Thailand. If a similar problem such as your were to occur in my country, the owner would have to fix it, or I would pay someone to fix it or replace it, and then deduct the cost from my rent payment(s). If the owner does not like it, then they can take me to court. I would win the case, especially if I had documented proof from third-party professionals that the a/c unit is defective/broke.

The alternative is to purchase a new a/c unit, have it installed and the old one thrown outside. When the day comes that you move, take your purchased product with you. The landlady can reinstall the old one if she wishes.

You have the right to move out.

You agreed to move in, knowing and seeing the state of the aircon; why should she fix it when there is every chance the next tenant won't even use the aircon system you install???? If it is running and providing cool air (which you state it is) then she has met the obligations of the implied lease; I say implied, because I have no idea what you have signed with her, as you haven't outlined it. Also, as you know, it will be in Thai, so feel free to post it, so we can see what you signed. If you want, I can explain it back to you what you agreed upon if you didn't follow it yourself. In other words.... you would be SOL to win this in most countries, and you are probably SOL to win it here.

It is like renting an apartment which has no carpet, then trying to claim tenant rights that the place should have had carpet; it didn't when you rented it, you saw that, the wooden floor works = SOL to get free carpet.

I didn't study property law much, but despite massive tilt in favour of tenants, I think you'll find that a working basic aircon system is all that is required.

ANSWER

Go to Homepro, buy yourself an aircon system of your own, and install it; and give her the old unit to 'look after'.

Chances are your power bill will drop by at least 1-2000b a month, and possibly more if you are one of these foreigners that insists on recreating the North Pole in your apartment. In 1 year, you will have almost paid it off. And the fact is that the wall mounted units are heaps better and quieter anyway, you will be like, holy c**p this thing is farging quiet, or something to that effect.

When you come to move out, just get it removed, and sell it; someone will buy it for probably 1/3 of what you paid for it...and the landlord will have to reinstall hers. Just make sure you agree that you are doing her a favour by using your own system to save wear and tear on hers, and also that she understands you won't be leaving it. ALthough she may offer to buy it from you at the other end.

Alternative 2: don't use the aircon.

I strongly recommend you don't try to damage it, as it would be fairly obvious, plus there is every chance that you'll screw it up, and damage yourself/your own property plus it is a criminal offense.

[astral]

Go to Homepro, buy yourself an aircon system of your own, and install it; and give her the old unit to 'look after'.

Chances are your power bill will drop by at least 1-2000b a month, and possibly more if you are one of these foreigners that insists on recreating the North Pole in your apartment. In 1 year, you will have almost paid it off. And the fact is that the wall mounted units are heaps better and quieter anyway, you will be like, holy c**p this thing is farging quiet, or something to that effect.

When you come to move out, just get it removed, and sell it; someone will buy it for probably 1/3 of what you paid for it...and the landlord will have to reinstall hers. Just make sure you agree that you are doing her a favour by using your own system to save wear and tear on hers, and also that she understands you won't be leaving it. ALthough she may offer to buy it from you at the other end.

I was going to ask how much you like the apartment and how long you plan to stay.

If the answers are positive to both these points then bite the bullet and put in your own unit.

If it is a through the wall one you can probably take it with you,

if it is a split unit and you have "damaged" the walls to fit it, you may have to leave it when you leave,

it has become "landlord's fittings", but you will have written the cost off over the years,

possibly just with the savings in electricity.

No more talk of destroying the unit please, that is against the law.

Thanks

Moderator

Topic closed