My favorite is when the tweakers try to steal the 3-phase wiring. Had them break into my company's connex box and steal my boss's son-in-law's DeWilt sawzall (I always kept my tools locked in my truck). They used his sawzall to try and cut 000 gage wiring going into the hotel we were doing doors at. The arc flash blew the blade off and shot it into a nearby wall, burying it halfway, the sawzall was smoked, and the electrical room smelled of burnt hair and skin for a week. Out of the four buildings we were working on, they picked the one building that was fully live.
We used to engrave the words "Stolen from (owner's name)" all over any copper that could be accessible to the local druggies. We'd also keep a good relationship with as many local scrap collectors as we could. On one occasion, we had a main water valve stolen from a building causing thousands of dollars worth of water damage. When the idiot thieves tried to take it to the scrapper, he saw what we wrote on the valve and called the police. They were arrested and charged for the damages.
Probably time to make the recycling companies in California be liable for accepting stolen metals - at least keep a record (with ID) of anyone bringing in scrap.
Why trap them, build an electric fence around the roof perimeter with signage indicating it being one, they can't sue because it's their fault then that they couldn't read and stay away._
I'm a Burg & Fire alarm programmer for a national grocer and watching your videos has helped me understand a lot about when HVAC or refrigeration techs visit our stores. Now that I know how long calls like you handle can take, I'm more liberal with placing roof hatch and mechanical room alarm contacts on test. A fun tidbit to add about your tweaker videos, we used to have a lot of roof sensor contacts for HVAC unit doors and roof motions to catch/prevent copper thieves etc. well the doors fluctuate in the heat and wind, and birds are great at setting off motion detectors, so we have disabled most of them and it's much less common that we deploy these types of devices on roofs anymore. Anyway, I enjoy your videos, your work ethic is on par with my own, and I appreciate you helping the world understand the life of an HVAC technician a lot more.
If they have insurance then it should be covered. The issue is that they will probably do it as cheaply as possible. If it costs less than a new unit to replace the drain pan and condenser then they will probably say to do that, even if it involves completely disassembling the unit.
Luckily it was in the springtime this happened. I live in Arizona myself. In June we had two heat waves in excess of 110°F. I can't imagine this happening in the summer here, how awful conditions would be.
@@wades623 I don't live in Phoenix though. I live in the Northwest, near the mountains. For us, max heat is around 115° in August. Not 110° before June 21st. By then we'd already had two heatwaves. It's concerning because we weren't even in the hottest part of summer yet. June is usually 90°-95° weather, tops. Not all of Arizona is Phoenix. Thank god.
@@B1GDaddyFatStax Phoenix has the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station though. With all of those clean gigawatts you can run all the a/c you want without being a jackass.
When they were installing Fiberoptic in my neighborhood they had to leave the rolls of fiber overnight. They labeled them with a giant homemade sign, "Fiber Optic, No Copper Value"
15:58 - Yes, I did pause to check that you removed the red caps from the duct detector. 😁 When the electric convection oven at my former place of employment burned itself up and we dragged it outside, my coworkers asked me, "what do we do with it now?" I said, "Drag it over to the dumpster. It'll be gone tomorrow, guaranteed. A scrapper or a tweaker will grab it." Sure enough, in a 12-hour span, the entire unit disappeared.
A couple of guys were caught on a customers roof about a month ago, they had already removed the condenser coils and destroyed the units but a worker had came in early saw the ladder and the guys and pushed the ladder down and called the cops. Guys got arrested guess they were scared to jump three stories.
Seriously. I wonder what kind of thought process people like this have. "Hey bro, wanna ruin someone's business and existence by being an absolute dick head" "yah bro, I'm in. Need some crack money anyway bro" or what? But then again, there are "bank managers" who lose money they don't own and ruin thousands of life's on a daily basis and that's legal and also encouraged with a hefty bonus. To sum my rant up. Assholes. Assholes everywhere, no matter the social or financial situation.
@@dtiydr right lol, I feel bad for my customers but I’ll gladly take their insurances monies. Shit if it get like how it was 12 years ago HVAC businesses will be boomin
The ac units on my factory roof are pvc drains. Not sure why you'd waste copper for a drain line but maybe that's code. Also, the ac drain doesn't go to a drain, just goes onto the roof and eventually gets to a roof drain.
Nice video. Where I operate, hvac-r contractors have been restricted to only hooking up a 6’ electric whip and no gas piping at all. Anything prior to the whip must be installed by a licensed electrician. All gas must be by a state certified plumber. For many years I have subbed all electric and plumbing. It saves me a great deal of grief. I have been a hvac-r contractor for 49 years. Stay frosty.
I would like to thank you for these videos. HVAC and refrigeration has always been a curiosity for me, and I have actually learned a lot here. Because of your videos, I have actually been actively keeping my condenser cleaned out myself for the house AC and even used this to help friends clean their car AC condensers and diagnose small issues.
When you said you can do a bottom drain and don’t know why you would want to, I have an answer. Tweakers🤣🤣 can’t steal the copper if they can’t get to it🤣🤣
If the lines don't carry water, find ceramic and rubber isolators designed to carry refridgerant and attach to copper. Connect to an electric fence controller and rig up an alarm for high current or open circuit to phone the Owner and allow him to watch the nearby camera and phone the police. Touch the copper, ride the lightning, and cause a call to the police.
@@bartfoster1311 Probably just what the customer, or actually the buildings owner specified. Some customers just want the unit, and others dot every i and cross every t...
This is quite a change in video and I utterly enjoyed it all, seeing the process it takes to do a roof sweep. I'm not even in HVAC, or anything, but the knowledge has come in useful for me in just understanding my window AC units.
That's a great business relationship to have with a that driver. People often forget scrapping things isn't just free money especially when it's an assembly
It’s annoying to have to fix destruction left behind by tweakers, it’s infuriating to do so more than once at the same location. Had a cell site go down three times in a year because tweakers would break-in and steal all the power cables and batteries. During one such instance an entire remote community was without cell service for little over a day while we worked to replace all the missing parts. Damn tweakers! Your 5 unit rooftop replacement made for great content though, always appreciate the 80’s soundtrack and it was refreshing to see you work on a shiny new unit, no dust on the prodigy controllers!
get yourself the ol' portable harbor freight pipe threader unit.. it's like $200 if you don't catch it on sale and it does the job for those couple times you need it.. would probably pay for itself in the time savings making HD returns
@@damon6852 I have to agree with this, especially with the luck I have had with harbor frieght products. Sometimes you get a tool from a bad batch. Most of the stuff they carry is decent, its just the ones that slip past QC that cause issues.
Lol I thought the same thing and the half inch thread broke on the second pipe I used it on. I wasn’t impressed! Fuc* harbor freight for anything other than cheap hand tools that you plan on replacing regularly.
just get you a used little power pony chris. Corded. They sell offbrands for a couple hundred bucks. that and a stand should do what you need to do without having to invest a ton. Or, if you want to go really cheap, you could just get a ratchet threader, but seriously, save your arms and just get a cheap corded handheld unit. It'll save you a lot of trips to depot! :) I was the guy on the other end, as a teen and 20s kid, i worked at a hardware store that took custom orders for gas pipe, so the local gas company would put in an order for 1000 pieces and i'd have to sit there all day cutting and threading LOL.
@Hamilton Mechanical, Been around it,seen it done,WAS NOT ENVIOUS!! Instead was happily tying rebar,setting wall forms and shaking down Mud!! What a way to spend your younger years! Still better than setting trusses! Thank you for Making America Great!! Sorry we never shared a lunch break together and keep remembering the Good Old Days!!
You need tag lines on the equipment when using the crane to swing them off and on to the roof. It protects your guys and the load while in the air. It keeps you out from under it but allows you to control it liftoff to touchdown.
It's got to be a treat, or at least as much of a treat as you get out of a day of hard work, when you can install something exactly the way you want to instead of dealing with the hackery from the last 20 years of other contractors.
Nicest thing about the Prodigy controllers that I've commissioned is the integrated supply and return sensors that allow you to get the units running before you even get the tstats installed. I left the field just as those Prodigy 2 controllers hit the market, the Prodigy app was a huge help in getting aquatinted with the newer system.
Man, as chaotic as some roof sweeps have gone here in the Northeast, I gotta say that I kinda miss those freezing January mornings when you get a coffee after or those humid July mornings where you're hustling to avoid an afternoon thunderstorm. I'm sure I'm just blocking out the bad stuff (like when my boss had us pull the wrong unit), but it was a fun experience.
everyday in florida is 90° and 60% humidity in the late morning and heavy rain and thunderstorms in the late afternoon here in july 😂 it lasts from the end of June to mid October. I hear ya, dying for January rn
I don't know why I miss it because I'm sure I was miserable in the moment. Up here in PA we haven't had too many recent arctic winters, but in the early 2010's we had a few years with blizzard-like weather and below 0° temps. It was wild.
I know what chain that is as based on the no deliveries sign on the back locking gate with magnet lock lol. We just replaced a 10 ton Lennox at the same chain in Iowa. Their roof if just as bad with grease, antennas etc. we have an older gentleman that picks up all our old units and takes them back to our shop and scraps them himself.
That was cool watching an entire crew of professionals working to get a big job done. I remember those days doing a large facility with electrical and being part of one of those crews.
I was a plumber for over twenty years, we had a custom home we did in California. Took 3 days to get all copper in place and under test, electrician, ran their stuff same time. Hvac set inside and outside units on third day, got to love it when they have all subs tripping on each other, anyways that night all copper and ac coils were stolen along with a case 680. I thought the general was going to go hunt down the tweeks himself.
Looked like a smooth job, good one! Question, why replace the drain with more copper and not PVC? Working in the power industry, always liked getting the pictures of some POS who thought they knew better and cut a ground coming off a big 138kV transformer and got smoked. Once you cut that ground, one end becomes 138kV. Last bit of copper you tried to steal! Awesome on leaving service loop. A lot of people try to wire things to look super neat and crisp, with no regard on what happens when you end up with a loose, heated termination and now have to pull new wire because it's 3" too short now. There's a time and place to make things super neat, but function over form prevails in most cases and you still made it look neat with the loop and made it easy for the next guy. Just imagine if everyone always thought of the next guy, instead of consciously deciding to not GAF about the next guy, as too many people do. Love the Polaris connectors too!
my guess is that copper pipes handle vibrations better than pvc, and also doesnt mind direct sunlight, which pvc does eventually become more brittle. just a guess though.
I've seen PVC used before, but don't think sun is the issue. But curious as to why they went back to copper since it was already stolen once. But could be for the reasons you mentioned. Maybe more mold / shit grows in PVC vs copper?
Agreeing with and expanding on @awesome stuff , they already have copper run most of the way, pvc would require more maintenance, and the restaurant's budget is already blown by getting 5 new AC units. Running stainless is an un-necessary expense in their eyes. It's just as easy for a tweaker to nick the stainless if they get access to it, so it would make more sense to put the money towards better site security. Maybe an alarm system with motion detectors near the ACs.
I love roof sweep! Money being made. Your videos are great. I bought a hat and shirt last week to keep your wife busy. Keep up the excellent work Chris. I will continue to support the channel.
Its actually required under 29 CFR 1946.1417 (w) when the rotation could be considered "hazardous." A couple of those lifts I thought a tagline should have been used, especially with how much the load was swinging. Lifting the load so high isn't good practice either.
Nice having a junk roof that’s about to be replaced for a big project like this, don’t have to worry as much about hurting it. If you’re on good terms with the roofer, now would be a good time to slip pour pockets over the conduit, gas line, and drain penetrations. Very nice, clean work!
Very nice looking job! As a retired C-20 contractor it brings back fond memories. The only critique might be extra long horizontals at the bottom of your traps. We would use street els to keep them as short as possible so they wouldn't load up with crap making them harder to blow out.
The other panel on that side of the unit (return side for horizontal discharge) fits over the hole under the heat exchanger… newer Tranes are like that too. Just a heads up for when you’re burning off those exchangers.
Those Splicing lugs (we call them Polaris Connectors) ... don't use those on anything with vibration or wide thermal cycles or they come loose. Worst case ever was in motor peckerheads. Seen them fail in that application almost every time. Damn shame too, I love the idea but had to go back with split bolts and proper taping to make them work long term.
Im glad you kept the lennox brand on that roof, ive come to really love the brand and the way they are engineered for easy repairs with good tech support and part availability makes em the best brand in the market today. The tweekers will hate how there is much less copper now
Here in Detroit people watch for their neighbors on Sunday morning to go to church and then they steal their air conditioners and stripped their copper water pipes out of their house it gives them an hour or two to do that pretty smart.
Those drain line fittings that were 'stuck'...had a similar situation when I inadvertently used "Tinning" flux. Everything went together easily when 'dry-fitting'. Once I applied the flux (usually acts as a lubricant) no fittings would fit without hopelessly jamming. Several fittings deformed from using channel locks, a little blood, and a LOT of swearing (No new words, just clever combinations of the old favorites) and I gave up and started over with regular flux. I highly recommend NOT using "Tinning" flux!
as a semi professional rigger oh so many years ago, why oh why did you not use stabilizing lines onto the lifts to control the swing and movement of the lifting loads? it will help you place and improve the safety for your installers with the tons of swinging metal overhead.
For your purposes an electric cutter/threader would be way overkill and not cost justified, however you can buy a hand threader and several dies for around 200$. For just one job it is probably not justified, but I feel like the time spent digging through the shelf for pre-made nipples/ or waiting on an associate to cut and thread it for you then returning the excess is definitely worth more over the cost of several jobs. Did a total replacing of all water, diesel, and air lines on a oil lightering ship. One guy threading, another guy measuring and one guy disassembling and reassembling. Took us about a week for roughly 2000 feet of black iron using a hand threader.
You must of had a lot of past experience in changing out rooftops to get 5 in a day. Great job! Of course I always liked it more if I supplied the units and adapters but can understand if there your customers and they supply there own.
Residential split system change outs are the worst I’ll take a package change any day everything is easier from the ductwork to electrical less work by far no having to tie refrigeration lines back in after flushing some of the systems I change or should I say most of them are hydro systems and the boiler and condenser will be a mile away from each other in some of these mansions in westchester ny and Fairfield county Ct. Been doing for 20 years and my body is shot at 42 from the attic’s I’m crawling and laying sometimes! Your videos are awesome and your a great tech
@@christophermiller1520 hi Chris, I’ve done it all from Ice machines, Ice cream machines, boilers, package units commercial and residential, split systems, Refrigation systems, chillers w/without cooling towers, rebuilt air handlers. You name it I’ve done it in my 35 plus years. I think we all like the easy change outs or installs but never comes back to back if you’re in the service and install business
I'm surprised you guys have that in Germany when I lived there for 8 months to study crime seemed like it wasn't an issue for me everyone followed the road rules not like here in America
Kinda curious if insurance even covers tweaker damage if it's that frequent. Also, why did the plumber opt for a copper drain pipe? Wouldn't PVC make more sense in this situation? Doubt tweakers would be interested in hard plastics...
This particular customer doesn't carry insurance for this kind of damage, they self insur themselves by hoarding cash reserves to handle the rare instances that this happens
Copper is UV proof, even UV resistant plastics break down when exposed to almost constant sun light in a desert environment, plus the UV rays reflecting off the roof surface concentrates the effect even more
Wow 6-gauge wire I thought 8 was good for 50 amps but then again I don't know how far of a run it is from the panel keep the videos coming Chris I always enjoy watching
something similar happened to a hospital I was in for double bypass surgery, they were wheeling me into the OR, and one of the attendants said "sorry its so hot in here, scrappers stole the copper out of one of out AC units." to which I replied " I hope they got a good lung full of Freon ! " he just laughed
I'm glad I'm just the truck driver that delivers these things. Well sometimes. Not often but I've done it. Yall can deal with that mess. I'm too lazy to do this type of work.
Type K,L, and M are all the same OD. Inside diameter is smaller depending on type. K is used for refrigeration and has thickest wall. Also there are 4 types as DWV is used got drains only.
Never let progress interfere with tradition. PVC and ABS drain pipes have only been in common use for ~60 years now - too newfangled for the HVAC industry...
Scrappers. Tell me about it. I went into one of my restaurants one Sunday morning to make sure everything is OK for monday opening. In the wash room I saw a filter holder hanging down. I looked up and saw.... Blue sky! Some group of scrappers had stolen an entire 5 ton package unit and had started on a second one. I never figured out how they got them off the 2 story roof. No crane prints or dents in the pavement as if they had just rolled it off the roof. Fortunately insurance covered it. Funny thing is, if these thieves had worked that hard doing something legit, they'd have made a lot more money.
I just did a home laundry room reno and moved some water line for my washing machine. The damn copper fittings did the same thing to me. I like to dry fit and mark joints before I solder and I couldn't get the pieces apart. My old fittings in my bucket worked just fine but the new ones from the hardware store about half were getting stuck. Not sure what these manufacturers are doing but it was so damn frustrating
Chris, when you need to buy then return the gas piping do you account for the time to do that? I ask because the profit of your jobs usually is made or lost on the little things like the gas piping. I assume that by now the big stuff you have under control so it's the little things that can increase or decrease your profits. Not saying you need a pipe threader. Just saying it's the little things that matter.
Yeah Ty this was a time and materials job we did not quote this so i billed for all my time onsite and returning materials plus an extra 8 hours for misc follow up work
@@user-zr1ij2nz6j code doesn't allow it most places if not all commercial settings by now. Natural gas reacts with copper. Also it's just considered good practice to pipe gas with steel. It doesn't take much to break an exposed piece of hard copper.
I saved a lot of old equipment and stashed it in my shop yard refrigeration A/C ice machines and other stuff. For many years I did HVAC work new equipment when needed fixing repairing keeping things running. Now I’m retired and I scrap that old stuff tear it apart separate the metals at my leisure When I go to the scrap yard they verify me and you have to wait for any metals 3 days for a payout. And you must present identification and address. There are still some that skate by the rules or use small time scrap places that do t question things. I’ve done many repairs on vandalized units they literally steal any piece of copper they can not caring about the damage they do. There was one place a fast food place a fairly new 5 ton package unit was stolen off the roof the whole unit. How did they do that I asked the contractor that replaced it He said a couple guys go up unhook every thing and just push it off the roof load it in a pickup and drive away. Crazy
We had a big problem here in UK so all the metal dealers had to take photo ID and check it before dealing. It did slow it down until started up again where they smuggled it outside the main 5 eu countries where there are no checks. It effects everything that uses copper railway control to telephone lines. They did learn a lesson when they say new telephone cables going in but when they left site found out they was all fibre so then dumped in river. Most new water and waste pipe here is plastic.
Great videos! Friend’s mini split had 120v coil instead of 240v coil and it was burnt, 45uf cap instead of 40uf. WHY NOT USE A 40/5 INSTEAD OF 45/7.5 AND 5. Im not sure that's what killed the compressor.
The crane montage was awesome!!! Another great video, jumped off my bulldozer on my farm property all beat up but it's good to sit down and watch a good HVACR video!
I don't understand why you don't leave it in the parking lot for the tweakers to get the rest. Now they have to get security on the roof. Thia was like 500k for 7 dollars in copper. These people need to be put on wall and ....
he already has the truck and they normally just drop the entire unit off at the scrap yard and take whatever they give for it. Thats what our scrap guy does and our scrap guy is the crane guy.
Keep in mind that as well as the expensive electric pipe threader that you are probably thinking about, Ridgid and others makes hand pipe threader kits. They have the round die head that takes various dies and has a 2' hunk of 3/4" pipe for a handle, and a selection of dies for common pipe size. Look at Grainger part number 4YR89 for a 300 buck pipe threader kit that will probably do everything you would ever need.
Awesome work. I've been there and done that, lol... Set many of package units all over the state of Florida and California. Biggest job was in California at one of the largest malls in the United States. This was located in southern California in the city of Lakewood. With a crew of 8 men plus myself we were able to replace 7 units in around 14 hours. I was in charge of setting up helicopter lifts because some of the units where too far in for even the largest crane on wheels that could access parking lot couldn't reach far enough in. I also ordered all the equipment, curbs, did on site gas line fabrication, organized the electricians, fire department and police department. Entire mall was evacuated, police shut down parking lot and the fire department on standby in case any possibility of fire or injuries. It was definitely a long day. On one of the unit sets the down draft from the helicopter blades blew some of the duct work apart, knocked out several dozen ceiling tiles along with lighting and destroyed two large return air grilles. Looked like a hurricane went through section of the mall. Albeit the damage the job came out okay I still received a big pat on the back from the owner of the company. I miss doing the work as now I'm retired, the only thing I don't miss is the 24 hour on call for weeks at a time.
should get the concrete form tubes that are sold at hardware store for pouring concrete to put over those copper stubouts to make sure noone runs into them and bends them like almost happened in the beginning there. Also use a spray bottle with soap water like dawn to spray down the copper when test fitting. makes it come apart easy.
The might tweakers have done the place a favor. They get all new equipment and a new roof probably paid for by insurance. Here in Wisconsin, scrap dealers are required to get identification from anyone bringing in scrap metal. Most have video records too.
California has been considering such a law... don't know if it passed, and in any case, who is going to enforce it here? We've got DAs who won't prosecute *any* shoplifting charges, and some police agencies have been told to not bother arresting shoplifters... would they even bother to enforce what is a paperwork violation? Until we get enforcement to give a crap about these things, the situation is going to continue to suck.
pretty cool video nice music during the crane lifts. my question is what was the total scrap value of the stolen copper? these tweakers are pathetic excuses for human beings. tens of thousands of dollars worth equipment and time to replace what little they got.
If you don't do a ton of gas pipe a small hand threader for the odd ball length is great. If you have a General Machinery around you they cut it to whatever length you want and are a lot cheaper than HD most of the time.
Number 8 thwn is fine. Article 310.15 says 50 amps in 75° column. Remember minimum circuit amps is compressor and fans x 125% so it’s already oversized. And the number 6 in the seal tight was a good idea because your limited to the 60 degree column on that. Nice work.
I dunno here in Houston we use exposed pvc for all our drains and I have many over 10 years old that are just fine. Exposed on a commercial roof too, just a bit of chalking no sagging or breaks. I do use sch.40 pipe tho.
@@jamminwrenches860 you can use uv rated PVC in California, but not standard PVC. It does get very brittle over time there. Ive seen many that crack if you look at it wrong lol
Wait... I heard from the car community about the exhaust catalyst being stealed from cars, now I'm hearing about stealing general parts (even fuel pumps). Now I see this... America, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???
What's going on is you're just now starting to pay attention. Thieves have been stealing catalytic converters for over forty years, and stealing copper ever since the price tripled in the mid-60's.
@@JasmineLindros Metals theft really started to get insanely bad about 12 years ago - as opposed to being merely bad - and it's been increasing since then. It has finally gotten bad enough that the general public is starting to notice... which says something about how well we have been able to cope up until now, and how unobservant the general public can be. So long as the individual scrap yards keep buying, no questions asked, we're going to continue to have problems.
In Quebec we just put a pvc p-trap and the RTU drains on the roof, no plumbing no copper no trouble 😉🇨🇦 Interesting to see how different things are from a country to another!
Yeah our local codes make us plumb our condensate to the sewer... I will discuss this live on UA-cam tonight 1/3/22 @ 5:PM (pacific) come over and check it out ua-cam.com/video/2UhZaKfPILY/v-deo.html
Chris, I would be curious to know the "Dollar Cost" of a job like this, just in general terms. How much is the scrap value of the copper they stole? And how much do you think this whole roof sweep cost the customer? I know it is none of my business, but I am a bit curious as to the cost of a theft like this. Especially when you put it in terms of $40 (?) of scrap copper cost the customer how many hundred thousand Dollars?
I'd say the average is every $300-400 of scrap cost $10,000 to replace. If they are more modern units say late 90's and up it's less scrap value. It's literally beer money per $1000
I dont see how it's even an incentive to scrap copper when doing legit work at a job for probably almost the same hours of labor will net you the same if not more.
let me give you a little unsolicited advice always put a tag line on the load when it came over the power pit you should have secured it by the tag line and then easily aligned it to its base just saying i see it all the time yeah most cases you can eventually grab ahold of it and put it in its place but i see you guys went as far as wearing hard hats up it to next level and put a tagline on it
When i first started working for the company i worked for for 31y the boss questioned everyone were all this copper was going. The company did a lot of line sets but not that many. A service guy would buy the copper in a supplyhouse and then get cash at the scrapyard and buy drugs.
There's only so much you can do. Move it at all and it's going to swing with that type of lift. Scarier was the guy that obliviously seemed to walk right under it.
@@jesseh5554 Yeah really, I know the operator can't see where people are on the roof, but swinging them package units over their heads is a big no no...
@@greendryerlint A good operator would of taken his time, there's no excuse for sloppy operators. I know the recording was sped up slightly, but there was way too much swing, especially when you have to wait when the operator stops for the unit to stop swinging like it was. It's dangerous, makes the crane unstable and could be a huge liability issue.
I like these "series" videos and definitely dig the longer videos showcasing some of the real gritty that happens from time to time. Been humming the idea of getting into HVAC and YT with all it's oddness auto suggested your channel. Honestly the best thing it's suggested in a while.
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
My favorite is when the tweakers try to steal the 3-phase wiring. Had them break into my company's connex box and steal my boss's son-in-law's DeWilt sawzall (I always kept my tools locked in my truck). They used his sawzall to try and cut 000 gage wiring going into the hotel we were doing doors at. The arc flash blew the blade off and shot it into a nearby wall, burying it halfway, the sawzall was smoked, and the electrical room smelled of burnt hair and skin for a week. Out of the four buildings we were working on, they picked the one building that was fully live.
lmfaoo
Too bad most criminals aren't smart enough to know about voltage testers
@@leviwilliams4728 I'd say that's a good thing, since it helps them more easily participate in Natural Selection.
@Jeffrey Morgan I'll agree with you there... except for the smell.
Hahaha Natural Selection at it's finest!
We used to engrave the words "Stolen from (owner's name)" all over any copper that could be accessible to the local druggies. We'd also keep a good relationship with as many local scrap collectors as we could. On one occasion, we had a main water valve stolen from a building causing thousands of dollars worth of water damage. When the idiot thieves tried to take it to the scrapper, he saw what we wrote on the valve and called the police. They were arrested and charged for the damages.
Probably time to make the recycling companies in California be liable for accepting stolen metals - at least keep a record (with ID) of anyone bringing in scrap.
We have ID requirements in GA and a max LB a year without proof of working in a trade. I would be amazed if CA dose not already.
My local one in Florida. Requires Gov ID for valuable metals. Anything else like steel or aluminum you walk in and right out.
We have ID laws here in Texas but many of the scrap yards ignore them.
That's what I call a happy ending.
It's been so hot here in Iowa the last couple of weeks I saw a tweaker trying to put the copper back in the A/C. 😂😂😂😂
Lol
Lol
Hey I'm also from Iowa! Yesterday my ac was running 24hrs and temp wouldn't go below 80F.
Lol
I’m in Iowa as well. Looking forward to working in this heat this next week.
Electrically isolate exposed drain lines. connect largest possible electric fence energizer. Get security cameras and laugh 😂
Then tweaker gets a shyster lawyer and sues for emotional distress.
Sadly baiting with intent to harm is illegal in most states.
jesus guys. the amount of time and money spent doing that is probably less than just replacing the lines 😂 ‘‘twas a joke
@@BradyT918 well, then don't intend to harm. Intend to scare the crap out of them.
Why trap them, build an electric fence around the roof perimeter with signage indicating it being one, they can't sue because it's their fault then that they couldn't read and stay away._
I'm a Burg & Fire alarm programmer for a national grocer and watching your videos has helped me understand a lot about when HVAC or refrigeration techs visit our stores. Now that I know how long calls like you handle can take, I'm more liberal with placing roof hatch and mechanical room alarm contacts on test. A fun tidbit to add about your tweaker videos, we used to have a lot of roof sensor contacts for HVAC unit doors and roof motions to catch/prevent copper thieves etc. well the doors fluctuate in the heat and wind, and birds are great at setting off motion detectors, so we have disabled most of them and it's much less common that we deploy these types of devices on roofs anymore. Anyway, I enjoy your videos, your work ethic is on par with my own, and I appreciate you helping the world understand the life of an HVAC technician a lot more.
Thanks so much bud
Hope their insurance covered this. If it did, maybe those tweakers did them a favor.
Probably prorated for remaining expected life
Rate increase now
I don't want to know the total bill for the equipment and Chris' time.
Gave them the bolt cutters. Teheee
If they have insurance then it should be covered. The issue is that they will probably do it as cheaply as possible. If it costs less than a new unit to replace the drain pan and condenser then they will probably say to do that, even if it involves completely disassembling the unit.
Wonder if kitchen staff got mad about having no ac all summer and decided to make sure everything got replaced!!!
Luckily it was in the springtime this happened. I live in Arizona myself. In June we had two heat waves in excess of 110°F. I can't imagine this happening in the summer here, how awful conditions would be.
@@B1GDaddyFatStax 110 isn't a heatwave thats a normal thing for phoenix/ Arizona
@@wades623 doesn’t matter if it’s normal nor not it’s still hot.
@@wades623 I don't live in Phoenix though. I live in the Northwest, near the mountains. For us, max heat is around 115° in August. Not 110° before June 21st. By then we'd already had two heatwaves. It's concerning because we weren't even in the hottest part of summer yet. June is usually 90°-95° weather, tops. Not all of Arizona is Phoenix. Thank god.
@@B1GDaddyFatStax Phoenix has the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station though. With all of those clean gigawatts you can run all the a/c you want without being a jackass.
When they were installing Fiberoptic in my neighborhood they had to leave the rolls of fiber overnight. They labeled them with a giant homemade sign, "Fiber Optic, No Copper Value"
They even to that here in Germany 😂
15:58 - Yes, I did pause to check that you removed the red caps from the duct detector. 😁
When the electric convection oven at my former place of employment burned itself up and we dragged it outside, my coworkers asked me, "what do we do with it now?" I said, "Drag it over to the dumpster. It'll be gone tomorrow, guaranteed. A scrapper or a tweaker will grab it." Sure enough, in a 12-hour span, the entire unit disappeared.
A couple of guys were caught on a customers roof about a month ago, they had already removed the condenser coils and destroyed the units but a worker had came in early saw the ladder and the guys and pushed the ladder down and called the cops. Guys got arrested guess they were scared to jump three stories.
Wouldn't had been a loss if they would.
Seriously. I wonder what kind of thought process people like this have.
"Hey bro, wanna ruin someone's business and existence by being an absolute dick head" "yah bro, I'm in. Need some crack money anyway bro" or what?
But then again, there are "bank managers" who lose money they don't own and ruin thousands of life's on a daily basis and that's legal and also encouraged with a hefty bonus.
To sum my rant up. Assholes. Assholes everywhere, no matter the social or financial situation.
@@Ch0rr1s Never underestimate humankind's ability to rationalize and put their needs before those of others.
@@dtiydr right lol, I feel bad for my customers but I’ll gladly take their insurances monies. Shit if it get like how it was 12 years ago HVAC businesses will be boomin
Fuck em
What a staggering amount of work to undo the damage done by a few idiots, probably for under $100 'profit'.
Way more than 100 in all that
@@fixitallpaul4847 if you scraped the entire unit maybe. For a few pieces of copper, no.
And most likely it is all wasted for alcohol down the throat in few days._
@@DjResR Like others have said, duggies.
@@DjResR Not alcohol, they want that sweet sweet methamphetamine. Lol
I probably would have painted the drains white instead of black. make it look "PVC"ish. Cause black looks like insulated copper.
The ac units on my factory roof are pvc drains. Not sure why you'd waste copper for a drain line but maybe that's code. Also, the ac drain doesn't go to a drain, just goes onto the roof and eventually gets to a roof drain.
And white reflects heat while black attracts it...
it could also look like black iron
Nice video. Where I operate, hvac-r contractors have been restricted to only hooking up a 6’ electric whip and no gas piping at all. Anything prior to the whip must be installed by a licensed electrician. All gas must be by a state certified plumber. For many years I have subbed all electric and plumbing. It saves me a great deal of grief. I have been a hvac-r contractor for 49 years. Stay frosty.
Love to see the efficiency of getting stuff done between crane picks. Everyone knows their roles it looks like. Good teamwork.
Sure hope the customer took steps to preclude this from happening again! Great show Chris, thanks!
I will discuss this on my Livestream this evening 7/26/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) come check it out ua-cam.com/video/f6_dxFO6940/v-deo.html
sucks about the vandalism, really it does, but it's always a cool day to lift new units up..
we put denzo tape on any exposed copper in dodgy areas, helps to disguise it
I would like to thank you for these videos. HVAC and refrigeration has always been a curiosity for me, and I have actually learned a lot here. Because of your videos, I have actually been actively keeping my condenser cleaned out myself for the house AC and even used this to help friends clean their car AC condensers and diagnose small issues.
When you said you can do a bottom drain and don’t know why you would want to, I have an answer. Tweakers🤣🤣 can’t steal the copper if they can’t get to it🤣🤣
If the lines don't carry water, find ceramic and rubber isolators designed to carry refridgerant and attach to copper. Connect to an electric fence controller and rig up an alarm for high current or open circuit to phone the Owner and allow him to watch the nearby camera and phone the police. Touch the copper, ride the lightning, and cause a call to the police.
@@notamouse5630 just missing the high voltage signage
@@richardhicks5031 just have it behind a fence, shocking methheads is the point.
Is copper code on the drain lines for roof units? I always see sch40 pvc 3/4 used for drains. Will the pvc not hold up to the sun on the roof?
@@bartfoster1311 Probably just what the customer, or actually the buildings owner specified. Some customers just want the unit, and others dot every i and cross every t...
This is quite a change in video and I utterly enjoyed it all, seeing the process it takes to do a roof sweep. I'm not even in HVAC, or anything, but the knowledge has come in useful for me in just understanding my window AC units.
That's a great business relationship to have with a that driver. People often forget scrapping things isn't just free money especially when it's an assembly
It’s annoying to have to fix destruction left behind by tweakers, it’s infuriating to do so more than once at the same location. Had a cell site go down three times in a year because tweakers would break-in and steal all the power cables and batteries. During one such instance an entire remote community was without cell service for little over a day while we worked to replace all the missing parts. Damn tweakers! Your 5 unit rooftop replacement made for great content though, always appreciate the 80’s soundtrack and it was refreshing to see you work on a shiny new unit, no dust on the prodigy controllers!
get yourself the ol' portable harbor freight pipe threader unit.. it's like $200 if you don't catch it on sale and it does the job for those couple times you need it.. would probably pay for itself in the time savings making HD returns
Good idea..and make sure you keep your receipt, as with tools, you really do get what you pay for!
@@damon6852 I have to agree with this, especially with the luck I have had with harbor frieght products. Sometimes you get a tool from a bad batch. Most of the stuff they carry is decent, its just the ones that slip past QC that cause issues.
Matt London.. not to be a wise ass. But Chris has a pro press.. he can already use that for gas lines.
Lol I thought the same thing and the half inch thread broke on the second pipe I used it on. I wasn’t impressed! Fuc* harbor freight for anything other than cheap hand tools that you plan on replacing regularly.
just get you a used little power pony chris. Corded. They sell offbrands for a couple hundred bucks. that and a stand should do what you need to do without having to invest a ton. Or, if you want to go really cheap, you could just get a ratchet threader, but seriously, save your arms and just get a cheap corded handheld unit. It'll save you a lot of trips to depot! :) I was the guy on the other end, as a teen and 20s kid, i worked at a hardware store that took custom orders for gas pipe, so the local gas company would put in an order for 1000 pieces and i'd have to sit there all day cutting and threading LOL.
@Hamilton Mechanical, Been around it,seen it done,WAS NOT ENVIOUS!! Instead was happily tying rebar,setting wall forms and shaking down Mud!! What a way to spend your younger years! Still better than setting trusses! Thank you for Making America Great!! Sorry we never shared a lunch break together and keep remembering the Good Old Days!!
You need tag lines on the equipment when using the crane to swing them off and on to the roof. It protects your guys and the load while in the air. It keeps you out from under it but allows you to control it liftoff to touchdown.
Its actually an osha mandate also.
I bet me too the Punch.
Very educational
We can only hope the tweakers got a face full of refrigerant while they were stealing the copper.
Yeah tweakers more like RUINERS.
Nice to see you working on brand new AC's in stead of reparing old junk. Tx for the video!
It's got to be a treat, or at least as much of a treat as you get out of a day of hard work, when you can install something exactly the way you want to instead of dealing with the hackery from the last 20 years of other contractors.
Nicest thing about the Prodigy controllers that I've commissioned is the integrated supply and return sensors that allow you to get the units running before you even get the tstats installed. I left the field just as those Prodigy 2 controllers hit the market, the Prodigy app was a huge help in getting aquatinted with the newer system.
Man, as chaotic as some roof sweeps have gone here in the Northeast, I gotta say that I kinda miss those freezing January mornings when you get a coffee after or those humid July mornings where you're hustling to avoid an afternoon thunderstorm.
I'm sure I'm just blocking out the bad stuff (like when my boss had us pull the wrong unit), but it was a fun experience.
fl January’s are always much more enjoyable outside (rarely drops below 30°) i totally miss the northeast and their freezing cold January’s.
everyday in florida is 90° and 60% humidity in the late morning and heavy rain and thunderstorms in the late afternoon here in july 😂 it lasts from the end of June to mid October. I hear ya, dying for January rn
I don't know why I miss it because I'm sure I was miserable in the moment. Up here in PA we haven't had too many recent arctic winters, but in the early 2010's we had a few years with blizzard-like weather and below 0° temps. It was wild.
I know what chain that is as based on the no deliveries sign on the back locking gate with magnet lock lol. We just replaced a 10 ton Lennox at the same chain in Iowa. Their roof if just as bad with grease, antennas etc. we have an older gentleman that picks up all our old units and takes them back to our shop and scraps them himself.
That was cool watching an entire crew of professionals working to get a big job done. I remember those days doing a large facility with electrical and being part of one of those crews.
I was a plumber for over twenty years, we had a custom home we did in California. Took 3 days to get all copper in place and under test, electrician, ran their stuff same time. Hvac set inside and outside units on third day, got to love it when they have all subs tripping on each other, anyways that night all copper and ac coils were stolen along with a case 680. I thought the general was going to go hunt down the tweeks himself.
He finally got approved to replace equipment!!! Haha. It's a nice shift in the content. Great video Chris.
Looked like a smooth job, good one! Question, why replace the drain with more copper and not PVC?
Working in the power industry, always liked getting the pictures of some POS who thought they knew better and cut a ground coming off a big 138kV transformer and got smoked. Once you cut that ground, one end becomes 138kV. Last bit of copper you tried to steal!
Awesome on leaving service loop. A lot of people try to wire things to look super neat and crisp, with no regard on what happens when you end up with a loose, heated termination and now have to pull new wire because it's 3" too short now. There's a time and place to make things super neat, but function over form prevails in most cases and you still made it look neat with the loop and made it easy for the next guy. Just imagine if everyone always thought of the next guy, instead of consciously deciding to not GAF about the next guy, as too many people do.
Love the Polaris connectors too!
my guess is that copper pipes handle vibrations better than pvc, and also doesnt mind direct sunlight, which pvc does eventually become more brittle. just a guess though.
@@awesomestuff9715 then use steel or galvanized steel in that case.
I've seen PVC used before, but don't think sun is the issue. But curious as to why they went back to copper since it was already stolen once. But could be for the reasons you mentioned. Maybe more mold / shit grows in PVC vs copper?
Probably code around there
Agreeing with and expanding on @awesome stuff , they already have copper run most of the way, pvc would require more maintenance, and the restaurant's budget is already blown by getting 5 new AC units. Running stainless is an un-necessary expense in their eyes. It's just as easy for a tweaker to nick the stainless if they get access to it, so it would make more sense to put the money towards better site security. Maybe an alarm system with motion detectors near the ACs.
You're such a professional, man. I can't stop watching your videos. Also, I'm glad your company keeps taking in big jobs 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I love roof sweep! Money being made. Your videos are great. I bought a hat and shirt last week to keep your wife busy. Keep up the excellent work Chris. I will continue to support the channel.
Thanks bud!!
One critique. When lifting those units you should consider putting a tag line on them to help reduce rotation.
Yeah, I was looking for that, and shaking my head at the absence...
Its actually required under 29 CFR 1946.1417 (w) when the rotation could be considered "hazardous." A couple of those lifts I thought a tagline should have been used, especially with how much the load was swinging. Lifting the load so high isn't good practice either.
@@wanderingvetcj not much choice on lift height with those units trying to clear the Parapet eall
Yeah we used tag lines when I worked in California, but when I got to las vegas nevada they hardly used a tag line crazy.
Nice having a junk roof that’s about to be replaced for a big project like this, don’t have to worry as much about hurting it. If you’re on good terms with the roofer, now would be a good time to slip pour pockets over the conduit, gas line, and drain penetrations. Very nice, clean work!
Very nice looking job! As a retired C-20 contractor it brings back fond memories. The only critique might be extra long horizontals at the bottom of your traps. We would use street els to keep them as short as possible so they wouldn't load up with crap making them harder to blow out.
The other panel on that side of the unit (return side for horizontal discharge) fits over the hole under the heat exchanger… newer Tranes are like that too. Just a heads up for when you’re burning off those exchangers.
Those Splicing lugs (we call them Polaris Connectors) ... don't use those on anything with vibration or wide thermal cycles or they come loose. Worst case ever was in motor peckerheads. Seen them fail in that application almost every time. Damn shame too, I love the idea but had to go back with split bolts and proper taping to make them work long term.
4:40 your music selection is nothing short than amazing. For all montages. Nevermind the haters
Lennox GCS units are dinosaurs. I worked on those in the 70’s
Sweet now they can head back over and grab them new lines. Thanks for the update
Im glad you kept the lennox brand on that roof, ive come to really love the brand and the way they are engineered for easy repairs with good tech support and part availability makes em the best brand in the market today. The tweekers will hate how there is much less copper now
Here in Detroit people watch for their neighbors on Sunday morning to go to church and then they steal their air conditioners and stripped their copper water pipes out of their house it gives them an hour or two to do that pretty smart.
Those drain line fittings that were 'stuck'...had a similar situation when I inadvertently used "Tinning" flux. Everything went together easily when 'dry-fitting'. Once I applied the flux (usually acts as a lubricant) no fittings would fit without hopelessly jamming. Several fittings deformed from using channel locks, a little blood, and a LOT of swearing (No new words, just clever combinations of the old favorites) and I gave up and started over with regular flux. I highly recommend NOT using "Tinning" flux!
@14:30 you probably do the drain pipe on the bottom so the tweakers won't see it ;)
It’s a sad day when you need security cameras on your A/C equipment ……
Security cameras? I'm thinking add an electric fence.
@@greendryerlint The real nutcases do the same thing with overhead train cables, so much damage done for maybe a few hundred dollars of copper.
Tweakers usually wear hoodies and cover their faces because no one is that stupid to get caught on video, right.
@@greendryerlint Pfft, electric fence?....I'm thinking freaking sharks with laser beams on their heads!
Get new politicians who dont pander to “recycling” lobbyists.
as a semi professional rigger oh so many years ago, why oh why did you not use stabilizing lines onto the lifts to control the swing and movement of the lifting loads? it will help you place and improve the safety for your installers with the tons of swinging metal overhead.
Jobs like that are why I love the Milwaukee m18 pipe threader
For your purposes an electric cutter/threader would be way overkill and not cost justified, however you can buy a hand threader and several dies for around 200$. For just one job it is probably not justified, but I feel like the time spent digging through the shelf for pre-made nipples/ or waiting on an associate to cut and thread it for you then returning the excess is definitely worth more over the cost of several jobs. Did a total replacing of all water, diesel, and air lines on a oil lightering ship. One guy threading, another guy measuring and one guy disassembling and reassembling. Took us about a week for roughly 2000 feet of black iron using a hand threader.
You must of had a lot of past experience in changing out rooftops to get 5 in a day. Great job! Of course I always liked it more if I supplied the units and adapters but can understand if there your customers and they supply there own.
Residential split system change outs are the worst I’ll take a package change any day everything is easier from the ductwork to electrical less work by far no having to tie refrigeration lines back in after flushing some of the systems I change or should I say most of them are hydro systems and the boiler and condenser will be a mile away from each other in some of these mansions in westchester ny and Fairfield county Ct. Been doing for 20 years and my body is shot at 42 from the attic’s I’m crawling and laying sometimes! Your videos are awesome and your a great tech
@@christophermiller1520 hi Chris, I’ve done it all from Ice machines, Ice cream machines, boilers, package units commercial and residential, split systems, Refrigation systems, chillers w/without cooling towers, rebuilt air handlers. You name it I’ve done it in my 35 plus years. I think we all like the easy change outs or installs but never comes back to back if you’re in the service and install business
Back here in Germany they stole the powerline of the railways like kms long. I was sure it is just an issue back here yet again i was wrong
Yeah, some of these people just need to be removed from society. There's no redemption for some criminals.
I'm surprised you guys have that in Germany when I lived there for 8 months to study crime seemed like it wasn't an issue for me everyone followed the road rules not like here in America
Must have known how to de-energize the line safely? holy crap.
Did a service call at a office.
Line sets on the outside of the building.
That night all gone.
About 30 feet.
Nice job bro it's 5 AC and one damn day. Great job bro I put in 7 in 1 day and it was a pain in the ass.
Kinda curious if insurance even covers tweaker damage if it's that frequent. Also, why did the plumber opt for a copper drain pipe? Wouldn't PVC make more sense in this situation? Doubt tweakers would be interested in hard plastics...
This particular customer doesn't carry insurance for this kind of damage, they self insur themselves by hoarding cash reserves to handle the rare instances that this happens
Copper is UV proof, even UV resistant plastics break down when exposed to almost constant sun light in a desert environment, plus the UV rays reflecting off the roof surface concentrates the effect even more
@@mnhvacguy9788 So paint it jet black and problem solved.
@@mnhvacguy9788 we would use stainless steel pipes in that case in Germany.
Wow 6-gauge wire I thought 8 was good for 50 amps but then again I don't know how far of a run it is from the panel keep the videos coming Chris I always enjoy watching
You have to derate it above (I believe) 105°F, so it's safe, except not under the most extreme operating conditions.
The fire code locally supersedes the national code if the code is stricter.
something similar happened to a hospital I was in for double bypass surgery, they were wheeling me into the OR, and one of the attendants said "sorry its so hot in here, scrappers stole the copper out of one of out AC units." to which I replied " I hope they got a good lung full of Freon ! "
he just laughed
I'm glad I'm just the truck driver that delivers these things. Well sometimes. Not often but I've done it. Yall can deal with that mess. I'm too lazy to do this type of work.
15:20 there’s 2 types of copper pipe. Type l and type m one is a thicker pipe. Not sure if it will be thicker on or od or id
id is thicker on type L and K respectively. Type M is shit, even in residential, would not recommend if its going to sit behind drywall.
Type K,L, and M are all the same OD. Inside diameter is smaller depending on type. K is used for refrigeration and has thickest wall. Also there are 4 types as DWV is used got drains only.
I know there is a difference in OD between gas pipes (high pressure) and water pipes (low pressure).
Random question as someone who doesn't know much about the trade: Why copper drain lines? Why not some cheap plastic?
Probably a fire code reason. Here in Ontario no plastic allowed in between floors or walls for just that reason in hospitals.
Never let progress interfere with tradition. PVC and ABS drain pipes have only been in common use for ~60 years now - too newfangled for the HVAC industry...
I will discuss this on my Livestream this evening 7/26/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) come check it out ua-cam.com/video/f6_dxFO6940/v-deo.html
Scrappers. Tell me about it. I went into one of my restaurants one Sunday morning to make sure everything is OK for monday opening. In the wash room I saw a filter holder hanging down. I looked up and saw.... Blue sky! Some group of scrappers had stolen an entire 5 ton package unit and had started on a second one. I never figured out how they got them off the 2 story roof. No crane prints or dents in the pavement as if they had just rolled it off the roof. Fortunately insurance covered it. Funny thing is, if these thieves had worked that hard doing something legit, they'd have made a lot more money.
I just did a home laundry room reno and moved some water line for my washing machine. The damn copper fittings did the same thing to me. I like to dry fit and mark joints before I solder and I couldn't get the pieces apart. My old fittings in my bucket worked just fine but the new ones from the hardware store about half were getting stuck. Not sure what these manufacturers are doing but it was so damn frustrating
I really hope this customer has good insurance.
Chris, when you need to buy then return the gas piping do you account for the time to do that? I ask because the profit of your jobs usually is made or lost on the little things like the gas piping. I assume that by now the big stuff you have under control so it's the little things that can increase or decrease your profits. Not saying you need a pipe threader. Just saying it's the little things that matter.
Preach
Yeah Ty this was a time and materials job we did not quote this so i billed for all my time onsite and returning materials plus an extra 8 hours for misc follow up work
@@HVACRVIDEOS Just out of curiosity: Why not use copper + brazing for the gas lines? Since you already have the brazing equipment.
@@user-zr1ij2nz6j code doesn't allow it most places if not all commercial settings by now. Natural gas reacts with copper. Also it's just considered good practice to pipe gas with steel. It doesn't take much to break an exposed piece of hard copper.
I saved a lot of old equipment and stashed it in my shop yard refrigeration A/C ice machines and other stuff. For many years I did HVAC work new equipment when needed fixing repairing keeping things running. Now I’m retired and I scrap that old stuff tear it apart separate the metals at my leisure
When I go to the scrap yard they verify me and you have to wait for any metals 3 days for a payout. And you must present identification and address.
There are still some that skate by the rules or use small time scrap places that do t question things.
I’ve done many repairs on vandalized units they literally steal any piece of copper they can not caring about the damage they do. There was one place a fast food place a fairly new 5 ton package unit was stolen off the roof the whole unit. How did they do that I asked the contractor that replaced it
He said a couple guys go up unhook every thing and just push it off the roof load it in a pickup and drive away. Crazy
We had a big problem here in UK so all the metal dealers had to take photo ID and check it before dealing. It did slow it down until started up again where they smuggled it outside the main 5 eu countries where there are no checks. It effects everything that uses copper railway control to telephone lines. They did learn a lesson when they say new telephone cables going in but when they left site found out they was all fibre so then dumped in river. Most new water and waste pipe here is plastic.
I'm surprised these units had natural gas furnaces in them. I figured they would have heat pumps.
Great videos!
Friend’s mini split had 120v coil instead of 240v coil and it was burnt, 45uf cap instead of 40uf. WHY NOT USE A 40/5 INSTEAD OF 45/7.5 AND 5. Im not sure that's what killed the compressor.
The crane montage was awesome!!! Another great video, jumped off my bulldozer on my farm property all beat up but it's good to sit down and watch a good HVACR video!
Your guys look so smart in the black pants and shirts and ppe. Looks like the guys id want to employ
I don't understand why you don't leave it in the parking lot for the tweakers to get the rest.
Now they have to get security on the roof. Thia was like 500k for 7 dollars in copper. These people need to be put on wall and ....
The driver must make ok money on scraping if he's doing it all the time
he already has the truck and they normally just drop the entire unit off at the scrap yard and take whatever they give for it. Thats what our scrap guy does and our scrap guy is the crane guy.
Keep in mind that as well as the expensive electric pipe threader that you are probably thinking about, Ridgid and others makes hand pipe threader kits. They have the round die head that takes various dies and has a 2' hunk of 3/4" pipe for a handle, and a selection of dies for common pipe size. Look at Grainger part number 4YR89 for a 300 buck pipe threader kit that will probably do everything you would ever need.
By the way you do very good and professional work I’m impressed at this video
I seen a closed resturant next to my job in the hood day after all the big ac units on roof were shucked like corn tweakers
I wonder what the best color to paint the pipes to prevent theft? I'd be tempted to paint it "PVC white".
wow 5 units replaced.i love it. good job sir chris
Awesome work. I've been there and done that, lol... Set many of package units all over the state of Florida and California. Biggest job was in California at one of the largest malls in the United States. This was located in southern California in the city of Lakewood. With a crew of 8 men plus myself we were able to replace 7 units in around 14 hours. I was in charge of setting up helicopter lifts because some of the units where too far in for even the largest crane on wheels that could access parking lot couldn't reach far enough in. I also ordered all the equipment, curbs, did on site gas line fabrication, organized the electricians, fire department and police department. Entire mall was evacuated, police shut down parking lot and the fire department on standby in case any possibility of fire or injuries. It was definitely a long day. On one of the unit sets the down draft from the helicopter blades blew some of the duct work apart, knocked out several dozen ceiling tiles along with lighting and destroyed two large return air grilles. Looked like a hurricane went through section of the mall. Albeit the damage the job came out okay I still received a big pat on the back from the owner of the company. I miss doing the work as now I'm retired, the only thing I don't miss is the 24 hour on call for weeks at a time.
As Lawrence Taylor said in The Waterboy........." which brings me to my next point.......dont smoke crack" LOL
Yes more 80's music.....lovin it
5:02 this is some good herk off music
😂
We had tweekers steal all of the copper condensate lines on a roof. At another site they were huffing the refrigerant.
should get the concrete form tubes that are sold at hardware store for pouring concrete to put over those copper stubouts to make sure noone runs into them and bends them like almost happened in the beginning there. Also use a spray bottle with soap water like dawn to spray down the copper when test fitting. makes it come apart easy.
The might tweakers have done the place a favor. They get all new equipment and a new roof probably paid for by insurance. Here in Wisconsin, scrap dealers are required to get identification from anyone bringing in scrap metal. Most have video records too.
California has been considering such a law... don't know if it passed, and in any case, who is going to enforce it here?
We've got DAs who won't prosecute *any* shoplifting charges, and some police agencies have been told to not bother arresting shoplifters... would they even bother to enforce what is a paperwork violation? Until we get enforcement to give a crap about these things, the situation is going to continue to suck.
@@chemech until the twealers steal all the copper off the roof of a police station.
pretty cool video nice music during the crane lifts. my question is what was the total scrap value of the stolen copper? these tweakers are pathetic excuses for human beings. tens of thousands of dollars worth equipment and time to replace what little they got.
Roughly 500$ most likely less
Tweakers don't think logically, its all about that next fix.
@@chaz4310 if the tweakers had manage to get the coils out, the compressors out they'd be tweaked for at least a week
If you don't do a ton of gas pipe a small hand threader for the odd ball length is great. If you have a General Machinery around you they cut it to whatever length you want and are a lot cheaper than HD most of the time.
Number 8 thwn is fine. Article 310.15 says 50 amps in 75° column. Remember minimum circuit amps is compressor and fans x 125% so it’s already oversized. And the number 6 in the seal tight was a good idea because your limited to the 60 degree column on that. Nice work.
Is there a reason you use copper for the drain lines instead of PVC?
I was wondering that too maybe building code
In California the PVC will get brittle and crack over time.
I would also think you would need a ton of support to prevent the plastic sagging especially in these temps!
I dunno here in Houston we use exposed pvc for all our drains and I have many over 10 years old that are just fine. Exposed on a commercial roof too, just a bit of chalking no sagging or breaks. I do use sch.40 pipe tho.
@@jamminwrenches860 you can use uv rated PVC in California, but not standard PVC. It does get very brittle over time there. Ive seen many that crack if you look at it wrong lol
Wait... I heard from the car community about the exhaust catalyst being stealed from cars, now I'm hearing about stealing general parts (even fuel pumps). Now I see this... America, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???
What's going on is you're just now starting to pay attention. Thieves have been stealing catalytic converters for over forty years, and stealing copper ever since the price tripled in the mid-60's.
@@JasmineLindros There have been a bunch of organized hits on industrial lots like busses and mail trucks in Canada these past few months. It's crazy
@@JasmineLindros Metals theft really started to get insanely bad about 12 years ago - as opposed to being merely bad - and it's been increasing since then. It has finally gotten bad enough that the general public is starting to notice... which says something about how well we have been able to cope up until now, and how unobservant the general public can be.
So long as the individual scrap yards keep buying, no questions asked, we're going to continue to have problems.
Congrats on the install. It's interesting to me all the little stuff that needs to happen.
In Quebec we just put a pvc p-trap and the RTU drains on the roof, no plumbing no copper no trouble 😉🇨🇦 Interesting to see how different things are from a country to another!
Yeah our local codes make us plumb our condensate to the sewer... I will discuss this live on UA-cam tonight 1/3/22 @ 5:PM (pacific) come over and check it out ua-cam.com/video/2UhZaKfPILY/v-deo.html
Chris, I would be curious to know the "Dollar Cost" of a job like this, just in general terms. How much is the scrap value of the copper they stole? And how much do you think this whole roof sweep cost the customer? I know it is none of my business, but I am a bit curious as to the cost of a theft like this. Especially when you put it in terms of $40 (?) of scrap copper cost the customer how many hundred thousand Dollars?
I'd say the average is every $300-400 of scrap cost $10,000 to replace. If they are more modern units say late 90's and up it's less scrap value. It's literally beer money per $1000
I dont see how it's even an incentive to scrap copper when doing legit work at a job for probably almost the same hours of labor will net you the same if not more.
I will discuss this on my Livestream this evening 7/26/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) come check it out ua-cam.com/video/f6_dxFO6940/v-deo.html
let me give you a little unsolicited advice always put a tag line on the load when it came over the power pit you should have secured it by the tag line and then easily aligned it to its base just saying i see it all the time yeah most cases you can eventually grab ahold of it and put it in its place but i see you guys went as far as wearing hard hats up it to next level and put a tagline on it
i love your videos though thank you for sharing your day to day and your tech tips keep them coming !
Our scrap guy gives us 50% of the equipment 🙂
When i first started working for the company i worked for for 31y the boss questioned everyone were all this copper was going. The company did a lot of line sets but not that many. A service guy would buy the copper in a supplyhouse and then get cash at the scrapyard and buy drugs.
Poverty, opportunity, disregard of virtue or any other myriad of reasons, people will find one to justify stealing from others.
And then it's somebody else's fault when all the businesses leave.
Insurance fraud.
*addicts
Crane operator is scary, swinging that package unit all around like that..
That was my thought, maybe I'm just spoiled with awesome operators, but that wouldn't fly with us.
There's only so much you can do. Move it at all and it's going to swing with that type of lift. Scarier was the guy that obliviously seemed to walk right under it.
@@jesseh5554 Yeah really, I know the operator can't see where people are on the roof, but swinging them package units over their heads is a big no no...
I thought the same thing. Those units were swinging quite a bit.
@@greendryerlint A good operator would of taken his time, there's no excuse for sloppy operators. I know the recording was sped up slightly, but there was way too much swing, especially when you have to wait when the operator stops for the unit to stop swinging like it was. It's dangerous, makes the crane unstable and could be a huge liability issue.
Here in Georgia, scrap yards will not accept anything from anyone who doesn't provide a business tax I.D. number...
I like these "series" videos and definitely dig the longer videos showcasing some of the real gritty that happens from time to time. Been humming the idea of getting into HVAC and YT with all it's oddness auto suggested your channel. Honestly the best thing it's suggested in a while.