Air conditioner question.

[mike]

Hi guys... yesterday i bought an Air Conditioner from Sears..the namebrand was Kenmore. I saw on the outer box that there was some oil on it, but i figured the oil was from another oil and it just happened to drip on my unit.. i was wrong, when i went home and opened it up and took it out of the box there was this oily liquid everywhere..inside and about..atleast a cup of oil everywhere.. i say oil because its the closest resemblance of what i can tell it is.. i dont know much at all about window mounted air conditioning units.. so anyway i had it all over my hands and some was dripping in my house.. I called up Sears tech support to find out what this could of been and they know nothing.. i called the store, and they didnt know either.

does anyone here know what the HECK that could of been? could it of been the refrigerant cooling and is that stuff cancerous? that seems to be my biggest worry at the moment.. by the way, i definately returned the unit and got another one.

any info would be appreciated.

thanks mike

[Pop]

"mike" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

Hmm, no finite answers for you but I hope you'll post back when you find out. I doubt it's anything cancer causing but it's an interesting mystery. Did you keep any of it in any way? I would have.

It might be some sort of preservative they use on the units that didn't get washed off in the productio process I suppose. Or maybe a machine split a hose and shot hydraulic fluid all over a bunch of boxes that weren't closed up yet and it got missed.

The best story I've ever heard was an old chicken sandwich found in a Hammond Organ when the tech opened it to repair it once.

Let us know!

Pop

[udarrell]

Could be a refrigerant leak. I would not have accepted a box with oil on it without having them open it to see if there is nay inside.

If it gets on the coils and fins it will insulate them and reduce the heat transfer!

You would have to use special coil cleaner to get it off. I would have taken it back! - udarrell

[RP]

99.999999% probability that a seal system component split or ruptured, rapidly dumping the entire refrigerant charge. Take it back.

hvacrmedic

[RP]

99.999999% probability that a sealed system component split or ruptured, rapidly dumping the entire refrigerant charge. Take it back.

hvacrmedic

[Art]

Mixed in with freon is a lubricant. Possibly the seal blew on a unit during testing and the lubricant got on your unit. I wouldn't worry about it. There are worse things in gasoline that you pump every week into your car and breath it in. Check the warnings on the gas pump next time.

[Travis Jordan]

Just shows you the quality of Sears "tech support".

It is refrigerant oil, and it means there is a leak in the system.

[RP]

He opened the box and saw oil everywhere, on everything. He promptly asked if this was a problem. What suggested to you that he might have installed it and plugged it in?

I already said that it was flat, most probably.

We're done here, there's nothing left to see :)

hvacrmedic

[Stormin Mormon]

Gee, you think if all the oil leaked out, it might affect the performance of the unit?

(So far, no one has asked if he's plugged it in, and turned it on. If it is ref oil, I'm guessing he's also lost the freon.)

[Dr. Hardcrab]

Come on, Chris!

You want him to pull it out of the box in that condition and just plug it in??!! Maybe he should stand in a tubfull of water when he does it??

I would have suggested that he close it back up and take it back for a replacement....

[~^Johnny^~]

[Stormin Mormon]

Agreed, the "close box and return" is the correct treatment plan at the moment. Ah, I guess my syruppy dripping saracsm "what, do you think that would affect the performance" seems to have worked.

Should only stand in a tub full of water if you add salt, make it a zinc washtub, and use a grounding strap for safety.

[Stormin Mormon]

No where saw that he'd plugged it in. I wouldn't suggest he does, either. Tape the box shut, and haul it back.