AC theft

[Jango8753]

Been a rough week at the office...

Tuesday morning we noticed 3 or the 4 units used to cool the building were smashed up and coils ripped out of them... Jerks made off with MAYBE $90 in scrap metal parts, and caused... wait for it ... anywhere from $5000- $10,000 in damages since it cant be fixed and has to be replaced. may have to replace inside controllers too...

I hate stupid people.

 

[Old Fart]

I hate thieves.

 

[Glock_21]

I hate thieves.

^^^^^^^ This!!!

 

[Jango8753]

Agreed, and next to finding them fried next to the units that were on and running when they did it (because they were too dumb to know how to turn the power off one foot away) i hope they OD on whatever crack, smack, or meth they go buy...

 

[Perplexed]

Can the new units be mounted on the roof?

 

[Jango8753]

Can the new units be mounted on the roof?

to my knowledge, no, its an A frame roof. Im sure the condo association of tards wouldnt like it either

 

[FamousAJ]

there is a company in Okla that has started making cages to protect units from crap like this...I'll see if i can find the info. It might cost $500, but well worth it.

EDIT: damn I'm good at Google.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-wel...-ac-units-from-copper-thieves/article/3690434

When a 79-year-old Texas woman died of heat exhaustion after her air conditioner was stolen, Oklahoma City welder Nathan White couldn't sleep. “He kept saying, ‘Something needs to be done,'” his wife said.

He decided to invent a cage for air conditioning units that would prevent theft but make maintenance easy.

The cage opens completely for service, so it doesn't have to be cut and rewelded, White said. The rest of the time, the cage is padlocked to keep copper thieves at bay.

Since that night last summer, White has sold more than 300 of his patented Clamshell Cages.

The cages cost $495 each, compared to the $3,000 or more it takes to replace an air conditioner, he said.

White, who runs Ace's Fabrication and Design in the Paseo Arts District, has made educating people about copper theft something of a pet project.

He tells customers about the national rise of copper theft, how quickly it can happen and how harmful it is to the environment when looters cut open AC units, releasing refrigerant into the air.....

 

[Jango8753]

Cages are a pretty good idea... x4 though is expensive!

 

[swampratt]

Get a lincoln Ac225 some 6011 rod and some steel and build your own cages much cheaper.
If you do not know how to weld i can almost guarantee after the first cage you will have it figured out.

Buy the welder and steel used and sell welder when done for the same as you paid for it.
or save it and make many things.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Cages are a pretty good idea... x4 though is expensive!

Most businesses in Lawton cage their units these days lol... Blew my mind when I moved back down here.