York Champion "Tombstone" Air Conditioner Running

Recorded February 2024. I happened to see this air conditioner running as I walked by, and thought it worthy of a little attention in the form of a video. Made sometime in the 1970s or early 1980s, this has been serving reliably for over forty (maybe even closer to fifty!) years. In that time, I'm sure it has seen plenty of abuse, as it's connected to a building used for student housing.
The outdoor temperature was around 44°F (~6°C). That's really too cold for air conditioning without special provisions on the air conditioner (such as a fan cycling switch and compressor crankcase heater). A later look at the control wiring indicated that this is a cooling-only unit. (I'd be surprised if any of these were made as heat pumps. It would have been pretty early days for that.)
At the time this was made, York was a part of Borg-Warner (the automotive parts manufacturer).

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

I doubt too many AC units made these days would live that long

[@Frank-bc8gg]

it might also be survivor bias given any ones that went out are long gone

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@Frank-bc8gg true that's possible

[@Redlightening38]

That thing will probably still be here when we are long gone

[@Jon-hx7pe]

new ones are built with coils made from very thin tubing and third world parts - not going to get much more than 15 years out of a new one. some may last 25 years - nothing will 40+ years. @@Frank-bc8gg

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@Redlightening38 wouldn't surprise me lol

[@weegeemike]

My uncle still uses his late 40's Carrier water cooled HVAC unit in his shop. Has never given him a problem and keeps his entire 2000 sqft building cool on 100+ degree F summer days.

[@bquintb]

that thing looks like it was made in a post-WW2 factory. Incredible that it's still running!! 😮

[@AiOinc1]

Fan sounds a bit rough but it's still working! Lovely machine.

[@speederbrad95]

We had a building that was almost exclusively air conditioned by about a dozen or so units similar to these where I live in Australia. Many were still in place, although only a few still appeared to actually be in use due to low occupancy of the lower level shopping arcade. right up until the 2022 flood. Which is when they decided to remove all the old units to make space to install Panasonic ceiling cassette systems.

[@munnsie100]

Good to see a fellow Aussie here - I have seen a few of these around Sydney, but not for a while!

[@HVACExplorations]

Piece of American quality. Those units ran high head pressures to begin with, they could handle abuse. 🙌🔥

[@DJSubAir]

Used to be so common, now it's rare to see this bad boy run! Nice find Mr.Bill

[@Redlightening38]

Ahh yes the classic look of a vintage aquarium blue and rust love it william

[@TheToastPeople]

That old beast could outlive us all

[@bbishoppcm]

I want one of these on my grave some day

[@1912RamblerFan01]

A place in my old town had several of these still installed and running about a decade ago, I wonder if they're still there. I wish Johnson Controls (who owns York now) had the same quality as the old Borg-Warner Yorks back in the day...

[@redneckbryon]

Interesting to see two fairly modern units next to the old tombstone.

[@Jon-hx7pe]

the gooman will need to be replaced first.

[@twocvbloke]

Build it right, it'll last a lifetime, build it fast and cheap, and it won't last the warranty... :P

[@redneckbryon]

One of my neighbors has a unit like this. It's a straight cool unit. It's still connected, so I would imagine it does work.

[@bakonfreek]

I think I saw one of those during my installer days.. I wanted to take it home and have it just for the look, but bossman said no.

[@uxwbill]

During my short tenure at a very shady HVAC contractor, I replaced a five ton Trane condensing unit that had been hit by a truck. I don't remember now why I wanted it, but the business owner let me take it and the matching evaporator home. He claimed it leaked. I have my doubts. I pulled twenty pounds (!!!!) of R-22 out of that system, which had about a ten foot line set. Later, I discovered one of the fuses in the disconnect was blown. Gee, I wonder why! That condensing unit actually did donate some parts to repair other systems, with one of those being a Schrader valve core I used to repair a leaking automotive system. (It was handy compared to going inside and getting a new core. It also worked until the car was wrecked years later.) The condenser is long gone, but I still have the evaporator for no very good reason at all. (I wanted to leak check it, and maybe someday I will.)

[@zachb9011]

that was really cool you for sure don't see many of them hopefully it holds together for many more years as the r22 charge in that system is the price of gold now days

[@eDoc2020]

Are they growing certain plants in there? I've heard that's one of the main reasons to use air conditioning when it's so cold outside. Alternatively I'd think server cooling but computers don't need it as cold. Maybe the contactor welded shut and it's been running nonstop since summer, who knows?

[@uxwbill]

I don't know. I was simply passing by one day. The thought of a welded contactor did occur to me.

[@CompactHVAC]

That right there is a mid to late 1970s model based on the blue color and the dense coil guard. The data tag should be on the side facing the building, and if you can provide the model and serial numbers I'll be able to tell you exactly when it was manufactured. I have seen several of these still kickin' around my general area

[@uxwbill]

I would have checked on that, were it not for a concern that someone might think I was up to no good. I even hesitated a little to make the video, because who would believe I was simply appreciative of an older air conditioner still in service and wanted to make a video about it? I have also seen several Chrysler Airtemp units in this part of the world that are still going strong. Those can't be any newer than 1974 or so, when Chrysler sold that division to Fedders.

[@munnsie100]

@@uxwbillwe had Chrysler Australia Airtemp units, usually found in commercial settings like grocery shops etc. I haven’t seen one for many years. Chrysler Australia was taken over by Mitsubishi around 1980/1981, so I do wonder if Mitsubishi Electric also absorbed their Airtemp division?

[@uxwbill]

I can only speak with any certainty about what happened here in the United States. In 1974, Chrysler sold the Airtemp division to Fedders.

[@TheColinputer]

Meanwhile these days few tiny components on a inverter board can blow and make a unit uneconomical to fix.

[@windowsuser321]

Pretty neat

[@1marcelfilms]

Better than the china garbage. Looks like it could use some fixing up though.

[@NuffMan_]

it also could be running just to remove moisture, but i doubt that. Maybe the fan is just hardwired to be always on

[@myradioon]

nice

[@rrcoster]

Don't make like they use to or as unique that for sure thanks for sharing bill

[@weasel2htm]

I wonder if they were a Sweedish company at one time. With a name like ... YORK! YORK! YORK! (Thumbs up if you get the joke.)

[@uxwbill]

Several hours later, I'm the first "thumbs up" in spite of usually being the last to get "popular" humor. I am surprised by this, to say the least.

[@zachb9011]

i get the joke yep

[@jimdayton8837]

Never thought I'd see uxwbill do an HVAC video.

[@uxwbill]

You must be new here...?

[@munnsie100]

Wow, we had a version of those in Australia around the same time. Makes our 20 year old Fujitsu look young! I also had no idea that BorgWarner had anything to do with York. BorgWarner had a large presence in Australia, so I do wonder if they were involved in my country too.

[@misterrocks3035]

I have definitely seen Carrier "Round Ones" down here in Australia. Alas, the morbid fascination in this country with "split systems" ("minisplits" in 'murican parlance) installed in the most inappropriate applications will have seen most examples of such ducted air-conditioning sidelined. I hate split systems with a searing passion... Look around, and you can sometimes find some really interesting old, homegrown relics in terms of A/C (usually abandoned in-situ with split systems tacked in wherever they'd fit). I've seen POPE commercial air-conditioning systems (Pope made home appliances, like washing machines - although they must've been part of Email Limited, who after many years morphed and merged into a part of the Electrolux group of companies, along with other big names like Vulcan-Dishlex, Simpson, Westinghouse, Kelvinator and so on). Today we associate the name "POPE" with cheap hose fittings down at Bunnings, or perhaps the Roman Pontiff, for those so inclined. Once found a Frigopol condenser unit with what appeared to be a belt-driven, squirrel-cage fan - perhaps it was designed for installation in a "Mechanical Plant" type arrangement where the hot airflow would need to be exhausted out in a specific manner?

[@munnsie100]

@@misterrocks3035 thoroughly interesting! In a nearby suburb to mine, there are a group of early 70s brick homes with various original ducted systems in place. I believe some of them are custom/tailor-made, with the outdoor units being made up per unit, rather than a mass production model lineup.

[@munnsie100]

@@misterrocks3035 I can also recall seeing a Chrysler Australia AirTemp branded system in a local shop many years ago, and even older, a Warburton Franki setup. I do wonder if Chrysler Australia’s AirTemp division was eventually taken over by Mitsubishi Electric, when Mitsubishi took over Chrysler Australia (automotive) around 1979-81

[@joeduece1]

Cool Bill Rock on 😊

[@Bluethunderboom]

I have never seen this design before, and although it is very intriguing to do it differently by the designers to compete with other manufacturers. I don't know it has a direct drive fan in this HVAC, and there's no way that can be a belt drive fan for the HVAC and cause belt to rot and disintegrate and not to work. At least this Tombstone HVAC works great and never gets off the mountain, and who knows it is time to get it replaced with the new HVAC when this failed or retired. But man, it is really interesting how this HVAC outlasted than any other leading products.

[@Channel-cm7yc]

Thank gawd you don’t see a lot of these anymore. While they were bullet proof, they were also a design disaster.

[@northhankspin]

this didn't feel right watching it in HD.. when was that thing made around?

[@chasewilliams3949]

I'm far from any type of expert on this kind of thing, but maybe it was being used to keep some large amount of food cool? Doesn't seem like it'd be able to cool enough for that though. Odd but cool find!

[@uxwbill]

Although I have seen a residential air conditioning condenser used in a refrigeration application for a walk in cooler, I suspect it was done just to get things up and running until a proper repair could be made. I don't think there are any central food preparation facilities in the building served by this air conditioner.

[@Jerkwad152]

Vintage A/C, vintage uxwbill! 👌

[@DandyDon1]

Is there a split unit less efficient than this this ancient York? :)

[@OraEtLabora0]

bearings sounded shot. do try to speak to a manager there. interview about it's history would be interesting.

[@retroguy74]

Was there some reason/advantage to this design?

[@totaltech8246]

Did you just trust us to unleash our thoughts in the comment section without the usual reminder, or did the “comment if you have one” catchphrase sneak out of the script?

[@uxwbill]

There is no script.

[@wilkes85]

My grandma has the same air conditioner, but hers is in better shape.

[@jacobisworld9516]

What is that?

[@KaidoFujimi]

An air conditioning unit.

[@kbhasi]

The outdoor unit of a central air conditioning system, in turn basically the most popular type of air conditioner in the US (where the person who recorded the video lives). Such units normally pull air in through the front, rear, left, and right sides and exhaust out the top, but the model he showed was unusual in that it pulled air in through the top, front, and rear sides and exhausted out the left and right sides.

[@alphabeets]

Time to retire that old mare.

[@Jon-hx7pe]

and put in a new one with chinese capacitors that die every few years and an evap coil that starts leaking within the warranty period?

[@aleksandersats9577]

That old one will outlive new ones. How about no.

[@WalterKnox]

Why would you replace something that is still working well with something that is an inferior product?