   McGuyveresque Air Conditioning: The Sequel
  I made a thread some time ago about my air conditioner problem (nearly new horizontal unit, doesn't fit in vertical windows). It's getting hot here, and well, no success selling the unit at a bargain price, and I'm not having any success finding someone who just happens to want to exchange a vertical unit for a horizontal one (not to mention that not all veritcal units could fit our narrow windows).But... My mother noticed that the air conditioner would fit if we installed it sideways. I quickly told her that this could risk in breaking the thing since it wasn't designed to operate like that (an answer I believe most careful people would give). Yet. What if it worked?The way things are looking, I'm going to have to either sell this for a really lame price, or remain stuck with it, and buy a new unit. I'm just wondering, has anyone ever done this before? (google searches yield nothing, it's also hard to come up with keywords).I know that I would have to rig something to collect the water (like a large  foam or plastic plate) because the water usually goes to the bottom part, and it would come out of the side if it were sideways... But what about the gas compressor? Does anyone have a clue as to how these things work? Would you think that they work sideways? or would I have to unscrew the thing and bend the pipes so as to make it vertical again?   
  Looks like I found a part of the answer:http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/Can_you_install_a_window_air_conditioner_on_its_sideApparently running the compressor on its side can kill it. Now the real question is whether it might be possible or not to change the position of the compressor inside the unit. Most importantly, how easily it can be unscrewed and how possible it is to bend the gas pipes without breaking them.   ;  The compressor uses special gases (freon or something like that) which can be harmful if misshandled. If you do not have the equipment to empty and refill the lines of that gas (rather expensive stuff I would think) your chances of repositioning your compressor is almost nill.Now, what you might be able to do is to find a company that deals with AC units, like installing/repairing, and ask if would be possible to do this, and how much it would cost.Then head out and look at spending money on a new one, and using the old one as a large paperweight. Or, get a kiddy pool, and buy a deepfreeze/large blocks of ice to put in said kiddy pool.   ;  why do you need a window to install the air conditioner? Can't you just make a hole in the wall?   ;Quote:Original post by owlwhy do you need a window to install the air conditioner? Can't you just make a hole in the wall?because that costs a lot more than slipping it into a window.But you should ask your landlord how hard it would be to do that. You know how to use powertools right? :P or can atleast make it sound like you do?   ;  I say rip the guts out and use it as a PC case   ;  Just stick your fridge in the window with the door facing inwards. :)   ;  Keep the air-con, sell the house.   ;  Air conditioning unit have two parts (as far as I know). The blower unit should be in the room, and the compressor/condensor unit is mounted or simply just sit outside. I believe there's only a PVC water drainage pipe and a copper tube for freon in between the two unit.So the only concern for you is the how to collect the water and modify the water drainage on the blower side. Blower<---freon--->Condensor/Compressor should be a closed system and doesn't matter much whether is horizontal or vertical.   ;Quote:Original post by DerekSawAir conditioning unit have two parts (as far as I know). The blower unit should be in the room, and the compressor/condensor unit is mounted or simply just sit outside. I believe there's only a PVC water drainage pipe and a copper tube for freon in between the two unit.So the only concern for you is the how to collect the water and modify the water drainage on the blower side. Blower<---freon--->Condensor/Compressor should be a closed system and doesn't matter much whether is horizontal or vertical.Well apparently the compressor should still be vertical because otherwise the oil distribution will be bad and it will break.Quote:why do you need a window to install the air conditioner? Can't you just make a hole in the wall?Because I live in Canada, and while we get temperatures of 35C+ (that's about 105F+ in your primitive american thermal units ) in the summer, we also get temperatures of -40C (-40F) in the winter...Montreal in the summer:Montreal in the winter: