When your window AC unit stops blowing cold air but is functioning properly in every other regard, it is likely low on coolant. This means that the unit will have to be recharged with a fresh infusion of coolant, likely Freon. That isn’t necessarily a given though. Be sure to research what specific coolant your window air conditioner uses. If it does turn out to be Freon, you can buy a Freon kit, which will include all the tools and instructions necessary to get you through the AC recharge process. Note that Freon is toxic to humans and any handling and safety instructions that come with your kit should be taken very seriously. DISCLAIMER: Depending on your local laws, the use of refrigerants like Freon and even tinkering with the inner workings of an air conditioner unit are illegal unless you are specifically licensed to do so. Look into your local regulations and make sure that you are not breaking any laws by attempting a project like this. Unlike central air conditioner units, window air conditioners only draw power from the wall socket they are plugged into.

Simply removing the plug will ensure that you can open up the machinery and inspect things safely.ac wall unit parts Some AC units can be opened by simply sliding the front ends out of place, while others will require the aid of a screwdriver. cheap ac units in nycConsult the owner’s manual for your specific device to determine the proper method.air handling units installation Having successfully opened up your window conditioner, you will need to carefully check for any signs of leakage. If you locate any leaks, fix them or call in a professional to do so before using the device again. If no leakage is present, consult the device's owner's manual to determine the proper amount of refrigerant you’ll need to add. Using both the unit’s manual and the tools included in your Freon kit, locate the compressor part of the window AC and the two lines coming off it.

Next, take the service valve from your kit and attach it to the compressor line. The compressor should still have one free, unattached line extending from it. Take this remaining compressor line and attach it to the tap valve, which will also be included in the Freon kit. Attach both of the valves that you’ve just installed, the service and tap valves respectively, to your container of Freon. The kit should contain a detailed diagram showing how to properly position the coolant tank between the two valves. When you’re assured that everything is connected tightly and properly with no potential for leaks, plug in your window AC unit and power it on at its highest setting. With the Freon tank now directly linked to the unit’s inner working via the service valve and tap, the normal flow of air that occurs while the unit is operational will push or “charge” Freon into the unit. When the unit is finished taking in the amount of Freon mentioned in your user manual, power down the unit, unplug it, remove the valves from the compressor, and place the unit back in its housing.

To reiterate, in many parts of the country this work is legally restricted to people who are licensed experts. Assuming you can even legally attempt it, if at any point in the process you become confused or unexpected problems arise, stop what you’re doing immediately and call a professional. When this process is handled incorrectly is can be damaging to the window air conditioning unit and dangerous to the user.While most of us are now used to charging mobile phones and other gadgets, few drivers are familiar with recharging an electric car.Not to worry though as it’s really pretty easy and not dissimilar to charging a battery in something like your phone or camera. To show you how easy it can be, Zap-Map has created a series of short instructional videos to highlight how to use an EV charger.The videos on this page focus on using a Rapid DC or Rapid AC unit, two types of high-powered public charging units. In addition to watching these videos, we recommend you also read charging basics page.

To use a rapid charger, you will need to either register with an appropriate network or use a mobile phone app to access the service. Many networks provide a RFID access card to enable access and charging on rapid units.Electric vehicles such as the Nissan LEAF and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which incidentally are the two biggest selling EVs on the market, use a CHAdeMO DC inlet connector for rapid charging. This video explains how to correctly use a rapid charger fitted with a tethered CHAdeMO connector suitable for these vehicles.Some electric vehicles such as the Renault ZOE and Tesla Model S have chargers on board that can deal with high levels of AC current and convert them to DC current so the battery can charge at a rapid rate. These vehicles will use the Type (Mennekes) connector when using a rapid charger. This video explains how to correctly use a rapid charger fitted with a tethered Type 2 (Mennekes) connector suitable for these vehicles.Volkswagen and BMW have opted to fit certain models in their electric range with the Combined Charging System (CCS).

This is essentially a Type 2 inlet with two addition slots attached to the bottom which allow the car to charge on DC power. This video explains how to correctly use a rapid charger fitted with a tethered CCS connector suitable for vehicles such as the VW e-golf and e-up! or the BMW i3.To see all the rapid DC and AC charging points that are located in the UK, go to Zap-Map Live and use the filters in the top-left hand panel.Tesla announced a battery for your house, the Powerwall. I think this is a great opportunity to talk about batteries and physics. Let me answer some questions you might have. This is perhaps the most important question and one that has likely been addressed many times. In short, a house battery will let you be more power independent. If you have solar panels or electricity generated from wind, they don’t always produce the same amount of power. With a battery, you can store this energy during the day (or during wind) and then use it at night. A house battery will also let you get power from the electric company at night when the rates are lower and then use it during the day.

You win with a lower power bill and the electric company wins with lower demand during the day. You could always have a battery for your house. The most common way was to use lead acid batteries, like the one in your car. However, this was not so simple. You would need to have a whole bunch of the batteries and you would have to connect them together. When one battery goes out, you have to replace it. Oh, the traditional battery is also expensive and takes up lots of space. The Powerwall seems to make a home battery more like an appliance. It mounts on the wall and you don’t have to maintain individual batteries, and the price seems reasonable at between $3,000 to $3,500.Your house runs on AC current but the battery gives you DC current. This means that you need to take the DC current and convert it to AC current. You might have a device that does this in your car so that you can plug in household items like a computer or a coffee pot. The converter takes the DC current from the car battery and turns it into an AC current so that your laptop can then take this AC current and convert it back to DC.

Yes, that seems silly but it’s true. The Powerwall does not include a DC to AC converter (or AC to DC if you want to charge from the power grid). Tesla makes a 7 and 10 kilowatt-hour battery. Let’s look at the 10 kWh one—but Tesla says that you can stack these such that you could make a 20 kWh battery if that made you happy. But really, this comes down to the definition of power as the rate that you do work (or change energy). We know the energy stored in the battery and we can estimate the average power the house uses. From that, I can solve for the time to use this energy stored in the battery. What is the energy stored in a battery? The bigger Powerwall has 10 kWh. Yes, this is a unit of energy and not power. It says that you could get a power of 10 kilowatts for 1 hour. You can convert this energy to Joules if you like – it would be 3.6 x 107 Joules (1 watt is a Joule/second). The next thing we need to calculate the run time is the power. How much power does your house use?

I think 2 kilowatts is a good estimate. With that, we can calculate the time: Five hours doesn’t seem like a long time, but I bet this would get you through the night if you are using solar power (you don’t use as much energy when you are asleep). Ok, actually you would get less than 5 hours. This calculation assumes everything is 100% efficient. In fact, the battery is only 92 percent efficient and the DC to AC converter would have some energy loss as well. If you aimed for 3 hours at 2 kW, I think you would be ok. If I talk about density, you will probably think of the mass of an object divided by its volume. This would be the mass-density. Energy density is the energy stored in a device divided by its volume. But why would you need this? Well, it tells you how large a storage device will need to be to store a certain amount of energy. What is the energy density for the Powerwall? From the Powerwall page, the battery has dimensions of 130 cm x 86 cm x 18 cm. Assuming this is a perfect rectangular cube it would have a volume of 0.201 m3.