[carsonw8]

OK how do I search for a very old system? I have the model number and the serial number, but when I go to the mfr website I get no results. I do believe the date of mfr was July 1978 based on s/n, but can't seem to find anything else out about it, especially the SEER rating, (Which is the challenge I was given)....Any old timers can help out this 62 y/o newbie?

 

[roughneck]

Is SEER the only information your looking for on that old girl?

 

[user_12345a]

A 1978 unit may not have a seer rating.

It may have an EER rating which is derived from testing at 95F outdoor/80F indoor.

Probably in the 6 to 7.5 range unless it was something fancy.

Just remember- don't assume what you have now is the correct size.

 

[roughneck]

A 1978 unit may not have a seer rating.

It may have an EER rating which is derived from testing at 95F outdoor/80F indoor.

Probably in the 6 to 7.5 range unless it was something fancy.

Just remember- don't assume what you have now is the correct size.

Most likely correct.
SEER ratings were not really instituted until around 1978.

 

[carsonw8]

That was the challenge, though I believe it's for me to research and find out that SEER ratings did not exist in 1978?

 

[roughneck]

They would have just been instituted around then. Even if it had one back then, it wouldn’t have been widely publicized.
Why are you inquiring? Are you replacing this unit?

 

[sktn77a]

Why are you inquiring? Are you replacing this unit?

My thoughts, too. Just morbid curiosity or something else?

 

[yuri]

Rheem serial #s are not easy to read and it may not be 1978.

If you can find a sticker on the contactor or get the serial # off the top of the compressor and it has a 78 in it then it may be true.

Pretty rare those may still be running. I put a Canadian built Keeprite in Mom's house in 1980 and it wore out and 99% of them are worn out and going away.

Back then it would have been between 7-8 but we only had one style of unit to choose from so no one cared. I have found info on some very old Lennox units and none were over 8 at that time.

However those old machines a lot of them had Tecumseh compressors which were built like tanks and old school Maytag washers so a few are still running.

 

[user_12345a]

I still see some old units in my area - it's probably refrigerant leaks that take them out more so than compressor failure.

 

[yuri]

Older units die/get replaced because the valves wear out and the compression ratio is gone. Then your Delta T is 10-13 and it cannot keep up with the demand.

We are talking about recip compressors as scrolls are mostly under 20 yrs old.

Plus a connecting rod breaks and they seize up or the windings short.