HVAC work is never just “HVAC” work. One minute you're brazing copper, and the next you're troubleshooting a blown fuse in a disconnect or running a new whip to a condenser. Because our trade is so varied, you never know what you're going to find when you open a service panel or crawl into an […]

Some quick basics: An ohmmeter is used to measure the resistance to electrical flow between two points. The ohmmeter is most commonly used to check continuity. Continuity is not a “measurement” as much as it is a yes/no statement. To say there is continuity is to say that there is a good electrical path between […]

How many times have you looked at the bottom right-hand side of an evaporator coil and seen all sorts of rust, even on a fairly new coil? You may have noticed that many evaporator coils and even some condenser coils will start to corrode where the galvanized steel endplates touch the copper U-bends of the […]

Andrew Greaves joins us again from AHR 2020. This time, he discusses what mentors and role models do in our trade and why they're important. Mentors are not just the grouchy senior techs who throw hammers at apprentices. Mentors have an active role in others' professional development; they spend a lot of time with their […]

Andrew Greaves comes on the podcast to give us a sneak peek into the life of a tool manufacturer. Andrew has worked in the field for a long time and has recently begun working for NAVAC. He currently works as a regional manager who oversees operations in 24 states; his main task is to establish […]

In this simultaneously heavy and lighthearted discussion, Bryan Orr and Andrew Greaves discuss ego, Dunning-Kruger, insecurity, and apprenticeship in the trades. In the early days, apprenticeships were quite different from the way they are today. One-on-one mentorship used to be a much more significant component of early apprenticeships, but that style of training is uncommon […]