Who was Michael Faraday—besides the guy we named the capacitor after? Well, actually, we named the measure of capacitance after him (the farad), but let’s not get all caught up in semantics. Faraday was a scientist who lived from 1791 to 1867. He was an experimental scientist who had little to no formal education but […]

I'd like to give special thanks to Steve Rogers from TEC for helping write this tech tip and sharing some helpful visuals. Thanks, Steve! ACCA Standard 310 introduced a grading protocol for HVAC systems. While HVAC practitioners won’t be the ones carrying out the tasks laid out in Standard 310, energy raters will conduct them […]

I'd like to give a special thanks to Tony Gonzalez from Fieldpiece for providing technical guidance about the SC680's power measurement capabilities, as well as VAC and AAC measurements on ECMs. We’ve talked through specifications, applications, and features for a few tools, but none of them have been quite as hardcore as electrical meters. Like […]

John Pastorello from Refrigeration Technologies joins us to talk about testing oil and refrigerant for contamination. He also explains what each test is good for. John developed the Checkmate testing kit when he recognized a need to test reclaimed and recycled R-12 for acid and moisture. The Checkmate method removed a small amount of refrigerant […]

John Pastorello from Refrigeration Technologies is back on the podcast to talk about leak detection procedures from start to finish. Big Blu was what started the Refrigeration Technologies empire. John developed Big Blu to create a bubble leak detector with a higher sensitivity to leaks than any other bubble test solution on the market. Big […]

John Pastorello, the HVAC chemist, comes on the podcast and discusses refrigerant additives such as acid inhibitors, oil enhancers, dyes, and leak sealants with his knowledge and some things to consider. Acid neutralizers are refrigerant additives. Oil works best in a slightly acidic environment, and these additives can change the pH of the system. If […]