When sealing ductwork or repairing HVAC insulation, the tape you choose dictates the long-term integrity of the system. Temperatures fluctuate wildly in attics and mechanical rooms,  and the tape must be able to withstand these environments without degrading. To better understand how different professional-grade adhesives actually perform under elevated temperatures, we decided to put them […]

Oxy-acetylene torch tip manufacturers publish charts that tell us the ideal applications for each tip size, which is quite useful on its own. After all, a small tip may be great for a ⅜” liquid line but would hardly make a dent in 2” commercial refrigeration piping. But we can also take the information from […]

In order to wrap my head around diagnostic issues, it helps me engage in thought experiments where I think of more extreme examples of an issue or situation or consider the ideal to find the “edges” of a concept. Once I find the extreme edges, I can begin to sort down to a more exact […]

In this episode, Bryan talks with Peter Capuciati and Bryan Johnson from Bluon. They discuss how refrigerant regulations keep changing and how technicians can make sense of it. We've begun phasing out R-22; the refrigerant can no longer be imported or manufactured in the United States. We can still recover and reclaim R-22, but the […]