Tech Tips

Have you ever noticed that the more you're required to speed up to get all your work done in a day, the more the cleanliness of your work vehicle suffers? Some techs won't clean their vans, no matter how slow or busy the schedule gets, but most of us prefer a clean and organized vehicle. […]

  The most common—and often most frustrating—questions that trainers and senior techs get asked sound something like this: “What should my ______ be?” or “My _____ is at ______. Does that sound right?” Usually, when the conversation is over, both the senior and junior techs walk away feeling frustrated because the junior tech just wanted […]

I used to call PTCR devices a "Soft Start". I was wrong.

We’ve talked about compression ratio a lot over the years. Compression ratio is the number you get when you divide the absolute head pressure (PSIG + 14.7) by the absolute suction pressure (PSIG + 14.7). It measures the efficiency of a compressor, and lower numbers indicate that the compressor is moving more refrigerant while consuming […]

If you own your HVAC company or are involved in management, you may have realized that our industry is currently facing a shortage of new A2L refrigerants, particularly R-454B and R-32.  Our own company has faced limited availability and long lead times, mainly due to supply chain disruptions and the increased demand now that our […]

It's incredibly useful to understand wet-bulb temperature and air enthalpy when calculating actual system capacity and human comfort. Dry-bulb temperature is a reading of the average molecular velocity of dry air. However, it does not account for the actual heat content of the air or the evaporative cooling effect of the air. When air is […]

I want to share something that came up in a recent discussion with Roman Baugh about VRF systems, and it made me realize I might have had a blind spot regarding scroll compressor designs. We were talking specifics, and he brought up high-pressure shell compressors. My immediate thought was, “Hold on, aren't scrolls low-pressure shell […]

There are three things we never discuss at the dinner table: religion, politics, and which wire to break with your float switch. A float switch fills with water whenever there is a drain backup, and it breaks power to one of the low-voltage wires. We clearly want the HVAC system to stop producing more condensate, […]

Our company recently had an incident where someone was operating a scissor lift and hit a fire sprinkler with it. The sprinkler activated, and the area flooded. This issue, unfortunately, isn’t that uncommon in the electrical, construction, and HVAC trades, but it’s preventable with proper training and attention to detail. Those of you who work […]