Tech Tips

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial interest in HVAC Simulator or Dirk’s company, Nauman Innovation Group LLC. He is not a sponsor; I just think he’s a great guy who cares a lot about the industry, and I’m excited to share his work with other people who want to improve training and education in the skilled […]

How do we decide what to spend our time and attention on as technicians? What is truly important and what isn’t? At least here in Texas, the answer changes seasonally. When it’s 100 degrees outside, your priorities shift from long conversations about people’s pets to conveying necessary information about system problems so we can get […]

The point of this article is to give you a full understanding of the role fuses, overloads, and circuit breakers play in the protection of HVAC/R equipment. If you skim-read or jump to conclusions, you will be tempted to argue. Be patient; if you want to understand, you will need to read all the way […]

Courtesy of Emerson It is important to have refrigerant free from debris and contaminants, and we control these issues on many different fronts. 1. Proper tubing handling prevents copper shavings, dirt, and water from entering while installing. 2. Flowing nitrogen while brazing prevents carbon build-up. 3. Deep vacuum of 500 microns or less removes air, […]

To maintain combustion (burning), you need three things: fuel, heat, and oxygen. If you have all three in the proper proportion, you can maintain a continuous state of combustion. Remove one (or reduce one sufficiently), and the triangle of combustion can collapse. In a common natural gas (NG) furnace, the heat is the igniter, the […]

Server rooms, sometimes called data rooms, are a somewhat unique situation in the HVAC trade with some special circumstances that should be considered. Here are a few tips for success when working on equipment for these spaces. Note: this article is focused on smaller server rooms that may use conventional or mini-split-type forced air equipment. […]

Every gas furnace data plate/tag has a specification for the temperature rise through that furnace. It is shown in a range like 50-80° or 45-75°. Those first two numbers are the lowest recommended temperature rise; the highest allowed temperature rise through the furnace is usually a 30° difference. When possible, we want to get the rise […]

Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. That's the way Charles Dickens begins his “A Christmas Carol,” one of the most well-known pieces of literature in the modern world. A short story that can be read aloud in a few hours has to start memorably, and this one certainly […]

This gas furnace maintenance procedure in this article was developed by Michael Housh. Michael is the owner of Housh Home Energy in Ohio. He regularly works on natural gas equipment and is an active contributor to the HVAC School Facebook group. Thanks, Michael! Gas-fired equipment has a different set of components than your typical straight-cool […]