Tech Tips

This tech tip is based on a presentation by Joey Henderson, a veteran symposium speaker and excellent HVAC educator. You can learn more about Joey and the work he does at joejoehvac.com and his YouTube channel HERE. Simply put, indoor air is often nasty. People cough up and exhale germs, and cracks in the envelope […]

This tech tip was inspired by a Facebook post by Jason Julian in the HVAC School Group. Jason is the owner of his own HVAC business, Julian Heat & Air, and was part of the 2024 HVACR Training Symposium's Small Business Roundtable. Thanks, Jason! HVAC work is NOT easy. Some installs (and even service calls) […]

This tech tip is based on the podcast with Joey Henderson, “Using Refrigerant Troubleshooting Charts w/ Joey Henderson.” You can listen to that podcast HERE. The HVAC trade is very much a visual one; I wouldn’t recommend doing a drinking game where you take a shot each time you read “Do a thorough visual inspection” […]

Courtesy of Copeland The design goal of most modern compressors is to make them more efficient and better able to match loads, hopefully without reducing ruggedness. The Copeland Scroll Digital™ or digital scroll is one compressor design that has become very popular due to its simplicity and versatility. But before we go further, let's define […]

Suppose you have two extension cords. One is a nice, thick #10 50′ cord with good ends, and the other is a crappy #14 25′ cord. Unfortunately, you need to connect them both to get to your drill 75′ away. Which do you connect to the plug, and which to the drill? Come up with […]

This tech tip is based on a segment of a recent podcast episode with Joey Henderson, “Using Refrigerant Troubleshooting Charts w/ Joey Henderson.” You can listen to that podcast HERE. Credit: efficientcomfort.net If you’ve seen a superheat charging chart (like the one above), you’ll notice that you need to take the dry-bulb (DB) temperature entering […]

This tech tip was heavily informed by Ed Janowiak’s past symposium presentations. You can watch his presentation about setting proper airflow HERE. You can also now purchase your tickets for the 6th Annual HVACR Training Symposium HERE. HVAC School was founded by a Floridian—representing Climate Zone 2, to be exact. So, it’s no surprise that […]

A friend of mine was telling me that a utility had the idea that they could reduce energy consumption by turning HVAC equipment on and off rapidly during times of high load. In their minds, wouldn't it be better to spread out the off time rather than keeping the system off for longer periods and […]

Assessing the Situation It is fairly common for a service technician to come across a failed condenser fan motor in the field. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about really old or fairly new equipment—condenser fan motors sometimes fail. The issue is deciding whether to use an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or a universal […]