Oil and Refrigerant

By November 20, 2016

We all see a lot of questions about dyes, leak stoppers, lubricants, inhibitors, and snake oil. All of those were designed to go into the refrigerant circuit and “improve” something.

I just go back to what Ray Johnson always said. (Ray is one of my early heroes in the biz, and he taught me a lot at Carrier classes.)

“Oil and refrigerant.”

If it isn't oil and refrigerant, it doesn't belong in the system.

Now, I know there are rare exceptions. Heck, Carrier has a tech bulletin from 2014 insisting that Zerol Ice should be added to certain systems due to TXV sticking issues.

But when in doubt… Just oil and refrigerant.

—Bryan

Check out our most recent video

Impact of Airflow on Refrigerant Measurements and Performance

Our latest Podcast

HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

Real training for HVAC ( Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) Technicians. Including recorded tech training, interviews, diagnostics and general conversations about the trade.

In today’s short podcast, Bryan explains how growth happens in an HVAC/R career. He also gives tips to get “unstuck” if you feel like you aren’t moving forward.

You won’t move forward if you haven’t set a goal to move forward. Making a “vision board” helps you determine what matters in your life, and it helps you clarify what you’ll need to do in order to achieve your life goals. That way, you can use your career to help achieve those goals and see whose support you need.

Having a growth mindset and a lifelong learning mindset is essential for success. The growth mindset will help you deal with the “growing pains” of advancement (such as occasional failures). People with positive attitudes also tend to see more possibilities for their future careers. On the other hand, negative people are likely to idle in their careers.

You also want to surround yourself with people who will bring out your best. It’s great to be around people who challenge you, have positive outlooks, and are happy for you when you make progress. Moreover, you want to be the person who is authentically excited when other people succeed and do good work. Also, try not to burn bridges with others.

To advance in your HVAC career specifically, develop your hands-on skills. Think about it this way: are you merely doing your job’s requirements, or are you working on yourself? Read through manuals and check out technical materials to become more literate with systems and do better work on them. Also, try to find a mentor who will help you grow. People skills are underrated in our industry but are critical for career advancement.

If you have an iPhone, subscribe to the podcast HERE, and if you have an Android phone, subscribe HERE.

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