Capacitors are traditionally tested with a capacitance meter (commonly found as a function within a multimeter), with the component taken entirely out of the circuit. “Bench testing,” as this method is referred to, is hands-down the safest method of checking capacitance in microfarads. All other methods require the capacitor to be wired into the circuit […]

This article was written by senior furnace tech Benoît (Ben) Mongeau. Ben hails from the frozen tundra of Ontario, Canada, where high-efficiency gas furnaces are commonplace. While some codes and practices may be different from the US, I find that most of it is common sense and translates pretty well. One glaring difference between Canada […]

Enthalpy is easy. It's just a state function that depends only on the prevailing equilibrium state identified by the system's internal energy, pressure, and volume. It is an extensive quantity. Simple. Like most things, the scientific definition is as clear as mud. In HVAC/R, we use enthalpy measurement to come up with the total heat […]