When I started in the trade, the idea of flowing nitrogen while brazing was nothing more than the punchline of a joke. Like pulling a vacuum with a micron gauge or proper recovery, it was a wink and nod proposition rather than a real practice. I've had to unlearn many bad habits since those early […]

First, let's get something straight: BRAZING is when you use a filler rod that isn't the same material as the base metal but melts ABOVE 840°F. Soldering is the same but at temperatures BELOW 840°F. With HVAC rods melting at around 1200°F, it confuses me why we usually call it “silver solder” but also often call it […]

I had an old-timer tell me that you can never connect two transformers together because they will “fight one another.” If you are anything like me (and heaven help you if you are), a cartoon in your head starts playing whenever someone says something like that. In this case, I imagine two transformers with boxing […]