We've been getting many questions on micron gauges that are ”going haywire” or reading in the micron range, even at atmospheric pressure. First, micron gauges measure absolute pressure, so you can’t ”zero” them out. They use tiny, very sensitive sensors that are calibrated to air, not refrigerant, so anytime refrigerant gets into the gauge, it's […]

Friction rate is a value located on a ductulator. We use it during the design phase of a duct system to predict the operating static pressure of a duct system. The challenge with friction rate is that it is often misapplied by folks using a rule of thumb (ROT). In order to apply friction rate properly, […]

Belly band crankcase heater When I first started in the trade as an apprentice, we worked on many Trane heat pumps that used crankcase heaters. These crankcase heaters slid into the compressor sump on the big orange Tyler reciprocating compressors. They looked like the one in the picture below. It was very common for these […]