#wiring

Our HVAC equipment can’t run without the contactor coil, but contactors can develop problems with age and during high-voltage electrical events. Contact pitting is unmistakable, and it’s unfortunately all too common in areas where bugs can get into the coil and fry on the contacts. Factor in problems with the utility, such as brownouts 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 […]

The photo above is from a video one of my techs took of proper condenser cleaning. I must say, he did a GREAT job of cleaning the coil, and he was very careful with the top. However, I STILL would have liked to see him pull the condenser top completely during a full maintenance procedure. […]

I started working as a tech when I was 17 years old, fresh out of trade school. My first winter out on my own, I went to a service call in an older part of Orlando, a part of town I had never worked in before. It was an especially cold winter that year, and […]

Connecting more than one wire on or under a single lug or connection point is called “double lugging,” and it is ONLY allowed in line voltage wiring under one condition, according to NEC 110.14: If the terminal, lug, or connector is specifically rated for more than one wire In the case of a conductor splice, […]

I was about 13 years old the first time I bent EMT with my uncle. We were doing a renovation at a church; watching him bend EMT and then getting to do it MYSELF was a truly religious experience. There are a few things in the trade where workmanship really comes into play, such as […]

I was about 13 years old the first time I bent EMT with my uncle. We were doing a renovation at a church; watching him bend EMT and then getting to do it MYSELF was a truly religious experience. There are a few things in the trade where workmanship really comes into play, such as […]

Erich Vinson is a tech from Colorado and one of the most entertaining people I interact with online. He wrote this quick tech tip on stripping back the outer jacket properly on control wires, and it happens to also be something I preach. Thanks, Erich. In the first picture (above), you can see what happens […]

When you are checking a unit of any kind, you should be keeping your eyes open for signs of arcing and melting at all of your wire connections and contact points. We find issues with melting terminals on contactors and in disconnects regularly. Still, We rarely think about the relationship between circuit ampacity, wire size, […]

I was about 13 years old the first time I bent EMT with my uncle. We were doing a renovation at a church, and watching him bend EMT and then getting to do it MYSELF was a truly religious experience. There are a few things in the trade where workmanship really comes into play such […]

 In this short episode, Bryan talks about wiring in condenser fan motors, including aftermarket motor considerations and the different wire configurations. When condensing fan motors fail, we need to know what to use to replace them. We often use PSC motors, though in cases when we replace a motor with an ECM, we still […]