A Chance to Contribute

Most of us have been guilty at one time or another of saying “they should …” Of course you may have a long wait if you are waiting for “they” to fix everything. My father used to encourage me to “be part of the solution, not part of the problem.” Usually I heard this if he felt I was engaged in compounding the problem rather than solving it. How many times have you wished your students were better prepared in basic subjects like Math 

or English? Well now you have a chance to do something about it.

The National Assessment Governing Board, part of the U.S. Department of Education, is conducting research that will allow the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—known as “the Nation’s Report Card”—to report on the academic preparation required of 12th graders to enter various job-training programs after they graduate from high school. As part of this effort, WestEd, an education-focused nonprofit organization, is conducting a study that will determine what academic knowledge and skills are required for students to be placed in job-training programs such as yours. For more information about this project, you may find the Governing Board’s press release at http://nagb.org/newsroom/release/release-100810preparedness.htm . For more information about the Nation’s Report Card, please visit the Governing Board’s website: http://www.nagb.org .

I am encouraged that someone in the U.S. Department of Education is interested in the trades, specifically the HVACR trade. Maybe they are finding out what we already know – teaching people to work is the real economic stimulus the country needs. If you would like to be part of the solution, contact Dr. Jennae Bulat at naep-jss@wested.org to learn more about the study. The study will take place during a 4-day workshop to be held June 28–July1, 2011, in St. Louis, Missouri. I cannot go because I will be in Alabama at the Alabama Council of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Educators meeting, but I thought I could at least recruit a few of my friends. They can’t use all of us, but I would love for them to have so many well qualified HVACR educators from all over the country that they have a hard time deciding who to invite. I know that we are all ready to be part of the solution. 

The Hunt

I had a conversation with a local contractor today who told me some of the things that impressed him about different job candidates. I thought I would pass a few of his comments along in hopes that it might help some of you out pounding the pavement looking for a job. First and foremost, remember that employers hire you based on what you can do for them. They are not philanthropists. With that in mind, spend a little time thinking about what you have to offer an organization so you will be prepared to answer when asked. Try and learn something about the companies you apply to. If you get an interview, you definitely need to learn whatever you can about the company. If they advertise that their employees are NATE Certified, stress your qualifications. Even if you are not yet NATE Certified, graduating from a respected program or passing the ICE exam is a good step in the right direction. Tom (not his real name) is a successful local contractor. He told me a few things he pays attention to. One was persistence and follow through. If someone comes by just once, he figures they are not really interested. He is impressed by students who return a few days after completing an application to inquire. Appearance is huge. Another contractor told me that the way an applicant looks to him is how he assumes they will look to his customers. You need to be clean and neat. Tom told me he remembered one student’s shoes – how shiny they were. The second time he came, his shoes were just as shiny. He got the job. He showed persistence and was consistently neat and clean in appearance. Do not wear a shirt with a slogan, witty comment, or add. You can never know what the interviewer will read into it, but why take a chance on creating a bad impression? It is also important to be dressed appropriately. Don’t show up in a three piece suit to apply for a job as a service technician. They may assume you are afraid to get dirty. It also helps to know your stuff. A student recently applied for a job and they gave him a test. He told me he knew he did terrible and wished he had studied before going to the interview. Later when I inquired, the contractor told me they had never had anyone score as high as he did. He got the job. More contractors are administering their own in-house tests. Don’t be surprised if they ask you to take a test. If you have studied HVACR at school, tests are your best friend – they give you a competitive advantage. Last, you need to have an upbeat, positive, can-do attitude. Remember, people often hire people they can get along with. After all, they are going to be around you a lot. Do not put down your previous employer. What the interviewer hears is you are a whiner and complainer. Do not put down your school, fellow students, or the instructors. If you successfully convince the interviewer that the school you attended is bogus, then why should they be talking to you? Definitely do not offer any current political or religious inspiration. I had a student lose a job over a comment about Ronald Reagan. Tell your beer drinking buddies what an idiot the president is, not your employer. Finally, when preparing for applications and interviews, think about who you would hire, then be that person. 

Keeping Cool While Working in the Heat

When my students come in complaining about the weather I sometimes respond, yes, isn’t the weather nice today! After all, if the temperature was always pleasant we would have far less to do. Some students are surprised that they will be working in hot conditions. Even if you are working inside an air conditioned building, if you are there to fix the air conditioner, it probably is hot. Seriously, it is a fact that the temperatures we work in are often very hot. In the southeast, the high humidity adds to the temperature perceived by the body. This is because the evaporation of sweat is your body’s only effective cooling mechanism in high temperatures. These can be dangerous conditions to work in if you don’t take reasonable precautions. First, you need to keep yourself hydrated. Drink a lot. Many technicians keep a large igloo cooler of water or gatoraide on their truck so they will always have a ready supply. In general, you should avoid alcoholic beverages, they actually tend to dehydrate you. Of course, there is an obvious safety issue of working with power tools while consuming alcohol – not usually a good idea. Caffeinated drinks are also not recommended because caffeine is a diuretic. Kind of like taking three steps forward and two back. You have to consume more because your system keeps getting flushed out. Although you cannot avoid working in the heat, you can avoid prolonged work in excessively hot areas such as attics. If at all possible, plan attic work early in the morning or late in the evening. This not only protects the workers, it improves productivity. You just cannot get as much done in the extreme heat. I recall doing a change out in an attic on a 95°F, 80% rel humidity day. The roof had black shingles and there was no shade. It did not take long before we had consumed all the beverages the family had to offer, other than tap water. However, the water was really what we needed. We worked all day, if you counted our rest breaks. Towards the end of the day we were resting for longer periods of time than we were working. Our clothes were literally dripping wet. I have no doubt that we could have done the work in half the time in cooler temperatures. My partner and I were both young and in good physical condition (a long time ago for me). I think I would literally die if I tried to do the same thing today. There are two forms of illness associated with your body overheating: heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat exhaustion can be treated by resting, cooling off, and rehydrating. If heat exhaustion is not treated, it will lead to heat stroke. Heat stroke is a medical emergency that can be fatal. It has symptoms similar to a heat attack. Be careful in the heat. While working in the heat, if you feel faint or dizzy, nausea, rapid weak heartbeat, cramps, or headache, move to a cool place and drink some water to rehydrate.  

Charing - Read the Fine Print!

There is an old saying that “the devil is in the details.” That is certainly true of refrigerant charging. There are so many details to keep track of. Outdoor ambient temperature, indoor wet bulb temperature, evaporator airflow, condenser pressure, evaporator pressure, suction line temperature, liquid line temperature, superheat, subcooling and approach. I am sure I left a few off, but that list is long enough to make my point: there is simply a lot to keep track of. The confusion caused by trying to make sense of so many variables can cause some technicians to look at only one thing, often they look at only the suction pressure. This is like covering your ears so you won’t hear the thunder. It does not keep you from being struck by lightning. It is true that no manufacturer specifies all those things in their charging information. However, many of these details are assumed so that system performance can be judged by one or two key indicators. The problem is that even a manufacturer’s charging chart will not be accurate if the conditions you have do not meet the assumptions used with the chart. You must read the fine print. Most manufacturers disclose their assumptions somewhere on the chart or in their service manual. A commonly specified condition is that the evaporator airflow is 400 CFM per ton and the return air temperature is 80°F 50% relative humidity. In our shop we have a packaged unit with a very simple charging chart. It gives the suction and discharge pressure for five specific outdoor temperatures. However, it is assuming standard airflow across the evaporator and indoor conditions that meet AHRI rating conditions – 80°F dry bulb 50% relative humidity. It is seldom that warm in our shop, so the pressures are usually lower than those specified on the chart. In the field, it is common for the indoor temperature to be above the AHRI rating condition, that is why you are there in the first place. You can expect higher pressures as a result. Superheat charts that list only an outdoor temperature have a similar problem. They assume an indoor temperature and humidity level. Even charts that specify an indoor wet bulb and an outdoor temperature are still assuming standard airflow across the evaporator coil. For that matter, all charging charts are assuming both coils are clean, that you have good airflow across both coils, and that all the refrigeration components are performing correctly. If any of these are not right, no charging chart will work. You should make a habit of checking airflow, air filter, and condenser cleanliness on every call. Then read the fine print to check any specified conditions used with that chart.