RSES Annual Conference

I just returned from the Annual RSES Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. What a great experience! Of course there were many great speakers on a wide range of current HVACR topics, from Building Envelope Testing to Transcritical CO2 Refrigeration Systems. All the sessions were great. However, the thing that impressed me the most was the level of training and experience demonstrated by the people attending the convention. I often found myself sitting in a whole room full of experts. Because the people attending are practicing industry professionals, the level of questions and discussion in the sessions was quite high. And truth be told, the folks gathered here were not just any industry professionals, but the people that go the extra mile. They invest their time and money in educating themselves about a field in which they are already very well versed. The discussions in the halls while people were just waiting for the next event were both interesting and informative. One of the main reasons for attending an educational conference is to be energized. Talking with other professionals and sharing their enthusiasm for the trade inspires you. You don’t have to wait for the annual meeting to experience this, you can also meet with other highly motivated professionals at a local RSES meeting, because meetings of local RSES chapters occur throughout the year. If you want to be immersed in a professional culture that inspires and elevates its members through education, you belong in RSES.

Thank You!

We have just completed a major national election. Regardless of whether your candidates won, you won. We often take for granted the right to choose our leaders, but this is far from a universal freedom. Recent events in the middle east show us how fortunate we are to be able to hold elections to select our leaders, and how blessed we are that the government by the people, for the people, and of the people continues to function smoothly right through a major election. The loser is not jailed as a dissident, nor do they take to the streets with AK-47s. The biggest election winners were we the people.

Our country and our freedom to choose our own leaders in a democratic process are protected by the men and women that serve in the armed forces. During the last decade, we have asked these men and women to sacrifice a lot for their country and they have delivered. Putting their lives on hold and risking everything to serve their country. Perhaps no single event highlights how important their service is than an election. 

To all who have served in the armed forces – thank you!

Flooded HVACR Equipment

Areas that have experienced flooding from Sandy have a big cleanup job and lots of rebuilding ahead. Make sure your students know to be careful when working on equipment that may have been flooded. Even after drying out, the corrosion and debris left behind can make the controls and motors inoperable. Worse, they can be dangerous. While it is possible that many parts of the system may still function properly, it is really a gamble to operate equipment that has been flooded. Safety controls that have been under water cannot be relied on to work. Silt and debris can create potential shorts or prevent proper mechanical operation. This can turn a normal malfunction into a potentially dangerous situation. For example: a blower motor on a furnace starts, but fails after a few hours of operation. The limit does not shut off the burners because its contacts are shorted together, the furnace overheats and burns the house down.

Another concern is for the health of the building occupants. Flood waters contain all types of things that you really don’t want in your air conditioning system: chemicals, gasoline, dead animals, and sewage to name a few. Coils , equipment cabinets, and insulation will all retain some of these undesirable things even after the water has receded. Technicians may be asked to repair flood damaged equipment, but in most cases the proper repair is more costly than replacing the equipment. It is hard to tell someone who has just lost most of their possessions that you cannot fix their flood damaged equipment, but that is exactly what you should do. Then there is the matter of duct work: obviously a good place to catch things. Again, cleaning may not really be practical.

A danger to technicians working in a previously flooded area is the muck they will often be working in. They will be walking, crouching, crawling, sitting, and laying on this muck when they go in the house to look at the equipment. Again, this is not just mud. This is a combination of nasty stuff that is definitely hazardous to your health. For more information on flood damaged equipment check out the AHRI page on flooded equipment.