Are You Keeping Up?

Technology is changing the HVACR industry so quickly that many techs get vertigo from the dizzying changes. It is tempting to try and “opt out” of the technological revolution and stick to the old familiar technologies you are comfortable with. However, your lack of participation will not slow the train, you will simply be left behind.

Before heat pumps were common in the southeast, I remember many techs declaring that they would not work on heat pumps. Today, any tech in Georgia who does not work on heat pumps does not work very much. I remember another time an older tech  telling a story of how he retrofitted a system with a stack control and threw away that electronic junk. So the customer ended up paying a lot to downgrade their system because the tech did not understand it. Worse, it did not work well afterwards.

I know many techs today are leery of communicating control systems, variable refrigerant flow systems, electronically controlled compressor motors, and WiFi thermostats – just to name a few things. These things are not going to go away. Customers like them. They like the energy efficiency and convenience these products bring. If you don’t sell and service them, someone else will. The only logical course of action is to educate yourself on the emerging technologies found in the HVACR industry. This is a lifelong process. This year is not the same as last year, and there will be more to learn next year. I am older than most practicing HVACR techs, but I do not long for the “good old days.” I am too busy having fun with the new toys, there is just so much I need to learn.

Technically Speaking

Throughout my entire career in HVACR, technology has been changing how we work and what we work on. During this time, people have been continually complaining about the changes wrought by new technology. I can still remember an older technician in the late 70’s (yes I was actually working way back then). He was bragging in the parts house about replacing the primary control on someone’s oil furnace. It had a newer cad-cell type sensor which he did not understand, so he retro engineered the system to use a stack switch. Basically, he charged the customer to downgrade their equipment because he did not understand the controls. Another tech agreed, saying those cad cell things were not trustworthy. Then he added that he did not work on heat pumps – if a customer had a heat pump, they had to call somebody else. Today these guys would not be able to work – there just are not enough systems that meet their limitations. Many folks today don’t feel comfortable with communicating systems, but these systems are here to stay. In unitary product lines, communicating systems are still just the higher end. The thing is, most air conditioning manufacturers are offering them now. Virtually all mini-split, multi-split, and VRF systems use communicating control technology. And in case you haven’t noticed, those systems are here to stay as well. Sure, new technology can be a pain – especially brand new technology. Early adopters often pay a price for being the first with the new stuff. However, bitching about having to learn something new won’t keep the world from changing. You will just be left behind. As I age, I understand the pain of the old techs who just want to do the stuff they with which they are comfortable. I become less flexible both physically and mentally as I age, so I find it necessary to study harder to keep up with current field technology. As I see it, I have a choice – I can complain that the future will be different than the past, or I can work hard to keep up with changes in this field I love.    

Blast from the Past

I ran into a Carrier unit yesterday that had the old compression type access valve on the suction line. I realized that there are probably many techs working today that may have never seen one of these. They were common in the late 1970’s. Most units came that way, with compression fittings for the refrigerant lines. Every manufacturer had their own type of compression nuts and ferrules. Sometimes the ferrules were shipped with a plastic plug in them and the nut hand tightened. More than once I had a unit where the nut was a little too tight and the ferrule was compressed around the plastic plug, making it useless. I don’t expect we will see those return, but I wanted to point out that what was once commonplace is no longer even recognized by most people in the field. I am sure there is technology that is common today that will seem equally strange in another 30 years. Knowing the mechanical fine points of today’s equipment is valuable for working efficiently, but that information will be next to useless in ten years. Understanding how and why systems operate and why things are done the way they are is more lasting. The physics behind the basic refrigeration cycle has not changed in 30 years and is not likely to change in another 30 years because it is based on laws of physical science. What types of connectors the refrigerant lines have, what the metering device looks like, what wires are used for control, what type of motors a unit has, or even what type of compressor it has can all change drastically in 30 years. What won’t change are the concepts of saturation, pressure temperature relationship, superheat, and subcooling. Learn all you can about why systems work because that knowledge will be the foundation you will use for understanding tomorrow’s systems. Knowing which heat pumps available today energize the reversing vale on orange and which energize on blue probably won’t be a lot more useful than being able to differentiate a Carrier ferrule from a York ferrule is today. By the way, here is what the Carrier compression access valve looks like.