75th Annual RSES Conference

The 75th Annual RSES Conference is coming November 14-17 at Isle of Palms South Carolina. RSES has been in the business of training and educating HVACR Technicians longer than most other industry organizations have been in existence. Note that this is the 75th Conference. RSES is really the only national organization whose sole mission is providing training and education for HVACR technicians. The conference has an impressive lineup of speakers and training sessions. If you live on the east coast, this is a chance to attend a major educational conference specifically for HVACR without traveling to Las Vegas or Colorado Springs. There is still time to register. You don't have to be a member of RSES to attend the Conference. However, while you are there, you can join if you like what you see. Click on these links for more information

RSES 75th Annual Conference

Conference Schedule

Educational Sessions

Exhibitors

Service Tech's Secret

Most of the truly outstanding technicians that I have met have one thing in common – they read a lot. Reading is their trade secret. One example of this is Chris Mohalley. He is the Genteq™ Certified Master ECM Trainer. He has created a nationally-recognized ECM training program and he travels the country spreading the ECM gospel. He serves as a NATE Technical Committee SME, a NATE proctor and ARI Chief EPA Examiner. He holds so many NATE Certifications that his shirt looks like a quilt. In short, he knows his shit. So I asked him one time how he became so erudite. His response, he reads a lot! Personally, I try to read something related to my field every day. At least once a week you should find something that peaks your interest and dig a little deeper. Information is now easier than ever to access. Take advantage of it! The amount of information that can be readily accessed on the internet is really staggering. When the EPA “Final Ruling" on ozone depleting substances was published in May of 1993, I had to go to the library at the University of Georgia to view it in the Federal Register. Now you can pull up the Federal Register online anytime you want. If you are not familiar with the Federal Register, it is the official government publication containing all the announcements, pronouncements, and new regulations of all Federal Agencies. This is where they post proposed rulings, and what are called “Final” rulings. Basically, a “Final Ruling" means that now it is law. There will definitely be more rulings to come. If you want to know exactly what the rules really say without any filtering by someone else, you want to read them for yourself at the Federal Register. That said, the Federal Register is some of the most tedious reading I have ever seen. Further, there is a lot of it. The Federal Register is published weekly. In its paper form, it is about the size of a phone book for a city the size of Athens Georgia. In other words, it is might be possible to read ALL of the Federal Register by yourself, but that would be about all you did. Thankfully, search engines let us look for all the juicy parts without reading the entire tedious tome.

Thankfully, there are many outlets for HVACR information which are really interesting, such as the RSES Journal. This month’s Journal has a great article on micro-channel coils and why manufacturers are looking at using micro-channel evaporator coils. You might even pick up a copy of a text, like Fundamentals of HVACR and read it one unit at a time. At one unit a week, you will finish the book in a little over a year and a half – there are 92 Units. You can pick up a lot just by looking at the material posted by manufacturers and distributors online. One caveat on web surfing – realize that the freedom for anyone to publish on the web means that there are products, policies, and procedures espoused that may not be in your best interest to pursue. A case in point: the flammable R-22 replacement refrigerants that are NOT EPA approved. They are mixtures of propane and butane. They absolutely should NOT be used to replace R-22 in an existing system. Remember, nothing in that original system was designed with a flammable refrigerant in mind. Always look to see who is posting the information. If you read a lot you will learn to sort out the fact from fiction. Thanks for reading!

Check the Draft

With the arrival of Fall weather technicians will soon be taking Fall furnace checkup calls. One of the things we should be doing is checking the vent draft pressure to insure that the vent is working properly. While many technicians are careful to check for cracks in heat exchangers, they sometimes neglect the vent. I believe that improper venting occurs far more often than cracked heat exchangers. Further, a vent that is spilling into the house has the potential to release far more vent gasses into the house than a crack in the heat exchanger. Of course it is right to check for cracks in the heat exchanger, just don’t neglect the vent operation. For all Category I furnaces, the vent should be a negative pressure. That is, it should be at a lower pressure than the room the furnace is operating in. Typically we want at least -0.02” wc. In other words, the vent pressure should be 0.02”wc less than the room pressure. This is true even with fan assisted Category I furnaces, which nearly all 80% AFUE furnaces are today. The fan helps pull the combustion gasses through the heat exchanger, it is NOT designed to PUSH vent gasses through the vent. Typical Class B vent is not air tight. If it is pressurized, it will leak out combustion gas.Even with fan assisted furnaces, the vent is supposed to operate at a negative pressure and the vent gasses leave because of their buoyancy compared to the surrounding air.

What can cause a lack of draft in a vent? One of the main culprits is lack of combustion air. The operation of the burners and the vent system can remove air from the room faster than it is being supplied, causing a negative pressure in the room. In older, leakier homes we often relied on infiltration for combustion air. Today, you really should provide outside air to the appliances. I have seen the operation of a furnace pull smoke out of a burning fireplace. There was enough air for the fireplace, but not both the fireplace and the furnace. The room went so negative that the fireplace vent was not lower than the room pressure. If the vent gasses cool off too much in the vent pressure will increase because the gasses are heavier, decreasing the draft. This can be a particular problem when replacing an older furnace with a newer one. Often, the vent is too big for the new furnace, causing the flue gas to cool off too much as it travels through. Another possibility is a plugged vent or vent cap. The flue gasses back up in the vent and then start to spill out of the appliance. 

Although most Category I furnaces with draft inducer fans have draft pressure switches to shut off the burners if the draft pressure is not at the minimum setting for the switch, I have seen furnaces operating with a positive vent pressure continue to run. Draft switches are, after all, switches and can fail. So don’t assume that because the draft switch is closed, the vent pressure is OK – measure it so you know.

Eco-Friendly Cooling

The folks at Greenheat in Australia wrote to remind me that there are ways to keep cool without using so many kilowatts. What follows is a short article from them on keeping cool the Green way.

Eco friendly ways to cool your home

Maintaining a comfortable temperature inside your home during fierce summer heat using eco friendly methods is often viewed as a faintly impossible ask. Many people are still labouring under the false impression that the only way to get proper relief from the heat is by installing a gargantuan, decidedly non eco friendly air conditioning unit. Sorry, environment. We’re too hot to bother with you.

Good news, lovers of cool temperatures and the earth. You can have it both ways. By implementing some of the measures suggested below, you’ll be minimising your impact on the environment without compromising your own comfort during the warmer months. To learn more about eco friendly ways to cool your home, visit Greenheat.

Let’s look at some eco friendly ways to cool your home:

• Keep the heat out! Seems obvious, but by properly insulating your home, ensuring your windows and doors are properly sealed, drawing the blinds at sunrise, and cutting down on your use of household appliances like washing machines, ovens, and stove tops, you’ll significantly reduce the amount of heat within your home.
• Become an Ivy Leaguer- covering your external walls with greenery is an effective and beautiful way to insulate your home from the punishing effects of hot weather. You’d be surprised at just how effective a measure this can be. Green walls can cut the surface temperature of walls by as much as 10 degrees Celsius.  Additionally, they help to filter air pollution.
• External shades and blinds- external blinds and shades are more effective than internal shades and blinds, simply by virtue of the fact that they block the solar energy before it hits your window.
• Split system air conditioning- inverter split system air conditioning units fluctuate according to the air conditioning requirements throughout the day. This makes them an energy efficient air conditioning option, minimising energy consumption by as much as sixty six percent.

NOT COOL

Not too long ago a morning television show did a “sting” type of operation on several HVACR contractors that were called out to service a system that had one simple problem. The good news is that all the technicians found the problem quickly. The bad news is that all the technicians then tried to pad the bill by replacing unnecessary parts. You don’t need to cheat people to make money. In fact, I think that cheating people ultimately ends in losing customers. Most satisfied customers will refer you to friends and family. The HVACR business works best with long term repeat customers, not a long string of patsies.There was once a contractor in Athens who specialized in getting their foot in the door and then condemning equipment. They are no longer in business. They literally ran out of people who would do business with them. When you cheat your customers, you are slitting your own throat. It does not take a high profile television program sting for folks to figure out something is wrong. Eventually, your customers will catch up to you. When they do, everyone they know will know about it.

There is nothing wrong with making a profit, and there is nothing wrong with being paid well for your time, expertise, and investment. So be up front and charge people for your time, expertise and investment, not parts they don’t need. There is also nothing wrong with offering premium services. If you want to sell setback thermostats or other system improvements, you should make your argument based on the increased comfort, energy efficiency, or convenience that the customer will enjoy. We make money by solving problems for people, not creating them.

The Strength Remains

Eleven years ago, I was working in my office at school when a teacher from down the hall came in and said that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center Towers. While I was searching for information about the first plane, the second plane hit the other tower. It was only then that I realized we were under attack. I believe the trade center towers were chosen because they became an icon of American strength. Rather than weaken us, the attacks strengthened us in many ways. We proved our mettle immediately following the tragedy. Stories abound about how people rose to the challenge: from police and firemen risking their lives to politicians speaking with one voice as Americans. My favorite story involves St.Paul’s Chapel directly across the street. Somehow St. Paul's survived the shower of debris and was transformed into a round the clock hostel, providing care and support for eight months to the rescue and recovery workers. For months, volunteers came from all over America to work there. So many volunteers came that they had to be scheduled and their time helping was limited to allow everyone a chance to experience the blessing of helping. People cried when their time was up and they had to leave.

The towers came down. The strength remains.

To Stretch Your Budget, Roll Your Own!

Gary Recher is one of a group of instructors who communicate with me regularly, giving me feedback and ideas. In today's tough economy, we are all being asked to do more with less. Rather than focusing on what we don't have, I suggest we focus on what we DO have. Gary sent me this article on how he makes his own trainers. I hope it will stir your creative juices to see how you can use what is at hand to teach effectively in a challenging environment. If you have a favorite idea that you are willing to share, send it in and I will post it!

Electrical Troubleshooting Trainers

We as instructors want to provide our students with as much realistic troubleshooting scenarios as possible. We can use troubleshooting diagnostic software, manufactured trainers, and actual equipment that many times that we have to swap good parts for bad to provide troubleshooting tasks. Each has its place and can provide excellent opportunities for students’ to hone their troubleshooting skills.

Computer software can stimulate the student on various troubleshooting scenarios. This allows the students’ to develop problem solving skills without shorting out equipment or meters. However, it does not allow them to demonstrate those skills on actual systems using test equipment.

Use of manufactured trainers are many times boards that have the same components as an actual system that has trouble switches to simulate problems. The advantage of a trainer is that it allows the student to use their meter in an actual troubleshooting scenario rather than at a computer screen. Giving them the chance to use a meter and interpret their meter readings. The downside of these trainers that many times they are forced to use test points for the meter test prods rather than testing at points one would actually use in troubleshooting such as relay terminals.

Actual equipment allows students to get actual hands on experience. The limitations to using actual equipment is that to create a troubleshooting scenario the instructor or lab assistant will have to remove good components and install defective ones. This method is time consuming as the equipment will have to be set up for the troubleshooting scenario and then repaired at the conclusion of the troubleshooting session. If there is only one student this is ideal as the student can then demonstrate the removal and replacement of the defective component and then accomplish an operational test of the system. If several students have to troubleshoot the same fault there is always the downside of the fault being compromised to students that have not accomplished the troubleshooting task.

As HVAC/R technicians/instructors we are no strangers to solving problems. And there are ways to providing realistic troubleshooting scenarios without having to swap good parts for bad. Here is what our course has done that allows us to change troubleshooting scenarios using toggle switches. One of our troubleshooting stations is a cube air conditioner connected to an air handler with electric heat. On the back of the air handler a large hinged door component box was installed. Which is now becomes troubleshoot control center. Inside are mounted four motor starter rated toggle switches several lower amperage rated toggle switches and a dual run capacitor. Inside the compressor compartment the wires for the compressor and fan windings and wires spliced back to the control center. In the air conditioner’s electrical control box the contactor coil wire is unsoldered from one of the terminals. A 20 gauge stranded wire is soldered to the terminal and a second wire soldered to the coil wire. Both are run back to the control center to a toggle switch. Are you getting the idea now? With a flip of a switch there is a defective contactor. With the flip of a switch there is an open compressor or fan motor overload or run winding. The air handler cube relay was relocated to the control center. A similar relay was disassembled and the coil disabled and wires soldered to the internal terminals a hole drilled to the bottom of the relay and then through the mounting plate, grommet inserted into drilled hole, and back to control center through toggle switches. The thermostat was not immune either to our devilish modifications. By carefully grinding the current path etchings on the terminal board with a Dremel grinder wires can then be soldered to both sides of that break and then run to a toggle switch to the control center.

The downside of this is that you will have to do it yourself, and it does take time to make. The upside to doing this is that the student will be troubleshooting equipment as near world as possible and troubles can be changed with the flick of a switch from a thermostat to a fan relay to a compressor problem, etc..

This same procedure can be accomplished using manufactured demonstrators. By installing faux relays and toggle switches a demonstrator can be turned into a troubleshooting trainer.

The bottom line of this article is to hopefully to inspire you to use your mind, innovate and create the training devices that provide more realistic training situations.