Category: Tips

Tech Tips: Diagnosing a Front Cover Switch

On a recent cold afternoon, I received a call from a frantic service technician. He diagnosed a faulty gas valve in a gas furnace, arrived on the job site with a new gas valve, taken time to ensure the new valve was installed properly, and then observed in horror as the exact same failure to ignite happened with the new valve. Now, let us all be honest with ourselves … after all, nobody is watching … we have all been that technician. We have all experienced the horror of realizing our diagnosis is wrong. Not a good feeling … and far worse if the furnace is in a closet and the homeowner is standing over your shoulder.

After the technician took a few deep breaths and regained composure, we began to go back through the furnace together.

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Tech Tips: Surge Protection

Power surges are commonly blamed when controls go bad on high-end units. I am not sure how often this is an accurate diagnosis versus how often this is just an easy scapegoat for unexplained parts failures. Plus … let us all be honest for a minute and acknowledge that as technicians we have all been guilty of condemning a control board because the system was operating abnormally and we did not understand what was happening … so therefore it must be that fancy looking control board.

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The Key to Helping JB Pumps Last for Years is Oil

Black Gold and Vacuum Pump equal Just Better!

The most important take away from this blog is change. your. oil.

The proper oil in a vacuum pump acts as a blotter and absorbs all of the moisture and non-condensables. As the oil becomes saturated with these contaminants, the efficiency of the pump is dramatically reduced.

Maintaining clean oil in the pump ensures that the pump will operate at peak efficiency and prolong its life.

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Tech Tips: What’s in Your Bag?

When I was first starting out in the HVAC Industry as a new technician, it was a common joke at my first company that you could tell the longer a technician had been in the industry by looking at his tool bag. The joke was that while newbie technicians such as me had a tool bag loaded with tools, the veteran technicians had a mostly empty and worn bag that had a few things here and there in it. Granted, I learned a lot from the senior technicians at that company, but I did not carry that habit with me. If you want to do a job correctly, then you must have the correct tools.

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Series: Pro Training – Troubleshooting An Inverter Driven Compressor

Pro Training Blog Series

Robert Frost once famously fretted over which two diverging roads in the woods to take. He presented the case of a traveler that has come to a crucial decision that must be made. The same theme often rings true in HVAC diagnosis. The technician finds themselves at a diagnostic crossroads, if you will, and a choice must be made: 

  • The variable-speed blower motor will not run. Is it the board or is it the motor/module? 
  • My inverter system is throwing an error code. The service manual says it could be the compressor or the board. 
  • My HVAC system will not communicate. Is it the indoor control board, the outdoor control board, or the wiring? 

Today I am going to review troubleshooting an inverter compressor and the control that drives it. Often in analyzing service manuals you find flow charts that look like this: 

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Tech Tip: Slime Time in Summertime

A common service call that arrives in the latter days of summer is a clogged drain line. It is par for the course in the Southeastern United States; we have warm temperatures combined with high humidity. Air conditioning systems work to address both the temperature of the home (sensible heat) as well as the humidity of the home (latent heat). As the HVAC system runs it absorbs both heat and humidity from the home into the evaporator section of the unit. The heat is transferred outside via the refrigerant lines and superheated refrigerant while the humidity is transferred outside the home via the HVAC system drain line.

Slime in a drain is a universal problem. It occurs in shower drains, sink drains, and even appliance drains.  There are many variables that can increase the likelihood and frequency in slime forming in the HVAC drain system. However, two key ingredients are always present: food and moisture. Food is provided by dust or dirt that manages to get into the HVAC system. This dust and/or dirt will contain some organic matter which will serve as a food source. This will combine with already present moisture from normal cooling operations and provide a moist environment with a food source. The result will be a slimy gunk that will easily clog the HVAC drain line. The drain lines in an HVAC system are not under any pressure, therefore it does not take a large amount of resistance to block the drainage of condensate.

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From ACHR NEWS: Dealing With Dirty Air Filters During the COVID-19 Pandemic

HVAC technicians follow best practices to ensure contamination is contained.

If face masks protect the air that humans breathe, air filters are certainly the face masks of the HVAC realm — clearing particles from the airstream that a building “breathes” and transmits to those within. While there may not be a run on air filters the way there is on face masks, contractors and manufacturers alike report increased interest from their clients in IAQ since the outbreak of COVID-19.

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How to minimize drain pan water damage – VIDEO: Receive float switch and flood alerts

30% of truck rolls are due to clogged condensate lines. Knowing that the float switch was tripped on the air handler helps to get the right tech onsite before you get an emergency call from your customer. 

Now you can get notified when the float switch trips or there is water in the drain pan. New smart water sensors send alerts to your phone for floods, leaks, and clogged condensate lines. 

Watch this short video to see the float switch alert system in action.

Book a demo with Alert Labs to learn more about this remote A/C monitoring and alert system. 

Series: Pro Training – Ductless Drain Safety Installation

Pro Training Blog Series

The United States market has come a long way on embracing ductless HVAC units. From 20 years ago when you would occasionally see a unit installed on a sunroom to present day when this technology is regularly used to combat discomfort in bonus rooms, additions, garages, and even whole home applications. Along the way code has had to change in order to adapt to the more widely used ductless technology. One of these areas of adaption is in the protection of a wall mounted indoor unit from condensation overflow. Unlike traditional installations where auxiliary drain pans are widely used, the standard wall mounted indoor unit only has the internal drain pan. This design leaves open the possibility of wall and/or flooring damage should the drain line become obstructed.

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Multi-Zone Systems: The Good, The Bad, and The Conflicted

Zoning. The concept makes perfect sense, different areas within a location usually have two different attributes:

1). The thermal gain or loss differs between areas inside the same building envelope.

2). The occupants of the space have different comfort levels.

Therefore, the ability to control heating and cooling independently is a very appealing concept. The devil however lies in the details. Traditional unitary systems are designed for generally larger areas. Zoning incorporates the ability to isolate areas of the duct system and control the flow of conditioned air to those areas. One main flaw with this is that while the areas requiring conditioned air may vary, the capacity of the system remains the same. This can become a major issue when you have a system producing 1000-cfm of conditioned air, and one zone requiring only 300-cfm of conditioned air is calling. What do we do?

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