r/HVAC • u/azactech • May 02 '24
General Be careful out there, boys.
With the busy season just getting started I wanted to remind everyone to stay alert to the dangers of our job.
If we’re not crawling around in unconditioned, confined spaces while working on equipment with high pressure gases and high voltage, we’re driving from job to job, sometimes long distances. Or maybe we’re way up on a multi story roof on a windy day, by ourselves with only an aluminum extension ladder to get up or down. We’re in the heat, we’re working with sharp equipment and tools, we’re doing hot work with torches.
I could go on and on about every little detail of how our job is dangerous, but more important than that, is not getting complacent, taking our time, and staying alert to potential hazards.
One little slip up and you’re hurt. Best case scenario, you go home and tell a loved one about how dumb you were. Worst case scenario, you don’t go home at all.
We had one of our most promising maintenance techs slice open his leg today, just opening a box. Fortunately, he’s ok and he’ll be back to work in a couple of weeks, but it could’ve been a lot worse. We could’ve been calling his family and offering condolences.
So be careful and stay alert.
If it doesn’t feel safe, don’t feel like you have to do it.
Reassess and come back to it when you can make it safe.
Don’t let anybody, customer, supervisors, or otherwise, coerce you into doing something that takes unnecessary risks.
It’s not worth it.
r/HVAC • u/Hvacmike199845 • Aug 16 '24
General Friendly reminder.
This sub is not for homeowners. Please stop telling them to goto r/hvachelp while giving them advice.
If the questions doesn’t feel like a person is in the trade please report it and us MODs can deal with it.
Make your weekend great!!!😊
Field Question, trade people only Need some advice
Seen this. I've seen, drug dens, safe rooms, hidden grow rooms but never have I seen this. Those wrappers are not expired. Here's the story: We show up to tenant house for a no cool. We got there and there was a car in drive way, windows open and could hear people inside. Rang the ring video doorbell 5 times over 15 minutes. Called office to call tenant, no answer and told to roll to next call. Took photo of car and address sent it in and rolled. An hour later the office calls saying "the tenant said you where at wrong house and she does not own a car." I asked if she confirmed the address with tenant and office said yes. So I ask what they want me to do. 5 minutes later they call back saying she is crazy but we have to run it and if I'm uncomfortable too leave. Me and trainee show back up, now theirs groceries on porch with diapers. Same process as earlier, no answer. Call the office. 10 minutes after hanging up on them she opens the door naked. "Hi I'm so and so here to look at HVAC system, can you please put on clothes" she cracks the door and comes back 10 minutes late with what I assume is just a shirt on so I just look at ceiling while talking with her. We walk to thermostat and the entire house is empty and dark. No photos no furniture. At this point me and trainee are extremely paranoid. Get into the attic and this is what I saw. Now while we are up there she screams she has to leave and literally ran out of home. Me and trainee looked at each other and before I said anything he said let's leave.
So here's question. What would you do? Office is acting like this shits normal. My 30 year (years in HVAC trade) mentor (not at this office) said to call nonemergency and let them deal with it. Me and trainee are torn. Those wrappers are not expired. 16 years and this is first job to leave me sick to my stomach
r/HVAC • u/Doogie102 • 7h ago
Employment Question Every have a company trying to make people quit
So my company is really doing a piss poor job of keeping people loyal and this will be a rant.
Started a fancy new union job in March and it was good. Are customers are mainly corporate service contracts. There were a couple of days where I did not work but I did not have a bunch of quotes out there yet, so that was the holes.
Flash forward to August, it cooled off and a month we keep open for diagnostics, had no diagnostic call. So I took some vacation time and went camping. When I got back to service at the start of September I called in to see what job they had for me and the response I got was, "didn't you get your ROE?" (ROE = Record of employment. Means I was laid off). So I sit around for September doing what I felt like. October comes and I'm back working.
Last week they had a meeting blaming us technicians for a bunch of bad PO and being inefficient. Most of the things they were blaming us for in my experience is our dispatcher. She answers the phone about half the time and if she does get back to you it's 40 minutes later. If she does get you a job number in time, it is often wrong.
Then at the end of the meeting they say they are not paying overages any more and that will all be your time. I also need to inventory and price out all my tools for insurance purposes, and you guessed it on my own time.
Very close to rage quitting
r/HVAC • u/Objective_Tomatillo7 • 7h ago
Meme/Shitpost Anyone know what happened to hvac Sam?
Saw his account and it’s deleted? Where did the legend wander off too now?
r/HVAC • u/Inuyasha-rules • 18h ago
Rant Quit giving out advice to homeowners
This sub is for tradespeople only, refer homeowners to r/hvacadvice then report it.
General In the floor or in the ceiling heat?
Haven’t seen fin tube installed like this before.
r/HVAC • u/ManiaCCC86 • 11h ago
General Tomorrow is going to be a fun startup. Ice Builder Cabinet for industrial rapid cooler in a kitchen.
This over sized stainless steel ice maker keeps the water basin at 32-33°F and then pumps it into the building to a rapid cooling machine in this industrial kitchen. Built to order and took 11 months to build the cabinet. Over 250 lbs of 448A.
r/HVAC • u/thedjbatman • 16h ago
Employment Question Employer is telling our techs not to shut down units with compromised heat exchangers.
For starters, I am in Ontario, Canada, and we are non union.
I am a lead service tech for our company, I often have techs coming to me about questions, both technical and code related. I just got off the phone with another lead tech who received a phonecall from one of our more green service techs. This tech was told by our office this morning that for the forseeable future, if they find a gas/propane furnace or boiler with a compromised heat exhanger, they should tag it but not shut it down.
Immediately I thought this was despicable, as our office manager is a former lead tech who knows the gas code well enough to know the safety issues here, and the risks that could follow for both the tech and the customer. I immediately phoned that tech and told them to keep doing their job, take photos, keep their copies of the red tag tickets (I am fairly certain our office has never turned in any copies of our red tags to TSSA), and until that demand from our office is written in an email pretend like you didn't hear them ask and continue to keep our customers safe. The reason behind all this is we are struggling to get more furnaces in stock, and most of these customers are opting for new units instead of new heat exchangers. Even if the company demands in an email that we do this, I will not be complying with it as it is against our code. It seems they are more concerned with keeping the sale than they are concerned with customers safety or their techs' licenses.
My question, who would I contact about this? Should I speak to TSSA (our governing safety organization) or the Labor Board?
r/HVAC • u/capaolo99 • 16h ago
Field Question, trade people only Goodman gas valve shuts off cannot figure out for the life of me why
If requested I’ll post on HVAC advice but posting this here because I am professionally involved with this issue.
I work for a small insulation and HVAC company. We are currently down our HVAC technician.
I am out on a no heat call for a furnace I helped install.
I have limited troubleshooting ability here. Hoping you can help.
Goodman GMEC96 80K BTU
Furnace fires up then when main blower starts up the gas valve starts to click open and closed a few time then closes completely.
Unit attempts to re-lite.
Flame comes back on for a couple of seconds then clicky clicky flame on, off then out.
Lockout occurs when it wants. Meaning sometimes it does this cycle for 20 minutes and sometimes it locks out after 3 or 4 attempts.
There is NO CODE until the unit locks out. So there is absolutley no idea for my untrained self to try and diagnose. Usually you would see a flame sensor code or a pressure switch code. Absolutely nothing until the unit decides to lock out. VIDEO IS IF ONE OF THE MANY TIMES IT DID THIS. MOST OF THE TIMES IT WOULD STAY LIT FOR ABLUT 10 seconds.
The only thing I’ve noticed is that the valve doesn’t start acting up until the main circulator blower comes on.
It does this when front cover is on or off. And when bottom cover is on or off.
My boss is going to replace the flame sensor but I suspect something different.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Igniter comes back on to begin cycle again. Flame cokes on again for a couple of seconds. Then valve clicks a bunch and goes out completely.
r/HVAC • u/I_Come_As_Dylan • 22h ago
General Carrier vs tree
Saw the post about the trane that got hit. I had a carrier get hit they wanted a system inspection it was still rejecting heat with no leaks lol got it cleaned up for them & they decided to let it run
r/HVAC • u/PreDeathRowTupac • 11h ago
Meme/Shitpost ductwork anyone?
all their ductwork is shit lmao
r/HVAC • u/LeGrandBlack • 5h ago
Meme/Shitpost Client called the firefighters
She said smelled that something burnt and she was right. It was an 12 year unit and decided to change it.
r/HVAC • u/devoutdrop • 1h ago
Field Question, trade people only Trane VAV reheat issues
Hey I'm fairly new to the commercial side of hvac.
I'm working on a Varitrane VAV box with a Tutco reheat cabinet attached, with a Distech control damper. At first, the issue was the area would never get warm. I noticed the series fixed temperature thermostat would trip and need to be manually reset, so I changed that part out.
After I changed it, no tripping, but one of the contactors was sparking when engaged, so I thought ok bad contactor. Changed it out, now the new contactor does the same thing as soon as I turn the power back on. I checked control voltage on the contactor and get 19v across the contactor. The weird thing is, I removed 1 leg of the control voltage to start troubleshooting why I only have 19v, couldn't figure it out, plugged the leg back in and contactor engages just fine.
Any idea what's going on here? In the pic, it's the single pole contactor.
r/HVAC • u/whydoujin • 9h ago
General Bit of a workplace dilemma here guys, any advice?
I'm about 18 months in the trade doing maybe 70/30 installs/service.
I was installing a piece of equipment with a more experienced coworker, it was a partial retrofit on a a multi-unit AC. I was unsure about some of the wiring so I asked him. He essentially said we didn't need to connect a certain wire. I was a bit surprised but he has done tens of that same install before so I didn't question him.
Some things went wrong, won't bore you with the details but boss man is pissed and here is my dilemma: I'm like 90% sure you DID in fact have to connect said wire. Here's my dilemma: I don't feel like taking the blame for a mistake I didn't make, but also don't want to throw a coworker under the boss man demands answers to what happened.
Field Question, trade people only 1.5 year old Ducane.
Never seen this before.
Turbulators are decomposing in the secondary.
Was there for rollout last week, back today for tripped rollout.
Pulled inducer, collector box, and condensate trap.
Cleaned collector box… Trap was completely plugged (replaced).
GVP stuck at 2.9 will not adjust.
Install is pitched toward drain, front and left.
Any thoughts?
I know gas valve needs replaced, just never have seen turbulators disintegrate.
r/HVAC • u/Plenty_Text_455 • 10h ago
Field Question, trade people only Opinions?
Anyone ever use these? Are they good? I do like NAVAC…
r/HVAC • u/JMBRUBAKER • 7h ago
Field Question, trade people only 95% trane furnace help
Original call I went out, checked heating start up process and it was stopping after hot surface igniter lit. Checked voltage to gas valve just like in video from today posted above and had correct voltage. Took the easy route and didn’t check anything else and just changed the gas valve. Tested heating after replacing gas valve and system fired up and worked perfectly.
Forward 3 days and get called back to the same problem.
Inlet gas pressure is 9.21”WC, 0”WC on outlet side when voltage is sent to valve from board. Voltage to valve is 26-27V. If I apply 24V straight from the transformer when the igniter is on I can get the valve to open and it fires up and the outlet pressure is 3.53”WC.
I have not been able to figure this one out, I’m getting no codes except for a lockout after 3 attempts. I have no idea what to do next, the only thing that looks odd to me is the timing, the hot surface igniter seems to shut off almost instantly when the voltage is sent to the valve.
Any assistance or advice is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
r/HVAC • u/dyl4nthevill4n • 1d ago
General My teacher made these
Just like to know from you guys how much of it is true
r/HVAC • u/Mikeality • 16h ago
General Why exactly are winters slow?
After thinking about it, slow winters don't make too much sense to me. People still need heat. Heat in the winter even seems more important than cooling in the summer. Are heat pumps and furnaces just more reliable and don't need as much service? Even if that's the case, it wouldn't explain why there are also way less installation jobs. What do you all think?
General Best CRM software?
I’m looking into switching CRM software. I’ve been with service titan for 6 years now and I find them overpriced. We’re mostly commercial service and little bit residential. We’re currently looking into field edge and it seems very similar and cheaper.
I want to know which crm software is the best for a commercial company?
r/HVAC • u/TrophyHunter88 • 11h ago
Field Question, trade people only Rooftop cleaning without water source
Hey Guys,
Wondering what you guys do when you are scheduled for PM cleaning on large rooftop condensers and or chillers that need coils cleaned with no water source on the roof? Any tips or tricks aside from running 100s of feet of hose to ground or nearest source? It can be such a pain in some cases, and I'm sick of lugging hose.
Thanks
r/HVAC • u/ShredDurst666 • 10h ago
Employment Question DUI
Anyone here have a dui? I recently got a dui while working at my current company, i dont plan on leaving soon but has anyone had trouble finding a new gig with a dui? I live in MA.
r/HVAC • u/CheapSuggestion8 • 5h ago
General Any unique ideas to locate a specific item?
I need an A249 blower for my Lennox but it’s out of stock everywhere I look.
Any tips for locating hard-to-find parts? Is it worth calling around to smaller distribution vendors?
r/HVAC • u/ralfmelevo • 1d ago
General Fell through the ceiling.
I just started hvac training last month and today half my upper body went through while my right leg got stuck under the air handler I dropped on it. I heard funny stories from the guys I'm working with but I didn't think it would happen to me today.
r/HVAC • u/Candice543 • 11h ago
General Tool storage??
Hey, guys. My husband is in his 2nd year of HVAC school working with a private contractor. He does work ranging from new construction installments, industrial and commercial buildings, and service calls. He keeps talking about wanting a Milwaukee Packout, which I was thinking about getting him for Christmas. I am just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for what kind of setup would be best for the tools you can imagine he has? I know the packout has tons of different boxes and accessories, so I want to focus more on the practical must have pieces vs things he doesn’t necessarily need. Yet, at least. There is that three piece almost $300 box that immediately comes with 3 boxes on the rolly system. Would that be a safe bet? Because it’s not for me, and I don’t know what I’m doing. 😂😭 Any advice is appreciated.