At www.achrnews.com, The NEWS’ Extra Edition page is home to hundreds of online-exclusive service and maintenance, technical, and business management articles. Here are some of the best.
TEN DUMB THINGS SMART PEOPLE DO WHEN TESTING ELECTRICITY
Anyone who makes a living working with electricity quickly develops a healthy respect for anything with even a remote chance of being “live.” Yet, the pressures of getting a job done on time, or getting a critical piece of equipment back on-line quickly, can result in carelessness and uncharacteristic mistakes by even the most seasoned technician. This list was developed as a quick reminder of what not to do when taking electrical measurements.
WHY MULTIPLE BOILERS MAKE SENSE
Whether you are faced with replacing an old, large, hot water boiler, or when designing a new hydronic heating system, you must decide whether to install one large hot water boiler or multiple smaller boilers. Although most systems are designed around one large boiler, when you think about how most heating systems operate, multiple smaller boilers can make a lot of sense. The first thing you want to do is perform a heat-loss calculation. By establishing the true load on the building, the replacement boiler or boilers will not be oversized.
USING THE P-T CARD AS A SERVICE TOOL
Manufacturers of refrigerants, controls, and other supplies have distributed hundreds of thousands of pressure-temperature charts to the trade. In spite of the widespread availability and apparent reference to the pressure-temperature relationship, the number of service technicians who use the P-T chart properly in diagnosing service problems is very few. The purpose of this article is to not only demonstrate the proper use of the pressure-temperature relationship, but to also illustrate how it can be used to thoroughly analyze a refrigeration or air conditioning system.
SETTING PRIORITIES
In 1970, sociologist Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University wrote a book entitled “The Unheavenly City.” He described one of the most profound studies on success and priority setting ever conducted. Banfield’s goal was to find out how and why some people became financially independent during the course of their working lifetimes. What he finally discovered was that the major reason for success in life was a particular attitude of mind. Banfield called this attitude “long-time perspective.”
Publication date: 6/8/2015
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