Articles Tagged with ''troubleshooting and HVACR''

What is the underlying problem with this system, and what do you need to do in order to get it operating properly?

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS), located in the Atlanta metro area, is the largest school system in Georgia. The school district runs a full preventive maintenance program on most of its mechanical equipment. And it continues to add new preventive maintenance job plans for pieces of equipment that didn’t have one before.

On a recent call to replace an aging gas boiler, the owners reported a persistent gas smell. The gas company had previously inspected the building and couldn’t find a leak. Yet the smell continued. The point is, if you smell gas, however subtle the smell, there is a gas leak. Somewhere. The challenge can indeed be where to find it.

In this troubleshooting situation a technician has responded to a complaint of “not cooling” on a six-year-old R-410A split system that employs an upflow gas furnace indoor air handler and a condensing unit that sits on the ground, and there is less than 20 feet of connecting tubing.

Spirax Sarco has announced its latest training event: Basic Steam Boiler Operator Training. The five-day course will be held June 8-12, 2015, at the company’s training facility in Blythewood, South Carolina, and will cover virtually all facets of steam boiler operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

Bob and Tim were on their way to a no heat call for a gas furnace. Tim asked, “What do you think we need to look out for on this call?” Bob said, “It could be any number of things. We will start by talking to the homeowner and see what she knows.”

This troubleshooting situation centers around an older 3-ton split comfort cooling system, and the customer is calling because their home is “just not comfortable.” The homeowner also tells the dispatcher that while the unit is operating and air is coming out of the registers, the temperature in the house is too warm.

With the heating season in full force, it is a good time to review best practices in heating troubleshooting. This article covers boilers. The following information is a summarized section from HVAC Troubleshooting, a guide book published by BSRIA, a test, instruments, research, and consultancy organization headquartered in the UK.

Should a compressor fail, the entire system will fail, and knowing how to properly test, diagnose, troubleshoot, and maintain that equipment will ensure minimal downtime while preventing future failures.