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Bob and Tim are on air-conditioning system service call, and the system has a persistent leak. It seems to leak down about once a month and has to be recharged. Several technicians have tried working on the system and cannot seem to find and stop the persistent leaking. Their service order says to says to repair the leak using whatever methods needed to be used. This persistent leak must be stopped.

Refrigerant circuit restrictions can be common things like a plugged filter drier or a restricted metering device. They can also be more difficult to diagnose and exotic issues like a kinked liquid line, blocked evaporator feeder tube, or a compressor connected improperly with a discharge line full of solder (I’ve seen it). To start with, let’s talk about the symptoms.

Venstar announced that the PizzaRev chain is using Venstar’s Wireless Temperature Sensors and ColorTouch touchscreen thermostats with Venstar’s Skyport™ Cloud Services to keep its stores cool and comfortable despite the use of 900-degree pizza ovens. “Venstar’s Wireless Temperature Sensors and ColorTouch thermostats give us the ability to remotely manage and control energy usage and costs at our stores while keeping our customers comfortable,” said Jonathan Castillo, maintenance manager for PizzaRev.

When selecting inverter driven systems, the contracting community tends to ignore sizing issues because the popular belief is: The system will run only as necessary — you can’t oversize. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Proper sizing remains a fundamental in hot, humid climates.  To be sure, inverter systems are here to stay and are valuable at shedding shoulder-month KWh.  While the equipment may have ability to enhance humidity control during a normal run cycle with proper thermostat programming, a contractor will fight a losing battle when sizing is ignored. 

Disputes occur in all sorts of companies for all sorts of reasons. In the HVAC Industry the dominant disputes stem from the shortage of skilled labor and discrepancies in the payment and invoicing process. However, with the Internet, advanced software means that the days spent chasing invoices and job details and trying to get ahold of remote workers are beginning to change - though faster in some parts of the world than others.

This month’s troubleshooting situation involves an up-flow gas furnace that serves as both the heating source in the winter and as the air handler in a split system for cooling in summer. The condensing unit is on a pad next to the building on a concrete slab. Since there is no crawl space or basement, the connecting tubing and wiring for the condensing unit are routed through an underground chase from the equipment room to the outside.

Bob and Tim are on their first service call for winter. They are at a retail store that has 4 units to heat and cool the store. They are all 15 on heat pumps. One area of the store is not heating or cooling well and during the heating cycle, the heat pump auxiliary heat light is staying all for long lengths of time.

If you are primarily a residential technician working on equipment under 5 tons, there is a lot of similarities between the systems you are used to and 5 – 20 ton rooftop units that are common to the light commercial market.

It should come as no surprise to most employers that today's workplace has come to be regarded as the most regulated place in America. It is so because of one simple fact. The federal government, state government, and even local entities, such as cities, can and do issue workplace rules and regulations that require employers to do or not do a myriad of things.