HVAC Contracting

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Bob and Tim are at a customer’s house that has a gas furnace and electric air conditioning. The complaint is that the system is not working at all.

Service valves are so basic, and we see them with such regularity that we can miss them altogether. But, before I give the tips, I want to address the tech who tells the customer it was “probably the service valve” or “the caps were loose” as a plausible reason for a leak without actually doing a proper diagnosis. Don’t make excuses, find the leak.

Whether an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection of your workplace is triggered by a workplace injury, a formal complaint, or a programmed wall-to-wall inspection, being prepared beforehand will help limit exposure and help defend against any citations that may be issued.

In this month’s troubleshooting problem, the equipment that needs servicing is a split system heat pump, manufactured under the brand name Grandaire (ICP, Lewisburg, Tennessee). The indoor unit model number is WAPT304A2, and the outdoor unit model number is WCH5304KGA100. This is a 2.5-ton unit in a residential installation.

Recent developments in factory-assembled cooling tower technology can increase cooling capacity per cell by up to 50 percent, expanding the applications for so called “package” towers supporting HVAC and industrial processes. Although field-erected towers have long been the preferred product for process cooling in power plants and heavy industry, new robust designs and materials coupled with cost-saving building techniques make the new generation of modular products logical alternatives for a broader range of applications. 

The reason innovations fail is not because of technology. It’s never about the technology. Innovations fail because of people. The people who might employ a new technology may not be sold on it. Or they might be afraid of it. Or they might feel threatened by it. However, the biggest threat to a new innovation your company is trying to develop will be your own people.

I created this service call to help technicians understand flooded unit repair. Dedicated to technicians after Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma — I hope it helps. Good luck.