Bob is called to a customer’s house because of a no heat complaint. The house is heated and cooled with a self-contained package unit. Bob finds holes in the heat exchanger and changes it out. But he is called back later because the unit has shut off again. Btu Buddy assists as Bob investigates further.

How often do you encounter this problem in the field? The motor in question continually nuisance trips. You look at the motor and the application: the motor appears to be running properly; the driven load is working properly; and yet the motor seems to keep overheating and tripping.

The dispatcher calls Bob to go to a new customer who is complaining about a rumbling noise that her furnace is making when it shuts down. The customer’s furnace uses fuel oil. Bob knows that there is an after-burn going on but he doesn’t know why. Btu Buddy explains how to fix it.

In this month’s troubleshooting situation, we find ourselves dealing with a condensing furnace, and the customer has called to say that “there’s no heat at all.” It’s a relatively small unit, rated at only 40,000 Btu, but it is equipped with an LED readout system that flashes a fault code in the event of a breakdown.

The dispatcher sends Bob to a new customer for a routine system tune-up. The system is a 3-ton cooling unit with a capillary tube metering device. After checking the system, Bob determines that its low-side symptoms show a low charge. Btu Buddy, however, suggests that he consider other possible causes.

If your central air conditioning condenser problem is that the compressor and condenser fan won’t run, this article lays out a series of troubleshooting steps to help you in identifying and correcting the problem. By the time you make all these checks, if the problem was electrical, you should find it.

Bob and Btu Buddy meet for lunch in a restaurant so they can discuss water-cooled systems. Btu Buddy tells him about the pros and cons of air-cooled and water-cooled equipment. Bob then asks how to start up a water-cooled system in the spring and be assured that it will provide good service all summer.

It’s the middle of July, and a customer calls to say that the unit that heats and cools their small office “isn’t cooling at all.” When you arrive, you find a 230-V, eight-year-old, rooftop package unit heat pump with three-phase compressor. After an evaluation of the system, you'll be asked a three-part troubleshooting question.

The day is scorching hot and Bob gets a call to go to an office building because the air conditioning system is off. It is a water-cooled chiller located in the basement with the water tower on the roof of the building. Btu Buddy assists Bob as he finds that the condenser tubes are dirty and require cleaning.

Most compressors fail due to system malfunctions, which must be corrected to prevent repeat failures. After a compressor fails, field examination of the failed compressor often will reveal symptoms of system problems. Corrections will help eliminate future failures.