Dealing with a user’s complaint of a noisy motor can be a frustrating experience. After all, the perception of noise is extremely subjective (just ask the parents of teenagers). Not only does the range of human hearing differ considerably among people, but it also varies by specific frequency.

Bob is called to a new customer’s home with a 5-ton heat pump that is experiencing power bills that are considerably higher than the same months last year. Btu Buddy assists Bob in diagnosing the problem.

An air conditioner coil can be a perfect breeding ground for mold and bacteria. This mold and bacteria buildup on a coil can cause a variety of indoor air and other problems. What to do? Glad you asked.

In this column, Jim Johnson of Technical Training Associates presents a specific HVACR equipment problem and invites readers to submit their diagnosis. From those who submit the correct answer by the deadline, there will be a prize drawing. Here is a furnace problem.

The dispatcher calls and tells Bob that yet another person is describing an unusual smell when the furnace runs for a long period of time. Bob talks to the homeowner, checks out the furnace, and finds that it is backdrafting slightly. With the help of Btu Buddy, he tracks down the draft problem.

The information provided here on assorted water heater problems assumes that the water heater was properly installed and was operating correctly before any problems developed. This is just a general guide to the most common water heating problems.

Btu Buddy and Bob meet for lunch and Bob has a question about the last service call. The job involved replacing the single-wall flue pipe with double-wall pipe. “You said that we had some unfinished business about the service call yesterday, yet you said that the call was complete. What did you mean?”

In this column, Jim Johnson, director of training for Technical Training Associates, presents a specific HVACR equipment problem and invites readers to submit their diagnosis. From those who submit the correct answer by the stated deadline, there will be a prize drawing.

Bob goes on a call to a house where the residents smell fumes when the furnace is running. He examines the flue connector from the furnace to the chimney and discovers it’s rusted to the point of falling apart. With the assistance of Btu Buddy, he replaces the single-wall vent pipe with a double-wall vent.

A very common freezer repair trouble call is a frozen evaporator coil. When you open the door to inspect the coil, look around for signs of outside air migrating into the box.