Attempting to force maintenance spending into specific lumps of time that do not meet the needs of our machines creates the need to defer maintenance. Maintenance budgets fail because budgeting authorities do not understand the disastrous consequences of deferring maintenance.

Superheat is probably the most talked about, yet misunderstood, technical term used by technicians. Superheat on the system's low side can be divided into two types: evaporator superheat and total (or compressor) superheat.

There are lots of useful tools for electrical work. To this day, we really can't tell that much about the refrigeration circuit. Here's a tool to help solve refrigeration circuit problems.

In this edition of the Btu Buddy series, Bob learns the proper procedures for finding and fixing a refrigerant leak in a residential air conditioning unit.

The function of the economizer is, as its name implies, to "economize" or save on cooling costs. Learn more about the operation of economizers and get maintenance tips here.

In this installment of the Btu Buddy series, Bob and Btu Buddy meet at the local diner for lunch and discuss electric heat and the components that operate it.

With the heating season winding down and the cooling season soon upon us, it is time to reconsider what is involved in proper cooling system maintenance.

Condensing temperatures often give technicians valuable hints as to what the problem may be within a refrigeration system. The high side of the refrigeration system offers valuable information to the wise technician.

The core of a refrigeration system is the compressor that is designed to pump cool refrigerant gas from the evaporator into the condenser. Refrigeration compressors need to be properly maintained and require periodic inspection and testing.

In this edition of the Btu Buddy series, Bob gets a call from the dispatcher about an office that has electric heat. It is very cold outside and one of the office zones is not heating as it should.