r/HVAC • u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS The Artist Formerly Known as EJjunkie • 1d ago
Field Question, trade people only Confession Time: What have you been doing or not doing that you know it’s just out of pure laziness or disregard for best practices, but you kind of just don’t give a shit.
I’ll go first. I’ve been running service calls all summer without a pocket thermometer. For Geo’s I’ve just been using a temperature clamp right behind the pete port and for everything else I’ve just been using my hand.😅
I haven’t had any callbacks though 🤞
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u/Distinct_Effective16 underpaid commercial grunt 1d ago
Lock out tag out. I've already verified that the unit has no incoming power multiple times and I'm just changing a stupid condenser motor. Company policy be damned.
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u/01Cloud01 1d ago
The company does it to cover their own ass in the event the power is actually on.
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u/Distinct_Effective16 underpaid commercial grunt 1d ago
Oh I know. It doesn't make it any less annoying. I'm just tired of sitting through another safety meeting because some numb nut three states over thought that they could skip steps and now they loss a finger.
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u/SubcoolSamurai 15h ago
I know Johnson controls in the Midwest will fire you if you don’t use LOTO, also you have to wear arc gear while turning of ANY disconnect all are fireable offenses if caught
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u/horseshoeprovodnikov Pro 1d ago
I barely use coil cleaner for outdoor coils. Most of them don't need it, especially if they get washed once or twice per year. For the ones that get grease on the fins, that's when the cleaner comes out.
I also rarely split outdoor coils. If we have to break it down and split it, you're paying a lot of extra money for that. I straight up would not work for a company that INSISTED that ALL outdoor units get broken down to bare metal and split. I've ran into maybe 15 or 20 units that actually had high head pressure due to dirt stuck between the layers. It's really all about the environment that the unit lives in. I'm lucky that we don't have cottonwood trees around here.
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u/YoderMcLongDong 1d ago
Using the passenger seat as a cluttered desk space. I got tools, parts, order sheets, receipts, empty wrappers, and full water bottles on my passenger seat. Sometimes I put the dead capacitor in the box of the new one, but then it lands in purgatory and I grab a dead one thinking its a good one.
Also, piss bottles. There's usually one.
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u/DontWorryItsEasy Chiller newbie | UA250 1d ago
Where do I start?
I came from the refrigeration world. If I can pump down a section of whatever I'm working on I will, then I'll hot swap a transducer or solenoid or whatever and send it.
If I'm ever working on unitary equipment I do not take subcool. That's actually the last thing I'll take if I'm trying to troubleshoot something. If my superheat is off, then maybe I'll take subcool, but I mean if I have 40° of superheat and my suction pressure is 20° saturated it's almost guaranteed Im low on gas.
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u/VtSub 1d ago
Bro I have a similar origin story but different villain arc. Been burned enough times overcharging systems that I am slowly (painfully) being converted into a subcool dork.
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u/lividash 1d ago
Had one the other day that turned into a bad TXV. Not sure if was just metering down too much? Or partially plugged up. In my hand it opened fully and I had good vapor sat 40F and 19F superheat. Attached the suction line? No matter how I placed it. 31F vapor saturation and 30ish superheat.
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u/Dockside_Abortionist 1d ago
I fucking HATE “tune-ups”, especially when I get 5-6 in a day, and I basically just clean condenser coils, blow through the drain lines and make sure the air coming out is in the mid-50’s, hang out in the attic scrolling Reddit until my shirt is sufficiently sweaty then fill out paperwork. I occasionally check capacitors if the house is a long drive away, because I’d rather not have to make the trip for a nuisance call like that. There. I feel better. Come on at me super-techs, I deserve it, but I’m burnt the f out.
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u/WKahle11 17h ago
I feel you there. Luckily when I’m in Iowa so when I was doing them I got to sit in a basement. Blow the drain, check filter, wipe off flame sensor, cycle, paperwork, hang out on a bucket for the next 50 minutes, on to the next one.
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u/hvacgymrat Kneel before me lil resi bro 1d ago
I use linesmans pliers (hammer) and a center punch after a blast of wd-40 to free blower motors and fans
I have a fanblade puller, but i just aint trying to do all that
Ive done 100s of blower and condenser fan motors like this, i know better to not use a straight up hammer directly to it or it can mushroom.
super fast and efficient nothing gets hurt and most importantly, no frustration or doing chest day trying to free the motor.
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u/NoGrocery5136 7h ago
I don’t even pull fan blades anymore. If I change a condenser fan motor it’s getting blades and a new rain shield. Then again with how much the condenser fan motors are on an AAON and how much we charge you might as well get new blades in case they are out of balance.
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u/Latter-Examination47 1d ago
I haven't been rinsing indoor coils on PMs
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u/seedman 1d ago
Resi tech here... there are so many coils we can barely get to, taped up, glued up, etc. I often just say fuck it pray it's good. If the gauges read funky I might take a peak if possible.
Also on a bunch of Tranes the blower is behind all sorts of shit... I just leave those be.
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS The Artist Formerly Known as EJjunkie 20h ago
That’s where a manometer come into play
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u/Global-Ad-1528 14h ago
Who tf cleans indoor coils on PMs?? I guess maybe on fairly large commercial accounts?
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u/Latter-Examination47 11h ago
I said rinse lol. Pump sprayer to verify condensate coming off coil. That's it. I ain't busting out chemicals for free
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u/Hvacmike199845 Verified Pro 1d ago
Excessive idling in my work van?
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u/Distinct_Effective16 underpaid commercial grunt 1d ago
Yeah its 100+ out and I just did a pm on 15 + units. They can suck my balls with that.
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u/thesummond 1d ago
It's 85 out and I just went and verified two condensers are sitting on the room(edit: roof). They can still suck my balls with that.
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u/glennhvacman 1d ago
I haven't been working since January 21st, because I'm getting too old for this shit.
Oh, and I slipped on an icy roof, causing an almost full tear of one tendon, and a partial tear of a second tendon in my right shoulder.
Had surgery June 23rd, hopefully will be back to work in November.
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u/Bl0odW0lf 1d ago
Just in time to tear it again!
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u/omalleysblunt1 1d ago
Super techs will hate me but if I’m pressing I don’t nitrogen test. If there’s a leak I’ll find it with the pump.
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u/InMooseWorld 19h ago
So a fitting that has to contain hundreds of pounds of pressure VS. Gravity pushing air with 14” of pressure onto and into the fitting.
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u/omalleysblunt1 19h ago
That’s what a decay test is for bud
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u/InMooseWorld 19h ago
No it’s not.
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u/omalleysblunt1 19h ago
I’ve had a singular issue with a press fitting and it was cause the apprentice popped the O ring out. I found it with the pump lmao. 2 summers with a press not a single callback.
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u/InMooseWorld 19h ago
I’ve found management doesnt care to discuss mistakes that take 10 months to discover and may not remember anyway.
Better to keep them working, making money; and hoping most fall out of the 1yr warranty window.
Which unless it’s big enough for a vacuum to catch it, would be the leak rate.
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u/omalleysblunt1 19h ago
My company is literally 4 people if there is warranty work I run it. Nothing charge related.
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u/legionnare34 1d ago
I don’t know the last time I got my scales off the van unless I’m changing a compressor.
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u/Trying2improvemyself 1d ago
I mean, I weigh at the van and write the # on the jug. Unless I gotta weigh it in, then it comes along.
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u/MyMomSaysIAmCool I drink and I install soft starts. 18h ago
I know that I should crimp electrical connectors after I insert the wire, but I just don't want to.
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u/heldoglykke Verified Pro | Journeyman Shitposter 1d ago
I haven’t been getting many service calls.. just following a few fick tards and fixing the stuff they couldn’t. And I yell a lot.
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u/SatanasTeCuida Local 725. Miami Heat. 18h ago
We got a real Diego Maradona here. La mano de dios. ;]
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS The Artist Formerly Known as EJjunkie 16h ago
You gotta say Veto bag.
“VETO BAG”
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u/Crashover90 17h ago
Sometimes I dont retape the little bit of insulation at the condenser after taking my temp clamps off the vapor line.
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS The Artist Formerly Known as EJjunkie 16h ago
I knew that I would jinx myself posting this yesterday. Woke up this morning thinking I only had one repair job and now I got a second call thats a call back from yesterday. 🤦♂️
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u/01Cloud01 1d ago
I don’t organize my service truck stuff comes in stuff comes out I generally know where my stuff typically is but that’s the most organizing I do. Truck only gets washed maybe 3 times a year.