any HVAC techs on here?

[tacomabanga1986]

I was wondering if they was any HVAC service techs on here other than me

thought we could trade stories or tips or what knot

im going to collage to be a hvac service technician/welder fabricator

i already have a heavy duty vacuum pump, recovery machine, refrigerant scales, 1 set of r22,134a,410a commercial gauges w/ sight glass, r22, 134a gauges both yellow jacket, 2 30LB(but has 28LB's in it) of r22, a 30LB recovery tank, outdoor fan removal tool (also does squirrel cages), a tool to remove a shrader valve without losing pressure and change valves, a hand held refrigerant temp chart, a hand held humidity checker i guess u would call it, 3 acetylene tanks for brazing, a self ignite brazing torch, and a hand held ratchet that shuts the valves in the refrigerant inlet connection so if u have to take out and change/clean a A-coil u can shut it off to keep all the freon in the compressor and do work inside the house

i was wondering if anyone else has experience with hvac that could share on how to use some of these things better or what knot, i got a friend that has done this for over 20yrs that can help me with it but would like others input

what i have done so far was in class room like, change compressor, just got done changing our outdoor fan motor due to barring issues, rewired a rheem, carrier, goodman, and york inclass work, cleaned 2 10ton commercial rheem heat pumps, and a lil bit of duct work so far, moved around a few air handlers in class and hooked em up

other than that whats yall input i guess

[memphisBred]

I've been doing HVAC work for 4 years now. Me and a helper do calls for my granddad and Coleman Heating and Air. What exactly are you wondering about or wanting to know?

[tacomabanga1986]

i guess just tips n tricks i guess, im going into level 4 monday and its my last level n have not really had any experance with recovery and charging

i was wondering how to tell on the guages to kno of a system has enough charge or not

i was going to try to do it for an on the side job till i get enough experance to work for a company, im on unemployment right now and that ends in december so i need to work up something to get me some money rolling in, im looking to do service work like cleaning coils, change out bad parts and what knot

i dont kno much about oil fernaces but the guy i got my stuff from said he will sell me some more stuff come winter

oh ya, i got a yellow jacket refrigerant dector that does all types of refrigerants, i got one hell of a deal on about $6,000 worth of equitment

[memphisBred]

On the new units(410-A) the unit usually has a charging chart on the inside of the panel that holds the contactor, capacitor, low voltage wires, etc. The desired charge fluctuates from the tonnage of the unit and what the temperature is at the time you are charging the unit. Most of the time around 135-150 on the suction side will be right. Some units have a chart where it tells you what the liquid line should read, but most of the time the unit will give you a desired suction pressure.

To prevent yourself from having to put extra freon in the unit after start-up...

1. Let your vacuum pump pull down anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on the size of the line(usually 3/4" or 7/8") and the length of the run from condenser to coil.

2. The vacuum is USUALLY done when you begin to hear a hammering down sort of sound.

3. Make sure your gauges are calibrated. The hand on the gauge should pull down to 30 inches and after you stop the vacuum and close both sides of the gauges, it should not go below 29 inches. If it does you have a leak.

4. Before starting up the unit fill the unit with the freon(410-A) with the drum upside down and through the high/liquid line. I usually fill it up until the suction pressure reaches 75-85. That way once you start up the unit your pressure should reach it's desired point(Again usually around 135-150 suction pressure).

Also when pulling a vacuum make sure the stems are in for an accurate reading. And always pull the stems out before welding. You might have to learn the hard way.

On R-22 units I try to get the suction pressure to 75-80 and keep the liquid line below 300, I prefer 260ish.

[tacomabanga1986]

im going to clean my coils tommrow, its on a 4ton goodman, the outside coils are dirty as they can be, and this unit has not been serviced ever and its about 20yrs old give or take, the air handler is about 26ish yrs old i think its a interthrum or something like that

i was wondering whats the odds of it freezing up due to me cleaning it and will it help out its efficency seer at all? i think the dirty coil is why the compressor went out on it, and then the fan took a shit or was just on its last leg so i replaced that today, i want to keep it running for as long as it can due to not enough money to replace it,

if i can get some deals on some dect work and branch lines i want to work out some sort of branch line config that will work better to what we got, i might have to add a duct booster but prolly not, its a good heatpump just hasn't been takin care of and i never thought u would have to untill i took hvac lol

i use foam and clean by ace, when i cleaned the 10ton outside units it would eat the skin off my fingers lol

oh and can u help me clear this up, when in a/c mode the indoor unit is the condenser and outside the evaporator, and when in heat mode the indoor unit is the evaporator and the outside unit is the condenser? i keep getting this mixed up, and i never really got to the point of trouble shooting txv's and what knot

[memphisBred]

You cleaning the outside condenser coils, will in no way shape or form cause the unit to freeze up. The lines will freeze up if the freon is low, the outside coil is dirty, the a coil is dirty, the filters are stopped up, or the furnace blower motor is not running.

[dyeagain15]

I took an automotive HVAC.....and got an A in it both residential and automotive HVAC is similar.