Most of my hard core learning came in the early days of my career.  I was thrown into many situations I probably had no business being involved in and like most young apprentices, there were more than a few royal f@#k ups.  I remember vividly, my first encounter with non…

Make up air units or MUA as they are commonly referred to play a vital role in your condominium. The building MUA unit is generally located at the top of the building, either in the mechanical room or out on the roof. The function of the MUA unit is in…

How does one become successful in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration trade?  Well, the same way one is successful within a game.  No matter what the game is, sports, board games, poker, etc. there are rules that need to be followed, there is education that needs to take…

  Not too long ago, I was under the impression that all internal leak sealant products were equally destructive to air conditioning or refrigeration systems.  About a year and a half ago, there was a heated debate regarding such products on My HVAC Hub powered by HVAC Know It All on Facebook. …

  Have you ever thought about training your customer?  This sounds like an odd theory but in actual fact it works and I will give you an example of this in a little bit.   But First... In order to train a customer, you must first get one very important thing accomplished.  You must make…

There are competent plumbers everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, there are some bad apples, too, but there are also a lot of great ones. Today we’re going to talk about some ways to stand out from the competition. Foster loyalty Customers will keep calling once they figure out you have their back.…

Rick Ruscigno CMHE Lincoln Technical Institute  rruscigno@lincolntech.edu   With consideration to modern, high efficiency comfort systems, proper  refrigerant charge is more important than ever! Symptoms of poor charging can range from higher energy costs to premature equipment failure. Some symptoms are noticeable to the end user while others are much more covert. Manufacturers create a great deal of…

Refrigerant Recovery I often see new techs asking how to recover – or even experienced techs asking how to recover faster, so let’s take a look at both. This all originated from some personal trial and error when a manufacturer I worked for had a recall, a missing Schrader core at the receiver…

Refrigerant Pump Down Explained By: Gary McCreadie   Pumping down a refrigerant circuit is a great way to avoid liquid migration back to the compressor on the off-cycle.  Refrigerant will naturally equalize and move to the section of the system with the lowest ambient temperature.  If that section happens to be anywhere on…

Rick Ruscigno CMHE Lincoln Technical Institute rruscigno@lincoltech.edu   We have all heard this expression, but what is its origin and how does it apply to the professional and personal areas of our lives? This idiom is sourced from The Bible, Matthew chapter 5, in which Jesus addresses his followers in the well known “Sermon…

Rick Ruscigno CMHE Lincoln Technical Institute rruscigno@lincolntech.edu   The Hot & Cold of It Vol. 3 Why Pursue A Career In Skilled Trades?    College or Trade School? How many young folks have been told: “To get ahead in life you must have a degree”? As you reflect on that statement while standing in line at a coffee shop, have you ever…

  Rick Ruscigno CMHE Lincoln Technical Institute mr.rickruscigno@gmail.com The Hot & Cold of It Vol. 2   HEAT In the refrigeration and air conditioning world we don't add cold, we remove heat! From childhood we are taught that heat equals hot, but the terms “hot” and “cold” are strictly for the purpose of describing comfort. Heat is…

Why Flame Rod Failures Happen and How to Prevent Them By:  Eric Shidell, HVAC Service Mentor A lot of HVAC service technicians learn early on that cleaning a flame sensor is a standard maintenance practice and that neglecting this basic task can lead to nuisance burner shutdowns and no heat calls.  Let’s look…

Azeotrope vs. Zeotrope By Gary McCreadie   Do you understand your refrigerant? Do you listen to it, communicate with it... wipe it's tears when it's sad? Yah probably not, but it is important to understand some terminology, so you can understand your refrigerant's deepest, most inner feelings.  Not all refrigerants are pure compounds such as…

Don't Be Scared It's Only HVAC By Gary McCreadie   Thinking back to my early years in the HVAC trade, I realized that I made a fabulous amount of mistakes.  The cost of “Smoke Put-er Back In-ers,” were out of my price range as a struggling apprentice, so on many occasions I had…

Carbon Tracking Explained By Gary McCreadie I was a second or third year apprentice working for a very knowledgeable boss and business owner.  At the time, he just happened to be the dispatcher, which was bitter sweet.  The bitter part, well, he was one hard ass dude that didn’t think twice about…

The Hot Gas Bypass Valve Explained By Gary McCreadie Hot gas bypass valves are a simple and very effective way to add a false load on an evaporator coil.  What is a false load you ask.  Well, as we have learned in the past, refrigerant pressures are directly related to the ambient…

Carbon Monoxide Testing and CO Action Limits! By:  Eric Shidell, HVAC Service Mentor Carbon Monoxide is an odorless, colorless poisonous gas that is a natural and common product of combustion of all kinds.  Most gas burning furnaces normally produce carbon monoxide as a part of their operation.  When all systems are operating…

A Life Well Lived  By Steve Driver                                                                                         …

Flame Rectification Explained                                                                          By Gary McCreadie A jittery pilot flame sits in a damp, poorly lit room.…