Ive made every one of those mistakes and a whole lot more but that's how I learned. I payed attention and got good grades in my tech classes but I felt like I didn't know shit when I got out there. Trial and error and company willing to teach got me through it. Don't be too proud to ask for help.
You prolly dont care but does any of you know of a method to get back into an Instagram account?? I was stupid lost the login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me.
I had a large room in a titanium manufacturing plant that was cooled by 2 Lennox 2 stage RTU’s. They were not bringing room to set point but we’re trying to cool. I automatically cleaned the condensers and called it a day. Call back a week later same problem. I finally figured out 2nd stage cooling wasn’t coming on. Replaced Honeywell economize controls. Ect…. After scratching my head and several call backs I finally realized the thermostats we’re not set up for 2 stage cooling and economizer… this was the first year of being a service tech. I’ve learned a ton from messing up over the years. Thanks for making this video. A lot of guys in the industry need people who care about furthering education for others. I tell my buddy all the time that HVAC/R number one problem is journeyman who don’t have the patience to teach new guys
Thats a good one. Always "reboot" the thermostats because you have no idea how messed up the software is by the folks that programmed the setting before.
Another learning experience: I installed a 2 ton with furnace. It was a piston metering device factory installed. Started up ac and couldn’t get target superheat to save my life. After spending hours adding and subtracting refrigerant and measuring temp splits and cfm over evap I finally realized that the evap was a 3 ton so the factory installed piston was a 3 ton. Pistons need to be sized for the condenser which was a 2 ton. Changed out the piston everything was fine. I’ve fixed 2 other units since then that were only getting 13-14 degree splits and had wrong size piston for years…. All because that install screw up stuck in my head. Experience is the key
omg i went through the same thing! we did a beautiful install and it came with a piston and my superheat was really low. And then i found out that the unit comes with an r22 piston from factory and i needed to install the 410 piston.
Every company or self employed technician needs to have & follow 5 basic steps for every service call. I agree with everything you said except #3. I believe you have to prove & diagnose with a meter. I see to many techs grabbing their meter & measuring (and they'll call me & say I only have ....... this reading. I always ask " Well what's it supposed to be?" Always silence, 😆 Basically don't take a measurement if you don't know what the measurement is supposed to read anyway. A lot of problems can be found using your best tools you own. Your eyes,ears,nose & hearing. Then get your meter & confirm diagnosis. Either way great video!
When I went to Voch school, I was blessed to have several old timer mechanics as instructors. They taught you the correct methods of troubleshooting. #1, Know the system!
good tips.. for me.. it take times and experience handling HVAC cases.. im doing HVAC works already 12 years, trust me, you will all surely find things that are beyond your expectations, as long as we live, as long as we continue to learn with new things that we may never face .. peace. ✌️
I've been in construction for forty years and just succumbed,in the last few years, to learning all/many things about HVAC and, this video is so right on, not just for a/c but, for just about every trade I can imagine. And the part about asking the client what is going on first, is in my opinion, the skill/procedure, without which, no one should be a service technician or even handyman, without. Great presentation.
Just like when you go the dealership the service advisor will ask when does it happen, night only day time..high humidity days? Was it cold that day since their complain or it always does it when its cold or hot days or even rainy days
I've just retired from Hvac after 55+ years, i totally agree with this guy. It was easy for me to take my time and test, test, test b4 i came to a conclusion what the problem was and the solution.
This has some really great advice in it. I especially like the one about talking to the customer. I have actually lost money but gained customers by talking to the customer and solving the problem without even working on anything. Sometimes a simple thing like when was the last time you changed your filter? Or have you checked your thermostat to see if it is set right.
I always talk to the homeowner they usually give me the symptoms which gives me knowledge to find the problem. Your customer is your number one diagnostic tool.
Both my parents wer family counselors so I was exposed to behavioral analysis and corrections at a very early age which put me in a position to always be interested in hearing what the customer has to say from the very start but it’s so satisfying to hear a grey hair echo the same thing and repeat that importance to the rest of the community
Great vid....My mentor told me early on regarding trouble shooting - "Once you eliminate electrical problems, it is most likely an electrical problem".I was a good electrician before I was in HVAC.
Many times after 30 yrs expierence I change wiring or add controls/ fuses etc. to make system better. EX 4 single pahse condenser fan motors on a unit power split from a single 3 phase contactor with 3 fuses. One of 3fuses fail entire system down because manufacturers took control power from it. Other 2 fuses if they fail would only take out 2 of 4 fan motors and worse one fan failing electricly can cause the other fans to fail. Split circuit apart protected each motor with separate fuses moved control power etc.
@Frog Face the grammar is fine. There are some punctuation issues, but that's forgivable with tiny screen touch on phones. I understood exactly what he wrote.
Eric, you are spot on. The most important thing to do to understand the problem the customer is having is to talk to them. The second most important thing to know when troubleshooting is the equipment's sequence of operation. I can tell that when I worked for other people I unfortunately never had a service manager that understood the importance of this, all of them were parts changers, even though one of them had actually taken a two year HVAC course. Sad, but true. That's when I decide to go out on my own since I knew I could do better than what was already out there. Thank you for this video! All five points are critical to successfully troubleshooting an HVAC system. I retired in 2022 after running a very successful HVAC business. I often out-troubleshot the BIGS'S technicians, but why was that? The reason was, first of all, I knew my stuff, second of all I knew how the equipment was supposed to work, and thirdly I followed a logical step-by-step process(i.e. what is supposed to be happening and why isn't it) to solving the problem. Eric, I wish I would have been able to work for you. Hope you're having a wonderful life and thanks for imparting your knowledge on us.
Thanks for the praise. It means a lot coming from someone with your background who knows what they are talking about. I can tell you love the trade and care about your clients, and that's an important factor for success.
Eric, I think your first bit of advice about asking the homeowner or business owner “what are you experiencing with your system”? Is key in #1 getting respect and trust from that customer and #2 helping yourself as the service tech properly diagnose the problem. It comes down to good “bedside manner” like a doctor to a patient. Thanks for your input. New service techs need you!
Im commercial so yes and no, I've gone the very professional route and I personally like the friendly people person route and so do my customers, creates a relationship. I say hello, have a small convo allowing them to lead and in the midst I ask if they're having any issues with their system, then I check the thermostat and tell them I'll be on the roof, etc. If it's a service call then I walk in and say I heard there's an issue wirh your AC? Or HI I'm from ___, here for your ___. Personally haven't been unable to fix something that another tech/company couldn't fix so that's made us look good haha. If it a service/emergency call then I've learned that it's best to go through the unit just like a PM and pay attention to the sequence of operations and you'll usually find your issue. Learn how to read wiring diagrams and realize that there's wording on the physical wire matching the diagram! And always test in, test out. I'm little over 2 years in and these are some things I've learned. Your video is great! some of these tips are common sense to me but I hope they help others. I've seen some shanty work before in my long 2.5 years lol; if you don't know then ask your peers! Nothing worse than pretending like you know something and your coworkers having to come behind you to fix it.
@@hvacservicementor Is your webpage functional? It took me to a page that said that domain name is available. Why not have the video on your RUclips channel? Thanks for your videos!
You are one cool dude. You are the man and I feel where your coming from. That's all I can say. I'm at the end of my career now and felt quite alone in this world of service type technicians among fellow tech's. After viewing your video I understand a little better now when people refer to parallel universes. All of my jobs are emergencies at first until I'm able to implement an effective PM schedule.
Good video and some excellent learning points. Fault finding is essentially a game of logic which essentially means that for the inexperienced it will take time but you will find the fault eventually - if you follow the logic. An engineer with experience brings a new tool into the game and is able to know from the symptoms and his experience the ‘fuzzy logic’ element to find the fault easier and faster. Fuzzy logic is multi factorial and involves, probability, carrying out 30 second tests before 20 minute tests, examining easy to access components before something that takes a 20 minute rip out to access. (Retired marine engineer 😉).
100 percent correct! When students learn that type of logical thought process for the first time it takes 30 to 40 minutes for simple problems. Once ingrained, it takes around 3 minutes!
I think it takes a certain type of mind to be amenable to the troubleshooting process in general. It's one thing to follow a set of instructions, some may call that troubleshooting, but a true troubleshooting mind makes its own instructions on the fly.
The problem with talking to the customer is that many technicians actually get in trouble for talking to customers. This is the case especially for commercial customers. What the technicians need to know is what to talk to the customers about and what not to talk to the customers about. They need to be taught this so they don't learn the hard way, they need to learn how to sympathize with the customer with out bad mouthing the other company, the other technician, the equipment, the building, the employees who set the thermostat etc. Its a social skill that many technicians do not possess. In commercial you are simply told , "do not talk to the customer", but just like you said, you must at least listen to what the customer has to say describing the problem, its really essential in commercial just for the fact alone a building can have several pieces of equipment, how do you know where the problem is if you don't listen to the customer? what floor is it on, what part of the space is it, how do you get to the roof, etc. I can go on and on on how to troubleshoot..
Yes, they need skills in more ways than one that is all about HVAC. In just about every profession, you have to have "bedside manners" with the client weather you like it or not so may as well brush up on them. That's part of customer retention too, even if its not your business, you will at least have your customers calling the boss and your holding a job.
I've never once in my HVAC career been called to a house because the customer wants to hang out. They don't want us in their house but they called because they can't do it... Making the customer comfortable and relaxed is the number one way to avoid any other frustration or misunderstandings down the line.
I have just came across your channel and thank you for making me rethink on what I have gotten away from, even doing mostly commercial systems thinking about starting at the end point is what I forgot about.
While I am not an HVAC tech, I agree that talking to the customer should always be the first part of troubleshooting. What is more important is a thorough knowledge of the system operation. Often, you are listening to the customer and formulating your plan, but the customer tells you things you know can not happen. (I'm an elevator tech btw). As far as the guy that always checks the power supply; in highly processor/mirco processor/networked processors/software based systems, this definitely IS one of the first things you check; especially if there is communication problem or you suspect the problem is software/hardware and not in the field. On a 5 volt logic circuit, even a reading of 4.7 or 4.8 vdc can stop the hardware from running the software.
Even if you are a “bad tech” or new the customer interaction and honesty is a very big part of the equation. Customer orientation and admitting you need to call another tech for help or advice is better than just guessing.
I'm convinced technicians doesn't want to trouble shoot. They just want you to replace with brand new, with something that probably didn't need to be fully replaced.
IMO some people can't be taught to be service techs. You either have it or you don't. If you don't enjoy solving problems and troubleshooting you won't be a good service technician. Too many guys I train think that they can be shown everything. They don't understand the thought process.
Correct! In a 4 year span I had 47 Helper/Apprentice candidates only 7 made the grade 3 are in trucks doing service 1 went on to a hospital 1 left to do just residential hvac , 2 only wanted to install. 40 just could not or did not want to do the job. even after spending a lot of money at a trade school. The company that I worked for was a refrigeration/HVAC (light/medium commercial) contractor. Most of them had no mechanical skills at all, much less a problem solving mindset.
Totally agree. Not everyone understands that in order to be a good troubleshooter you have to understand what the system is doing. Just replacing a failed part doesn't always solve the problem. You have to figure out what caused the part to fail and in order to do so you have to understand what the unit is doing.
The perfect video I was looking for. The installer does not listen! Since installation of my new split system, it suddenly freezes. I complained so much to the installer and they finally abandoned me because I kept complaining and they kept blaming different things, such as the cheap air filter, the cheap home insulation, not enough ducts helping air flow and finally they said my duct system is too small for the new ac system. If this is the case, I wonder why they installed a system that did not fit my home ducts system capacity; they were supposed to be just replacing the old one with a new system because the old one had a gas leak that could not found. I also am not sure why the system works fine for days or weeks by normally starting and stopping, cooling my home normally and keeping the set temperature, until all of a sudden, the compressor start, but not the air blower in the attic. It only takes about 2 minutes before the ice starts forming in the lines in the compressor outside. I then just need to turn off the system, wait for the ice to melt, start again and I am good for another day or another couple of weeks until it happens again. I am not sure why the air blower fails to start with the compressor as it normally does. I do notice that it happens more often right before and throughout our monsoon time when it starts becoming humid and it starts to rain. I also have noticed a few times that the system starts normally but my TV turns off and on in a flash, this happens only once in a while and only noticed this only the last summer. I never noticed this one before. Since my installer gave up on me, they promised to give me a new system, which never happened, they did not answer my calls nor replied to my voice mail, I considered having another ac local company check my system and I was told my system was fine, I was charged for the visit, and I was asked to call "when it happens again". But, how can I make it fail?! I also have discussed this issue with other AC professionals that maintain the buildings for the company I work for but I believe they think I am crazy. Since I was concerned about my puppy in the house and me being out of the house the whole hot days and not knowing when the system was going to fail, I replaced the thermostat with a smart thermostat that will send me an alarm to my phone if the temperature in my house is higher than set. When it happens, I just turn it off remotely using my phone, wait about 5 minutes, restart it and temperature goes back to the programmed within a few minutes. I am helpless. I seem to have a problem nobody believes I have and nobody wants to deal with. Sometimes I wonder if it has something to do with the capacitator. Anybody has any ideas? Take into consideration the random times TV quick turning off and on when the system starts. It only affects the TV, and not the AV system nor the Amazon Fire TV Stick, which are all connected in the same outlet on the wall. Isn't the capacitor supposed to help the start up by avoiding a sudden power drain? Thank you for sharing these awesome videos!
pretty much all of these mistakes were explained to me in my first 2 weeks. I am very green but god damn is it satisfying to correctly diagnose something.
" By the way that board is not powered by a 120 V it's powered by 24 V so you get something else going on" too funny! Great informational video I appreciate it.
Shotgunning... Auto mechanics class in high school, 1973 😂 Mr Johnson's mantra, "test, don't guess!" It's funny what we hear. "Well Cletus, last time it did this it was the discombobulator. Let's replace it, that'll fix it." 😂
True words! How many times I followed another tech who was barking up the wrong tree. Adding gas without first checking airflow and the like, Or replace an expensive part when it was just a $20 thermistor
Thanks for your great video. Asking the right questions to the customer is the best and fastest way to find the problem most of the time. Then going over the hacked reparirs done before me. It's amazing what you find. For example a fan control board held in with wire ties. I guess putting back the screws took too long. Maybe they were just over there head. Or they just don't care. Lack of personal pride!
You said it best having Personal pride or having class words we don’t hear about enough anymore my grandfather always spoke about having class and I’m grateful he taught me about it just one of the many things I still think about and use in my life today kindness and class are sure bets to win in life. Cheers 🍻 much respect
I see most techs are not familiar with the latest and greatest meter they bought. They need to “ play” with it and understand the functions and scales on it. I see them buy MORE meter than they will ever use. I tell them practice on operating units when on a doing annual service and get use to the instruments.
I remember back in the day I was pretty good Mechanic and trouble shooter. Well Ford use to have a square box which was the brain. Thing would crap out you change it and car ran once again. But I missed this one because I did not ask myself the right questions. Some would crap out really fast. Charging system by volts was perfect. What I did not see till I hooked it up to the engine analyzer. The alternator was throwing huge spikes, voltmeter did not pick up on. So lessoned learned. You want better answers ask yourself tougher questions. Then prove out your answer with facts.
All these were caused by technicians who were never qualified in the first place who is hired most likely by an owner who can’t fix things himself in the game just for the money high profit margin’s selling unnecessary products and service. The owner looking for the cheapest guy he can hire specially a naïve one he can tell him what to sell even if it’s unethical. And it’s very profitable for owners who don’t know what they’re doing to knowingly hide behind the fact their technicians are selling parts making large profit margin’s until the part is fixed with the unsuspecting customer. There’s a difference between mistakes and intentional Putting a technician who is not qualified out in the truck by himself to do diagnosis is intentional
I work for this company who hire people with no hvac school and send them to couple of weeks school and couple of months riding with tech then they gets there own truck to run maintenance and service.
@@mrsingh8036 then you know a couple of weeks of school is not enough for a new person with zero experience. Unless the person with zero experience was a automotive technician who specializes in drivability and electrical problems and did automotive A/C with 5 or 10 + years experience and decided to make a career change. This kind of new tech with zero experience usually surpasses the most senior tech in just a few years. Especially with today’s more advanced electronic Circuit bord controls are like cars started to get nearly 40 years ago. I was trained by my dad starting before high school for automotive and air conditioning. I started in automotive and moved over to HVAC years later. (“ OMG 😱 it was so easy this stuff was designed for children to work on”) compared to automotive. Now decades later I enrolled myself in Laney College HVAC/R I took all three majors at the same time in night school. Residential HVAC , commercial HVAC , and Building automation and electronic classes analog and digital. I took all this enrolled with my son at the same time. I would get calls from students who dropped out of class who got hired by HVAC company’s and put them in their own van after a couple of months . I would get called from them when they were stuck by them self out in the field to help diagnose small and large three phase 480v system that they were no were qualified to work on. In each and every one of these companies so many in- needed parts would be replaced. But of course the customer never knew. It even got worse ate ripping of customers if the HVAC company offered extra bonuses for up selling and the more parts they sell when getting paid low wages. So you know exactly what it’s like to only have a couple of months training with zero experience and throwing a person out by therm self in a van. You seen it first hand. At least today a good or semi-ok company can take advantage of FaceTime on a phone with the owner tech to help him out. Unless the owner is on of those clueless SOB who never worked out in the field and can not diagnose his way out of a wet paper bag.
@@coldfinger459sub0 by children you mean your diagnostic machine connected to your OBDII port? If its so easy, you've obviously only worked on residential 10 seer equipment bruh. When you get into real HVAC, your mind may change a bit.
@@craigbraswell4269 actually I sell and install commercial 20 to 60 ton heat recovery systems anywhere from 1000 to 3000 feet of ACR installing anywhere up to the capabilities of 60+ heads. Still considered very small systems to the very large commercial and industrial installations. I’m well aware of some of the best latest and greatest large rack systems for refrigeration especially the really nice units from Dan Foss or some of the big controls companies. Their control systems are still in the infancy stage somewhere where Automotive was back in the late 90s to early 2000s. The commercial stuff is catching up really fast though probably within the next five years to 10 years they will almost catch up to the automotive. To do that they would have to go completely wireless and fly by cloud networking. Or extremely high bond rate data rate wired circuits similar to what the Japanese have been using for the last 30 years America HVAC manufactures are always behind the curve playing catch-up.
The 23-yr experienced HVAC tech arrived, asked me what was going on with my gas furnace heater. I told him. He diagnosed the problem in 20 minutes flat. Warranty part arrived, he replaced it within 30 minutes. Problem solved.
I always check power on condensors. There have been many times that I’ve pulled out the disconnect and still had power feeding through because someone before me, blew a fuse and tied the wires through. Very dangerous! I’ve had friends go to the hospital over this. I wish you would tell the entire story, instead of paraphrasing it down. Temperature drop… I was taught temperature differential between return and supply. Otherwise very good video, thank You.
@@kylefallen8213 yup. Even if it's family.. I was changing out a contactor on a condenser while I was an apprentice under my dad, I took the disconnect out but had to something and came back to install it. But little did I know my dad put tge disconnect back on... getting hit by 240v doesn't feel good.. afterwards my dad said to always double check your volts if you walked away. My left had still spasms til this day.
To be fair, I'll often round anything within spec of 120 volts to 120 volts. Like if it actually reads 119.4 I'll just say 120 for brevity's sake. Also, I'm never going to remember that number anyway. I just mentally round to 120 volts if it's between 110 and 125.
I call parts switchers tube jockeys. The old television repairman came into your house with a suitcase full of tubes, and just plugged in new ones until the set worked. If that didn’t do it, he was screwed
i cant agree with that always check power supply opinion of yours, i was taught that way too and it only makes sense in my head. But to each their own. Nice video regardless.
I’m looking at at sandwich island cooler and the compressor is short cycling and condenser fans aren’t running I had to clean evaporator it was caked with a layer of dust
[Edit] - I found the answer to the question below in your video titled “What is the proper Temperature Drop in an air conditioning”@ time 2:36 - [1. SH, 2. SC, 3. DeltaT]. 13:41 - Maybe I missed it. I expected you to say the three tests here. I’m new to the trade and any help in the troubleshooting process would be appreciated. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in these videos. Simply three tests will get me closer to a solution? What are they again?
There’s a big misunderstanding when checking switch normally open. Tech always say I am getting voltage on time delay but blower motor still doesn’t run .This means the delay switch is open ,reading voltage means the switch the switch not close. This easily can check with voltage meter
Those Techs you are describing. Sound like maintenance Techs😅 I have been doing service for a few years and honestly almost never check on a maintenance call, but always do on a service call
Sadly this industry is full of cons that will replace a $1-200 thermostat over $3 bucks in batteries, I felt like a used car salesman and then landed a place with 200 units 1/4t mini thru 90t air over water, I retired after 10 yrs
Hi ma’am I’m Johnny I’m here to look at your air conditioning system. What seems to be the problem. 90% of them say the thermostats broken I turn it on and it blows hot.Most of them will tell you to thermostats broken because that’s the only thing that they know.
PLEASE HELP!!! My tenant said the air is not coming out. So I called for the company that installed the Goodman product. He said the compressor went bad, so I paid for a compressor. Then he tells me that there is broken metal in the in-lines. HOW DID METAL GET INTO THE IN-LINES??? The lines have to be blown out. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? Have you ever heard of such?
“I don’t know “ is the worst thing to hear when you ask the kid any question when they call for help, like guy , you should know the basic measurements and readings needed to attempt to troubleshoot any equipment,I hate it cuz then I’m the dick who tells him call me back when you have the readings I need then I can try to help you , lazy shit kills me , wants me to do his job for him , you gotta try before calling senior tech for help , know the basics at least , it’s not a lot of work either to start off
Is there an online full course I can sign up for and the cost for such a course. I am a Sheetmetal journeyperson in BC Canada and would like to understand the inand outs of a air to air heat pump system...Im also a certified redseal electrician/ hvac controls person trained in the competency of sequence of operation for hvac/hydronic systems.
Ive made every one of those mistakes and a whole lot more but that's how I learned. I payed attention and got good grades in my tech classes but I felt like I didn't know shit when I got out there. Trial and error and company willing to teach got me through it. Don't be too proud to ask for help.
Good man, trained a bunch of top grads that were lost, once I explained on-site they understood better
You prolly dont care but does any of you know of a method to get back into an Instagram account??
I was stupid lost the login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me.
@@crewnash9017 but I have no clue how to I lost mine as well lol
I had a large room in a titanium manufacturing plant that was cooled by 2 Lennox 2 stage RTU’s. They were not bringing room to set point but we’re trying to cool. I automatically cleaned the condensers and called it a day. Call back a week later same problem. I finally figured out 2nd stage cooling wasn’t coming on. Replaced Honeywell economize controls. Ect…. After scratching my head and several call backs I finally realized the thermostats we’re not set up for 2 stage cooling and economizer… this was the first year of being a service tech. I’ve learned a ton from messing up over the years. Thanks for making this video. A lot of guys in the industry need people who care about furthering education for others. I tell my buddy all the time that HVAC/R number one problem is journeyman who don’t have the patience to teach new guys
Thats a good one. Always "reboot" the thermostats because you have no idea how messed up the software is by the folks that programmed the setting before.
Another learning experience: I installed a 2 ton with furnace. It was a piston metering device factory installed. Started up ac and couldn’t get target superheat to save my life. After spending hours adding and subtracting refrigerant and measuring temp splits and cfm over evap I finally realized that the evap was a 3 ton so the factory installed piston was a 3 ton. Pistons need to be sized for the condenser which was a 2 ton. Changed out the piston everything was fine. I’ve fixed 2 other units since then that were only getting 13-14 degree splits and had wrong size piston for years…. All because that install screw up stuck in my head. Experience is the key
omg i went through the same thing! we did a beautiful install and it came with a piston and my superheat was really low. And then i found out that the unit comes with an r22 piston from factory and i needed to install the 410 piston.
Every company or self employed technician needs to have & follow 5 basic steps for every service call. I agree with everything you said except #3. I believe you have to prove & diagnose with a meter. I see to many techs grabbing their meter & measuring (and they'll call me & say I only have ....... this reading. I always ask " Well what's it supposed to be?" Always silence, 😆 Basically don't take a measurement if you don't know what the measurement is supposed to read anyway. A lot of problems can be found using your best tools you own. Your eyes,ears,nose & hearing. Then get your meter & confirm diagnosis. Either way great video!
When I went to Voch school, I was blessed to have several old timer mechanics as instructors. They taught you the correct methods of troubleshooting. #1, Know the system!
good tips.. for me.. it take times and experience handling HVAC cases.. im doing HVAC works already 12 years, trust me, you will all surely find things that are beyond your expectations, as long as we live, as long as we continue to learn with new things that we may never face .. peace. ✌️
A good tech. knows and admits that they can make mistakes.
100% True!
I've been in construction for forty years and just succumbed,in the last few years, to learning all/many things about HVAC and, this video is so right on, not just for a/c but, for just about every trade I can imagine. And the part about asking the client what is going on first, is in my opinion, the skill/procedure, without which, no one should be a service technician or even handyman, without. Great presentation.
Just like when you go the dealership the service advisor will ask when does it happen, night only day time..high humidity days? Was it cold that day since their complain or it always does it when its cold or hot days or even rainy days
I just recently retired, all 5 categories are dead on, especially when it comes to listening to the customer
I've just retired from Hvac after 55+ years, i totally agree with this guy.
It was easy for me to take my time and test, test, test b4 i came to a conclusion what the problem was and the solution.
This has some really great advice in it. I especially like the one about talking to the customer. I have actually lost money but gained customers by talking to the customer and solving the problem without even working on anything. Sometimes a simple thing like when was the last time you changed your filter? Or have you checked your thermostat to see if it is set right.
I always talk to the homeowner they usually give me the symptoms which gives me knowledge to find the problem. Your customer is your number one diagnostic tool.
Both my parents wer family counselors so I was exposed to behavioral analysis and corrections at a very early age which put me in a position to always be interested in hearing what the customer has to say from the very start but it’s so satisfying to hear a grey hair echo the same thing and repeat that importance to the rest of the community
Great vid....My mentor told me early on regarding trouble shooting - "Once you eliminate electrical problems, it is most likely an electrical problem".I was a good electrician before I was in HVAC.
i found that alot of service techs when they work on units,they make wiring changes .the unit worked before so don t change wiring.
Many times after 30 yrs expierence I change wiring or add controls/ fuses etc. to make system better. EX 4 single pahse condenser fan motors on a unit power split from a single 3 phase contactor with 3 fuses. One of 3fuses fail entire system down because manufacturers took control power from it. Other 2 fuses if they fail would only take out 2 of 4 fan motors and worse one fan failing electricly can cause the other fans to fail.
Split circuit apart protected each motor with separate fuses moved control power etc.
@Frog Face the grammar is fine. There are some punctuation issues, but that's forgivable with tiny screen touch on phones. I understood exactly what he wrote.
Uh.... what?
@@maness2112 who are you asking and what's your question?
Eric, you are spot on. The most important thing to do to understand the problem the customer is having is to talk to them. The second most important thing to know when troubleshooting is the equipment's sequence of operation. I can tell that when I worked for other people I unfortunately never had a service manager that understood the importance of this, all of them were parts changers, even though one of them had actually taken a two year HVAC course. Sad, but true. That's when I decide to go out on my own since I knew I could do better than what was already out there.
Thank you for this video! All five points are critical to successfully troubleshooting an HVAC system. I retired in 2022 after running a very successful HVAC business. I often out-troubleshot the BIGS'S technicians, but why was that? The reason was, first of all, I knew my stuff, second of all I knew how the equipment was supposed to work, and thirdly I followed a logical step-by-step process(i.e. what is supposed to be happening and why isn't it) to solving the problem.
Eric, I wish I would have been able to work for you. Hope you're having a wonderful life and thanks for imparting your knowledge on us.
Thanks for the praise. It means a lot coming from someone with your background who knows what they are talking about. I can tell you love the trade and care about your clients, and that's an important factor for success.
Solve the problem not just the symptom! Nice video
I see so much people always any problem disconnect pcb use 220 v thormostat why not repair before pcb
Eric, I think your first bit of advice about asking the homeowner or business owner “what are you experiencing with your system”? Is key in #1 getting respect and trust from that customer and #2 helping yourself as the service tech properly diagnose the problem. It comes down to good “bedside manner” like a doctor to a patient. Thanks for your input. New service techs need you!
You bet!
Im commercial so yes and no, I've gone the very professional route and I personally like the friendly people person route and so do my customers, creates a relationship. I say hello, have a small convo allowing them to lead and in the midst I ask if they're having any issues with their system, then I check the thermostat and tell them I'll be on the roof, etc.
If it's a service call then I walk in and say I heard there's an issue wirh your AC? Or HI I'm from ___, here for your ___. Personally haven't been unable to fix something that another tech/company couldn't fix so that's made us look good haha. If it a service/emergency call then I've learned that it's best to go through the unit just like a PM and pay attention to the sequence of operations and you'll usually find your issue. Learn how to read wiring diagrams and realize that there's wording on the physical wire matching the diagram! And always test in, test out. I'm little over 2 years in and these are some things I've learned.
Your video is great! some of these tips are common sense to me but I hope they help others. I've seen some shanty work before in my long 2.5 years lol; if you don't know then ask your peers! Nothing worse than pretending like you know something and your coworkers having to come behind you to fix it.
@@hvacservicementor Is your webpage functional? It took me to a page that said that domain name is available. Why not have the video on your RUclips channel? Thanks for your videos!
You are one cool dude.
You are the man and I feel where your coming from.
That's all I can say.
I'm at the end of my career now and felt quite alone in this world of service type technicians among fellow tech's.
After viewing your video I understand a little better now when people refer to parallel universes.
All of my jobs are emergencies at first until I'm able to implement an effective PM schedule.
Wise words. I appreciate your guidance as always. Now after working for 6 months your advice is much more potent. Thanks again!
Good video and some excellent learning points. Fault finding is essentially a game of logic which essentially means that for the inexperienced it will take time but you will find the fault eventually - if you follow the logic. An engineer with experience brings a new tool into the game and is able to know from the symptoms and his experience the ‘fuzzy logic’ element to find the fault easier and faster. Fuzzy logic is multi factorial and involves, probability, carrying out 30 second tests before 20 minute tests, examining easy to access components before something that takes a 20 minute rip out to access. (Retired marine engineer 😉).
100 percent correct! When students learn that type of logical thought process for the first time it takes 30 to 40 minutes for simple problems. Once ingrained, it takes around 3 minutes!
I think it takes a certain type of mind to be amenable to the troubleshooting process in general. It's one thing to follow a set of instructions, some may call that troubleshooting, but a true troubleshooting mind makes its own instructions on the fly.
Great video, simple subject but very meaningful. It’s an eye opener! Thank you and will be following your channel.👍
You are great and cool knowledge. I am listening your advice very carefully lerning a lot thank you.
The problem with talking to the customer is that many technicians actually get in trouble for talking to customers. This is the case especially for commercial customers. What the technicians need to know is what to talk to the customers about and what not to talk to the customers about. They need to be taught this so they don't learn the hard way, they need to learn how to sympathize with the customer with out bad mouthing the other company, the other technician, the equipment, the building, the employees who set the thermostat etc. Its a social skill that many technicians do not possess. In commercial you are simply told , "do not talk to the customer", but just like you said, you must at least listen to what the customer has to say describing the problem, its really essential in commercial just for the fact alone a building can have several pieces of equipment, how do you know where the problem is if you don't listen to the customer? what floor is it on, what part of the space is it, how do you get to the roof, etc. I can go on and on on how to troubleshoot..
Yes, they need skills in more ways than one that is all about HVAC. In just about every profession, you have to have "bedside manners" with the client weather you like it or not so may as well brush up on them. That's part of customer retention too, even if its not your business, you will at least have your customers calling the boss and your holding a job.
I've never once in my HVAC career been called to a house because the customer wants to hang out. They don't want us in their house but they called because they can't do it... Making the customer comfortable and relaxed is the number one way to avoid any other frustration or misunderstandings down the line.
Agreed. We are kind of like the dentist. Most of the time, its not a pleasant situation.
Methodical thinking. I always learn from discussing with my customers what is being experience
I have just came across your channel and thank you for making me rethink on what I have gotten away from, even doing mostly commercial systems thinking about starting at the end point is what I forgot about.
Glad to hear that, Jim. Thanks for the feedback.
While I am not an HVAC tech, I agree that talking to the customer should always be the first part of troubleshooting. What is more important is a thorough knowledge of the system operation. Often, you are listening to the customer and formulating your plan, but the customer tells you things you know can not happen. (I'm an elevator tech btw).
As far as the guy that always checks the power supply; in highly processor/mirco processor/networked processors/software based systems, this definitely IS one of the first things you check; especially if there is communication problem or you suspect the problem is software/hardware and not in the field.
On a 5 volt logic circuit, even a reading of 4.7 or 4.8 vdc can stop the hardware from running the software.
Even if you are a “bad tech” or new the customer interaction and honesty is a very big part of the equation. Customer orientation and admitting you need to call another tech for help or advice is better than just guessing.
I'm convinced technicians doesn't want to trouble shoot. They just want you to replace with brand new, with something that probably didn't need to be fully replaced.
Thanks, youre the best! Make some more pease....
IMO some people can't be taught to be service techs. You either have it or you don't. If you don't enjoy solving problems and troubleshooting you won't be a good service technician. Too many guys I train think that they can be shown everything. They don't understand the thought process.
Correct! In a 4 year span I had 47 Helper/Apprentice candidates only 7 made the grade 3 are in trucks doing service 1 went on to a hospital 1 left to do just residential hvac , 2 only wanted to install. 40 just could not or did not want to do the job. even after spending a lot of money at a trade school. The company that I worked for was a refrigeration/HVAC (light/medium commercial) contractor. Most of them had no mechanical skills at all, much less a problem solving mindset.
Totally agree. Not everyone understands that in order to be a good troubleshooter you have to understand what the system is doing. Just replacing a failed part doesn't always solve the problem. You have to figure out what caused the part to fail and in order to do so you have to understand what the unit is doing.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge its a great help for new technicians like me
Many think finding and repairing a problem makes you a good tech when it is truly efficiency and procedure that makes a great tech.
100% correct. Sometimes the customer done diagnosed it for you
I said as I was watching, make sure you have power.
You make good points.
The perfect video I was looking for. The installer does not listen! Since installation of my new split system, it suddenly freezes. I complained so much to the installer and they finally abandoned me because I kept complaining and they kept blaming different things, such as the cheap air filter, the cheap home insulation, not enough ducts helping air flow and finally they said my duct system is too small for the new ac system. If this is the case, I wonder why they installed a system that did not fit my home ducts system capacity; they were supposed to be just replacing the old one with a new system because the old one had a gas leak that could not found. I also am not sure why the system works fine for days or weeks by normally starting and stopping, cooling my home normally and keeping the set temperature, until all of a sudden, the compressor start, but not the air blower in the attic. It only takes about 2 minutes before the ice starts forming in the lines in the compressor outside. I then just need to turn off the system, wait for the ice to melt, start again and I am good for another day or another couple of weeks until it happens again. I am not sure why the air blower fails to start with the compressor as it normally does. I do notice that it happens more often right before and throughout our monsoon time when it starts becoming humid and it starts to rain. I also have noticed a few times that the system starts normally but my TV turns off and on in a flash, this happens only once in a while and only noticed this only the last summer. I never noticed this one before. Since my installer gave up on me, they promised to give me a new system, which never happened, they did not answer my calls nor replied to my voice mail, I considered having another ac local company check my system and I was told my system was fine, I was charged for the visit, and I was asked to call "when it happens again". But, how can I make it fail?! I also have discussed this issue with other AC professionals that maintain the buildings for the company I work for but I believe they think I am crazy. Since I was concerned about my puppy in the house and me being out of the house the whole hot days and not knowing when the system was going to fail, I replaced the thermostat with a smart thermostat that will send me an alarm to my phone if the temperature in my house is higher than set. When it happens, I just turn it off remotely using my phone, wait about 5 minutes, restart it and temperature goes back to the programmed within a few minutes. I am helpless. I seem to have a problem nobody believes I have and nobody wants to deal with. Sometimes I wonder if it has something to do with the capacitator. Anybody has any ideas? Take into consideration the random times TV quick turning off and on when the system starts. It only affects the TV, and not the AV system nor the Amazon Fire TV Stick, which are all connected in the same outlet on the wall. Isn't the capacitor supposed to help the start up by avoiding a sudden power drain? Thank you for sharing these awesome videos!
Here is a great teacher.
pretty much all of these mistakes were explained to me in my first 2 weeks. I am very green but god damn is it satisfying to correctly diagnose something.
Great video and great advice Eric. I really enjoy learning from your experience.
Just found your channel .I like the way you explain things thanks for sharing
Thanks! Stay tuned for more!
" By the way that board is not powered by a 120 V it's powered by 24 V so you get something else going on" too funny!
Great informational video I appreciate it.
i am just getting started a lot of great info thanks
Shotgunning... Auto mechanics class in high school, 1973 😂
Mr Johnson's mantra, "test, don't guess!"
It's funny what we hear. "Well Cletus, last time it did this it was the discombobulator. Let's replace it, that'll fix it." 😂
Excellent knowledge you shared.
True words! How many times I followed another tech who was barking up the wrong tree. Adding gas without first checking airflow and the like,
Or replace an expensive part when it was just a $20 thermistor
Amazing great tips, new to this field and will keep all of this in mind! Thanks for your amazing knowledge!
Thanks for your great video. Asking the right questions to the customer is the best and fastest way to find the problem most of the time. Then going over the hacked reparirs done before me. It's amazing what you find. For example a fan control board held in with wire ties. I guess putting back the screws took too long. Maybe they were just over there head. Or they just don't care. Lack of personal pride!
You said it best having Personal pride or having class words we don’t hear about enough anymore my grandfather always spoke about having class and I’m grateful he taught me about it just one of the many things I still think about and use in my life today kindness and class are sure bets to win in life. Cheers 🍻 much respect
You got a new follower. Thanks for you’re Knowledge. 🧐
I can hear you only on my left speaker. :) Great stuff!
I see most techs are not familiar with the latest and greatest meter they bought. They need to “ play” with it and understand the functions and scales on it. I see them buy MORE meter than they will ever use. I tell them practice on operating units when on a doing annual service and get use to the instruments.
You can learn a lot from newly installed systems as well.
I remember back in the day I was pretty good Mechanic and trouble shooter. Well Ford use to have a square box which was the brain. Thing would crap out you change it and car ran once again. But I missed this one because I did not ask myself the right questions. Some would crap out really fast. Charging system by volts was perfect. What I did not see till I hooked it up to the engine analyzer. The alternator was throwing huge spikes, voltmeter did not pick up on. So lessoned learned. You want better answers ask yourself tougher questions. Then prove out your answer with facts.
All these were caused by technicians who were never qualified in the first place who is hired most likely by an owner who can’t fix things himself in the game just for the money high profit margin’s selling unnecessary products and service.
The owner looking for the cheapest guy he can hire specially a naïve one he can tell him what to sell even if it’s unethical.
And it’s very profitable for owners who don’t know what they’re doing to knowingly hide behind the fact their technicians are selling parts making large profit margin’s until the part is fixed with the unsuspecting customer.
There’s a difference between mistakes and intentional
Putting a technician who is not qualified out in the truck by himself to do diagnosis is intentional
I work for this company who hire people with no hvac school and send them to couple of weeks school and couple of months riding with tech then they gets there own truck to run maintenance and service.
@@mrsingh8036 then you know a couple of weeks of school is not enough for a new person with zero experience. Unless the person with zero experience was a automotive technician who specializes in drivability and electrical problems and did automotive A/C with 5 or 10 + years experience and decided to make a career change. This kind of new tech with zero experience usually surpasses the most senior tech in just a few years. Especially with today’s more advanced electronic Circuit bord controls are like cars started to get nearly 40 years ago.
I was trained by my dad starting before high school for automotive and air conditioning. I started in automotive and moved over to HVAC years later. (“ OMG 😱 it was so easy this stuff was designed for children to work on”) compared to automotive.
Now decades later I enrolled myself in Laney College HVAC/R I took all three majors at the same time in night school. Residential HVAC , commercial HVAC , and Building automation and electronic classes analog and digital. I took all this enrolled with my son at the same time.
I would get calls from students who dropped out of class who got hired by HVAC company’s and put them in their own van after a couple of months . I would get called from them when they were stuck by them self out in the field to help diagnose small and large three phase 480v system that they were no were qualified to work on. In each and every one of these companies so many in- needed parts would be replaced. But of course the customer never knew.
It even got worse ate ripping of customers if the HVAC company offered extra bonuses for up selling and the more parts they sell when getting paid low wages.
So you know exactly what it’s like to only have a couple of months training with zero experience and throwing a person out by therm self in a van. You seen it first hand.
At least today a good or semi-ok company can take advantage of FaceTime on a phone with the owner tech to help him out. Unless the owner is on of those clueless SOB who never worked out in the field and can not diagnose his way out of a wet paper bag.
@@coldfinger459sub0 by children you mean your diagnostic machine connected to your OBDII port? If its so easy, you've obviously only worked on residential 10 seer equipment bruh. When you get into real HVAC, your mind may change a bit.
@@craigbraswell4269 actually I sell and install commercial 20 to 60 ton heat recovery systems anywhere from 1000 to 3000 feet of ACR installing anywhere up to the capabilities of 60+ heads. Still considered very small systems to the very large commercial and industrial installations.
I’m well aware of some of the best latest and greatest large rack systems for refrigeration especially the really nice units from Dan Foss or some of the big controls companies. Their control systems are still in the infancy stage somewhere where Automotive was back in the late 90s to early 2000s.
The commercial stuff is catching up really fast though probably within the next five years to 10 years they will almost catch up to the automotive.
To do that they would have to go completely wireless and fly by cloud networking. Or extremely high bond rate data rate wired circuits similar to what the Japanese have been using for the last 30 years America HVAC manufactures are always behind the curve playing catch-up.
YES, AGREED
That was super helpful big dog Ty
Glad it helped
I just watched the WHOLE video! 👏👏
I'm so proud of you!
@@tommy2buttz668 i have A. D. D. BAD, lol
@@jenmb2679 then I am even more proud of you!
The 23-yr experienced HVAC tech arrived, asked me what was going on with my gas furnace heater. I told him. He diagnosed the problem in 20 minutes flat. Warranty part arrived, he replaced it within 30 minutes. Problem solved.
Right on, order of operations.
I always check power on condensors. There have been many times that I’ve pulled out the disconnect and still had power feeding through because someone before me, blew a fuse and tied the wires through. Very dangerous! I’ve had friends go to the hospital over this. I wish you would tell the entire story, instead of paraphrasing it down. Temperature drop… I was taught temperature differential between return and supply. Otherwise very good video, thank You.
Awesome job thank you so much
Alot of great points. I like number 1.
Thanks!
Great content but what are the three test I know you said not to do diagnose the same way thanks again
I figured number one would be trusting the disconnect to cut power
Never trust eletricity
@@kylefallen8213 yup. Even if it's family.. I was changing out a contactor on a condenser while I was an apprentice under my dad, I took the disconnect out but had to something and came back to install it. But little did I know my dad put tge disconnect back on... getting hit by 240v doesn't feel good.. afterwards my dad said to always double check your volts if you walked away. My left had still spasms til this day.
What I do is turn fan on. If it blows I just eliminated no voltage (120 volts) ,no 24 volts. No blower
Exactly…
To be fair, I'll often round anything within spec of 120 volts to 120 volts. Like if it actually reads 119.4 I'll just say 120 for brevity's sake. Also, I'm never going to remember that number anyway. I just mentally round to 120 volts if it's between 110 and 125.
I call parts switchers tube jockeys. The old television repairman came into your house with a suitcase full of tubes, and just plugged in new ones until the set worked. If that didn’t do it, he was screwed
At least he’s got his meter out if he’s checking the power
i cant agree with that always check power supply opinion of yours, i was taught that way too and it only makes sense in my head. But to each their own. Nice video regardless.
Ted Cook should watch this.
There was some good advice but rather general except point 1. Was hoping you'd be more specific as to the situation and resolution of the top five.
I’m looking at at sandwich island cooler and the compressor is short cycling and condenser fans aren’t running I had to clean evaporator it was caked with a layer of dust
[Edit] - I found the answer to the question below in your video titled “What is the proper Temperature Drop in an air conditioning”@ time 2:36 - [1. SH, 2. SC, 3. DeltaT].
13:41 - Maybe I missed it. I expected you to say the three tests here. I’m new to the trade and any help in the troubleshooting process would be appreciated. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in these videos. Simply three tests will get me closer to a solution? What are they again?
I love a tech who can go back and review and find the answer. Great job!
Thank you
There’s a big misunderstanding when checking switch normally open. Tech always say I am getting voltage on time delay but blower motor still doesn’t run .This means the delay switch is open ,reading voltage means the switch the switch not close. This easily can check with voltage meter
Those Techs you are describing. Sound like maintenance Techs😅 I have been doing service for a few years and honestly almost never check on a maintenance call, but always do on a service call
I have seen these things happen with very experienced Service techs more times than I can count!
What is deference between service and maintenance techs?
Great Stuff. I will return to you later.
Great video great tech advice
Glad it was helpful!
i find the customers dont want to pay they want it fixed for nothing
Where do you work?
There is a certain percentage of customers who have no intention of paying the bill.
Excellent advice!!
Good advice, much appreciated.
Great video!
Thanks!
Sadly this industry is full of cons that will replace a $1-200 thermostat over $3 bucks in batteries, I felt like a used car salesman and then landed a place with 200 units 1/4t mini thru 90t air over water, I retired after 10 yrs
You are amazing teacher
I love the techs. that shotgun. They never know what they fixed.
Thank you so much for sharing
What are the 3 test you can do to narrow down the problem?
Hi ma’am I’m Johnny I’m here to look at your air conditioning system. What seems to be the problem. 90% of them say the thermostats broken I turn it on and it blows hot.Most of them will tell you to thermostats broken because that’s the only thing that they know.
I doubt they are going to ever suggest a run capacitor for you.
PLEASE HELP!!! My tenant said the air is not coming out. So I called for the company that installed the Goodman product. He said the compressor went bad, so I paid for a compressor. Then he tells me that there is broken metal in the in-lines. HOW DID METAL GET INTO THE IN-LINES??? The lines have to be blown out. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? Have you ever heard of such?
“I don’t know “ is the worst thing to hear when you ask the kid any question when they call for help, like guy , you should know the basic measurements and readings needed to attempt to troubleshoot any equipment,I hate it cuz then I’m the dick who tells him call me back when you have the readings I need then I can try to help you , lazy shit kills me , wants me to do his job for him , you gotta try before calling senior tech for help , know the basics at least , it’s not a lot of work either to start off
Great video
Please fix the recording audio next time. The audio was only in my left ear. Thank you.
Is there an online full course I can sign up for and the cost for such a course.
I am a Sheetmetal journeyperson in BC Canada and would like to understand the inand outs of a air to air heat pump system...Im also a certified redseal electrician/ hvac controls person trained in the competency of sequence of operation for hvac/hydronic systems.
Great Video
Thanks for the video =)
no sound
What did the customer say om #5?
Like to know what are the three test?
It's never the same. If after three tests you are no closer to the solution than when you started, it is time to re-evaluate what you are doing.
Just curious as to what state your in? Good video BTW
What kinda tech doesn't use a multimeter?? That's one of the first things I usually reach for..
Let's call them what they are: trainees. Not technicians.
You mean helpers lol.
How could you do a call without a meter. 😆 I know certain things you can spot but wow.