Discovering Why We Don’t Have Power Isn’t Always Straight Forward!
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- Опубликовано: 29 окт 2024
- In this video I visit an apartment complex and try to find why I’m not getting power! #hvaclife #hvacservice #airconditioning #electrician #hvacmaintenance #airconditioner #hvactrainingvideos #hvac #coolingsystem #electrical #skilledtrades #bluecollarpride #bluecollar #nopower @BoschHomeComfortUS @HousecallPro @ElectricianU @HVACKnights
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After 40 years of service I say you’re a great sevice tech with great knowledge of electrical and safety keep the good videos coming
have seen that a couple of times at same apartment complex
Hope you charged a lot of that service call. I need a payment for my frustration too just watching it. 😅
Curtis I like to see you got your magnetic tray for the screws!
I'll sleep better now knowing that you now have that magnetic tray, it's been bugging me for months. Helps find lost screws, if that should ever happen.... :)
🤓👍
🫘💩🤓👍
up next, lost magnetic tray. 🤣
In a situation like this a toner will help!
💯I not only carry a regular one, but one that follows cables underground, in the attics, and walls. Also have a TDR on the truck that will pinpoint splices, breaks, and shorts down the line. Once you get accustomed to having them, no way I would ever want to go without them.
WOW!! What a mess!! Man you have patience. You put lots of effort trying to figure it out.
I love watching you do your work Curtis but this wore me out lol
I have had this problem several times . I have found the line power pulled to the wrong condenser, while the low voltage was correct. And vise versa. I have found the AC lines from one apartment going to the wrong condenser. And every other combination you can think of. it just takes time to trace it all out. You get one fixed, and then you find something else out of whack. It takes a while to get it all straightened out. Other trades don't pay attention what they are doing.
I have seen that also. I have seen where the line set went to the wrong outside unit.
I'm a retired union electrician in Chicago...worked 40+ years. I've never seen such a cluster muck in my entire career. Makes you wonder if the wiring and/or labels were deliberately tampered with.
You have the patience of a Saint Curtis!
Why do people who belong to unions always have to mention that? couldn't you have just said you're a retired electrician? you support communism when it benefits you. Overpaid with a burly better than you attitude. You're all the same.
What a cluster! I'll bet people were paying for their neighbor's A/C. That's going to be fun to watch when the residents discover that.
I see u stay hard at it i learn alot from watching your videos i do apartment maintenance hvac and I'm looking to soon start my own hvac biz thanks for showing your work step by step because sometimes I get frustrated and over look steps
We all make mistakes, just try not to get frustrated
Great job Curtis but what a pain ! Thanks for the video😊
WoW, you done well Curtis under those circumstances, and then sorted that mess out, well done 👍 Au
Thanks 👍
Back in the early 90's I lived in an apt. complex. I left for a month with the only thing running was the frig. I come back to a $150 electric bill. Turns out my neighbor's AC was running on my meter.
Did your neighbor paid your bill? lol
One thing I do shortly after moving into a new apartment is shut all the breakers off and make sure "my" meter shows zero usage. I then turn the breakers back on 1 at a time while mapping out where they go, and leave off any I can't find. Lastly I shut them all off again after dark and make sure no exterior lighting goes out. I know of way too many instances of someone paying for the complex's exterior lighting or another units power to not do this.
@@uzlonewolf Way to do and be safe! I remember Older estates had panels numbered and each braker or fuse was Identified clearly!
@@uzlonewolf Great saving information for all of us! Thanks for sharing how to check our electric meter panel that we pay for.
Power issues are sometimes tricky . Had one of 2 , 20 ton Lennox rooftops , Sometimes lock out or blow the 3 phase breaker ; Ohmed everything and Mega ohmed compressors ,motors , Turned out that a stripped screw on the 3 phase breaker attached to the Buss bar was causing this .
nice video and great troubleshooting skills. you are a patient man you set a good example.
Glad to see the magnet. Definitely wanted to mail one.
The little silicone trays are nice too
This reminded me of a job I got called out on by our commercial management company. I didn't usually do any residential work but this was a good company we did large building ac for. They had a 900 unit, 3 story apartment complex that was less than a year old but had numerous complaints that the installing company couldn't figure out. Long story short i discovered refrigerant lines from one floor crossed and feeding units on another floor, stat wires also feeding wrong units. It was a total nightmare. I spent two weeks with two of my helpers correcting all the screw ups. The management co. filed a law suit against the installing contractor and I had to testify what all i found. UNBELIEVABLE
seems like the fire inspectors or some kind of state inspection board needs to be called in to investigate that complex as well as the electricians who wired and labeled it. That is causing tenants to be paying wrongly for power, being disconnected wrongly, putting lives in danger because of mislabeled electrical cut offs. I hope somebody made a call to get those people reported.
Is proper apartment labeling part of code? I wonder.
@@russellhltn1396 it's common sense
@@shaystern2453 Lack of common sense doesn't make it illegal or a code enforcement issue. That's why I'm asking.
Yes the crossed up billing is going to be a bigger issue. Some folks have been paying for others need for the fridge aire to be present 24/7. What a mess. Good job, you helped some folks out for sure.
What a mess, sorry you had to deal with that. Hope you got paid well for that issue.😮
Wow what a cluster that was !! And that had to hurt when it dropped on you
The client's story had me rolling. "...But he hooked up gauges to the unit outside, and bled off a bunch of gas talkin' 'bout 'It's got air in the lines!' And he changed the capacitor on the unit and never looked at the microfarads..." 🤣 Seems like he knows more about HVAC than the "Maintenance Guy" from another apartment complex!
Everything being mislabeled was certainly driving ME crazy, I'm sure it was annoying to you too! I can't imagine how daft one has to be to make THAT MANY mistakes. One or two, OK, things happen when distracted or being careless. But that many goof-ups is unacceptable, and who knows how many other errors are throughout the complex!? It's a good thing you keep your hair trimmed short, lest you be ripping it out with frustration!
For dropped screws, maybe see if you can find one of those magnet wands commonly used for clearing magnetic Bingo chips from "hard cards?" (Perhaps at your local Everything-Used-To-Be-A-Dollar Store?) It's helped me many a time working on cars when I've dropped the odd nut or bolt. Wrap it with a sandwich baggie first for easy cleanup, or you'll end up with metal filings all over it. Might be a stronger/larger magnet than that one you were working with.
Wow, Great Video, one of your BEST.
A telecom tone probe kit can help you locate the thermostat/condenser pair.
True, but how would you know the evaporator/condenser pair was plumbed right? I wouldn't trust ANYTHING to be right until someone I trusted verified it.
Wow! What a puzzle! Great job,Curtis!👍
Lawd have mercy. What an adventure.
Those apartments are set up exactly like some apartments close to here at one of the universities in Michigan …. I had a service call there when they were new and they had the electric hooked up wrong there as well so nothing like paying your neighbors electric bill for their AC running
Nice work Curtis. Man, that place is a mess.
Things like that can really be frustrating.
Omg I used to be a maintenance supervisor for 15 years + this is a everyday thing lol I would literally go to each apartment and turn off breaker and see which disconnect switch/box still had power smh 🤦🏽♂️
I literally had to rewire condensers monthly !!
All apart of building too fast and no direction
Thanks for sharing-definitely a reminder to double-check everything. Keep up the great work! 👏
Why do they put stickers on a removeable panel? Panels can be changed.
That magnetic tray can be used to find dropped screws.
I bet people are paying for their neighbors AC in the complex
Was for sure that way in this case.
I would use a circuit locator. Who’s paying who’s electric bill🤔
Curtis, using the force to hold up the fan motor 😂
This video hurt my head, being an electrician and HVAC tech. It's easy to look at a smart meter to tell if it's energized or not. It Tells You!
Based on where you dropped that screw, it's probably across the street.
😂
Easiest Way to identify if it's the right unit You are working on is --- Call the home owner / tenant on your cell phone & have them cycle the thermostat on & off for cooling while u are standing a pile of units. you will hear the contactor open & close. and see the contactor open & close while u are in front of it while tenant cycles cooling call on thermostat.
That Establishes --- 100% The Correct unit to Work on !!! & it Can Be Properly Labelled at That Time.
THEN --- Start going backwards from condenser checking power & Labelling Proper disconnect.
wow, that was quite the adventure / video.
allways 👍.
Wow....as Steve Lav would say......."what a S*** show Mama"
Curtis next time you work on units surrounded by pine needles, before you start removing panels just rake around. I'll save you lots of time!
Being in the mechanical contracting/HVAC service business for 50 years, at today’s labor rates, that a $10.00 screw he hunting for!! 😂
Back in the 70’s I went to a catering hall that said the cooling didn’t work. The rooftop three phase unit was running, but icing up. It seems like some where the phases were switched and the indoor fan was running backwards. No one knew anything. Did it get switched in the building or in the street?
I wouldn't want to live there! Incompetent electricians or prop mgrs throwing random apt labels on condenser units. Panel breaker labels can't be trusted. Seems doubtful they'll spend the right amount of $$ on electricians to ensure everything gets relabeled right. And what about all the other bldgs in the complex? Seems like risk of accidental shocks and fires are very elevated there. Scary.
I'd be really upset to be saying another person's heating and cooling bill!
And meter base apartment number labels seem off here. There's a whole lot of FUBAR going on.
Something to think about, if these units are wired to the wrong places, that customer could be paying the electric bill for another apartment, not his. Imagine living alone and paying the electric bill for a family of 6 living above you because of incorrect wiring or labels.
Yes you’re correct!! This is why newer apartment buildings are so trash lol as a former apartment maintenance tech I would rather work in a building 15+ years that way this problem is already rectified. I’ve been In Curtis shoes before
capt obvious has entered the chat
It’s always an adventure doing work in apartment complexes
This is why I absolutely hate apartments, condos, townhomes, etc. You can count on things being a mess with labeling.
And most of the time it's all but impossible to pull any news wires, like low voltage.
How frustrating!
I've seen this a few times on new apts when they we're just finished miss labeled units and exactly what that job was didn't have smart meter's back then but it was a headache that and plumbing like hot water to a toilet me and my staff carried black markers to correct them as work orders were turned in it took over a year on one property I was told it was job security 😊😊 anyways thanks again Curtis hated three story apts only happening mostly on those.
Wow what a mess.
this one gave me a head ache
I was a APT Maintenance Technician in the 90’s. I would get calls in the evening that the tenants power was out. The utility was so bad they would get on site and turn the breaker off and tag the meter on the wrong apartment. This happen a few times that eventually I wouldn’t even have to get on site. I would educate the tenant what to say to the utility to get them out there to unlock their meter and turn the power back on.
A Benny “Goodman” outdoor Unit always seems to be a challenge. 🤔
Wow, what a headache! This is why I carried a circuit tracer on the truck, in the 30+ years working I can probably count the number of correctly marked boxes on both hands 😂 especially in a commercial environment
I would just cycle the contactor to make sure it was the right one. It would have been my second step after the confusion.
I think Curtis has a coffee can full of those screws in the van.
Triple service call plus $500 for AGGERVATION!!!!
TOTAL$1,000
spelled like that, only $100
That must have been frustrating for you. It sure was frustrating just watching all the monkey motion you want through. A real test of your patience.
They have an Apt super tech, to hell with meters and manifolds
What a CLOWNSHOW!
what a cluster F.
“Getting power from the right disconnect”? If the contactor is pulled in, the right apartment has power. Did you mean to say they were cross wired at the disconnects and they were rewiring the whips to the right condensers?
Somebody has been paying for someone else’s air conditioning bill.
Yep
Great job considering most of that is above and beyond. Soon as that red tag was shown, it explains a lot of the no power issue. That combined with no power to a whole apt meant there wouldn't be any power to the a/c unit. The mislabeled units and disconnects should have earned a surcharge for having to straighten that mess out.😊
I would charge the shit out of them for that call
I'm at my 3rd complex now and I've learned to never trust the labels
The scew is under the high side pressure valve time stamp 3:57
I don't think they're labeled wrong - I think it's wired wrong. Can they just swap the wires out at the A/C disconnect?
Yes
Going through process of elimination to figure out which condenser is getting power from which apartment is aggravating. Next is figuring out which t-stat goes to which unit. Then labeling them correctly which isn't bad but still
you have a lot of patiants.but you do a gret work in checking and triple checking.its to believe how they had it wired in the way it was.
That's messed up.
6:52 🙏
You need to obtain a cable toner verifier for these kind of situations.
Wow seems somebody paying someone else power bill
I bin there enough times to call it normal!😂
Wow! This apt building is a death trap. If there ever was an electrical emergency, you wouldn't know if power was shut down to the correct apt.
I used to use my finger for the contacter now I use my knuckle let’s just say I learned the hard way
Curtis you have the patience of Jobe . I would not have tolerated that BS. Who pays for someone’s lack of competence? And what about the apt that had been tagged out and were not delinquent? Geeezzz
dang 98 degree's? ill take that over anything we have had these past 2 months here in DFW. I keep a line toner in my truck MDU and offices, so im sure im on the right unit. i just pull the thermostat and hook to the Y and C
All you had to do, Curtis, was shut off or raise the temperature on the thermostat and if the contactor was no longer pulled in, then you would've known you had the right condenser unit. Other than that, great job.
I once worked for a large company that installed units in new apartments and when it came time for starting up the A/Cs it seemed like one out of five would have a power issue and you would have to go find an electrician
I sure hope you were fully paid for all that work.
The smart meters been around a little bit
Had a brand new apt complex that had complaints of not cooling. Found out the installers had hooked up the wrong liquid lines to the wrong condensers. Big mess since there were many units and this was done on several of them. Trying to figure out which lines went where was no fun and it was warranty work.
Don’t ya just hate it when you are trying to think about something that pertains to a problem and you have someone trying to talk to you? Very disturbing/ distracting. I think you handled that very professionally!
How do you bill for that fiasco ? First impression looked like well maintained place, bad management will turn that south in a hurry.
I would think in a rental complex it would all go to the landlord anyway.
So those people are paying for their neighbor's electric?!
Never seen a helicopter on four wheels! 🤣🤣
don't ya love apartments ..Ran across a few totally totally miss labeled units are an true nightmare
Magnetic Screw Finder might work better without a thick bed of pine needles. 🤔👎
I actually feel bad for the guy that has to pay for all this troubleshooting all because other trades didn't do their job right.
that messed up having a break for one unit in another apt how the hell did they pass codes doing that shitty work, I would report that to codes that just wrong one place can't get there ac if the ome apt don't have power
i would disconnect that wire an see if the one with the contact stops an if so then u would no which unit was which
What a pain!! Why the hell do thay do not sort out the labelling correctly? Not only confusing and causing issues with utilities disconnecting the wrong one but potentially dangerous if someone inadvertently works on something they think is dead and isn't because they rely solely on the labelling.
I really hope you didn't need to eat all that time you spent. Someone else's screwup shouldn't cost YOU...
I am a service technician with 35 years experience and would love to come out and help you. Not that I’m trying to put down your work, but I think I could teach you some shortcuts and when not to actually take on a job like the elevated condensing unit that needed a reversing valve, unless you made an enormous amount. Even if it was a large amount of money, I still would’ve refused that work and lotta other little things you do that would make your life easier hit me back. I’d love to talk to you.
good grief.....
When i was doing hvac 90+ units weren't in use yet
nice labeling in that place. 🤣🤣🤣