One of my favorite things an old company I worked for did is they set up door sensors on all the walk-ins that would let them know if the doors were open for longer than 15 minutes. The system would keep a record of how many times this happened so a tech could let the customer know what needed to happen.
They are not going to keep turning the timer knob. Just put a defrost every two hours for 30 min. If defrost not needed the terminator pops it out of defrost. Solved my problem! Some people will never give a shyte.
True that. If you expect user to remember something or do some manual work, you can already call it fail. Everything have to be automatic or it won't be used.
Exactly. Even if you spell it out in giant fonts and put it in front of everyone's face, *no one* will use it except possibly a smarter manager who happens to remember on occasion. What a world.
Thinking about a simple well thought out: "How to use a walk in freezer" as a laminar A4 paper to put on every walk in door when you are done. Simple, instructive, colorful, pictures, friendly information to save the restaurant money by informing any staff with 30 sec left over. What consequences a less great action can make. Don't forget the emergency number. I did like the talk a bit extra in this one, I can feel the hopelessness. None of the viewers can miss why it is frustrating, excepts video skippers.
Nope. Noone ever reads manuals. That's usually last thing they think of. "Manuals are good for technicians", for user it need to be a no-brainer and even then it's not guaranteed. We have touchless toilet flushers. For cleaning purposes you can get yourself a remote to temporarily turn them off. It have *one* button, and I still was expected to teach staff how to use it.
Anything below Size 72 will not be read. and when they are in a hurry, they won't even notice a "DO NOT USE" Sign, the size of the door. Only Supervisors and Managers will read that when something is wrong, and then realize why it is wrong. And then try to fix it themselves to keeping that door close a few hours. But you do make a good point of adding the emergency phone number.. To bad lying is bad for buisiness or we could use this: "If temp is 40f for longer then 10 minutes, your freezer is broke, call for a technician."
Odds are, they're not going to turn that pump down switch Fantastic idea but I just feel like if they're leaving the door open they're not going to turn that switch now if you could, I would put a switch on the door itself where it latches so regardless if that door is open say more than 5 minutes it automatically pumps down which would eliminate the need for an employee to manually turn the switch but hopefully it works out thanks for sharing 👍 I've had an intrest In doing HVAC and I'm glad to have my hands on thus content.
wire that defrost timer, to a magnetic latch that holds the door open if you want the door open, turn the knob if you forget, the timer runs out, magnet turns off, door shuts problem solved!
Dispatcher from Destin Fl, transitioned from plumbing residential to HVAC Refrigeration Cooking, Electrical on and on Commercial. After about a year of invoicing, these videos make perfect sense and give new understanding. Thank you 😊
At 5:04 you can see the lint on the fan guard. As you’ve said before that’s a tell tale sign of someone leaving the door open for extended periods of time.
Just rewatched after today's video. Yeah Chris hasn't changed even tiniest bit...so nice to see constant quality jobs. Your customers are really lucky to have such an experienced service man with full of professionalism.
Thx for explaining about the freezer getting to a certain temp and getting stuck cuz today I got called out to a WIF and I was standing around for like 35 mins and the thing was taking forever to get below 20 degrees!! But superheat and subcooling were in range! So I just told them to call us first thing in the AM if it doesn't get to temp
I'm just your average DIY homeowner, but I love watching these videos when I am relaxing. I've also put the knowledge I have picked up to good use, diagnosing issues on my home air conditioner, like bad caps, and communicating more effectively with facilities maintenance at work, when I have noticed units short cycling. Thanks for putting up these videos!
Its like when I arrive at a residential house and I explicitly told em to keep the dog inside so I could mow the lawn and what do I meet at the fence? The 3 dogs, resident does not answer the phone.
Always love you're debrief at the end chris!!! Do what we do, stick a door alarm on both the fridge and freezer doors!!! Turn you're frustration call out into a money making call out, sell the customer who keeps leaving the door open a couple of door alarms!!!!!!
Hi Chris, here's a smile 😊 With freezer doors: transparent strip curtains or buzzers and red flashing lights are also great solutions for some customers. And it saves energy and money with less defrost time. Keep up your awsome job buddy 👍
Do the control units have a door switch input? The company I work for produces refrigeration units for switch- and control gear cabinets, and they all have a door switch input. You can either just bridge it or hook it up to a switch on the door to stop the unit whenever the door is opened. This is to avoid excess condensation from constant cooling of new air being sucked in, although the use case is a bit different. A door switch on a Walk-in freezers could be used for a reminder alarm to close the door.
The explanation of product temperature, air temperature was interesting and how air temp quickly drops to the actual product temp then slows . I don’t do freezer or walk in cooler work so had not made that connection before.
Chris your a big help! My 🧢 goes off to you. I’ve learned a lot from watching your videos, especially learning to master my frustration at times with customers.
The customer has been given a tool to prevent the problem, and education on how to use it. This is absolutely how to treat any client in any service business, imo. Now going forward the ball is in their court...and if corp keeps getting billed for what are nuisance calls generated by employee's lack of utilizing tools provided for them....well, at least in my case in the IT world, hitting the wallet really gets people's attention.
I'm sitting here exhausted after work and had a smooth brain moment when I mistook your boxed refrigerant for boxed wine, and I was wondering if your day was as bad the one I just had.
You are the reference standard for not just for HVAC but business in general. Never forget the customer who pays you and always look at every detail. Your approach could probably successfully launch rockets. (rocket science)
I have bitten my tongue way too many times and there isn't any left to bite anymore so now I'm angrier all the time, it really changes your personality, so I just let them have it and my sanity is getting back to normal..
I don't understand the people that would put a thumbs down on a video like this the guy is taking his time to try to help other phope other people everybody can learn something from everybody from everybody I just don't understand the mentality of people that would do that if you don't like it don't watch
Piece of advice for you guys just starting out: always break the live/hot/line on a switch that way if it fails open (which most switches do) it fails safe and doesn't leave everything live @ mains voltage. Even if it's a light switch, break the line connection not the neutral
Hi Chris, Great channel and think the content is really helpful as a tech. I been watching your content for a few weeks and look forward to watching you work out in the field. I think your comments are 100% valued and sure there going to people that disagree but when you work as a Frigi in the field, you don't know until you rock up and see something that could easily be prevented. Sure a compressor dies and that is why there is after hours but someone leaving a door open twice, come off it. I was at a service call the other day and at first it appeared the problem was simple dead fan motor but any good tech always digs deeper which you show time and again. When i looked deeper there was an issue with power supply connection to the fan motor. I thank you for that and like you say its just another service call on the late night calls outs. Great work and the Propane bar frig fix was interesting to see.
Good job Chris, if they keep leaving the door open and they call you, you get paid, bite your tongue if you have too, perfectionist. If you want your emotions get the best of you, and let your blood pressure go up that's fine too, it's your business.
Stupid Question. Can't you just add a door alarm that goes off after an excessive amount of time? Like this door should never be opened more than 15 minutes.
Have installed piezo alarms, controlled by a mechanical stat in the past. When there's a will, there's a way. The rocket scientists would just destroy the alarm so they didn't have to listen to it. Kinda like removing strainers from service sinks because it's easier than cleaning.
You should make a bunch of 8x11 signs that say “KEEP DOOR CLOSED” and put them in plastic document sleeves and use those 3M sticky deals or some magnets to keep it on the door.
Years ago I had a situation like that people leaving the door open, out of my frustration I installed a very annoying alarm system on a 15 minute timer which required the door to be closed.
Same here in UK due to holiday traffic extra hour to get to site the same back again. Also the same with so few staff with waitress doing management jobs on the quiet shifts and waiting until a manager rocks up for main shifts them making all the calls.
In the back of my mind, I keep thinking "one of these days, I'm gonna be watching a police chase on KTLA's RUclips channel, and see Chris on top of a building working on a RTU." If you're ever up on the roof and a chopper flies by, be sure to give a wave! LOL 5:03 - I seem to remember you mentioning in a few previous videos that dust/debris on the fan grille hints at the walk-in door being left open. Guess I must be learning stuff from your videos if I'm doing Big Picture Diagnoses from my computer chair! 7:26 - **facepalm** 9:21 - You're right. Always better to break the circuit with the lower amp draw. Even if the switch can handle the higher amp draw, it'll last longer. Few things irritate me in the workplace as much as Food Safety violations. We literally hold in our hands the power to make our customers happy - or quite ill. Your opening shot really got me seeing red! I'm assuming the closing manager told you that the freezer had been down all day and nobody bothered to call it in until she did, _specifically_ so you wouldn't be mad at HER for waiting all day to call, as she did it as soon as she was informed - and her comments were also probably out of her own frustration and disgust with the previous shift's handling of the issue. To be frank, I would say the same thing in her shoes. If she has to take daily inventory as some chains require, she has a massive amount of product she probably has to write off at the end of the day that makes her shift look bad, through no fault of her own. Instead, had the problem been phoned in as soon as it was noticed, the product MIGHT have been salvageable, and there wouldn't have been a late service call. The previous shift's apathy cost the store some serious cash, and the store may suffer from having no product to sell until their next shipment came in. You might have found one of those managers that actually gives a damn about the job. Or not! This is merely speculation. Maybe she was just running her mouth. It's hard to say, and while her giving that much detail might have mildly irritated you, her reasoning behind it could have been benign. I do, however, feel your irritation was valid. I absolutely would have dragged whatever manager was on-shift the next morning into that freezer when I saw the door "bungeed" open.
I am exactly right where you are....walk in freezer freezes up like the door is left open, but question is, what if door is closed and the moisture build up on the ceiling and the fans is very obvious due to the water beads across the entire ceiling. The unit is Balley with an Evap 2 controller...
Love watching your videos even though I'm a diesel tech in the Eastern part of the states they are still very interesting. Covid started making its way through my house starting yesterday with me so I guess I've got 2 weeks of quarantine to catch up on your vids.
I think i was in that same dust storm you were in.. i wouldn't be surprised if we were driving the same way at the same time. Im a local truck driver and i was on my way out to el centro lol... i get the frustration seeing a door open. Id get pissed at management for allowing it.. but you cant win them all
Hey Chris, remember this; no matter how good you are as a tech, you can’t fix stupid. That said, you CAN charge stupid tax! Been there, done that! I feel your pain!! I got a call a few Saturdays ago to a high end country club. Walk in cooler down. I walked in the cooler with the chef, I reached up and turned the switch (mounted near the evap coil) on. Boom! Problem solved. The chef felt bad which is understandable but you can’t fix issues like that as they are built in and internal.
This was an issue at the restaurant I worked at all the time. It’s actually what got me interested in the trade. They installed a loud ass alarm that would go off and it solved the issue.
Chris, an example of what not to say to a customer is this, related to the electrical section of a home center at which I once worked. A customer asked an associate about a particular light fixture, to which he responded, "Now listen lady, we don't make the dumb things, we just sell them." Management heard this, and had pointed words with the associate for some reason.
I have an idea for the stuck open doors. Here we have electric magnets to hold doors open (they are usually used for fire and smoke separation doors). Could you install such a device, that would keep the door open for a limited time, and keep the AC turned off? If people bungee cord it open to help loading, maybe this would help it. In case they forgot or too lazy to close, once the timer expires, the door is released and closes itself, and the cooling turns back on. It's handy like a bungee cord, but removes itself after some time. Yes, they should close it, but hey, maybe this will save from some unnecessary emergency calls.
Just a thought..If your not sure, leave data loggers behind set up in freezer. mine are set up so I can set how often temp and humidity is sampled. I can then can then down load upon return to my laptop and can see what's been going on. When product has been loaded, door opened etc. The info can be logged,and graphed and shared with customer along with the actual timing of events. Can also get them for electrical events current,voltage etc. very helpful
I have repiped units like this in the past and add a small, horizontal U section of pipe so the txv bulb can properly sense. The real problem I was having was the DDR not activating in defrost for only one circuit. That circuit was not assigned to the correct suction group on the E2. After reassignment the circuit to the proper suction group the ddr worked, problem solved.
It seems every time you mention Coachella temps go up whether it is temperature or temper, lol. As soon as you pass through the valley into the lower desert you know you are going the wrong way.
I LOVE taking customer's money over and over and over again. Might need to bump up your rates $5 or $10 an hour. Especially for after hours calls. Don't leave money on the table.
It is a great money pit. We see the same in the IT world. After 3 times trying to educated the client with documentation I no longer get upset, just charge for the visits @ new hourly rate.
One manager/supervisor thinkign an issue is not a problem and doesn't bother calling anyone... and the next manager deciding that it needs to be dealt with NOW! I have to say that is most of my after-hours calls in IT too.
I tried explaining what you said to my wife and sister n law about having to heat or cool everything in the house after they left all the doors open to the outside!!! 800 dollar utility bills sheesh.
The door being left open is going to remain a problem until they start firing people for doing it. Throwing all that food out (which they hopefully did) a time or two would kill weeks worth of profit. Restaurants don't run on very high margins. I will be very surprised if you don't get a call before those parts come in that it's iced up again.
After you installed the pump down timer switch an idea popped into my head. Not sure if it would be practical or not but it may be worth a shot. I tend to agree with others in the comments that the timer probably won't get used at least when no one is watching. So I'm thinking a way to give them an incentive to do so would be to install a magnetic door holder like they use on smoke doors that are tied to fire alarms. When they use the timer have it also supply or control power to the electromagnet in the door holder. I'm assuming the door has self closing hinges hence the need for the bungie cord to hold it open. So when they get a product delivery they enter the freezer, twist the timer which activates your cutout and energizes the door holder, stock the freezer and at the end of the fifteen minute timer the cutout resets and the door holder releases and viola a closed walk in freezer door. No need for the darn bungie cord and it doesn't matter if the employees remember to close the door or not as it is self closing. If I followed along correctly you timer interrupts power on the one circuit. So what I'm thinking is also run the outfeed of the timer through an emergency lighting relay. Wired in parallel more appropriately. The relay remains open as long as it is supplied power from the timer, when the timer is activated it would shut off power to the relay which then closes and then supplies power to the electromagnet door holder via a dedicated power feed. Once the timer runs out the emergency lighting relay then gets re-energized and opens which disconnects power to the door holder. I'm sure there would need to be some refinement to this set up and like I said it may not be practical, but I can't picture it costing more than $300 to $500 for parts with labor added on top. Not super cheap but I have to think it's less than the price of your emergency service call. Please be kind if this is a totally stupid idea as I do not work in the trades do not fully understand how refrigeration system work, my knowledge is very basic at best. Thanks. Oh and by the way, thank you for the videos and bringing us along for your job, very educational and very much appreciated.
God bless you Sir.Enjoy always your profesionalism.got a question pertaining to KM.515 Cuber,it refuses to go into freeze mode what do you think.Teck.Trinidad WI.
The light idea is kinda cool!! I will discuss the curtains on my livestream this evening 9/6/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) on RUclips, come over and check it out ruclips.net/video/HZjHAYTULSo/видео.html
Put in an electronic controller to control the temp, fans & defrost, make sure it has a door switch digital input, then find the loudest audible alarm you can find and stick it on the alarm relay, that will keep the door shut
“It’s been a long summer…” From BC, Canada…I feel you buddy. It has been a long summer. Random thought: Start a Patreon for more in depth videos, for apprentices like myself. You’re a great teacher but these videos are clearly for journeyman. I’d pay $50/month for some proper instruction.
Was there a KT-43-SZP powerhead on that expansion valve? If so, that might explain the high superheat/slow recovery. I recommend replacing with a SZ powerhead since you are using a solenoid valve and pumping down during during defrost.
With all these warm fridge and freezer what about installing remote temperature sensor? Get an alarm on your phone if the temperature is too low. Alarm systems maybe already have an extra input for temperature alarm. With the loss of product they might be willing to pay for that upgrade.
I feel your pain it’s frustrating when your customers cost them self money and damage the equipment that you installed with caring and love and think about their equipment as your own equipment.
I've had after hours calls like that before where the ac has been down all day and they didn't call during normal hours. I've also had the customer tell me they called and the message or work order was never relayed
Why havent you fitted a DOOR switch on the freezer. which cuts off the fan and magnetic valve, we do this and then when door open no cooling, and no ice build up
I will discuss this on my Livestream this evening 9/6/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) on RUclips, come over and check it out ruclips.net/video/HZjHAYTULSo/видео.html
The other issue I am seeing here is that many of the nicer restaurants aren't open normal hours with Covid (only dinner service) so I could have a dead day and then get 3 calls at 4pm. I was running them as OT calls but now I am just pushing them put a day.
I would install a door switch and a time delay that turns off the fans and closes the solenoid after the door has been open for a minute. Could also put in a buzzer if necessary.
Hey man when it comes down to that stupid is as stupid does and that looks like a whole lot of stupid I think they should be writing up some employees or docking them money keep up the good work man hope you have a good holiday weekend this weekend
One of my favorite things an old company I worked for did is they set up door sensors on all the walk-ins that would let them know if the doors were open for longer than 15 minutes. The system would keep a record of how many times this happened so a tech could let the customer know what needed to happen.
They are not going to keep turning the timer knob. Just put a defrost every two hours for 30 min. If defrost not needed the terminator pops it out of defrost. Solved my problem! Some people will never give a shyte.
True that. If you expect user to remember something or do some manual work, you can already call it fail. Everything have to be automatic or it won't be used.
@@Kwaq84 welcome to corporate America
Doesn't fix them leaving the door open tho
Exactly. Even if you spell it out in giant fonts and put it in front of everyone's face, *no one* will use it except possibly a smarter manager who happens to remember on occasion. What a world.
@@YuShudNoe but you have a better chance of the product in the freezer section remaining frozen.
Thinking about a simple well thought out: "How to use a walk in freezer" as a laminar A4 paper to put on every walk in door when you are done. Simple, instructive, colorful, pictures, friendly information to save the restaurant money by informing any staff with 30 sec left over. What consequences a less great action can make. Don't forget the emergency number.
I did like the talk a bit extra in this one, I can feel the hopelessness. None of the viewers can miss why it is frustrating, excepts video skippers.
Nope. Noone ever reads manuals. That's usually last thing they think of. "Manuals are good for technicians", for user it need to be a no-brainer and even then it's not guaranteed.
We have touchless toilet flushers. For cleaning purposes you can get yourself a remote to temporarily turn them off. It have *one* button, and I still was expected to teach staff how to use it.
Anything below Size 72 will not be read. and when they are in a hurry, they won't even notice a "DO NOT USE" Sign, the size of the door.
Only Supervisors and Managers will read that when something is wrong, and then realize why it is wrong. And then try to fix it themselves to keeping that door close a few hours.
But you do make a good point of adding the emergency phone number.. To bad lying is bad for buisiness or we could use this:
"If temp is 40f for longer then 10 minutes, your freezer is broke, call for a technician."
No one will read it
Add a thermometer with green and red zones and your number to call if the temperature is in the red zone.
Install a 180 dB alarm that goes of after 5 min if the door not gets closed ^^
That or a door logger.
I'd take one minute, and power it from the main breaker for the cash register.
surcharge triple, quadruple rates and laugh.
They'd probably just break it. Every time we try to idiot -proof something, they just keep inventing smarter idiots. Lol.
Yep and put it inside the AC so NOBODY can get to it without taking the thing apart!
Odds are, they're not going to turn that pump down switch Fantastic idea but I just feel like if they're leaving the door open they're not going to turn that switch now if you could, I would put a switch on the door itself where it latches so regardless if that door is open say more than 5 minutes it automatically pumps down which would eliminate the need for an employee to manually turn the switch but hopefully it works out thanks for sharing 👍 I've had an intrest In doing HVAC and I'm glad to have my hands on thus content.
I would put an alarm that sounds if the door is open more than 1 minute. Power to the alarm would be cut when the pump-down timer is active.
wire that defrost timer, to a magnetic latch that holds the door open
if you want the door open, turn the knob
if you forget, the timer runs out, magnet turns off, door shuts
problem solved!
@@cleverca22 That's either crazy or genius. Maybe both.
@@mrfrenzy. that's the most useful opinion, and yes it works until a genius guy decided to bypass the alarm, specially if it's a buzzer alarm
@@cleverca22 only solved until they grab the bungee cord again.
Dispatcher from Destin Fl, transitioned from plumbing residential to HVAC Refrigeration Cooking, Electrical on and on Commercial. After about a year of invoicing, these videos make perfect sense and give new understanding. Thank you 😊
Awesome I'm glad you enjoy them!!
At 5:04 you can see the lint on the fan guard. As you’ve said before that’s a tell tale sign of someone leaving the door open for extended periods of time.
Just rewatched after today's video. Yeah Chris hasn't changed even tiniest bit...so nice to see constant quality jobs. Your customers are really lucky to have such an experienced service man with full of professionalism.
I like how you have perspective on the whole thing instead of blaming any and every one.
Thx for explaining about the freezer getting to a certain temp and getting stuck cuz today I got called out to a WIF and I was standing around for like 35 mins and the thing was taking forever to get below 20 degrees!! But superheat and subcooling were in range! So I just told them to call us first thing in the AM if it doesn't get to temp
after seeing a clip of your van, i think it would be interesting if you made a video on what you bring to service calls (so basically a van tour)
Yeah, he actually does have a couple van videos on his channel.
@@OldPumpMan yeah but it’s been a while since those videos were made.
I’m a full time chimney sweep, and I have to say I totally enjoy watching you puzzle things out! Fantastic content!
It’s already cold outside so im gonna make myself colder by watching videos about hvac
I'm just your average DIY homeowner, but I love watching these videos when I am relaxing. I've also put the knowledge I have picked up to good use, diagnosing issues on my home air conditioner, like bad caps, and communicating more effectively with facilities maintenance at work, when I have noticed units short cycling. Thanks for putting up these videos!
Its like when I arrive at a residential house and I explicitly told em to keep the dog inside so I could mow the lawn and what do I meet at the fence?
The 3 dogs, resident does not answer the phone.
Always love you're debrief at the end chris!!! Do what we do, stick a door alarm on both the fridge and freezer doors!!! Turn you're frustration call out into a money making call out, sell the customer who keeps leaving the door open a couple of door alarms!!!!!!
Hi Chris, here's a smile 😊
With freezer doors: transparent strip curtains or buzzers and red flashing lights are also great solutions for some customers. And it saves energy and money with less defrost time.
Keep up your awsome job buddy 👍
Just gotta put it where they can't get at it
curtains? seriously? especially in a freezer?
i install limit swithces with either buzzers or red light flashing
Do the control units have a door switch input? The company I work for produces refrigeration units for switch- and control gear cabinets, and they all have a door switch input. You can either just bridge it or hook it up to a switch on the door to stop the unit whenever the door is opened. This is to avoid excess condensation from constant cooling of new air being sucked in, although the use case is a bit different. A door switch on a Walk-in freezers could be used for a reminder alarm to close the door.
The explanation of product temperature, air temperature was interesting and how air temp quickly drops to the actual product temp then slows . I don’t do freezer or walk in cooler work so had not made that connection before.
Chris your a big help! My 🧢 goes off to you. I’ve learned a lot from watching your videos, especially learning to master my frustration at times with customers.
Thank you, we need the knowledge, troubleshooting can be difficult. But with information we can conquer confusion.
You are a great example of what being a tradesmen is. The love and support is guaranteed to follow. Appreciate all the content.
The customer has been given a tool to prevent the problem, and education on how to use it. This is absolutely how to treat any client in any service business, imo. Now going forward the ball is in their court...and if corp keeps getting billed for what are nuisance calls generated by employee's lack of utilizing tools provided for them....well, at least in my case in the IT world, hitting the wallet really gets people's attention.
I'm sitting here exhausted after work and had a smooth brain moment when I mistook your boxed refrigerant for boxed wine, and I was wondering if your day was as bad the one I just had.
Thanks for hitting the public button a long time ago. You have definitely helped me.
Great message at the end! Thinking of others is the bright spot of my life! Going back into the field hopefully knee holds up!
Great video ...thank you Chris ...I LOVE IT
You are the reference standard for not just for HVAC but business in general. Never forget the customer who pays you and always look at every detail. Your approach could probably successfully launch rockets. (rocket science)
I'm from computer science field and I have no idea why I'm watching this but also I'm not getting bored, it is pretty interesting✨
I have bitten my tongue way too many times and there isn't any left to bite anymore so now I'm angrier all the time, it really changes your personality, so I just let them have it and my sanity is getting back to normal..
I've noticed a trend in this across all trades. Not sure the correlation, but since Covid started I have noticed a chang in my approach.
Ya that sounds healthy and normal...
charge more. laugh at their stupidity. DRAIN THE SYSTEM.
Don't speak with words. Speak with higher repair fees.
Great info! My burger kings have this issue all the time !!
I don't understand the people that would put a thumbs down on a video like this the guy is taking his time to try to help other phope other people everybody can learn something from everybody from everybody I just don't understand the mentality of people that would do that if you don't like it don't watch
Piece of advice for you guys just starting out: always break the live/hot/line on a switch that way if it fails open (which most switches do) it fails safe and doesn't leave everything live @ mains voltage. Even if it's a light switch, break the line connection not the neutral
Hi Chris, Great channel and think the content is really helpful as a tech. I been watching your content for a few weeks and look forward to watching you work out in the field. I think your comments are 100% valued and sure there going to people that disagree but when you work as a Frigi in the field, you don't know until you rock up and see something that could easily be prevented. Sure a compressor dies and that is why there is after hours but someone leaving a door open twice, come off it. I was at a service call the other day and at first it appeared the problem was simple dead fan motor but any good tech always digs deeper which you show time and again. When i looked deeper there was an issue with power supply connection to the fan motor. I thank you for that and like you say its just another service call on the late night calls outs. Great work and the Propane bar frig fix was interesting to see.
Good job Chris, if they keep leaving the door open and they call you, you get paid, bite your tongue if you have too, perfectionist. If you want your emotions get the best of you, and let your blood pressure go up that's fine too, it's your business.
You did well. Your advise is always wellcome. Thanks Chris. Keep up the great work.
Stupid Question. Can't you just add a door alarm that goes off after an excessive amount of time? Like this door should never be opened more than 15 minutes.
He has done that in previous vids. i forget which one, but it was a cooler i think
The papa johns I worked at had one. If it was left open for ten minutes it would go off.
Have installed piezo alarms, controlled by a mechanical stat in the past. When there's a will, there's a way. The rocket scientists would just destroy the alarm so they didn't have to listen to it. Kinda like removing strainers from service sinks because it's easier than cleaning.
Yes, ice is a great insulator. That's why igloos works so great.
You should make a bunch of 8x11 signs that say “KEEP DOOR CLOSED” and put them in plastic document sleeves and use those 3M sticky deals or some magnets to keep it on the door.
Years ago I had a situation like that people leaving the door open, out of my frustration I installed a very annoying alarm system on a 15 minute timer which required the door to be closed.
sad that those measures need to be taken because people lack common sense nowdays
Chris, I totally feel your frustration with the door being left open. It’s a never ending battle.
Thats why you always fit a door switch on freezers. Cut off coil and fans.
Same here in Germany. Over 90% of the trouble and inconvenience is caused by customers 😁 Thank you and have a nice day.
Same here in UK due to holiday traffic extra hour to get to site the same back again. Also the same with so few staff with waitress doing management jobs on the quiet shifts and waiting until a manager rocks up for main shifts them making all the calls.
In the back of my mind, I keep thinking "one of these days, I'm gonna be watching a police chase on KTLA's RUclips channel, and see Chris on top of a building working on a RTU." If you're ever up on the roof and a chopper flies by, be sure to give a wave! LOL
5:03 - I seem to remember you mentioning in a few previous videos that dust/debris on the fan grille hints at the walk-in door being left open. Guess I must be learning stuff from your videos if I'm doing Big Picture Diagnoses from my computer chair!
7:26 - **facepalm**
9:21 - You're right. Always better to break the circuit with the lower amp draw. Even if the switch can handle the higher amp draw, it'll last longer.
Few things irritate me in the workplace as much as Food Safety violations. We literally hold in our hands the power to make our customers happy - or quite ill. Your opening shot really got me seeing red!
I'm assuming the closing manager told you that the freezer had been down all day and nobody bothered to call it in until she did, _specifically_ so you wouldn't be mad at HER for waiting all day to call, as she did it as soon as she was informed - and her comments were also probably out of her own frustration and disgust with the previous shift's handling of the issue. To be frank, I would say the same thing in her shoes. If she has to take daily inventory as some chains require, she has a massive amount of product she probably has to write off at the end of the day that makes her shift look bad, through no fault of her own. Instead, had the problem been phoned in as soon as it was noticed, the product MIGHT have been salvageable, and there wouldn't have been a late service call. The previous shift's apathy cost the store some serious cash, and the store may suffer from having no product to sell until their next shipment came in. You might have found one of those managers that actually gives a damn about the job.
Or not! This is merely speculation. Maybe she was just running her mouth. It's hard to say, and while her giving that much detail might have mildly irritated you, her reasoning behind it could have been benign. I do, however, feel your irritation was valid. I absolutely would have dragged whatever manager was on-shift the next morning into that freezer when I saw the door "bungeed" open.
I am exactly right where you are....walk in freezer freezes up like the door is left open, but question is, what if door is closed and the moisture build up on the ceiling and the fans is very obvious due to the water beads across the entire ceiling. The unit is Balley with an Evap 2 controller...
Why does water bead on the ceiling?
HAHA I feel your pain!
My freezer keeps freezing, CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love the act of kindness!!!
Love watching your videos even though I'm a diesel tech in the Eastern part of the states they are still very interesting. Covid started making its way through my house starting yesterday with me so I guess I've got 2 weeks of quarantine to catch up on your vids.
I think i was in that same dust storm you were in.. i wouldn't be surprised if we were driving the same way at the same time. Im a local truck driver and i was on my way out to el centro lol... i get the frustration seeing a door open. Id get pissed at management for allowing it.. but you cant win them all
what about plastic curtains would this help ? your are so right we need more kindness thank you for the video
Hey Chris, remember this; no matter how good you are as a tech, you can’t fix stupid. That said, you CAN charge stupid tax!
Been there, done that! I feel your pain!!
I got a call a few Saturdays ago to a high end country club. Walk in cooler down. I walked in the cooler with the chef, I reached up and turned the switch (mounted near the evap coil) on. Boom! Problem solved. The chef felt bad which is understandable but you can’t fix issues like that as they are built in and internal.
Just saying that bucket on the lowbed semi in the intro is freaking HUGE wow!
That pump down switch is a damn good idea. Love your videos man
This was an issue at the restaurant I worked at all the time. It’s actually what got me interested in the trade. They installed a loud ass alarm that would go off and it solved the issue.
Chris, an example of what not to say to a customer is this, related to the electrical section of a home center at which I once worked. A customer asked an associate about a particular light fixture, to which he responded, "Now listen lady, we don't make the dumb things, we just sell them." Management heard this, and had pointed words with the associate for some reason.
I have an idea for the stuck open doors. Here we have electric magnets to hold doors open (they are usually used for fire and smoke separation doors).
Could you install such a device, that would keep the door open for a limited time, and keep the AC turned off?
If people bungee cord it open to help loading, maybe this would help it. In case they forgot or too lazy to close, once the timer expires, the door is released and closes itself, and the cooling turns back on. It's handy like a bungee cord, but removes itself after some time.
Yes, they should close it, but hey, maybe this will save from some unnecessary emergency calls.
Just a thought..If your not sure, leave data loggers behind set up in freezer. mine are set up so I can set how often temp and humidity is sampled. I can then can then down load upon return to my laptop and can see what's been going on. When product has been loaded, door opened etc. The info can be logged,and graphed and shared with customer along with the actual timing of events. Can also get them for electrical events current,voltage etc. very helpful
lol 40 years of that here in florida 24 8 i just retired im 60 now i get to work my gold and silver mine in montana this summer
I never thought of using a 15 minute timer. That’s a great idea!
Why not just use a door switch ? Cut off magnetic valve and fans when door open. We do that, works great
I have repiped units like this in the past and add a small, horizontal U section of pipe so the txv bulb can properly sense. The real problem I was having was the DDR not activating in defrost for only one circuit. That circuit was not assigned to the correct suction group on the E2. After reassignment the circuit to the proper suction group the ddr worked, problem solved.
Big oppertunity sell remote monitoring.
Great job and video like always
That was way more than two cents worth. Many thanks
It seems every time you mention Coachella temps go up whether it is temperature or temper, lol. As soon as you pass through the valley into the lower desert you know you are going the wrong way.
Agreed
When your GPS says stay in the right 6 lanes, you know you're in SOCAL.
And when 6+ lanes can't handle the traffic you know you're in trouble.
So politely tell them to kick rocks!🤣😂
Thanks for the video.
🍺🍺🍺🥃🥃🍿🏌🏻♀️
Stay safe.
Retired (werk'n)keyboard super tech. Wear your safety glasses.
Chris you are cool in stressful situations !
red cap.... lol i remember that American A/C and refrigeration Brunswick, GA.
I LOVE taking customer's money over and over and over again. Might need to bump up your rates $5 or $10 an hour. Especially for after hours calls. Don't leave money on the table.
It is a great money pit. We see the same in the IT world. After 3 times trying to educated the client with documentation I no longer get upset, just charge for the visits @ new hourly rate.
One manager/supervisor thinkign an issue is not a problem and doesn't bother calling anyone... and the next manager deciding that it needs to be dealt with NOW! I have to say that is most of my after-hours calls in IT too.
I tried explaining what you said to my wife and sister n law about having to heat or cool everything in the house after they left all the doors open to the outside!!! 800 dollar utility bills sheesh.
Yes the compressor with the red cap was the first video of yours I ever saw!
The door being left open is going to remain a problem until they start firing people for doing it. Throwing all that food out (which they hopefully did) a time or two would kill weeks worth of profit. Restaurants don't run on very high margins. I will be very surprised if you don't get a call before those parts come in that it's iced up again.
I'm quite certain the food was /not/ thrown out and customers were served the bad food. "Enjoy your meal sir!" Wink wink nudge nudge.
After you installed the pump down timer switch an idea popped into my head. Not sure if it would be practical or not but it may be worth a shot. I tend to agree with others in the comments that the timer probably won't get used at least when no one is watching. So I'm thinking a way to give them an incentive to do so would be to install a magnetic door holder like they use on smoke doors that are tied to fire alarms. When they use the timer have it also supply or control power to the electromagnet in the door holder. I'm assuming the door has self closing hinges hence the need for the bungie cord to hold it open. So when they get a product delivery they enter the freezer, twist the timer which activates your cutout and energizes the door holder, stock the freezer and at the end of the fifteen minute timer the cutout resets and the door holder releases and viola a closed walk in freezer door. No need for the darn bungie cord and it doesn't matter if the employees remember to close the door or not as it is self closing. If I followed along correctly you timer interrupts power on the one circuit. So what I'm thinking is also run the outfeed of the timer through an emergency lighting relay. Wired in parallel more appropriately. The relay remains open as long as it is supplied power from the timer, when the timer is activated it would shut off power to the relay which then closes and then supplies power to the electromagnet door holder via a dedicated power feed. Once the timer runs out the emergency lighting relay then gets re-energized and opens which disconnects power to the door holder. I'm sure there would need to be some refinement to this set up and like I said it may not be practical, but I can't picture it costing more than $300 to $500 for parts with labor added on top. Not super cheap but I have to think it's less than the price of your emergency service call. Please be kind if this is a totally stupid idea as I do not work in the trades do not fully understand how refrigeration system work, my knowledge is very basic at best. Thanks. Oh and by the way, thank you for the videos and bringing us along for your job, very educational and very much appreciated.
Hey man i live in 29 so its funny seeing the exit for it, love the videos!
I see alot of managers on the cooks line too the last couple months !
God bless you Sir.Enjoy always your profesionalism.got a question pertaining to KM.515 Cuber,it refuses to go into freeze mode what do you think.Teck.Trinidad WI.
only because the content is just plain awesome
Connect that timer to the lights. Lights on/pump down on. Are curtains allowed in California? That may aid with temp stability
The light idea is kinda cool!! I will discuss the curtains on my livestream this evening 9/6/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) on RUclips, come over and check it out ruclips.net/video/HZjHAYTULSo/видео.html
Do they make door open alarms for WIF? Seems like that would help at least - like a counter that shows how long it’s been open and a buzzer?
12:51 🤣🤣 awesome
Put in an electronic controller to control the temp, fans & defrost, make sure it has a door switch digital input, then find the loudest audible alarm you can find and stick it on the alarm relay, that will keep the door shut
“It’s been a long summer…”
From BC, Canada…I feel you buddy. It has been a long summer.
Random thought: Start a Patreon for more in depth videos, for apprentices like myself. You’re a great teacher but these videos are clearly for journeyman. I’d pay $50/month for some proper instruction.
O'Doyle I have a feeling your whole family's goin down!!😆😆🤣
@14:00 no bonding of the box or switch?
Was there a KT-43-SZP powerhead on that expansion valve? If so, that might explain the high superheat/slow recovery. I recommend replacing with a SZ powerhead since you are using a solenoid valve and pumping down during during defrost.
With all these warm fridge and freezer what about installing remote temperature sensor? Get an alarm on your phone if the temperature is too low. Alarm systems maybe already have an extra input for temperature alarm. With the loss of product they might be willing to pay for that upgrade.
I feel your pain it’s frustrating when your customers cost them self money and damage the equipment that you installed with caring and love and think about their equipment as your own equipment.
I've had after hours calls like that before where the ac has been down all day and they didn't call during normal hours. I've also had the customer tell me they called and the message or work order was never relayed
Hi Chris what are you using to cut the armaflex insulation? Cheers
Great video. Thanks for sharing 👍
Love your videos talking all this ac jargon ✌🏼
Love your videos keep it up!
Greetings from Sweden
Why havent you fitted a DOOR switch on the freezer. which cuts off the fan and magnetic valve, we do this and then when door open no cooling, and no ice build up
I will discuss this on my Livestream this evening 9/6/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) on RUclips, come over and check it out ruclips.net/video/HZjHAYTULSo/видео.html
what about those plastic curtains for the doorway of the freezer?
The other issue I am seeing here is that many of the nicer restaurants aren't open normal hours with Covid (only dinner service) so I could have a dead day and then get 3 calls at 4pm. I was running them as OT calls but now I am just pushing them put a day.
If I was the owner I'd call an alarm company to set up a beeper for the door to annoy staff into closing the door.
I would install a door switch and a time delay that turns off the fans and closes the solenoid after the door has been open for a minute. Could also put in a buzzer if necessary.
Hey man when it comes down to that stupid is as stupid does and that looks like a whole lot of stupid I think they should be writing up some employees or docking them money keep up the good work man hope you have a good holiday weekend this weekend
What is the problem with putting your sensing bulb after the p-trap on the vertical?
Nevermind the cloud line at the start. look at all those windmills. holy moley
Indio/coachella/palm springs is constantly windy. And 70% don't even spin lol. What a waste of space and money
I agree with everything you said. As long as they pay :)