Greg, like you, I work in customer service so I know exactly what you mean about doing what the customer wants even if it's not the right thing to do. I also know about them a-hole customers, they can be trying but not losing it with them does pay off big time. I had one that no one like dealing with once, he came back to me and said that I was the only one who treated him with any respect and eventually gave our company all of his business. We ended up becoming friends so you never know where things will go with hard to deal with customers. Thanks again for sharing these tech vids, I truly enjoy them even if I don't know all of the tech happening behind the scenes. :-)
Speaking as somebody who's dealt with the public for almost 19 years, with over 17 of those years dealing with customer service in grocery stores, you are absolutely correct. I've had my fare share of irate and impossible customers, but it really pays to keep a level head, be respectful, calm them down and BE NICE. I can't tell you how many angry customers I've managed to calm down and made happy, and they kept coming back. Many have even told me "It's because of that fact that you work here is why I keep shopping here." A coworker once told me, one who was actually in charge, "we're not here to make friends, we're here to make money!" My response has always been "how are we gonna make money of we don't keep them coming back?" Make your customers happy! It will pay off more than you can imagine.
I really enjoy this series and am constantly amazed by your knowledge and skill with various types of systems. Lived for many years in Hingham and commuted to Boston by commuter boat...your accent takes me back there. Also I have learned a ton from your machinist stuff.
I liked that you taped the wire nuts because the first thing I was thinking was that the wire nuts might eventually work loose w/vibration over time. Nice video, thanks.
Great video. I was pumped to see you did another day in the life. FYI from an electrician's pov, taped up wire nuts is never a good sign. In our world it usually means a poor splice, and a sign of a poor installation. Obviously not the case here, and I know you're just concerned about vibration. It's probably the HVAC equivalent of an unsecured capacitor that's taped up or left in its box.
+BenP83 Yeah it's just a habit for me. Sometimes you have to jam wires in the motor boxes real tight because they give you so much room. Also on things like refrigerator coils where condensation is an issue it helps keep some of that out.
It definitely makes sense to do it in those situations. I think since we see it so much on unprofessional and poor installations it's become taboo, and even when it's beneficial to do so we don't because of that.
Draft inducer went bad on my home unit; bearings going bad. Figured i could replace the bearings/ When I threw out the old one, it had half a Torx bit in the hub ;) You are right about those screws.
.as always, a great video showing the crap we go through. You should show this while it's snowing and windy as hell just to show the real picture. Another way to find a blown wheel is the pile of fins laying on the roof next to the unit discharge. Btw. On those units, the auto control of the blower is controlled by the tdr board next to the igniter control. The fan switching on the hi limits are to cool stuff down when they trip and to alert you that they have tripped, not for thermostat auto operation. I know you knew that, but trying to remember that stuff while making a video is tough. Keep up the great videos.
Greg . . . I know where you're coming from. In the field, YOU are the company. Like you said, you do shitty work, they will no doubt call your boss and you will get an ass chewing when you return to the shop. If they have you come back again, they will probably ask to send another tech. ... That tight belt is bad news! All that side loading on the motor and blower bearings can't be good! I really enjoy these videos as it takes me back to my days as a field service tech. Thanks for the video and the trip down memory lane. Have a good one . . . and a great Thanksgiving! Dave
I was lucky to work for a great and very smart guy when I graduated from trade school. He was a former vice president at Lennox. I left after two years to move back to my home town. I worked for two companies after that and I was not happy so I started my own business an I've been on my own for 40+ years now.
Hi mate. Your bloody right, Several times I would help out the customer and do something extra. Than it would break in your hands, and the customer would say, oh you broke that that will deed to be fixed at your cost. So you don't do anything extra, or it will cost you. Customers love things for free, and they don't care if it gets you into trouble.
+Marcel Timmers Yeah it all depends on how involved it would be and who the customer is. I've done a lot of small things and things that had nothing to do with us like fixing a Pepsi dispenser just to keep a customer happy.
A lot of people, including service techs underestimate the cost of running a service tech/truck. The days of $65 an hour are long gone. In fact, $100/hour is probably too low. In residential a lot of service departments are actually losing money. They just don't know it because the install department covers the loss.
Greg was too polite to mention the "L" word during his enjoyable video. He didn't want to spoil the mood ...so I will :P Had he been a nice guy and pulled the blower he would have left himself open to Liability. Murphy can be a real backstabber and cosmic bad luck will seize those bearings in short order and guess who will get the angry call demanding a new blower or motor? Not saying every owner is a jerk but it only takes a few to kill any profit or good will. The best that can be done in most cases is to inform the owner about it and the cost savings to have the work done while he's already there. If the owner declines then note it all on the work order.
Induced draft motors DO NOT suck the flames up the heat exchanger. It's function is to provide proper levels of combustion air for complete combustion. It naturally assists in drafting of flue gasses.
I agree with others who say if you took the hour to clean that gratis, you would also assume the liability for anything that broke while you were cleaning it. Chris
A most interesting video with good logical explanation of what is happening (or not as is the case!). Beyond replacing the belt, as shown, in simple terms what maintenance can the client carry out normally? When you were identifying the model you described it as a 12ton model. Clearly it does not weigh that amount so what does that figure refer to? I understand it is some sort of measurement of its capacity but what is being measured??
+Dan Whiteford Best thing a client can do is clean the condenser coil whether it be an air conditioner or a refrigerator. Plugged coils are the #1 cause of unit failure. In addition to the belt another simple task would be changing the filters. Filter change is the simplest follower by the belt change (requires some mechanical ability). The coil clean with water and a cleaner I wouldn't recommend to anyone that isn't familiar, but you can easily brush the coil to get the heavy stuff off. Unit tonnage refers to refrigerant cooling capacity. 1 ton = 12,000 BTU per hour. 1 BTU= the heat input required to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F or the heat generated by the complete burning of 1 standard 4 inch wooden kitchen match.
Yeah I give my good customers freebies sometimes, but not the real big ones because their accounts department doesn't even notice if you don't bill them.
The kit I work on in the Uk doesn't use gas heaters, it seems pretty common in your videos with the rooftop packages. Is your gas so cheap it makes more sense than a 4-way valve just swapping the evapr and the condr. Or is it the climate making heat recovery impossible in the winter? Love the series.
+deatrixmuntz Heat pumps do exist, but in this part of the country it gets pretty cold with average temps in the mid 20's or lower. You'd be running off the heaters a lot and Massachusetts has one of the highest electrical rates ($16 per km/h) in the country vs gas (1.25 per 100 ccf)
Nice work and great video. Hey, question about the switch in the draft motor. Have you ever taken one apart or seen them fail? I guess there must be brushes or some sort of spring contacts in there. I looked at a VERY OLD NG conversion burner a few days ago that won't fire up occasionally but it didn't fail when I was there. I'm thinking it might be the centrifugal switch in the motor wearing out.
+Nicholas CeeA It's possible,but they're pretty robust. It's the same idea as a centrifugal start switch in a motor. Little spring loaded arms. Some manufacturers like Carrier used a Hall effect switch. Basically a spinning magnet inside a stationary sensor. If it's intermittant firing I'd look more into something like the ignition control or flame/pilot sensors.
Thanks for your input. You're right, the problem is something else. I asked them to check if the blower was running when it failed and heard yesterday that it was not running.
Just a note: flame sensors don't work on heat. You could have also cleaned the sensor for winter while you were talking about it. 2 screws and 30 seconds time. Otherwise ok
+brendan454 1 BTU= the heat input required to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F or the heat generated by the complete burning of 1 standard 4 inch wooden kitchen match.
I've never looked specifically into this, and I know there is a reason,(I have an idea, but I want to see what the response is) but, why would my old furnace from 1972, not need a draft motor, but the mid efficiency from the late 90's, does?
Unfortunately it all comes down to quality of components. Equipment now is built specifically with a life expectancy in mind. There are massive departments and people making tons of money to be sure that what they put into their units makes it past its warranty period before it fails. Obviously this doesn't happen all the time, but a good percentage of the time. A lot of manufacturers subscribe to Gillete's marketing approach of giving away the razor to sell the blades. Trane is one of these. Their equipment is usually cheaper than the competition, but they use a lot of proprietary parts. They make their money selling replacement parts not necessarily the unit.
Still not with it. Bear with me here, i'm just a simple sparky living in Metric land. BTUs, KW, Joules= energy or work to do something, but Tons is mass. Mass of what? Only ever seen heaters or coolers rated in BTUs (many years ago) or KW.
+mark rainford Its a term carried from when ice was used as a refrigeration source. 1 ton of refrigeration can output 288000 BTU in 24 hours producing 1 ton of ice. We shorten it to BTU/hr hence 1 ton of refrigeration. 1 BTU is = to the heat input required to raise 1 lb of water 1 degree F or the heat generated by the complete burning of 1 4 inch wooden kitchen match. Also = to 3.517 kW. Had to look the kW one up. couldn't remember
Greg, I love these "day in the life" videos. Keep 'em coming. I wish all service guys were as honest as you.
Greg, like you, I work in customer service so I know exactly what you mean about doing what the customer wants even if it's not the right thing to do. I also know about them a-hole customers, they can be trying but not losing it with them does pay off big time. I had one that no one like dealing with once, he came back to me and said that I was the only one who treated him with any respect and eventually gave our company all of his business. We ended up becoming friends so you never know where things will go with hard to deal with customers. Thanks again for sharing these tech vids, I truly enjoy them even if I don't know all of the tech happening behind the scenes. :-)
Speaking as somebody who's dealt with the public for almost 19 years, with over 17 of those years dealing with customer service in grocery stores, you are absolutely correct. I've had my fare share of irate and impossible customers, but it really pays to keep a level head, be respectful, calm them down and BE NICE. I can't tell you how many angry customers I've managed to calm down and made happy, and they kept coming back. Many have even told me "It's because of that fact that you work here is why I keep shopping here." A coworker once told me, one who was actually in charge, "we're not here to make friends, we're here to make money!" My response has always been "how are we gonna make money of we don't keep them coming back?" Make your customers happy! It will pay off more than you can imagine.
Excellent explanation of how the system works. Thanks Greg!
excellent job partner!!! love all your video's!!!
I really enjoy this series and am constantly amazed by your knowledge and skill with various types of systems. Lived for many years in Hingham and commuted to Boston by commuter boat...your accent takes me back there. Also I have learned a ton from your machinist stuff.
+C185Pilot I like hingham. The shipyard is now stores and restaurants. That's where Wahlburgers is. Good burgers.
I liked that you taped the wire nuts because the first thing I was thinking was that the wire nuts might eventually work loose w/vibration over time. Nice video, thanks.
Great video. I was pumped to see you did another day in the life. FYI from an electrician's pov, taped up wire nuts is never a good sign. In our world it usually means a poor splice, and a sign of a poor installation. Obviously not the case here, and I know you're just concerned about vibration. It's probably the HVAC equivalent of an unsecured capacitor that's taped up or left in its box.
+BenP83 Yeah it's just a habit for me. Sometimes you have to jam wires in the motor boxes real tight because they give you so much room. Also on things like refrigerator coils where condensation is an issue it helps keep some of that out.
It definitely makes sense to do it in those situations. I think since we see it so much on unprofessional and poor installations it's become taboo, and even when it's beneficial to do so we don't because of that.
Draft inducer went bad on my home unit; bearings going bad. Figured i could replace the bearings/
When I threw out the old one, it had half a Torx bit in the hub ;) You are right about those screws.
I like the access to that heat exchanger. If only they were all that easy.
+dpeagles the L series Lennox are easier. The whole assembly slides directly out the front.
Absolutely correct about entire assembly. Good move.
.as always, a great video showing the crap we go through. You should show this while it's snowing and windy as hell just to show the real picture. Another way to find a blown wheel is the pile of fins laying on the roof next to the unit discharge. Btw. On those units, the auto control of the blower is controlled by the tdr board next to the igniter control. The fan switching on the hi limits are to cool stuff down when they trip and to alert you that they have tripped, not for thermostat auto operation. I know you knew that, but trying to remember that stuff while making a video is tough. Keep up the great videos.
+Ken Wolfe Yup you're right. Got my wires crossed :-) Snow soon enough. unfortunately.
Commercial looks like residential but a whole lot bigger. The thought of commercial scared me lol
Great video. I have a very good company that does all my AC work. Thanks for sharing.
If anyone thinks they can get it off, good luck! It is not worth the effort.Always enjoy your videos.
Very interesting as always. Thanks for sharing.
I loves the videos
Greg . . . I know where you're coming from. In the field, YOU are the company. Like you said, you do shitty work, they will no doubt call your boss and you will get an ass chewing when you return to the shop. If they have you come back again, they will probably ask to send another tech. ... That tight belt is bad news! All that side loading on the motor and blower bearings can't be good! I really enjoy these videos as it takes me back to my days as a field service tech. Thanks for the video and the trip down memory lane.
Have a good one . . . and a great Thanksgiving!
Dave
+Swarf Rat I actually have a larger version of th is unit where an overtightened belt blew the lower bearing. I'll be videoing that repair also.
Excellent video Greg , Thanks
I was lucky to work for a great and very smart guy when I graduated from trade school. He was a former vice president at Lennox. I left after two years to move back to my home town. I worked for two companies after that and I was not happy so I started my own business an I've been on my own for 40+ years now.
Awesome video, I always something new from your videos, keep 'em coming :)
Hi mate. Your bloody right, Several times I would help out the customer and do something extra. Than it would break in your hands, and the customer would say, oh you broke that that will deed to be fixed at your cost. So you don't do anything extra, or it will cost you. Customers love things for free, and they don't care if it gets you into trouble.
+Marcel Timmers Yeah it all depends on how involved it would be and who the customer is. I've done a lot of small things and things that had nothing to do with us like fixing a Pepsi dispenser just to keep a customer happy.
dangerous, very dangerous.
cool video of what you go through at work ....
keep up the good work my friend!
A lot of people, including service techs underestimate the cost of running a service tech/truck. The days of $65 an hour are long gone. In fact, $100/hour is probably too low. In residential a lot of service departments are actually losing money. They just don't know it because the install department covers the loss.
Greg was too polite to mention the "L" word during his enjoyable video. He didn't want to spoil the mood ...so I will :P
Had he been a nice guy and pulled the blower he would have left himself open to Liability. Murphy can be a real backstabber and cosmic bad luck will seize those bearings in short order and guess who will get the angry call demanding a new blower or motor? Not saying every owner is a jerk but it only takes a few to kill any profit or good will.
The best that can be done in most cases is to inform the owner about it and the cost savings to have the work done while he's already there. If the owner declines then note it all on the work order.
good job,well explain,good knowledge
love these videos.
Induced draft motors DO NOT suck the flames up the heat exchanger. It's function is to provide proper levels of combustion air for complete combustion. It naturally assists in drafting of flue gasses.
Why not both?
A good competent HVAC Tech .
Great video!
Great video.
I agree with others who say if you took the hour to clean that gratis, you would also assume the liability for anything that broke while you were cleaning it. Chris
great video.
A most interesting video with good logical explanation of what is happening (or not as is the case!). Beyond replacing the belt, as shown, in simple terms what maintenance can the client carry out normally?
When you were identifying the model you described it as a 12ton model. Clearly it does not weigh that amount so what does that figure refer to? I understand it is some sort of measurement of its capacity but what is being measured??
+Dan Whiteford Best thing a client can do is clean the condenser coil whether it be an air conditioner or a refrigerator. Plugged coils are the #1 cause of unit failure. In addition to the belt another simple task would be changing the filters. Filter change is the simplest follower by the belt change (requires some mechanical ability). The coil clean with water and a cleaner I wouldn't recommend to anyone that isn't familiar, but you can easily brush the coil to get the heavy stuff off. Unit tonnage refers to refrigerant cooling capacity. 1 ton = 12,000 BTU per hour. 1 BTU= the heat input required to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F or the heat generated by the complete burning of 1 standard 4 inch wooden kitchen match.
Greg, Good video.
Yeah I give my good customers freebies sometimes, but not the real big ones because their accounts department doesn't even notice if you don't bill them.
Nice video
The kit I work on in the Uk doesn't use gas heaters, it seems pretty common in your videos with the rooftop packages. Is your gas so cheap it makes more sense than a 4-way valve just swapping the evapr and the condr. Or is it the climate making heat recovery impossible in the winter? Love the series.
+deatrixmuntz Heat pumps do exist, but in this part of the country it gets pretty cold with average temps in the mid 20's or lower. You'd be running off the heaters a lot and Massachusetts has one of the highest electrical rates ($16 per km/h) in the country vs gas (1.25 per 100 ccf)
Nice work and great video. Hey, question about the switch in the draft motor. Have you ever taken one apart or seen them fail? I guess there must be brushes or some sort of spring contacts in there. I looked at a VERY OLD NG conversion burner a few days ago that won't fire up occasionally but it didn't fail when I was there. I'm thinking it might be the centrifugal switch in the motor wearing out.
+Nicholas CeeA It's possible,but they're pretty robust. It's the same idea as a centrifugal start switch in a motor. Little spring loaded arms. Some manufacturers like Carrier used a Hall effect switch. Basically a spinning magnet inside a stationary sensor. If it's intermittant firing I'd look more into something like the ignition control or flame/pilot sensors.
Thanks for your input. You're right, the problem is something else. I asked them to check if the blower was running when it failed and heard yesterday that it was not running.
Just a note: flame sensors don't work on heat. You could have also cleaned the sensor for winter while you were talking about it. 2 screws and 30 seconds time. Otherwise ok
nice video, ive notice alot of Americans say 10ton chiller, 50ton chiller ect ect. what does that actually refer too?
+brendan454 Refers to cooling capacity. 10 ton equals the same temperature change as 10 tons of ice.
+brendan454 1ton is 3.5kW is 12,000btu.
+brendan454 1 BTU= the heat input required to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F or the heat generated by the complete burning of 1 standard 4 inch wooden kitchen match.
I've never looked specifically into this, and I know there is a reason,(I have an idea, but I want to see what the response is) but, why would my old furnace from 1972, not need a draft motor, but the mid efficiency from the late 90's, does?
Unfortunately it all comes down to quality of components. Equipment now is built specifically with a life expectancy in mind. There are massive departments and people making tons of money to be sure that what they put into their units makes it past its warranty period before it fails. Obviously this doesn't happen all the time, but a good percentage of the time. A lot of manufacturers subscribe to Gillete's marketing approach of giving away the razor to sell the blades. Trane is one of these. Their equipment is usually cheaper than the competition, but they use a lot of proprietary parts. They make their money selling replacement parts not necessarily the unit.
Hi Greg. When you say a "10 ton" unit, what does that relate to specifically?
cooling capacity of the unit. 1 ton = 12,000 BTU/hour
Still not with it. Bear with me here, i'm just a simple sparky living in Metric land. BTUs, KW, Joules= energy or work to do something, but Tons is mass. Mass of what? Only ever seen heaters or coolers rated in BTUs (many years ago) or KW.
+mark rainford Its a term carried from when ice was used as a refrigeration source. 1 ton of refrigeration can output 288000 BTU in 24 hours producing 1 ton of ice. We shorten it to BTU/hr hence 1 ton of refrigeration. 1 BTU is = to the heat input required to raise 1 lb of water 1 degree F or the heat generated by the complete burning of 1 4 inch wooden kitchen match. Also = to 3.517 kW. Had to look the kW one up. couldn't remember
Right, clear as a bell now. Many thanks for your time. Really enjoy your channel.
Is that an asbestos seal on that fan?
Fiberglass
Hello when you uploud protón pack build video?
+Sylvia Mares WHen I can get around to working on it again.