Am AC tech
Go into lowes for hose nozzle
See a lennox Air conditioning booth
manned by a dumpy looking kid
Ask what kind of compressor a lennox mini split has
looks in a catalog of AC units that have air handlers
get handed card for a ac company in my area that are notorious non workers and pot smokers on jobs
was told to call them and ask
Even in my own company there is crazy incompetency.
This is my first AC season alone.
I did a 40 minute AC tune up yesterday cleaned airhandler of dust changed filter inspected blower wheel and motor
went outside cleaned condenser of dust and mulch cleaned coil checked all electrical connections. Went inside and the lady said I did more than anyone has ever done on her AC unit.
How do these people still have jobs?
>>971642
People would rather pay lazy mexicans less for half-assed jobs and most of the time, clients are clueless and think they fixed it properly.
>>971642
Most probably installation for the first is done by the noobs. Bcoz its easier.
When it comes to servicing. They just remove the dust by chemical wash. Check capacitor, refill the gas.
This are basic things to be done.
Not sure, what checklist you have..
>>971913
Refill the gas
Nigga it only needs more because it's got a leak.
Service should be clean indoor and outdoor. Check pressures and supply air temps. Check electrical.
Adding gas is a bandaid fix and in australia at least illegal with out fixing the leak
Electrician here. I work for a smallish plumbing, electrical, hvac business so here's my take. The reason there are so many lazy and incompetent AC techs is because AC systems, if installed correctly and left alone, are decently bullet proof and should have 30+ years of life. You shouldn't need to clean the A frame coils or air handler since they're behind the furnace filter and letting some mulch on bottom inch of the condenser coils isn't going to effect performance. As for checking electrical connections.... wtf do you mean? Are you checking resistance in the wires from the panel? Measuring voltage drop in the line when the system on? Maybe cleaning the relay contacts? If you want to check the electrical side of things just flip the switch to on and see if she purs. Don't go pulling disconnects or removing wirenuts. We anti-ox the shit out of those for a reason.
When our techs go out to check an AC system they do a visual for damage, return and supply temperature difference, and change the filter if needed. All said and done 30 minutes tops and I think we charge 50 bucks plus filter if needed.
>>971942
This
>>971991
Check for ohms on contractor or voltage drop on contractor pitting of contactor. You don't even look at pressures or the condenser? Glad you find work because I wouldn't hire you that not a full service. That's looking at a unit nodding your head and getting paid for trained monkey shit
>>971991
2nd if you only charge 50 for a service I know your customers only get the shitty blue filters and their units are most likely developing mold.
>>972019
lawyer anon here standing by to take their mold lawsuits
thanks for doing a shitty job everyone you make life profitable for me
>>972017
>>972019
You're very hostel for an AC tech. What is a "contractor?" Only contractors around here are people. Do you mean the relay contacts? You shouldn't be touching probes directly to those since they have a thin layer of gold/silver plate or a coating of dielectric compound to prevent them from corroding. Scratching a probe on them will remove that coating causing corrosion, higher resistances, and eventually melting or burning of the contacts. Same with disconnects.
You shouldn't need to ohm the relay switch if you're doing a voltage drop test since the drop test looks at everything back to the poco. What you should really be testing is peak/running amps which any decent clamp meter can do. That will test the health of the wiring along with the health of the compressor motor.
As for testing pressures it is a bit hard to do on units that don't have test ports. Also every time you hook up to those ports you're releasing refrigerant into the atmo. Kind of wasteful if the system passes a return/supply test which you apparently don't even do.
I don't go on AC checkup calls, because i'm normally off doing a skilled trade, but I do know our guys use Filtrete 1085's. They stack boxes of those things in the office this time of year.
>>971991
operative phrase "if installed correctly"
but do you have any idea how many half assed handyman repairs ive seen? units installed with drains that leak all over the drywall? units covered in mold? condenser coils 12 inches from a dyer outlet vent?
never assume that things were done correctly before you got there. never assume the last guy was competent. because now that you've touched it, liability is on you.
>>971991
its true a properly installed unit should run flawlessly for a long time. the problem is most aren't "properly" installed. so you have to check other shit.
contactors pit, caps break down, fan motors overheat.
i clean condensers if its visibly dirty, check amp draw on compressor and check temp TD. if i see anything strange i put my guages on and check pressures/superheat.
every time you put gauges on you lose a bit of refrigerant and for what? if its electrically fine its probably mechanically fine.
>>972017
>ohms on contractor
>contractor
top shelf tech right here
>>971642
this may be a super dumb question but any advice for someone thinking about installing a 18000 btu window unit for occasional use in their 400sqft garage?
i know its not insulated, and the open ceiling creates a lot of space, but once in a while id like to be able to work in the garage with the door down and not fucking die. its like 100 degrees here. and it rains all the time.
>>972058
advise on what? plug that shit in and be cool. although 18kbtu is probably overkill
>>972056
True. I can only speak for the units I've worked on and those are mostly new installs. Why else would you need an electrician on an AC job? I run you a disconnect to the unit and its your baby from there.
Reading this discussion I'm curious now. How many of the condenser units that you install actually still have open air relays? I only see those on the big boy 3 phase units. Don't most new home units have the enclosed plastic relays? Seems silly to use open air contacts for something switching 3500 watts.
>>972061
yea i figured it is but i dont want to wait for hours until it cools off
i could maybe save a little and go with a 10 or 12k btu but given the lack of insulation i thought 18k was wise
i understand mounting it higher on the wall to be smart, but im mainly concerned about the proper way to install it in a wood frame exterior wall. i figure ill run a stringer like for a window, and one on top, cut the osb and siding out... but doesnt seen right to just put the unit in there.... like i ought to install some flashing or something
>Work for phone company
>Everyone gets paid 35/hour+
>Every single time I go to a job there's been 30+ years of techs not doing the bare minimum to keep customer in service.
>"My phone never works during the rain, for like 5-10-15 years"
>I would fucking hate my co workers but most of them are newbs and not really responsible for this bullshit.
I don't blame management for hating the union and not trusting us for shit. On aggregate we're terrible fucking workers. I'm so pissy about it I have also stopped doing any of the to-spec work because I am not going to be the fucking super-tech that fixes every problem in a town of 300k people.
>>972054
Plumbing shit flows down hill don't bite fingers . Electrican Pull wire let hvac figure out schematic nice skilled trade.
>>972057
On my phone, typed contactor two more times in the sentence perfectly fine don't act retarded.
>>972017
Check for ohms ? Lol, are you a retard ? You can check the resistance of something.
>>972266
Allow me to learn you
.https://youtu.be/qRPCkq9ADng
>>972284
Depends on how bad the leak is . In the US it's not critical to fix leak unless it's a certain amount of lbs a year leaked.
>>972287
I do appliance repair, most of the sealed systems I work on have less than 6 oz of refrigerant in them... I go in behind way too many hacks who squirt a charge in with a fucking piercing valve, call it good, charge 250$ and leave never to be heard from again...
>>972295
oh yeah I'm residential cooling much different. I was always told once a appliance loses it's charge throw it out because they must be so critically charged from the factory.
>>971646
>lazy mexicans
Where?
>>972296
depends on how it looses the charge and what the appliance is... if it's a 600$ topmount fridge.. it's fucked... if it's a 14$ built in sub zero.. then you can rebuild the entire sealed system for around 2k with a new compressor, all new copper, and get another 15~20 years out of it.. which is a pretty good deal vs buying a new one. also gotta factor in the warranties on them... most manufacturers don't wanna just throw out a new unit without trying some repair first. although it's got a pretty high likelyhood of being an utter shit show if you get stuck going in after someone who didn't know what they were doing and tried already...
>>972359
*14K$
