Author Archives: Ron Walker
We Are in a Technician Crisis
I recently returned from a statewide convention of air conditioning contractors. While I have known for several years that for every 4 HVAC techs leaving the industry only 1… YES ONE!… is entering the industry, most HVAC contractors are just realizing it now. I spoke to more than one contractor that said if they lost…
Technician Certification
One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is about the EPA certification (HVAC Certification) and the different types of certification. Two items of note: Apprentices are exempt from certification requirements provided they are closely and continually supervised by a certified technician. The EPA exams certify you but do not, by any means, prepare you…
Coming Soon – HVACTraining.TV
It has been months in development, but we are very close to launching HVACTraining.TV. Throughout the years I have received many requests for stand alone online HVAC training that HVAC contractors can use for group training. While our online courses are designed to help standardize the training of your techs and provide a career path, it…
Nitrogen Purging and Brazing
Most HVAC installation instructions require flowing nitrogen through the copper tube during brazing. This is an important step in producing a quality HVAC system. Why nitrogen purge? Oxygen in the air combines with copper to form surface copper oxide. We see this on copper tube as a light to dark brown discoloration. You’ve probably seen ACR/medical gas…
Current Relays Commercial Refrigeration
On start-up, the amp draw of the compressor is near LRA before the rotor starts to turn. The high current in the power leg going from M, through R, to the run winding, energizes the relay coil between terminals L and M. The coil pulls in the normally open (NO) contacts L and S. Line voltage…
