Electrical troubleshooting and schematic reading are two of the most important parts of an HVAC service technician's job. If you have a thorough understanding of electricity, HVAC components, and schematics it will save you hours of time and heartache. If you do not, this can be one of the most difficult, frustrating, and confusing parts of your job. There is nothing worse than misdiagnosing a component problem, telling the homeowner, replacing the part, only to find out that you misdiagnosed the problem.
There are three primary tools an HVAC technician uses to electrically troubleshoot an HVAC system, they are:
Knowing this, one way to troubleshoot an air conditioning control circuit is the hopscotch method. Using your schematic, you can identify the parts in the control circuit that may be defective. You then determine if these components are passing the voltage through them by measuring the voltage across their terminals. You start at one end of the control circuit and hopscotch or jump from one component to another until you find the component that has failed.
Then it requires more troubleshooting to determine if the component is bad or, is it a protection component that has shut down the HVAC system due to high temperatures, or refrigeration pressure problems.
There is much more to electrical troubleshooting than can be covered in one article, but this will give you a small piece of the troubleshooting puzzle.
Our HVAC Technician course has interactive voltage measurement exercises, online and on the schematic itself! This helps you learn and visualize how schematics are used to troubleshoot HVAC electrical problems. Please watch our HVAC training calender for our free HVAC training to see how the interactive exercise are used.
by Ron Walker
There are three primary tools an HVAC technician uses to electrically troubleshoot an HVAC system, they are:
- Voltmeter
- Ammeter
- Ohmmeter
Knowing this, one way to troubleshoot an air conditioning control circuit is the hopscotch method. Using your schematic, you can identify the parts in the control circuit that may be defective. You then determine if these components are passing the voltage through them by measuring the voltage across their terminals. You start at one end of the control circuit and hopscotch or jump from one component to another until you find the component that has failed.
Then it requires more troubleshooting to determine if the component is bad or, is it a protection component that has shut down the HVAC system due to high temperatures, or refrigeration pressure problems.
There is much more to electrical troubleshooting than can be covered in one article, but this will give you a small piece of the troubleshooting puzzle.
Our HVAC Technician course has interactive voltage measurement exercises, online and on the schematic itself! This helps you learn and visualize how schematics are used to troubleshoot HVAC electrical problems. Please watch our HVAC training calender for our free HVAC training to see how the interactive exercise are used.
by Ron Walker