Which part of the trade to stick with?

[nesc522]

I have done about 7 yrs low temp scientific stuff, not bad work, but the manufacturer I worked for didn't pay. The third partys don't seem much better. Doing comp's laying on your side all the time gets old. I enjoy doing supermarket work, but the only money I have seen in it so far is to take a job at a lower wage, and work 60 hrs a week.
In the Boston area, commercial HVAC work seems to be where the money is( $30+ an hr). I've done my share of commercial HVAC, but it just doesn't seem as exciting as walking into a supermarket with racks down. I'm thinking of switching to the HVAC route in search of more money, but I'm not sure if it will be as challenging as markets can be. Tim

[supertek65]

are you saying that a commercial hvac tech needs to know less or has less to learn than a low temp guy?

Why not start another "which is better union or non union? thread"
if you were a refer guy and learned about walk-ins and rack systems, what is left to learn? Now that you have mastered the basics!

If you want to do hvac now you need to learn
air flow
psychrometrics
duct work design
duct traverses using a pitot tube
p-h charts
fan laws
forward curved fans
backward curved non overloading
axial
vane axial
pumps
chilled water piping
dx chillers
screw chillers
centrifugals
absorbers
evaporative condensers
cooling towers
electric heat
gas heat
oil heat
heat pumps
burner controls
water boilers
low pressure steam boilers
high pressure steam boilers
venting
server room units
lieberts
apc
shultz
ddc controls "other than einstein"
trane tracker, tracer summit
automated logic
andover
staefa
parker vvt
roof top units
voyagers
intellipaks
mamouth
mcquay
engineered air
seasons 4
return air fans
economizers "enthalpy controls"
pneumatics
pressure transducers
vfd's freq drives
vav's
fan powered boxes
dual duct
double duct
uniform mechanical code
int mechanical code
I am getting tired of writing, but I think you get the point!
by the way you will still have to do low temp stuff, walk-ins, reach-ins and an occasional rack system! if you are really lucky an ice machine call!
I think it will be challenging
Frank

[nesc522]

I didn't mean to bust balls with the HVAC guys, or talk down on what you guys do. And I don't even post to the union vs non-union threads. Maybe I just need to see more commercial HVAC stuff than I have so far. So far it has been your typical York, Trane RTU, Aaon units with heat reclaim, Munters, Four seasons, and etc. Tim

[supertek65]

I didn't mean to bust balls with the HVAC guys, or talk down on what you guys do. And I don't even post to the union vs non-union threads. Maybe I just need to see more commercial HVAC stuff than I have so far. So far it has been your typical York, Trane RTU, Aaon units with heat reclaim, Munters, Four seasons, and etc. Tim

just giving you a hard time!
I think you will like it.
something different every day!
Frank

[markettech]

are you saying that a commercial hvac tech needs to know less or has less to learn than a low temp guy?

Why not start another "which is better union or non union? thread"
if you were a refer guy and learned about walk-ins and rack systems, what is left to learn? Now that you have mastered the basics!

If you want to do hvac now you need to learn
air flow
psychrometrics
duct work design
duct traverses using a pitot tube
p-h charts
fan laws
forward curved fans
backward curved non overloading
axial
vane axial
pumps
chilled water piping
dx chillers
screw chillers
centrifugals
absorbers
evaporative condensers
cooling towers
electric heat
gas heat
oil heat
heat pumps
burner controls
water boilers
low pressure steam boilers
high pressure steam boilers
venting
server room units
lieberts
apc
shultz
ddc controls "other than einstein"
trane tracker, tracer summit
automated logic
andover
staefa
parker vvt
roof top units
voyagers
intellipaks
mamouth
mcquay
engineered air
seasons 4
return air fans
economizers "enthalpy controls"
pneumatics
pressure transducers
vfd's freq drives
vav's
fan powered boxes
dual duct
double duct
uniform mechanical code
int mechanical code
I am getting tired of writing, but I think you get the point!
by the way you will still have to do low temp stuff, walk-ins, reach-ins and an occasional rack system! if you are really lucky an ice machine call!
I think it will be challenging
Frank


Yeah, us refer techs got it easy. Take one call on one walk-in and you've seen it all - nothing more to learn, close the book..........you're done.

Of course I could list equipment brand names as well in an attempt to impress, but I'm really not that interested in what anybody thinks about the knowledge needed to do refrigeration work.

Those that do the work understand - those that don't never will.

Of course there are always those that did the work and never had a challenging day in their lives..............but one wonders, if it's so easy, why aren't they aren't still doing it.:eek:

nesc522 - Why you would want to be a market guy is beyond me - did you bump your head or something?:D

[market-tech]

Market work is a real challenge.

A few things from last week.

Major power failure at store - got home at midnight

Another major power failure with complications - 26 hour day

Grocery freezer in alarm since 6 a.m. - store calls it in at 4:45 P.M. another late night.

Market techs have to be able to work on every piece of market equipment manufactured in the past 25 years. You must be an electrician, plumber, HVAC tech, Refrigeration tech, babysitter, ice machine tech, negotiator, pipe fitter, controls technician and more.

Pays o.k. but you give up a lot in exchange.

[crackertech]

Market work is a real challenge.

A few things from last week.

Major power failure at store - got home at midnight

Another major power failure with complications - 26 hour day

Grocery freezer in alarm since 6 a.m. - store calls it in at 4:45 P.M. another late night.

Market techs have to be able to work on every piece of market equipment manufactured in the past 25 years. You must be an electrician, plumber, HVAC tech, Refrigeration tech, babysitter, ice machine tech, negotiator, pipe fitter, controls technician and more.

Pays o.k. but you give up a lot in exchange. yeh but aint it A blast
to bring a rack back to life in the middle of the night.grant it I dont like late night call's but but when yuo get that rack or system up and running it's a great feeling.:cool:

[slb8101]

I have done Industrial equiptment for the past 15 of 20 years and I still enjoy it and always made good money and never been laided off, and a good centrifugal /screw machine are always in demand no matter where you live,something to also think about is everybody in a comm/industrial setting has a HVAC unit and it will need to be repaired.

[referteacher]

a good centrifugal /screw machine are always in demand no matter where you live,

That's what they told me before I left Arizona for Iowa cornfields. It's not as easy as it sounds.

[columbustech]

From my experience if you can get into a commercial company that does heavy equipment is best. Then you can put yourself ahead of other techs by being one of only a few in company that can do refrigeration. This is has brought me a few more dollars than I should be making as I can do it and other techs in company say they don't know how!

[VOMranger]

Anybody know if there are any companies in Northwest Ohio looking for a guy fresh outta trade school to work on big commercial/industrial equipment?

[referteacher]

fresh outta trade school to work on big commercial/industrial equipment?

That's an oxymoron..............However, as unlikely as it seems, it probably can be done. Let us know how it turns out.

[VOMranger]

Hey, my epa card says Universal!..lol. I realize that I'll probably spend a good chunk of time lumping vacuum pumps up ladders before they set me behind the controls of a huge chiller!

[amickracing]

I think, in general, learn as much about every aspect of this trade as you can, even if it doesn't really relate to what you're doing, you'll use it someday.

Also try everything you can (best in a big company), some people hate big stuff, other people love residential, some even love working on Lennox! So, try it all, figure out what makes you happy.

I'd say in general residential is the least challenging, or is made to be anyway. But once you get further into air flow, residential is absolutely the worst, because the air flow/duct is seldom if ever correct.