Service Call on an Engineer's House

[mrbogie]

I went on a service call last week, in a nicer gated community home in my area. The homeowner informed me that they had 3-4 other techs out over the years, and they still felt their upstairs AC isn't working properly.

When I arrived I found the unit to be low on charge, and a schrader cap was missing. I began to charge the unit up and started to end up with 60psi on the low and 240 on the high. 15 year old unit, 85 ambient 76 in the house, 4 ton.

I suspected a airflow problem, and when I went up into the attic, I found that some knucklehead had installed a 4 ton upflow furnace and coil, but didn't have room for a plenum so they simple cut 4 ducts off the evaporator coil casing itself. (Even I didn't notice it at first, because its not something I have ever found missing before)

I tried to find some research online to help explain to this gentlman why his system will not run properly until this problem is addressed, also how its costing him alot more in electricy and shorting the life span of his unit. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Dean
Ace Air

[energy star]

He must actually be an engineer in the truest form of the word, as in railroad tracks. :)

[Shophound]

He must actually be an engineer in the truest form of the word, as in railroad tracks. :)

At the very least, sounds like somebody's understanding of air distribution went off the rails. :p

[motoguy128]

You may have to draw him a diagram with mass balances pressures, air flow rats, heat loading, and plenty of charts and spreadsheets... then he might understand. Try ot explain something to some eingineers in plain english and they just smile and knod and 2 days later ask you to explain it all over again.

Some engineers don't understand things verbally and don't do field work. It must be shown to them on paper.

[energy star]

Yes, he needs to be put back on track.

As an engineer he's blowing a lot of steam.

[ACworks]

I tried to find some research online to help explain to this gentlman why his system will not run properly until this problem is addressed, also how its costing him alot more in electricy and shorting the life span of his unit. Any advice would be appreciated.


The air handler manuf. should be able to provide you with all the material you need to show him. Now whether he does something about it. ;)

[Cagey57]

Yes, he needs to be put back on track.

As an engineer he's blowing a lot of steam.

Don't tell us he lives at 2 2 Twain by chance.:rolleyes:

My symathies in the attempt to explain it to the homeowner. Maybe show him a simplified H-Pattern drawing with lots of patienence.

[ChuckHVAC]

For an engineer type I would show him the specs that specify maximum static pressure for his blower and then hook up a manometer and show him his pressure.

[fenian]

did you figure out how to fix the plenum problem?

[bmathews]

My advice is to explain it to him as best as you can. Write it on your service ticket in details. Collect a check for your time and leave. If he wants it fixed, he'll call you, if not. Move on. I had an engineer last year that we installed a 9000 BTU or so window unit in his little workshop. Probably around 200-300 cfm. He had a shop air cleaner which ran at 1200 cfm. He had it hooked up to the return of his window unit to clean the air before it entered the unit and couldn't figure out why it didn't work. My best explanation to him was trying to fill a bucket with a fire hose. He still couldn't understand the problem. I simply wrote it down and left. It's his problem now.

[Rdy2Zone]

Firstly, congratulations for quickly identifying what the previous 3 to 4 techs over the years apparently weren’t able to identify.

Not sure what the concern is all about when it comes to explaining the problem to the Engineer/ client. Simply and confidently tell him that the thing-a-ma-jigs are connected way too close to the what-cha-ma-call-it.

[yellowirenut]

My father is an Engineer....i can speak it fluently..but at times have trouble with standard English:o

[Martinrj]

15 year old unit,


also how its costing him alot more in electricy and shorting the life span of his unit.


15 year old unit?
Good luck to you trying to explain to him how it is "shorting the life span of the unit"!!