Why Dont Racks Come With OVERHEAD RAILS??? .....

[R12rules]

I got this store with a Hussman rack.
Most of my stores have four units per rack. This one rack has SIX units in it.

Only trouble is .... they dont all fit!!!

Well ... let me say somethign first about what the term "fit" means to me.

Fit means they co-exhist with room for one another to be serviced and removed without undue stress on the service man nor the equipment.

These units do NOT fit inside this rack!!! Why Would HUSSMAN DO THAT???

2)27hp
2) 20hp
1)15hp and a ten hp

All them heads nearly touching one another.
Inbetween the 27's, they almost do touch.


And why didnt they make it so you could lift them safely for change-outs?


Hussman Engineering... strikes again!!!

[bowman]

Think you hit the nail on the head there r-12, you said engineer....that means never been in the field, they dont care how much of a pain in the as* it is too work on. Accually i think they try to engineer stuff to make it more diffucult to work on.....Eric

[R12rules]

Originally posted by bowman
Think you hit the nail on the head there r-12, you said engineer....that means never been in the field, they dont care how much of a pain in the as* it is too work on. Accually i think they try to engineer stuff to make it more diffucult to work on.....Eric


No kidding ... And then to get the spacers under the feet of that 27 hp unit .... I literally sat down on the crow bar just to lift the end up and the other guy slid the spacer under there .....
I mean .... that's a LOT A WEIGHT on that crow bar!!!


I have know a could of men who could have done the R & R on such a unit as that one ... all by themselves ... but it would not have been a pretty site ... nor a safe venture for sure.



This idea of using a chain fall and come alongs over the rack controller and down from the overhead struts ... this is just asking for trouble!

And the so called "Hussman-Lift" ... from what I have heard of it ... is a sad excuse for a compressor lift device.




I mean ... let's think this thru here ... we only need about an inch or two of vertical lift . Correct?
Then we need to run the load straight out at a 90 degree angle from the rack.
From there we can raise or lower the unit to place it onto a pallet or dolley.


Hmmmmm.... maybe a two inch "I"-beam, supported at both ends by tri-pods.
The beam would support a trolley. The trolley would hold the weight of the unit plus the XXX.

Possibly a miniature block and tackle.
Maybe the trolley could be manually moved in and out by hand.


Somebody has to come up with something safe as well as useful for this type of lifting.
Cause what I have been witnessing lately is pretty crude indeed!

[mspanky]

Well, there are a few different tools you can use depending on the situation. The easiest situation is a ground floor comp. room where there is room for a fork lift or hand winch Genie lift.

Hussmann porta-packs come with an overhead rail w/ trolley for moving compressors.

A pallet jack with a stack of pallets usually works well. The last 15hp I changed, we used pallets and steel pipe / crowbar to slide it into place rather easily.

And R12, a version of the hoist you describe, is in the works and has been tested.

I've never thought of supermarket sized compressors to be a problem. When I first entered the trade I worked for an industrial ammonia company. Imagine the same messed up, tangled mechanical rooms, only the compressors are 3'x3' and weigh 1000 lbs, indoor vessels standing 12' tall, etc.

I find it pays to spend the extra 15 min. to find the easiest way, rather than being rammy. I'm lazy and proud of it when moving compressors.(meaning uninjured)

[gerryboy00]

did you try abracadabra?

can also try to move your nose from left to right in fast movement !!
:D


a good advise that may help, just use common sense...
no offense ;)

[smbore]

use the old metal milk crate and a steel plate that goes under the compressor and side old compressor clear of frame of rack and slide replacement in place.

there is an easier way... became the service manager and have your guys do it

[Edited by smbore on 05-08-2004 at 10:45 PM]

[Freezeking2000]

R- 12 I have never changed a compressor without a come along or maybe 2 come alongs on those Super-Pluss racks to which i believe you are refering to. I let the panels get banged up, but to hell with the panels just save your back. I have a few bars i can slide over the pipes or straps and chains or maybe a nice 5v belt to go around something, but NEVER try to force the things in. I love having to get into the compressor controll box once in the rack so I always pre-wire all electrical and make damn sure it is 100% correct before installing it.

[condenseddave]

They do it just to give you something to worry and ***** about.

I, personally, don't really have problems changing them out.










:p

[frozensolid]

I am a firm believer in making it easy as you can. If you know a better way use it, if you need a better way invent it. If it were easy, you would see a lot more women in this trade.

Get your mind in the right place, and use it. Dave thinks it’s easy, for him it is. He makes it easy. Gerry boy has common sense, probably easy for him to.

Think! your mind is your most powerful tool.

Bottom line is get it done. In refrigeration, failure is an unrecognized concept.

[Dowadudda]

Boy R12, your doing a lot of whinning ass of late :D

The Hussman Super Plus was in the old warehouse clubs I worked on, if I am remember right. Yeagh there a pain.

But not that tough. It's all about thinking of how to manipulate it out and in first. Have a plan and communicate with your partner. I have done those pumps on my own. Quit your whinning. :D

[Dowadudda]

Wait till you see a vertically stacked 50 horse power husman protocol rack. Change out the third pump and then you'll have the right to piss and moan. There cool machines but very tigh.

[R12rules]

Originally posted by frozensolid
I am a firm believer in making it easy as you can. If you know a better way use it, if you need a better way invent it. If it were easy, you would see a lot more women in this trade.

Get your mind in the right place, and use it. Dave thinks it’s easy, for him it is. He makes it easy. Gerry boy has common sense, probably easy for him to.

Think! your mind is your most powerful tool.

Bottom line is get it done. In refrigeration, failure is an unrecognized concept.



AMEN!!!


Dave, I think your holdin out on me..... you got a technique and your not sharing it. I believe you want me to develope my own.
(thankx alot) :p

To the rest of ya, thanks for the input. Safety is the primary concern there doing the replacement. Like I said, one guy did get hurt last round. It was a miracle he didnt lose his hand.
Just got his pinkey finger smashed.
He'll be okay soon enough.

My point is, I just want slow and easy control over all that weight. I dont want jerky movements with an off balanced load.
I want balanced control. Slow and easy.
I want to be able to hold that unit steady and set er down exactely where I need it to be positioned.


With the current method used, we dont have to pry bar the thing in and out of place, just to put the feet bolts in is all.

The rest if done, as I said.... using a chain across the unit atached with two eye bolts screwed into the compressor body itself.
That part is pretty standard.
The next part, the one where the chain fall ataches, this is where the load becomes unbalanced.
And this is where I dont like it.


Oh well .... all things come in due time.



Thanks for all the help. This is a new adventure for me indeed.

[R12rules]

Originally posted by Dowadudda
Boy R12, your doing a lot of whinning ass of late :D


I come home lookin like something the dog drug in.

My son asks what we're gonna do today? Heck, I'm just thankful to be home, outa traffic and off the roof.
AND ... someplace quiet!

Dave asked if I thought I could ever "sleep" in a motor room.

Well ... I sleep just about every where else I go. Why not?

This stuff is HRAD WORK!!! It's heavy, it's a bunch a tools almost everywhere you go if your gonna bolt or unbolt something....
And that's without talking about a unit replacement in a motor room!

This is hard work!

But there is a feeling of acomplishment when your finished!
There is a sence of pride in knowing you did a good job and even got it logged in the book upstairs.
And your paperwork is signed off.
And your tools are put away.
And your ready for that meal you forgot to eat hours ago. But heck, now it's time for dinner and your family is waiting for you to bring home some fixins...



But it's a lot better, easier than regular commercial work in many ways. Just like you all said.
And I love that part.

[condenseddave]

I'm not holding out, you just don't like come-a-longs and crowbars.

I've changed a lot of 4Ds alone that way...

[R12rules]

Dave, your just worried about losing your "edge" of being in the very top percentile of men who can set one of those pigs safely in place and make it light when you juice it back up again!

I had a neighbor, retired, who could do it ... BY HIS-SELF!!!

And he was a little guy. Maybe five foot two, skinney as a rail.
Nate Fergusson. Used to work for Hussman in California. Did a lot of Alpha Beta installs.
He even dates back to Sulphor Dioxide.

He used to tell me stories about market work. Most of it, I couldnt relate to.

But he'd tell me about setting units in place, by himself when need be.


It's amazing what a market guy can do by himself ... when he has the technique.

[condenseddave]

And isn't against come-a-longs, and doesn't care about scratching some paint.

I'm not worried about anything. I'm starting to get tired of supermarkets, anyway. Took a long time, but the call I had last night at 4 am wasn't much fun at all. It's really beginning to get boring.

That, and finding decent help appears to be impossible. Every guy that says he has experience turns out to have a great deal of experience, at lying on resumes...

[Dowadudda]

Now your starting to whine too. Great. We'll just set up a room for you guys to cry. We'll call it the recovery room. You guys are killing me.

Dave, I see it all the time since before I started my own thing. Why is it now surprizing you.

[Freezeking2000]

I feel your pain dave. I had to work until 6 pm one night this week on my new job..and I had to change a 1/3 hp lt r-12 unit.WHEW!

R-12 just pace your self and dont rush or you will burn out fast my man. Make sure it is dont correctly the first time and you will continue to love the job and the customers will love you too. WORK SMART EVERY DAY AND BILL LOTS OF O.T.!

[condenseddave]

Not surprised, just weary. If the money weren't there, neither would I.

[Freezeking2000]

Thats what happens we get stuck in the markets, when I applied to other companies and listed my yearly gross they would not even call me back.

[smilies]

Originally posted by R12rules
Hussman Engineering... strikes again!!!

http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/hvac/71423_crybaby.gif

I'm going to take a pic of what I had to do two times last week. Post tomorrow.

[Dowadudda]

Hey Freezeking,

How's it going so far?

[bowman]

Lots of whinning going on here....lol...if ya dont want to do it, just let us know and well come buy ya out...rotflmfao....Eric

[frozensolid]

Like you did with Sunbelt?

[R12rules]

Originally posted by Freezeking2000
I feel your pain dave. I had to work until 6 pm one night this week on my new job..and I had to change a 1/3 hp lt r-12 unit.WHEW!


We got a fifteen down on a low temp rack. Gotta R & R first thing in the morning.
Store manager asks if I can delete the midnight defrost. I say sure.
He leads me up the stairs into the motor room and there is all this junk stacked everywhere!
I have no clue how my parter spent the last couple hours there diagnosing the unit and making his shopping list.

There was barely room to walk, much less to work.

I told the manager and his assistant no one was leaving the room until this stuff was removed. He smiled and began grunting stuff into another room. Gads .... these people...


I stopped by Grainger tonight and picked up a chain hoist for tomorrow.
The guy whose hoist we normally use is outa town for the next two weeks.

This one was much nicer than his.
It has a lever and a knob. And a short stubby handle.

You can incrementally raise or lower the load, safely and easily, effortlessly even.
And you dont have to jerk no chain to do it either!
You simply turn a dial or use the lever. You have complete control over the load at all times.

No more course adjustments only, now you can make fine adjustments all the way up or down.

COOL!!!!

It costs some bucks, but considering a guy just got hurt bad last week due to using his chain fall hoist, the company shouldnt complain about the cost of this little darling..... ($239).


Reviews tomorrow night .... :D

[condenseddave]

Originally posted by bowman
Lots of whinning going on here....lol...if ya dont want to do it, just let us know and well come buy ya out...rotflmfao....Eric

You're a real comedian today.

Hussmann doesn't have that much money.:D

[R12rules]

Originally posted by condenseddave

Originally posted by bowman
Lots of whinning going on here....lol...if ya dont want to do it, just let us know and well come buy ya out...rotflmfao....Eric

You're a real comedian today.

Hussmann doesn't have that much money.:D


Perhaps .... they are thinking they wont NEEEEEED that much money........:p

[smbore]

hussmann still buying?

[smilies]

Had a 20 hp, had to bring up from there
http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/hvac/71982_Fry's_135_003.jpg

through here
http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/hvac/71983_Fry's_135_004.jpg

through here, too
http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/hvac/71984_Fry's_135_005.jpg

For this
http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/hvac/71985_Fry's_135_006.jpg

On here
http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/hvac/71986_Fry's_135_007.jpg

[bowman]

No but ir does....lmao....

[smbore]

sounds like you're a man of the big blue H ?

[bowman]

Yeppers, that i am...

[smbore]

bowman, if i may ask out of what branch?

[bowman]

Im a service supervisor for the harrisburg, pa branch....

[condenseddave]

Originally posted by bowman
No but ir does....lmao....

Uh, No. They don't have enough, either.

[bowman]

ROTFLMFAO...

[kooltek]

Don't know if my post will get read, since this is an older thread.but...I'm brand new to this forum, glad i joined, lot's of good info. Am I correct in thinking that alot of you techs are from Calif? I'm from NJ, was a market guy for 27 years, now an in house industrial guy, working for a supermarket chain's distribution warehouses. Still in the Union making same overscale wages, same bennies. Got out cuz of the hours and 2 sick parents I had to care for. Bopth passed now, but i still miss the supers!!

Wife and I are planning on moving south when may last girl is in college (3 years). I was treated pretty good compared to some of the stories I've been reading, especially you IR guys. I was actually thinking about going back to the market stuff when I move, alot could happen by then though,maybe I'll come to my senses!

ANYWAY...Changed alot of compressors on alot of different racks, and they are alot tighter now, the Superplus's are the worst!! Used 2 piecs of short channel under the compressr pushed all the way to the back and the front onto metal milk crates with a chain and come along for support, just in case, and she used to slide out pretty easy. I drained the oil and took the float off and took the terminal box cover right off the compressor with all the controls and BX still connected to the box(tied out of the way) The hardest part was putting the box back on with the rubber gasket and the screws lining up. Why did Hussmann ever spin the suction end bells? That was assanine! Rattled too long, my longest reply yet. Keep the faith fellas.

[Freezeking2000]

Hey cool thats the way i was taught to remove a comp from a superpluss from a market tech with AAA Refrig in the Bronx....must be a city thing.lol


Welcome to the board.

[fridge guy]

I've changed many a compressor on racks and over the years and we got smarter. Our company picked up a trolly that has a hydraulic deck. Once the compressor has been lifted to the proper height I lock the brakes on the cart put a metal plate between the cart and the rack and slide it into place. No lifting,no prying and most importantly no one gets hurt!

[R12rules]

Originally posted by fridge guy
Our company picked up a trolly that has a hydraulic deck. Once the compressor has been lifted to the proper height I lock the brakes on the cart put a metal plate between the cart and the rack and slide it into place.

They use those in some machine shops for lifting punch press dies onto storage shelves.
I've used them.

Hmmm... sounds like a good idea.