need to be set straight.

[HoneyDo]

I've been a self-employed home repair guy for most of my life.

Fathers business, retired and passed on his customers who are slowly dying off.

Needed to get up on my own feet. I keep up with home repair stuff but have a passion for HVACR. Got my universal EPA card and when to night classes on HVACR also I crave to learn.
I will step over all my basic home repair calls to get myself in front a furnace or cooler any day.

Decided to look for part-time work in HVAC to get more exposure.

Found a company to take me on. 4-5 hours a day.

Now I would not consider myself pro. But I AM seasoned and have been exposed to a variety of HVACR. Both commercial and resi.

What I am fumbling on is that, some of the jobs I am sent on are really easy. Which is fine.. In fact in my first days I was exposed to work that I have READ about but never actually put my hands on. I'm talking basic rooftop filter changes, greasing bearings, makeup air units, ice machine clean and sanitize, etc..

But ie. they sent me on a job to check a cooler last week. My first Service Call. Box was warm, seen it before. Low side was in suction high side was low low. Added 134a, my truck didn't have a scale so I filled it by guesstimate, Kept adding until I dropped to 35˚ pressures were OK, explained to the customer that, the approach I took was the least $$ approach, I'll follow up need be.

Signed off on the job and let my boss know what I did. He replied that I should have probably accused a restricted cap tube instead of just low on charge. I replied that I never changed a cap tube in this case before. I asked If he could tutor me on how to diagnose one in the future.

He said no problem, but my question to you all is. Is this a basic thing that everyone knows, and I should feel that the 18 an hour (cleveland) he is paying me, something he expects me to know? Or is this a valuable learning step that I should absorb, and value for reason of why I am working for him in the first place?

To explain, I have cleaned and sanitize many ice machines, cleaned many coils and furnaces. But the troubleshooting is what I thrive on and want more xposure to.

Any advise?

[HeyBob]

I am thinking I am gonna blast this one into refrigeration............it's a refrigeration issue basically, wait till ya see what these guys have to say.

[Joe Harper]

So your boss wanted you to make a diagnosis that might not of been correct?

Tell him that if you are going to be forced to lie, cheat and steal, you will need a much larger cut....

[Joe Harper]

If the cap tube was restircted you suction pressure probably would not come up much , and the high side would have been way too high...
There are lots of cap tube threads here, in fact so many that I dont even read them anymore
:deadhorse:

[HoneyDo]

Appreciate you placing this post in the right place.

[HoneyDo]

I wish I had my scale to weigh in a new charge!!!

I had to go by my gut... and got the pressures to both go up. Spent 20 min for a leak to no avail the cooler was used to chill beverages, no food.

But I am well documented. I entered the pressure digits on my service ticket for future trips.

[Joe Harper]

What were your final pressures?

[HoneyDo]

around 12 low and 113-118 high

[Joe Harper]

That looks ok from here...So you did the right thing. Just stick with doing the right thing..

[jpsmith1cm]

Yeah,

Joe is dead on. If you had a restricted cap tube and added gas, you would not have seen much, if any, increase in suction until your head was CRAZY high.


Read here and ask questions, dumb ones if needed, and we'll do our dead level best to help you to understand.


Do you know what superheat and subcooling are?

[jim147]

Was the unit on or off when you checked for a leak? A small evaporator leak can be made much harder to find by the person looking for it.

jim

[HoneyDo]

Yes! Thank You... I understand sub cooling and superheat.

I did not know what the values were supposed to be on a cooler, BUT... I understand that super heat is where you take the temp., just as it leaves the evap. and then you take the the 'gauge pressure (lo side)" and subtract. Ideal is between 6 and 12 on residential.

Sub heat... I believe is to take the same values but from the high (hot) side.
Again, I do not know what the value is supposed to be?

Can you confirm this???

[HoneyDo]

Yes, while I waited for temp to drop, I used the time to sniff for leaks.
None found... unless it was in the evaporator??? But no indication of leak.. no puddles of oil or grime collection..

Thanks so much.

[pecmsg]

From the Educational Forums:

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=167047

http://www.htalk-ef.com/articles/Capillary%20Tubes%20by%20Henry%20Ehrens.pdf

There’s a lot of information in there.

[jpsmith1cm]

Yes! Thank You... I understand sub cooling and superheat.

I did not know what the values were supposed to be on a cooler, BUT... I understand that super heat is where you take the temp., just as it leaves the evap. and then you take the the 'gauge pressure (lo side)" and subtract. Ideal is between 6 and 12 on residential.

Sub heat... I believe is to take the same values but from the high (hot) side.
Again, I do not know what the value is supposed to be?

Can you confirm this???


Yes, it seems you have a fair grasp of these concepts.

Now, you need to learn to apply them to system diagnostics.

Practice measuring them when you work on systems and learn how SH/SC relate to the problems that you find.

[trippintl0]

Nine times out of ten on leaking reach-ins I find the leak is in the evaporator. What we do is purge hoses and open low & high side on gauges to equalize pressures. Then leak check; pull evap cover off and turn off evap fan. You will probably find leaks in Evaporator U-bends or on a joint like cap-tube entrance into evap or evaporator outlet etc.

[Airmechanical]

18 an hour in ohio

you need to know this stuff, then get a raise


.

[HoneyDo]

Based on my story yesterday...
Today my one boss explained that they may be paying me too much for my skill set (or lack of).

Is knowing how to replace and diagnose a cap tube as common a practice as he is letting on? I know for a fact that I can accomplish this task, I've just never had the opportunity to do so.

I don't even think that 18 an hour is oh so bank breaking. In fact, I think it's less than reasonable.

He also brought up that when I performed a furnace cleaning I didn't know to clean the gas line orifice to the valve. I guess I would have investigated further if the gas was even turned on to the house. Common sense would have lead me to inspect the line if it didn't ignite. To add, I was always taught to not poke anything into the hole to not risk enlarging or damaging the hole.
I now understand that this is the way they want it done and I will honor their wishes. But come-on it's not like I've never laid hands on a system before, I just need a little guidance. He must have some trust to give me the keys to a van and send me out to his customers for a little over a week now.

Don't get me wrong I am perfectly content to bite my lip and take in whatever he has to pitch at me. In fact, I am nothing but happy to be able to get so much exposure to HVACR equipment. I am not planning to leave or get all huffy with him. I just want a little hint hear and there.

Am I asking too much?

[jpsmith1cm]

Yes, I do think that diagnosing a plugged cap is a common and simple practice.


I just don't think that cap was plugged.


As far as cleaning the 'gas line orifice' are you referring to the pilot burner? If so, then yes, that is pretty standard practice. Easy to diagnose when the gas is on, but without gas and sent to do a full 'tune-up' I'd probably pull and clean anyway.

[HoneyDo]

Point well taken.

I just pray they find it in themselves to give me a chance to continue learning.

I know me, if if I am not consistently learning; I am soon bored.

I guess I am prepared to take a pay cut, but realistically I am earning leaps and bounds in the knowledge I am receiving!

Realistically, I am NOT coming home with an overwhelming pocket full of coin anyways.

I'm just thankful for the fact that I AM being paid for this opportunity to learn real time.

To everyone who replied to my thread...

Thank You, Thank You - for all your feedback.
I just feel that I have picked-up the right attitude?

[jpsmith1cm]

Point well taken.

I just pray they find it in themselves to give me a chance to continue learning.

I know me, if if I am not consistently learning; I am soon bored.

I guess I am prepared to take a pay cut, but realistically I am earning leaps and bounds in the knowledge I am receiving!

Realistically, I am NOT coming home with an overwhelming pocket full of coin anyways.

I'm just thankful for the fact that I AM being paid for this opportunity to learn real time.

To everyone who replied to my thread...

Thank You, Thank You - for all your feedback.
I just feel that I have picked-up the right attitude?

Honestly, I thought that $18 was a bit steep for a rookie tech, assuming that your primary role is as a tech.

You do seem to have the correct attitude. One of continuous learning.

If you get your pay cut, earn it back. Learn through experience and asking questions here, give your boss more value for his dollars and you'll be rewarded.

[Joe Harper]

Your boss is talking smack. Remind him that the cap tube was not clogged. Ask him if he gave you a checklist on what he wants done on a PM. Dont take a brow beating. if you get kicked once and dont say anything, whats to keep you from getting kicked again?