i sell junk at the flea market from the yardsales i see while running service in the summer
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i sell junk at the flea market from the yardsales i see while running service in the summer
I read pdfs on the various chillers and package units I service. Clean the van and check problem units from the summer. We have a large amount of pm agreements though so I usually only get to do that when its raining or I need a break.
The Pro's Pub is a forum in the Pro section... H-talk is a professional site that allows non-professionals to access a few forums... the majority of information is behind the PRO door. The forum has policies about what should be posted at which forums, and we all have to follow the rules or loose our posting access. Get your post count up and apply for PRO status. What you see in the public section is a small amount of what is at H-talk.
Like you, I started out doing all resi HVAC. Then I fixed a prep table at a sandwich shop. The owner told me that his friend also had a cooler with a problem and wanted me to fix it. expecting another sandwich shop, I agreed
Went to the address and the sign said Supermarket. Met the owner and she said "heres the cooler (about 300 square feet) and I'll show you the compressor room" :eek:
in my mind I was thinking "a room? for compressors? an entire room? what have I gotten into?"
She opened the door and I just saw rows and rows of compressors bigger than anything I had ever seen before and lots of funny looking valves and piping. After I picked my jaw up off the floor I got to work, located a leak in the rooftop condenser and fixed it, and recharged the system. The whole time I'm thinking about the hundreds of pounds of meat in that cooler thats going to go bad if my fix doesn't work. We'll, it worked and they've been customers since, so I must have done a good job. :)
after that, I was hooked.
refrigeration is definitely higher pressure than HVAC. On big stuff there could be thousands of dollars of food at risk. On small stuff it might be the only freezer or ice machine the establishment has and they can't conduct business without it. Figuring out a way to make something work even when you don't have the right parts is a necessity
Find more work.
theres alot of money to be made in refrigeration no doupt,but you better know what your doing also,like you said all that product is on you.A big mistake alot of people make when they see a compressor room or anything un faamilliar is they forget to keep it simple,All were really doing is using a t-stat turning on a compressor and a couple of fans,look for the obvious easy things first. its not always gonna be "low on gas".The best way to futher your skills is to be thrown into a situation like your compressor room as long as your solid on your electrical skills and remember the "kiss" rule you will get thru it. If i can get a couple of good service calls a week and a changout every now and then you all can have the rest. no overhead,no employees,pay cash at the supply house,keep it simple=a good living with no pressure.
In 2001 I got away from A/C and refrigeration after 26 years, A/C sucks and hours can get crazy with refrigeration. I moved into the MR field in 2001, and recently started serving the liquid to liquid systems. Its a great niche market with no shortage of opportunity to make money.