ANY balancers out there?!?!

[Big Unit]

Seems like balancers are very hard to find out in the world! Anybody else do JUST balancing? Just looking to see if you have any good links or sites to check out. Information that is actually relevant in this field is also VERY hard to come by! Keeping my eyes open for some new info.

[Snapperhead]

I can balance a checkbook .... does that make ma a balancer ?

[Tassajara]

Tabb has some good info on their site. T& B is a tough way to make a living I found. We do work for some bigger shops but its no where near as profitable as my sheet metal or mech shops

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[Big Unit]

TABB has all of the basics but nothing really advanced. Not as profitable? I guess i'm not too knowledgable about the end profit for the company, but as far as being in the field it's VERY profitable, at least for me. We get a lot of travel, which I enjoy, and me and all of my co-workers are paid above union scale at a union shop. That may be the rare case though, I don't know how any other balancing shops go, i've only worked for this one.

[skibme]

It all works on paper!

[Big Unit]

Hahaha yeah I think that's why we stay so busy! So many other balancers just "make the numbers work".

[ferd1942]

A mentor who was a project manager for a LARGE commercial sheet metal contractor once called it "Kitchen Table Air Balancing". I've seen many examples. A crimped 6" flex reported to deliver 190 CFM comes to mind.

[Big Unit]

Hahaha yeah there are a LOT of those guys out there. I recently re-balanced a small wing of a hospital that was supposedly set a few years ago. EVERY damper was 100% open! It amazes me how lazy some people can be. I'm glad with the increased requirement of commissioning on many jobs that you can't get away with that anymore.

[ferd1942]

I hate to say this, but as long as there are Engineers' mistakes (yes, I'm an Engineer) and there are contractors willing to cover them up to somehow improve their profit margin, there will be fictitious balancing reports. Sad but true.

The thing people don't realize is that Engineers don't get paid a lot: I'm just finishing correcting a 50-odd ton installation of nine split systems and some radiant heat. And from depositions, I learned the fee paid was $5K, and it was paid slowly by the Architect.

The job I cited with the 6" flex was an obvious drafting error. Did the contractor call the Engineer to question it (he had to know you can't get 190 CFM - nearly 1,000 FPM - through 6" flex in a low velocity system) before bidding? Obviously not. Did he use the mistake to intimidate the Engineer and back him off, so he could throw the work in as quickly as he could? Your guess is as good as mine. But I have seen that exact technique employed in the Real World many times.

Being human, I make mistakes (hate it, rather have a spike in the eye, but can't avoid it). When such a situation arises, I like to meet with the client and contractor and have a frank discussion about options and costs, why the contractor didn't question the mistake before submitting his bid, etc.