ReplyHeh looks like its floating. Flood zone?
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one of many this summer......
it was working.... played with it.... now its broke.... whats the going hourly rate for HVAC repair
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Heh looks like its floating. Flood zone?
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kinda looks like it...lol
it was working.... played with it.... now its broke.... whats the going hourly rate for HVAC repair
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No that is just the way it looks on the showroom floor. LOL Looks good, I like it. You do need a set of SMAN3 so you can properly charge it.
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Or gauges, a thermometer, and math.Originally Posted by JKopp
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Haha yeah the sman3 makes it easy but good old math will do lol
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like these ones in my truck...lol
it was working.... played with it.... now its broke.... whats the going hourly rate for HVAC repair
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Or AK900's
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Amen to that. And my analog gauges don't care if it is raining. We all managed to charge this way for a really long time before the new digital gauges ever showed up and the world didn't end. We just had to be able to do the math. That is saying a lot with the current state of our public school system.
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The best thing I've learned to love about my digital gauges is when doing a standing pressure test. To not stare at that needle thinking "hmm did that move a hair?" is nice. But most guys i know still use analog ... Hell i do on small refer stuff but only because i don't use hoses on them
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Lol
I hope we are all able to add and subtract. If you think that's the reason to get digital gauges, I think your wrong. I wonder if you use an analog volt meter, mercury bulb thermometer, or fish/bathroom scale.
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I do still have an analog volt meter. Use it especially on lower voltages or to watch voltage drops. Mercury thermometers are gone because they are outlawed, but used them when I started. Also, we used to use bathroom scales to weigh in a charge. Still got a couple kicking around the shop.
I know that the digital gauges are the wave of the future, I just think that too many techs are using them as a crutch. If you don't know what the numbers mean, then how do you know if the gauge is accurate. SH and SC are just numbers. When applied to the entire systems performance, then they mean something. Otherwise, they are just numbers.
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To each his own.
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I could do the math but prefer to perform my job as professional as possible and this includes checking SC and SH every time I hook up to a system. With 70% of the systems installed not correctly charged with refrigerant our industry is in desperate need of digital manifolds and qualified service techs. Something I see first hand everyday.
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ok.. i charge them by feel then have our tec geek check them... he cant figure out how i chare them with no fancy stuff.... just gauges.....I do however own a set of sman 3 just in case...lol
it was working.... played with it.... now its broke.... whats the going hourly rate for HVAC repair
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What kind of pad/bracket is that?
one of many this summer......
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70%....You pulling this number out of your, well you know...
From my experience you can literally spend an hour dialing in a system for a given load/outside air condition only to have those things change and be one way or another....
I would be willing to bet that number is much closer to 15% in our area... Bear in mind I don't do ANY residential, only heavy commercial and industrial, but still, 70%....
I vow to NEVER own a digi manifold set. If I can no longer get a system to run to it's full potential with a quality thermometer and an analog gauge, it will be time to hang up the tools. Mainly because from what you are saying the systems have become smarter than us.....
You my friend were sold a bill of goods.
We had to use this POS digi set up for a building survey we did because some property management firm saw some presentation on how you can troubleshoot a system remotely with just the readings from this wonder tool.... Not only that but calculate energy savings based on the repairs.
Boy were they mistaken, or I guess taken....The data gathered from these things was worth it's weight in used poop tickets..
If memory serves it was from Honeywell... JMHO We went through later with a few guys with the "primitive method" and found three times the problems.
GT
If a day goes by and you have learned nothing, I hope you got a lot of sleep.
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Ok I stand corrected it is more like 82% that are not correctly charged. I for one despise government regulations but when they are staring these statistics in the face and are burdened with reducing our state energy consumption one can see why California requires 3rd party HERS inspectors to verify a correct refrigerant charge. We need to be within 3° of factory SC numbers with a TXV system. Not a hard thing to do but surprisingly, our industry lacks the knowledge or know-how to get the job done "correctly".
Ref: http://www.proctoreng.com/checkme/technical.html
and there are many other studies... "These results are consistent with previous industry research, from new home construction studies in California."
You care to back up what you are saying???
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Like I said, I don't do ANY residential AC... You aren't backing ANYTHING up. Your link is an advertisement of sorts... There are more commercial/industrial machines using WAYYY more power than there are residential, so your 82% number is likely skewed....
Besides that, if the dumb dumb techs you speak of can't get it right with common tools that have been around for over a century, I doubt buying them a digi kit will make them any smarter or more accurate.
It is the trade making idiots that is the problem, NOT the tools....
I have found that when we do refrigerant audits on building we maintain, we typically find two or three units out of dozens that have a charge issue, almost always have leaks that get repaired....
Just because residential central air conditioners have a major efficiency issue don't mean squat to me. There is a much bigger picture.
I guess the really dumb part is if you really sit down and do the math with run times and power used and how the home is controlled, you are out to solve energy consumption issues in such a small percentage in the grand scheme of things it is like making sure everybody has the tire pressure on their cars within a few PSI of the factory recommended pressure. Does virtually nothing.
I appreciate what you are saying, but a $400 manifold set does not make better technicians, not by a long shot, what it will do is prevent them from doing it the "hard way" and handicapping them for their entire career...
I worked with a guy we got from the non union sector a couple of weeks ago and he could not tell me how to check the superheat on a 5 ton package unit, he had been in the trade for seven years.
Not a bash against the non union sector, but all he ever did was residential.
He knows now. He also knows how to use a thermometer, a PT chart, a sling psychrometer and an analog gauge... I told him to get digital tools when he learns these very reliable pieces of non technology.
Sorry for the thread jack.
If a day goes by and you have learned nothing, I hope you got a lot of sleep.
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Wall mounted ac pads are cool...
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