Originally Posted by
valdelocc
and yes centrifugal are going away, it was bull work anyways.
In the <500 ton range, I agree with you. Those are going air-cooled. >500 tons is still going to be a centrifugal. For the forseeable future, the most efficient way to move a large mass of refrigerant vapor around will remain a centrifugal compressor. We start up enough new ones at my job to keep me busy for the rest of my career, and I don't even live in a huge city like New York or LA or Houston. As far as "bull work" goes, what part of this trade is not difficult? It's hard work, no matter what you do. Even the full-time control techs are working themselves into an early grave with all of the stress. I don't know anyone working on rooftops or split systems who carries around telescope gauges, micrometers, dial indicators, feeler gauges, etc... This is a technical trade, and working on large-tonnage stuff is no different than any other aspect of this trade. Just because the pieces are bigger and you occasionally have to hoist a 4-ton beam 20' into the air doesn't diminish that fact. There's also lots of really tiny pieces.
As far as the union goes, I was hired by a union contractor and was brought in as a Journeyman with 5 years experience doing commercial installations and some service here and there. Individual results may vary
Don't pick the fly crap out of the pepper.