How can I get into controls

[JDJ]

What is the best route?

Is there a course that I can take?

[Chris_Worthington]

What is the best route?

Is there a course that I can take?

Red Bull, Starbucks, actually any decent source of caffeine

What ya doing now and why the interest? There are NO EASY buttons here, sorry

I really screwed up, I was a Commercial HVAC mechanic for years and years and years and always thought just how easy it would be to just push a few buttons and get a pay check and of course be able to view my fill of porn sites on me break time

Turns out, me dreams were shattered with a job that has continuously changing technology and the challenges that in its self brings......

IMO, JAVA is the key to the future/past? It seems to start there programming wise, WITH a very strong knowledge of mechanical systems and buildings and yada yada yada.........

[blabath]

"It seems to start there programming wise, WITH a very strong knowledge of mechanical systems and buildings and yada yada yada......... "

Chris is right on with this one. Strong mechanical background is the key. Way too many programmers have little, if any, mechanical experience and could not tell a VAV System from a Dual duct, or a centrifigal chiller from a screw, or have enough sense to realize that they are different and need to be controlled differently.

Take classes in electrical and mechanical theory at your local Community college. Work for a while at Honeywell or Johnson as a mech rep, it's not that hard to get hired by them. Learn the basic systems, then you will be a better control guy.

my 2 cents.
Bill

[berg2666]

Buy stock in hair club for men and other hair restoration agencies.

[KLEINman]

What is the best route?

Is there a course that I can take?

First things first you have to get some in the field mechanical training and get some experience in that. Like said in the recent post a lot and i mean A LOT of controls techs dont have the experience in the mechanical side, if you know both you are golden. Get into a good company where you have the chance to move up. thats all i got lol - good luck

[osiyo]

Red Bull, Starbucks, actually any decent source of caffeine

And don't forget the aspirin/Tylenol that you'll need for the inevitable headaches you'll get.

Turns out, me dreams were shattered with a job that has continuously changing technology and the challenges that in its self brings......

Yeah, ain't it wonderful? A while back I went to a job site where we were using 3 devices I'd never dealt with before. Had seen the literature on them, that's it. Now I had to test/commission and then do any alterations to their programming that might be needed (and numerous alterations were needed). They were pre-programmed back in the shop by a hurried engineer. But there were mistakes made (there are always mistakes) in the programming, plus the guy had missed a few "gotchas" in the spec book required sequence of operation. So I had to add a few new functions.

Training? As often as not the training I get on new stuff is, "Here's the tech manual as a PDF. Now, Git er DONE."

And I did. Only took a few gallons of coffee, 10 - 12 hours of late night/early morning study on my own time at home, and a bottle of Tylenol Extreme Migraine tablets.

IMO, JAVA is the key to the future/past? It seems to start there programming wise, WITH a very strong knowledge of mechanical systems and buildings and yada yada yada.........

It would seem that a knowledge of Java/Java Script is becoming more and more useful, especially on the front ends.

But a basic knowledge of most any programming language and the basic concepts of same will usually suffice to get a guy started.

A good knowledge of the mechanical and electrical systems that will be controlled is crucial, however. Crucial to a final project completion and a happy customer.

I suppose it depends on exactly what sort of work one does. How the company you work for is organized. And so forth.

Where I work, my job is primarily one of testing, commissioning, and final acceptance and completion of a job.

Folks back in the "office" do the original planning, creation of drawings/schematics, pre-programming, etc. We have installers who install the wiring and devices.

Then it is my job to "make it all work". Find and correct installation foulups. Test and debug programs in controllers. Adjust PID loops and/or other types of control loops. Go through any front end programs and graphics to fix and correct those. Etc.

But frankly, I spend probably 70 to 80 percent of my time doing electrical/mechanical troubleshooting.

For instance, on a recent job we had the controls, a different contractor had the mechanical side. Some things did not work correctly. Was it a controls issue, or a mechanical issue?

The mechanical guys on site were installers. Who were good at their work. Their tin bending and pipe work was excellent. But they were weak as concerns system troubleshooting, etc.

In several cases I had to troubleshoot problems that were really the responsibility of the mechanical guys, but had to do the troubleshooting for them and point out and PROVE to them that it was their issue. i.e. In this case it was things like the wrong size balancing valves used in a snowmelt system, another system that was piped exactly as drawn on their plans ... but the plans were wrong, and a case where a fan motor for a small air handler had a bad internal overload.

But not all the problems were theirs. In one case our guy back in the shop wrote a program for controlling a pair of boilers that was faulty. Oh, it worked as he wanted it to, but his idea of how to operate them was wrong. Maybe he had a brain fart, I don't know. But I'm an ex-boiler guy and knew yah couldn't operate them like that without causing undo stress, premature failures, and wasting energy. Anyway I had to make significant changes to that program.

The original poster needs to understand that computer skills are not enough ... by far. One needs to understand those things one is going to control.

[Bull Dog]

Best program in the country....

http://www.ferris.edu/cot/hvacr

(and available on the Web)

[beer30]

Be prepared to spend a lot of your own time training, learning, researching, etc. It's not all about getting to play on a computer.

[Recovery Unit 1]

OOOOOOOOOH BOY ! What Type of Gas Are You Useing ?

[mikesands]

You can't replace mechanical experience, very few good control guys out there that haven't been mechanics first. I've personally have only heard of their existance , I've never actually met any. Most of our engineering department is without mechanical experience and most of their stuff gets cleaned up in the field, but hey, engineers are cheaper than mechanics.

[simsd]

If you don't have a degree, go get one.

Then get an MBA, a law degree or become a doctor. You'll need it for when you get tired of all of this.

[jsin]

Most of our control guys are electricians and need us to verify what they are seeing cuz we're the ones that get our hands dirty.

[HVACJOEK]

What is the best route?

Is there a course that I can take?

There are plenty of them out there, maybe a little on the costly side.

First why don't you study the Honeywell control manual "grey book" then see what you think about a career in the control industry.

Good luck in your quest.