Johnson Controls

[huckleberryjay]

Does anyone here work for or have ever worked for Johnson Controls?

[Randy S.]

All I need to say is "DX-9100"

[york56]

I would say that there are a few why do you ask.

[flange]

big company, lots of guys have been through those doors.

[rlaeromech]

I'm new here, but I do.

[Heavyevans]

I use to work for York. I started planning my exit when it was announced that JCI was acquiring them.

I was slightly upset that I had about a half dozen check stubs from JCI before I could get out of there.

[simux]

Quite a few of us have drank the blue kool-aid

[pringlel]

I loved it when it was York , Was very proud to put on the uniform. So much has changed.

[Doesn'tPhaseMe]

Been there 2 months, so far so good, no problems and it beats the crap out of unemployment. The answer to your question is how do you cope with very large company issues and the systems they may implement at any given time, just because some idiot behind a desk thought it may be a good idea? If your coming from a small shop it's going to be a culture shock so be prepared. The other way to answer your question is talk to some mechanics at the branch and talk to your BA. The old York guys are not as happy as the old Johnson guys but that is to be expected and they have that right. But a vast majority of them are still there.

No matter where I worked in the last 30 years I have noticed there are 3 types of mechanics.
1. Guys that really like who they work for.
2. Guys that hate who they work for and complain about everything.
3. Guys that just go to work everyday and just go with the flow.

I have been all 3 at different points in my career and right now I am a #3, and yes we have all of the above at my branch too.

[pringlel]

Johnson is losing a huge market share in this area not sure if its just here or not.
Any Job is a good job in this economy its rough work wise out there.


.

[klove]

Johnson is losing a huge market share in this area not sure if its just here or not.
Any Job is a good job in this economy its rough work wise out there.

Not any job is a good job if you're equating your job to your employer.....

[pringlel]

Klove help the handicap out what do you mean?

[klove]

Warts and all, the best job I ever had was York International Engineered Systems, from what I did to who I did it for. (I'll let your imagination fill in the next part of this explanation.)

[Doesn'tPhaseMe]

One thing that really interested me in JCI is the new stuff that York is coming out with as far as vfd's on their chillers. They have screws and centifiugals that run up to 200hz, 1000+ hp 4160v drives on centrifugals, retrofitting any Trane or Carrier centrifugal to their panel and drives. I have already been told I will be going to school for all of this. So I looked at it as a opertunity to gain more knowledge and experience to better myself. No I have not drank the blue kool and in a few years if things should sour I will look back at all that I have learned and move on.

[pringlel]

One thing that really interested me in JCI is the new stuff that York is coming out with as far as vfd's on their chillers. They have screws and centifiugals that run up to 200hz, 1000+ hp 4160v drives on centrifugals, retrofitting any Trane or Carrier centrifugal to their panel and drives. I have already been told I will be going to school for all of this. So I looked at it as a opertunity to gain more knowledge and experience to better myself. No I have not drank the blue kool and in a few years if things should sour I will look back at all that I have learned and move on.

That is what i did even completed the York step program which for the ones who have, know its a sick amount of work.
The VSD class hopefully you will get to meet Karl Barely Not sure i spelled his name right, this man is all that. Saying he is brilliant would be an understatement. If you do any warranty work on the drives you will dealing with him. Dont be afraid to ask him a question he is extremely helpful.
Put in a new pole assembly under warranty, it ramped up around 40 hertz and i heard this loud Bang that came from the optispeed panel, My heart dropped . Long story short I called Karl and we think it was possibly damaged during shipment do to the hold down lag bolt missing on one side and the other bent radically. Needless to say i was extremely nervous pushing the button on the replacement.

[Doesn'tPhaseMe]

That is what i did even completed the York step program which for the ones who have, know its a sick amount of work.
The VSD class hopefully you will get to meet Karl Barely Not sure i spelled his name right, this man is all that. Saying he is brilliant would be an understatement. If you do any warranty work on the drives you will dealing with him. Dont be afraid to ask him a question he is extremely helpful.
Put in a new pole assembly under warranty, it ramped up around 40 hertz and i heard this loud Bang that came from the optispeed panel, My heart dropped . Long story short I called Karl and we think it was possibly damaged during shipment do to the hold down lag bolt missing on one side and the other bent radically. Needless to say i was extremely nervous pushing the button on the replacement.

That is the kind of thing that really gets my interest and where I want to go for the rest of my career. I seen it as something I would not get with a smaller shop as compared to working for an OEM.
I worked for a Trane franchise before and they wanted no parts in training anybody but expected you to know and do everything. Had one school in 7 years and I was a lucky one. A 50 million dollar company with 40+ mechanics had a training budget of $50k a year and they were proud to make that known too. They probably spend more in a year for the janitorial service to clean the office than investing in their employees. That was a reason why I decided not to go back there.

Only time will tell how things work out, and my crystal ball broke. But things are what we make out of them too. Only you know what is best for you. Good luck.

[amickracing]

I'm another grunt work for JCI. I actually don't mind it, sure the big business politics can be a ton of headache, but it's part of the game.

Seems like every branch is different despite it being one company. Some are better to work for than others, and depends on your area, there may be better companies to work for than others.

In my area, I get to work on stuff I'd never get to even look at if I were at about any other company. I've learned a TON from the guys I work with, and over all my coworkers and people directly above me are great to work with/for.

Course, I started well after a few of their big changes, so I didn't get to see how great it was before.

[rednecktech]

Any updates on this post ? I am considering a position with JCI and would like to know how Dont Phase me is doing

[york56]

He is doing fine , as for working for JCI if you feel good about what your hearing from them then go for it you could always leave if you don't like it seems like that is what everybody else did.

[rednecktech]

They seem to be interested and said they have a hard time finding qualified guys in the Texas market as hot as it is here i am suprised lol ... so he works for jci ? I see your with york ,i was offered to check out york here in texas about 7 yrs ago but never did and i have been trying to get on with jci for 9 months now and applied for a lot of positions but never got a bite till now i am a fan of making a good living and having good benifits . work is work ...i do HVAC because when i am done with a job someone is always happy :0) ..Its a bit scary starting with anything new and not sure how things work in a company like jci . so its nice to see that guys work there for a long time and like it cause i dont like ma and pa shops where they keep all the money and act like everyone is out to take their customers lol