New Guests going Pro?

[benatwhodotnet]

... By the way it wont let me update my profile

I think as soon as you have 15 posts and fill out the Professional Member application form you will be able to add to your profile, including the avatar and personal photo.

[Dad]

You can update your profile after 7 post. That means post here one more time and go to your profile to edit.

[En-gin-er]

I graduated out of the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1986 with an ME degree and have been practicing in the field of HVAC most of my career. My professional career consists of 9 years in the nuclear business, 15 years with MEP firms in Chicago, along with serving the DOE, DOD & Argonne National Labs. My background on chillers is limited and will require additional training. General view of previous HVAC projects include: declomissioning of 5 nuclear facilities, Chicago high rise HVAC modifications, working on GGP's 125 malls, hospital, educational, museum & medical mods, strip mall HVAC system designs, industrial ventilation & heating systems. I am also dangerous in designing FP, piping, structural & electrical systems.

[DD931]

Anyone out the "burnt out" on PMs or furnace checks? I know I shouldn't be complaining, work is work right? But I'm doing a decent sized apartment complex with forced air furnaces and I'm sick of moving tenant's personal items to get at the furnace. These furnaces are very simple and I rarely run into anything "real" I can fix. I'm only supposed to spend a half hour or less per unit so no combustion analysis or anything. Anyway can anyone feel my pain? Or should I suck it up and keep on going through the motions?

[benatwhodotnet]

I feel your pain. Here's a suggestion, make it a challenge by timing yourself and increasing the items you check. Walk in with just the tools you know are required and click your stopwatch (on your phone or whatever). Add: 1) soap test the gas fittings and wipe down with rag, 2) vacuum the burner box to remove rust scales, 3) mark the valve position with a drop of paint marker or nail polish (to be evident if gas valve has been off/on by tenant), 4) wipe or vacuum other parts just because, 5) all the other stuff like filter changes that you are required to do. See if you can keep to your original time limits while adding the extra stuff... add some of your own depending on what problems you eventually discover with these units. Keeping to your original time while adding work will make you indispensable and get you noticed whenever they secretly check behind you or survey the apartment tenants or managers. My mom always said, "Make sure you're worth more than they're paying you or you can be replaced."

Anyone out the "burnt out" on PMs or furnace checks? I know I shouldn't be complaining, work is work right? But I'm doing a decent sized apartment complex with forced air furnaces and I'm sick of moving tenant's personal items to get at the furnace. These furnaces are very simple and I rarely run into anything "real" I can fix. I'm only supposed to spend a half hour or less per unit so no combustion analysis or anything. Anyway can anyone feel my pain? Or should I suck it up and keep on going through the motions?

[vwradar]

Well hello everyone, I'm new to this board and to the industry at the young age of 30, got started late. After several years at the same job the company shut down and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do and couldn't be happier with my decision. I started in the install department at the company that took a chance on me in August of this last year and in November was moved into the service department. Right now I am just doing maintenaces, and doing minor repairs. I have learned a lot and know I have a ton more to learn and look forward to it.

[Dr Love]

Hello hvac friends! Like vwradar, i started late, at age 28. I worked full-time during the day, and attended vo-tech school at night. The hvac trade is truly fun and rewarding work. I've shifted in all 3 areas: sales, installs, and service & maintenance. I enjoy service & maintenance the best though.

[kathy-sunshine]

woot woot! i am in. welcome new guests and good luck.

[Bunyan]

Hello fellow tradespersons. Been a long time follower of this site but only recently started posting. The info I've found and that has been shared has been a great resource for me. My background is that I took my BSc in Earth Sciences and found myself working with a geothermal hvac contractor in Ontario for a couple years but more as an office coordinator. The experience on the purchasing and scheduling side of things has been invaluable but I found myself wanting to be much more technical. I am now taking a Refrigeration/Geothermal course in Nova Scotia, will be graduating this spring, with the idea of achieving my Red Seal and perhaps opening my own company a few years down the road.

I am finding the refrigeration side of things more and more interesting each week. I do a LOT of extra research on the industry as a whole and, admittedly, find myself scouring these boards most every night. From advice on tools, to no bs opinions on brands and equipment, there is a wealth of information available. I am absolutely learning more and more each week and can see that it will always be like that in this industry. I look forward to eventually making pro membership to have access to the educational forums, etc.

Thank you all and look forward to sharing/learning with you all.
Cheers

[54regcab]

Anyone out the "burnt out" on PMs or furnace checks? I know I shouldn't be complaining, work is work right? But I'm doing a decent sized apartment complex with forced air furnaces and I'm sick of moving tenant's personal items to get at the furnace. These furnaces are very simple and I rarely run into anything "real" I can fix. I'm only supposed to spend a half hour or less per unit so no combustion analysis or anything. Anyway can anyone feel my pain? Or should I suck it up and keep on going through the motions?

Do airflow/temp rise checks, let furnace run 10 minutes and test. See if burners are shutting off on limit, it happens more often than most techs think, especially on rental properties. Check blower wheel and A-coil for excess dirt accumulation, filter replacement is often neglected at some point in the furnace life.

[newinthefield]

Check gas valve manifold pressure and what city is giving you...i do a lot of pm work when it's slow. Ohm out hot surface ignitor should be around 60-90 ohms, i also vacuum dirt and dust makes it nice and clean for next pm....

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[northstarair]

Anyone out the "burnt out" on PMs or furnace checks? I know I shouldn't be complaining, work is work right? But I'm doing a decent sized apartment complex with forced air furnaces and I'm sick of moving tenant's personal items to get at the furnace. These furnaces are very simple and I rarely run into anything "real" I can fix. I'm only supposed to spend a half hour or less per unit so no combustion analysis or anything. Anyway can anyone feel my pain? Or should I suck it up and keep on going through the motions?

I was hired specifically as a maintenance tech for my company. Show your worth by doing a good job and you'll slowly get asked to perform more tasks. Just this week they started having me go on call and do some repairs. That's only after 7 months in the field.

[ComfortService]

May 3rd, A tornado swept through my little town of Jackson ,TN. It destroyed my place I was living, my job, and my almost fully restored 1978 Chevrolet Pickup. I lived through it. That day I told myself "What do I have to lose?",and went to a technical school.Two years later I graduated top in my class ( of about 25 ),you have to enjoy the little things right?

Well, 11 years later after working for several different HVAC companies, I decided to start my own business. I moved to Huntsville, AL to get out of my too small town.Alabama requires you have to be a contractor to do HVAC,unlike Tennessee, and this just equates to more demand for those in the field here which is good.

We are still just a small business but we have a large advertising budget this year so I am enthusiastic about this years potential. I have been in business now for over a year and I have some good people in my crew.

Why do I continue?

The challenge of troubleshooting.
The feeling of making something work again when it was broken.
The smile on someones face because they don't have to go all night without air when its 95 degrees.

http://comfortclimateservice.com