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[uzzo2]

Welcome to the site uzzo2,

The EPA license only means you can legally hook up gauges to an A/C unit...but in order to do HVAC service work (in most places I know of) you need to have a Journeyman license and work under someone who has a Master's license and cannot run a company without the Master's license.

If I am reading your post right, then what you are doing is illegal and makes you a handyman do it yourself guy...not an HVAC guy.

I personally would recommend getting into the trade legitimately.

Not here as far as I can tell, Only if you're doing new construction and contracting you have to have a contractors license. I'm just going to do maintenance and repair, but I've been behind a bunch of these guys that have the big License. I fixed their problem when those guys couldn't. I tried to get on with several of them here, they weren't hiring.

[Puzzler]

Hey uzzo2,

It sounds like you have a knack for this trade, but you are getting a lot of advice (and lack of it in some areas) from your friend. I don't know much about the Journeyman/Master's license (we don't need it here, but it would be awesome if that was in place), but in my neck of the woods, and yours - you said Georgia, right? - you need to have a contractors license. It sounds like you have invested a bit of money, so you are not going to like hearing this, but I have to agree with Tech23: do your research & get into the trade legitimately.

[n locklair]

whats up uzzo2?
I also agree with those dudes. Im sure you are a smart dude! but you have to have a license of some sort. If not every hack would be out here hacking up jobs. You also have to have some insurance. Say u work on a ht pump tomorrow and the house burns down, whos going to be responsible? Not the homeowner for sure! Do your research and get into this TRADE legitimately!!

[Klay]

update on the coil. i used some cans of a Snake expandanding foam. it helpped take out a layer of dirt. I still have alot to go and was informed that they did some construction and had alot of sheetrock dust in coming out of the register. this stuff seems to be coming out but is too thick to go anywhere. Tomorrow i will grab the preasure washer and spray it. Again the other problem that i have is this is for a computer room that cannot have the AC off for more than 15 minutes at a time so i think this is an all week project. If i save the coil it will save them XXX amount of money (at least on peper) so thats the only option I have.

The cost of a new coil is still more then your hourly pay after spending this much time on it?
It probably would take longer then 15 minutes to replace the coil anyway, then all your pc's would go ablaze!

[supertek65]

welcome UZZO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[uzzo2]

Thanks for the welcome guys!

[BusinessCoach]

Sorry -wrong thread

[Tlaloc289]

The cost of a new coil is still more then your hourly pay after spending this much time on it?
It probably would take longer then 15 minutes to replace the coil anyway, then all your pc's would go ablaze!

They figure im already on site so ANY money they think i can save them i will. Since man hours arn't part of the equation then I did save them money "It makes sense if you dont think about it " just put it on paper and dont worry about it

[Tlaloc289]

Uzzo2 welcome.

You really should get more information on your license requirements before it turns into a problem. Remember that as soon as L&I puts you on the spot light all the gray zones you were working on dissapear. and the light stays on you for a long time. I know in WA state you need O6A Specialty HVAC electrical,and EPA to work on HVAC and an Electrical Administrator, and a Master or Specialty Master Electrician license to run a bussines.

[Tlaloc289]

Sorry -wrong thread

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF FORGIVING BUSINESSCOACH FOR POSTING IN THE WRONG THREAD SAY "I"

[uzzo2]

Uzzo2 welcome.

You really should get more information on your license requirements before it turns into a problem. Remember that as soon as L&I puts you on the spot light all the gray zones you were working on dissapear. and the light stays on you for a long time. I know in WA state you need O6A Specialty HVAC electrical,and EPA to work on HVAC and an Electrical Administrator, and a Master or Specialty Master Electrician license to run a bussines.

I guess it's a good thing I don't live in Washington state, none of that is necessary here.

[kitchenfixer]

When I started, I knew nothing and knew that I knew nothing.

Then I learned a little and thought I knew a little.

Then I learned a little bit more and I knew that I knew everything.

Now, I know a little bit more and know that I will never completely understand this stuff.

YOU SAID IT ALL RIGHT THERE!!!! Kevin

[Klay]

I guess it's a good thing I don't live in Washington state, none of that is necessary here.

So would that mean you don't intend on getting any kind of schooling or licences regarding this trade? With what you have going I'm sure it sounds like a waste of time, but it can't hurt to cover your own A55. Further education is always a plus, and inevitible from what I gather. Theres always more to learn. Unless you already know it all, that is.

[uzzo2]

So would that mean you don't intend on getting any kind of schooling or licences regarding this trade? With what you have going I'm sure it sounds like a waste of time, but it can't hurt to cover your own A55. Further education is always a plus, and inevitible from what I gather. Theres always more to learn. Unless you already know it all, that is.

Good Lord, if I had known this was going to turn into this big of an issue, I probably never would've registered here. If any of the mods are following, please feel free to go ahead and delete my account after this post. I just thought that this would be a good resource for me if I ran across something that I had never seen before, but I do have a few folks I can call for help if I need to. I've already said it but let me say it again, from what I can gather I don't need anything other than what I have as far as licensing goes to do what I want to do. If I decide later on that I want to get big time and start doing contract work, new installations, etc... Then I have to get a contractors license, I've already had this discussion with somebody I used to go to church with who believed the same as one of the other posters on this thread. Insinuating that anybody that doesn't have that license is a "hack", my question to him was this. Who decided that just because you have that big license assures that the job is being done right? I didn't get into any detail in one of my previous posts about having to go behind some of these guys with that big license. I'll give just one example here, but there's plenty more. One of my neighbors had 2 split systems installed in 2006, it's a 2 story house. One unit works the upstairs and the other the downstairs, keep in mind now, this company had that big license. The unit that was dedicated for the upstairs he told me worked about a week and quit. He called the company that installed it and they came out when he wasn't there and left him another bill, the unit still wasn't working. He tried calling the guy and could never get him back out there. He called 3 other companies, all licensed and insured between that period of time until about October of last year all charging him between $90 and $100 per hour. None of them could get it running, but still charged him for coming out there. He just so happened to stop by one day when I was working on the service truck that I bought and asked me what I was going to do with it. I told him that I was planning on getting into the HVACR business, that's when he started telling me about all the trouble with this unit. I had no idea because we don't see each other very often other than him passing by my place to get to his. He also told me that the unit that was heating and cooling the downstairs portion of the house wasn't working right. He said he couldn't afford to pay anybody else to come out, the ones that did had broke him, he's on disability. He was so upset that he told me that he wanted to take his shotgun and shoot both of the units. He never asked me, I volunteered, I said "Johnny, do you mind if I go and have a look at them"? I told him that I couldn't promise him anything, but I thought that it would be some good experience for me trying to troubleshoot it. I really had no expectations that I could do anything with them, but I wanted to try. This poor man had been without any A/C at all since the beginning of the summer. So I went down there and I decided that I wanted to check the unit that was working up until the spring for the downstairs. He turned it on, it started up but the condenser fan wasn't running. I pulled the disconnect and got my amp meter out, clipped it on the hot wire to the condenser fan motor. Stuck the disconnect back in, and turned the fan by hand. It started up and ran for about 2 minutes, amp draw went from 1.5 amps to almost 3 amps and it stopped again, I pulled the disconnect and told him to just go turn it off and leave it off until I could get him a new fan motor. It wasn't working right because the compressor was going out on thermal overload. I decided to go ahead and jump on the one for the upstairs portion that hadn't worked almost since day one. I had line voltage to the contactor, but that was about it, nothing on the low side. I went upstairs into his attic to the air handler and started there. I found a blown transformer. I had a new one on my truck, I put it in and wired up a 3 amp inline fuse on the low voltage side. I had him go cut it on at the T-Stat, it blew the fuse instantly so I knew something was wrong. I started tracing the wire which was buried under the insulation in his attic. To try and condense this, I wish I had taken pictures of it to post here. It was pieced and patched together, different color wires, basically a NIGHTMARE. I totally rewired the low voltage side of it, from the T-Stat to the air handler down to the condenser. I started on the both of them about 10AM, it was starting to get dark at this point. We turned it on and it started up, I put my gauges on it and it was very low on freon. I put a little over 5 pounds in it, normally I would automatically expect a leak somewhere. But I thought that no longer than what it actually ran, maybe the guy that installed it didn't get it full. I think they come charged for 25 feet of line set. This was a much longer run, about a week passed, I picked up his fan motor for the other unit. I went down there on my next 2 days off to install it. I asked him how the other unit was doing, there had been some cool mornings so he had it in the heat mode. He told me that it was blowing cold air, I put his fan motor in the other unit and got it going. I then put my gauges on the upstairs unit, low on freon again. I got my leak detector out and went all over the condenser, nothing there. I went back up into the attic and took the cover off the air handler and started there at the evaporator. Right where the discharge line goes into the metering device is a flare nut, it was leaking right there. I got my 2 adjustable wrenches out, tightened it up and as of last week, both units are still working just fine. Now, with all of this being said, I do NOT do any shoddy work. If the customer wants it done that way, I'll tell them to call someone else, I'm going to do it right the first time or I won't do it at all and that's just the way I do things, it's the way I was raised. As far as the contractors license goes, it costs a lot of money by the time you buy all the books and pay for the test. It's an OPEN BOOK TEST, how in the world does one expect to get satisfactory results from a licensed contractor when all he had to do was know where to look for the answers in the book? My thing is that I don't want the Government whether it be Federal, State or Local knowing what I'm doing. I just want to be left alone, the more the Government knows about you, the more they'll be meddling in your affairs. I am going to do what's required of me and that's all I am going to do, nothing more, nothing less. And no Klay, I don't know it all and I don't believe that I made that claim, did I? I like learning something new every day, that's what I love about this business. I am very mechanically inclined, so if it's not working properly, I want to find out why and fix it. That gives me great personal satisfaction. I would be happy to, with my neighbors permission of course, give his number to anybody that doubts the story I told through a PM. I don't think he would have a problem with telling anyone what I did for him. He's doing it already, I am getting calls from the church he goes to and some of the members as well. I just wasn't planning on getting started until Spring time. Sorry to be so long winded here, I just wanted to get a few things straight right off the bat. And like I said at the beginning, if it's going to be a problem here, I'd like to have my account deleted effective immediately.

[acwizard]

Uzzo2, I can see you believe your qualifications have been challenged. Keep your cool, this site is a great place to learn and keep learning. I've been in the hvac industry for now 34 years. Everyday I learn something new, and find myself having to brush up on something I learned in the past. I can not speak for others here, but I am quite sure you will find more people trying to help you than not. Learn from all of our mistakes, stay out of trouble and proudly represent the industry that we all love.

[AC-GIRL]

UZZ02
I have been in the field for over 15 years and I still have trouble with people thinking I am not capable of doing the repair. I no what kind of worker I am and so does my boss. I do what is right for the customer and the company I work hard with no short cuts. We can learn from you and you can learn from us so do not let the other run you off some of use are here to learn from you and others.

[Dad]

UZZ02
I have been in the field for over 15 years and I still have trouble with people thinking I am not capable of doing the repair. I no what kind of worker I am and so does my boss. I do what is right for the customer and the company I work hard with no short cuts. We can learn from you and you can learn from us so do not let the other run you off some of use are here to learn from you and others.

I see you made Pro today

[AC-GIRL]

I see you made Pro today

Yes, I did and I am as happy as a pig in slop.

[Dad]

Yes, I did and I am as happy as a pig in slop.

The Educational Forums will keep you busy for a while. Now, go into the Pub and shake up the boys at the bar.

[uzzo2]

acwizard
Regular Guest

Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 95
Uzzo2, I can see you believe your qualifications have been challenged. Keep your cool, this site is a great place to learn and keep learning. I've been in the hvac industry for now 34 years. Everyday I learn something new, and find myself having to brush up on something I learned in the past. I can not speak for others here, but I am quite sure you will find more people trying to help you than not. Learn from all of our mistakes, stay out of trouble and proudly represent the industry that we all love.

AC-GIRL
Professional Member

UZZ02
I have been in the field for over 15 years and I still have trouble with people thinking I am not capable of doing the repair. I no what kind of worker I am and so does my boss. I do what is right for the customer and the company I work hard with no short cuts. We can learn from you and you can learn from us so do not let the other run you off some of use are here to learn from you and others.

Thanks guys (and gals), I really appreciate the words of encouragement. I take a lot of pride in everything that I do and I think that makes the difference no matter what your background or experience level is. I can always tell by looking at something, no matter what it is, if the person that did it actually cared about what they were doing or just wanted a quick paycheck.