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[antiquepicker62]

Earl,

I worked with a guy who had his burner license and i was sworn to secracy. He didn't want anyone to know. As a 30 year knock around tech I suggest getting some refrigeration experience in addition with the AC. Not only will it broaden your scope but it will get you away from the burner clean outs etc. All the best

Frank

[nemofied]

Recently (month) joined the field starting off with service work, came back from a 2 week tech bootcamp and started in on heat exchanger inspections for an apartment complex we're working on. Definitely have a new appreciation for heat exchangers as we use several methods for finding cracks/holes. Digging the UV detection kit. I'm still getting lols from my coworkers when I point out "So those are S clips hmm?" Looking forward to gaining a good fundamental base to build on here.

[vzenuh]

At the bright age of 32, I decided that going to school was the thing for me. I had worked for eleven years at the same company and knew everything that could be known there. Why did I change paths? Who knows.

I went to my local community tech school and picked up an associates in applied science HVAC. Really good program, I am sure all of them are, you get out what you put in.

Thinking I knew everything, I managed to find a company that would hire me. Commercial Refrigeration. I realized that I didn't know squat. Ice Machines, coolers, freezers, walkins, reachins. Not that we didn't cover that in school, it was just that we mainly focused on the residential side of things.

I have been lurking in this site for a bit, reading others posts and gaining knowledge in the process.

I still get those whammys on the job from time to time. Sometimes I think I have binders on once I take my tool bag out of the truck.

But I do enjoy hearing customers tell me that they know that I do good work.

I have been in this trade for about 1.5 years now and in that time I have learned the in's and out's of ice machines. I have done tons of remote and self contained installs. Mostly manitowoc's. Service work on ice0matics, scotsmans, manitowoc's, and one cornelius.

Worked on lots of walkin in coolers. I love working on the newer stuff, but most of the equipment I see, is older r12 systems that have been retrofitted. I prob have at least 7 different jugs on my truck right now.

Did service work on a few walkin freezers and plenty of true boxes. I enjoy the commercial side of it cause it keeps me from crawling under houses and what not. I do manage to see my fair share of roofs, prob more than the residentail tech.

I am learning everyday, and usually enjoy the work. Just like anybody out there I do have those days where I come home and wonder, "why did you do this?"

All in all I find this forum very informative. I see that most everyone here needs to see the whole picture instead of a few items of info. I know the feeling, I see the service calls on my phone as they come in and the first thing I learned is never guess what the problem is before you get there. Always assume that the customer doesn't know what the hell they are talking about and walk up to the job with the assumption that you will apply what you learned and start with the basics. I have found out that once you start skippin the basics that you will only find yourself becoming a parts changer.

[Thomsphil]

Hi! Learning a new language we can develop ourselves and add to a new & unknown society.Arabic by Skype.

[Ford3517]

Just a little update about my path in the HVAC field. I have just accepted a position as an Assistant Lab instructor at the school I just Graduated from. I Graduated with a 4.0 and I enjoyed helping my fellow students while in school and I believe I will enjoy helping students to come. I enjoy this field, I enjoy learning something new everyday, and I enjoy helping others to learn this field. I have also been working in the field with some fellow instructors gaining more experience and as of right now I have a year under my belt.

I am inspired to write text books and design machines to simulate failures and I have successfully built a heating and cooling electrical fault simulator and I plan to build a refrigeration system to simulate different types of restrictions and airflow failure across the coils so the student could actually see what happens to a system experiencing these faults.

[earlburnermann]

Earl,

I worked with a guy who had his burner license and i was sworn to secracy. He didn't want anyone to know. As a 30 year knock around tech I suggest getting some refrigeration experience in addition with the AC. Not only will it broaden your scope but it will get you away from the burner clean outs etc. All the best

Frank

Thanks Frank,

Never even thought of doing HVAC until the recession put me out on the street. But I have to admit I am enjoying it. I think it will really be fun when I start making some cash too

[Rely]

Ok here I am posting this you all have a idea about my past & experience so I decide to change my life a get a trade a went hvac school for the proper training and after school started with a holiday inn for maintenance/hvac did that for a year then went on to a hvac company started with doing cleaning to ruffs,duct install,ac installs and start ups then into the service side and honestly struggled with then I started to work at night drywall taping to supplement income and was making more than my day job so long story short & 10years later the economic fail so I decided to take another maintenance job with a mall which we service most all roof tops so here I am looking to learn what I don't remember which is a lot so I will be lurking around .

[nemofied]

Recently came back from a tech academy in Arkansas nice 2 week bootcamp for electrical and heating. They went through the basics (hopscotch, SOO, etc) but I was most impressed with their lab which had 30 or so split systems with flip switches to simulate different types of problems. We also had the opportunity to use various scopes (Inspector FTW) for diagnosing heat exchangers. Very nice putting the hands to work and seeing what I'm looking at in wiring diagrams. Excellent fundamental beginning so I can understand some of what I'm reading here and in books and possibly contribute in the near future. ;-)

[bgymn2002]

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.

Thats somewhat true. How to think of it is that you you much more than when you started but will never know everything. You will just learn all kinds of things as you go. Thats what I like about this field, nobody knows everything!!!!

[ahiggins91]

Just realized this thread was here!

My dad owns a small refrigeration, heating, ac, and restaurant equipment service company- him and me being the only current employees. This year he changed it from a sole proprietor to a company after adding me to the payroll a couple years ago. I had previously worked under him since I was 12 or 13, usually working a few hours a day during summers to help him during the busy season. I went off to college after high school, didnt like it, so I moved back and started working full time for my old man. He payed me under the table for a bit before I started to catch on and decided i was here to stay. Now I'm a little over 2 years into the field and I'm climbing quickly- I got my EPA section 608 universal certification after being an apprentice for only 1 year. I took online HVAC courses to supplement my learning and got my diploma in HACR. We do commercial refrigeration mostly, but I seem to be excelling in servicing Ice Machines. Manitowocs are my favorite to work on, and i can trouble shoot them like no other, despite only having a year or so of 'real' experience. I am actually trusted now to go on some service calls by myself- usually ice machines for familiar accounts. I hope to become a great service tech as I am constantly trying to learn and better myself in this field. I love it and I'm literally learning from one of the best out there.

[bgymn2002]

Sounds like your doing well. Keep it up and remember if everyday was easy, life would be borring!!!

[realcoolbreeze]

Well, I first got into this field because the community college nearby offered a course in appliance repair and refrigeration. It was a 2 year course that got me started learning about washing machines, dryers, ranges, dishwashers, microwaves, and then the second semester was all refrigeration. We learned about refrigeration theory, how to work on residential refrigerators, and even got to learn about Sub Zero refrigerators. I got my EPA section 608 universal certification, and then second year I learned about split systems, walk-ins, ice machines, boilers, furnaces, and other HVAC related items.

At the end of my 2 years, I received a diploma and got hired at a Community College in Tucson in the HVAC Maintenance. I have been taking more HVAC classes and I am 2 classes away from getting my Associate's degree, one of which I am taking now, intro to Philosophy, and the other class I want to take is for solar panels, but I don't know if it is going to be offered. Other than those two classes, I have taken all the 'HVAC' related classes for my Associate's degree.

Summer's are hot down here in Tucson and the church I attend wanted me to take over their maintenance of the systems that have been neglected for so long. I have been working at getting them up to proper speed, but it's going to take some time. I have found HVAC something enjoyable and something that is going to open up a big world of different technologies and be able to provide the best service to my customers. Also, the church is using pneumatic systems and I have not learned too much about them yet, but I'm working on them and they are very interesting. Lots of new and exciting things!

From what I have already seen from this site, it is probably the best HVAC site on the web, just a bunch of guys trying to help out other guys who are in a bind or need assistance. Thank you to whoever started this, because it is really appreciated.

[Stroh01]

I first decided to enter this field after being forced to start career shopping after a move to a new province. I was in school for heavy civil construction in Nova Scotia and had a year left of a two year program when my wife was transferred. So instead of living apart and not having a job at the end of it. I decided that I really didn't like the job that would be the end result of my schooling and decided to search for something new. After many conversations with different trades, i came across hvac and the idea of being paid to trouble shoot systems really appealed to me. I considered electrician but I liked the idea of being a jack of all trades in a way. I look forward to all the help on this site, especially when I get in the field and realize school only taught me the bare essentials.

[PalmettoMaintPro]

I took Enviromental Control Systems I&II In high school and really enjoyed it. I decided to pursue the HVAC career after talking it over with my step-dad,who talked me out of being a welder. Out of school I got a job at a local apartment complex and started there as I was one of two people with an EPA card, I got to do most of the a/c and heat work. the old guy there wasnt real keen on showing me the ropes so it was kinda touch and go for a while but I got by. I knew that those guys werent doing things like I had heard or learned in my classes so I kept a eye on the way I did things. My next job was at an apartment complex by myself . I was the only man employed there. so it was fix it or bust. i had that job for a year and I can say that is where I learned almost everything about everything I know. The man that owned the apartments believe in higher education and luckily would constantly send us to higher learning events and training seminars. He also had a plethora of books and literature on all types of topics ,including Heating ,cooling ,duct systems ,plumbing,electrical,carpentry. Being the only man on site I realized quick if I was gonna make here or anywhere I was gonna have rise above and get out of the "apartment maintenance guy" shadow that I have seen befalling several of my co-workers and sister properties. I started reading the books and applying what I was learning and much to my surprise I started REALLY fixing things , but most importantly I was paying attention to the more technical aspects of HVAC where I noticed all the other maintenance guys "filter ,gas,go" on all the units ,wait for it to break and change it, put parts on it till it runs again and all the good stuff. I realized this wasnt a possibility because I was in charge of getting my own supplies at the place I was at ,so I knew that parts cost money and just changing them wasnt gonna be an option for me. So i read ,read , and practiced. i made a hecuva lotta mistakes dont get me wrong. But I ended smarter than I went in being. After this job I tried to break into the actual HVAC industry by applying at a real a/c company. I was so nervous , I was a headbanger ,had long hair and all that. I got the same response from all the companies, my apartment past was haunting me. So I went back to the apartments. I had learned about triple evacuation , proper evacuation and recovery ,But my trouble shooting was still sketchy. I went thru a brief unemployment phase and started sending out resumes one day and for poos and giggles I sent one to an ad for a service tech at a local a/c company and ,they called me . At the time by a fluke I had short hair. I went in filled out the app got to talk with the owner the same day. Turns out he had started out in the apartment business too like twenty years ago and was actually looking for a guy like me . One he knew had a solid background in building maintenace and general construction expeirience. Someone that knew enough to make training them how he wanted easy. I learned so much working for that man. He kept us in constant in shop training with videos and literature. He paid for me to get NATE certified as a air to air heat pump specialist and air conditioning specialist both as install and service tech. He ended up having to let me go due to downsizing . I think it was cause I passed the heat pump part of the NATE test and he didn't. After I left there I kinda didn't wanna go back to work for another company cause I had seen how much money there was to be made after bringing back a few checks to my boss. I got it in my head to go about becoming a contractor and found out how much money it took and got discouraged and went back to work at an apartment complex as the supervisor. Then some !@$&*# head came to work there and he was like in his forties and an electrical contractor from Ohio some where. He didnt like the fact that a 30 year old was his supervisor so my job got hard there , especially after he got in sweet with the manager . I ended up getting canned ,imagine that. I was on unemployment and my wife had a friend that owned a few businesses and rental properties around town and I got hooked up with him doing his HVAC and electrical stuff. I also do all his refrigeration and ice machines too . He saw something in me and aproached me one day and asked if I had ever thought about going into business for my self . I told him yeah , just never had the money. He looked at me and said well how bout we start one up and you give me blah blah and you get this . It was a really good deal , the endless amount of perks that come with it are too many to list, Condos ,limos ,lake houses . All available to me cause I meant I wasnt gonna be another raggy apartment maintenance guy. He paid for me to take my South Carolina Commercial Contractors Exam for HVAC-Packaged equipment. I took my test and passed it. My application is in Columbia being reviewed now. And hopefully they approve it.
That pretty much covers it . I would like to get my refrigeration liscences as well and get a couple more NATE badges too

[loudogg50000]

I started out sweeping up the warehouse and delivering parts to techs and installers
five years ago.Did install for two years,then when things slowed down I asked the service manager if i could ride along with the techs.Been doing tech work ever since and
feel like theres always some thing I haven't seen or learned yet.

[TRITONGROUP]

I came from my country 10 years ago,
1. I started as a hvac delivery driver, I used to delivered equipments, supplies, etc etc.
2. After that, I started as installer helper (going into attic, crawlspace, etc.) meanwhile I was taking hvac classes in a community college
3. After that, I started as installer
4. After that, I started to learn how to repair
5. After that, The company were I used to work went bankruptcy
6. After that, I start working as a freelance installer, for different local contractors
7. A year an a half ago I got my license, and start my own small local business
8. I am still learning, still having fun, and enjoying to service people.

Peace

[s1hello]

Hi,

Just want to say hi - and hoping to get in education and training forums to learn

[scottmo223]

I started out with an offer from one of my friends who owned his own hvac business to help out with an install he was doing at my boss's house. So after I got off work I would help him in the attic wiring and running the drain line. Simple stuff and fun stuff, so after a few days I quit the job I had and started on my hvac career!

[wtinknocker]

hi everyone
i was tinknocker service tech but havent been on in a while to find out my privaleges were removed so had to sign back up under a new name
been doing this longer then my mind mind alows me to remember
would like my privaleges back tho

[Dad]

hi everyone
i was tinknocker service tech but havent been on in a while to find out my privaleges were removed so had to sign back up under a new name
been doing this longer then my mind mind alows me to remember
would like my privaleges back tho

Tin... I'll find what's up with your old account and get it back to you. I'll need to delete this new account.

Will be in touch in a few. Look for an email from Admin.