Hvac maintenance must haves

[kmj0426]

Hey all, I recently got hired at a hvac company as a service tech and it looks like I will be doing some maintenance work before I get into troubleshooting in the future.

I heard that I would be washing down coils alot, changing filters, and etc for maintenance.

I wanted to ask if anyone uses a retractable hose? I want to use something that is compact for me to carry with hand and also possibly attach it to a cart and use it that way.

Whats a good brand/make for water hoses for maintenance? And if you have any recommendations for maintenance guy to make work easier and efficient I am open for suggestions.

Thank you!

[GenesisRefrig]

I use a 100’ hose that fits in a 1-½ gallon bucket. It’s one of those expanding hoses that shrivels up when there is no pressure. Think it came from Walmart. I usually need to buy a new one every year as they will eventually fail, but it’s well worth it. I do mostly commercial and rooftop work, so mine gets a lot of abuse. I’d never go without one of them.

[PKP543]

I got hired for service/maintenance recently as well too.

A coil gun sprayer which fits into the end of a hose works well for coils and blower wheel cleanings.
A gallo gun for CO2 is essential too.

[MJR1]

I use a 100’ hose that fits in a 1-½ gallon bucket. It’s one of those expanding hoses that shrivels up when there is no pressure. Think it came from Walmart. I usually need to buy a new one every year as they will eventually fail, but it’s well worth it. I do mostly commercial and rooftop work, so mine gets a lot of abuse. I’d never go without one of them.

How do you think that hose would hold up to flushing out old water heaters and purging air from hydronic boilers? Getting tired of lugging around the traditional 50' hose...

[comfortdoc]

How do you think that hose would hold up to flushing out old water heaters and purging air from hydronic boilers? Getting tired of lugging around the traditional 50' hose...

The collapsible hoses don’t do well for regular hot water applications. Might be something available rated for hot water applications. I have never really looked.

I use a ~ 10’ scrap hose for purging. Both ends have female fittings like a washing machine hose.

For regular water heater use it makes sense to own a 25 or 50’ hot water hose. For occasion water heater work, normal garden hoses do ok.

[Hurst11]

I use zero g hoses. They’re not heavy and very tough. Can get them in 50,75,100ft lengths. I carry 2 50ft hoses. One of my hoses is coming 4 yrs old this spring. You can find em at Lowe’s or Home Depot or any place like that. I won’t use anything else. Used to use the expandable hoses but I just couldn’t get enough life out of them and constantly frustrated when one would burst. You need a 12v impact for taking panels off and all that good stuff. Reason I say 12v is they’re small and light and do 90% of things I do. If I need stronger I do have a bigger one but very rarely gets used. You can get all the suggestions under the sun but you’ll still have to get your things that work best for you and that will come with time. Buy good high quality hand tools like needle nose,dikes and such. A good spray nozzle for the hose is a must as well. Boots do not skimp on boots and don’t balk at the price of good high quality boots because they are one of the most important tools that you will use 100% of the time. Even if your just doing maintenance you need a meter,I like my fluke 902c but there is lots of other brands and models. Find one that will do all the things you want it to do any maybe a few extras. Fieldpiece has lots of good meters. Amprobe and uei are good as well. Klein has a few meters as well but I believe they’re made by uei with a few different things or features. Good luck on your journey.

[RLJN]

My handiest tool for coil cleaning is a washing wand. Picked it up in a wholesale house.
It is about 30" long, aluminum tube with female hose end and the other end is flattened with pin holes on one side for good pressure streams. I put a brass wye with ball control valves on it, the extra male is capped, you could put a hose on that one for a pistol grip spray if needed.
The double wye gives you a handle for control.
Saves your back, keeps you drier than a pistol spray. Good reach for tight horizontal spots and tall AC coils.
Also fit between some split coils if you move them apart somewhat.
Can't tell you brand name or number, it was a little spendy and came with a plastic ball valve which died early and the brass wye was much better.

[kmj0426]

@ PKP543 What kind of coil gun sprayer are you using? I bought a 'speedclean conderser needle' on trutech tools and I will get it soon. I hope it works well but I am curious what brand spray gun you are using.

[kmj0426]

I use zero g hoses. They’re not heavy and very tough. Can get them in 50,75,100ft lengths. I carry 2 50ft hoses. One of my hoses is coming 4 yrs old this spring. You can find em at Lowe’s or Home Depot or any place like that. I won’t use anything else. Used to use the expandable hoses but I just couldn’t get enough life out of them and constantly frustrated when one would burst. You need a 12v impact for taking panels off and all that good stuff. Reason I say 12v is they’re small and light and do 90% of things I do. If I need stronger I do have a bigger one but very rarely gets used. You can get all the suggestions under the sun but you’ll still have to get your things that work best for you and that will come with time. Buy good high quality hand tools like needle nose,dikes and such. A good spray nozzle for the hose is a must as well. Boots do not skimp on boots and don’t balk at the price of good high quality boots because they are one of the most important tools that you will use 100% of the time. Even if your just doing maintenance you need a meter,I like my fluke 902c but there is lots of other brands and models. Find one that will do all the things you want it to do any maybe a few extras. Fieldpiece has lots of good meters. Amprobe and uei are good as well. Klein has a few meters as well but I believe they’re made by uei with a few different things or features. Good luck on your journey.

I actually started out as an electrician into the world of trade, and I began with Klein screw driver sets and Milwaukee power tools so every chance I get, I am building on my milwaukee collection. 12v is indeed very nice and I recently ordered a fluke 902fc (or was it cf) just carhartt for my workclothes, used to wear timberland pro boots but they were too heavy for maintenance/service job and recently bought keen shoes and they feel great to me.

Still have so many stuff I am eyeing right now, eventually I would have a perfect set up of my own!

Thanks for sharing

[kmj0426]

My handiest tool for coil cleaning is a washing wand. Picked it up in a wholesale house.
It is about 30" long, aluminum tube with female hose end and the other end is flattened with pin holes on one side for good pressure streams. I put a brass wye with ball control valves on it, the extra male is capped, you could put a hose on that one for a pistol grip spray if needed.
The double wye gives you a handle for control.
Saves your back, keeps you drier than a pistol spray. Good reach for tight horizontal spots and tall AC coils.
Also fit between some split coils if you move them apart somewhat.
Can't tell you brand name or number, it was a little spendy and came with a plastic ball valve which died early and the brass wye was much better.

I wish I could know the brand name haha! I ordered a speedclean condenser needle which is like the wand I guess, with some reach. I look forward to testing it out. The wye config sounds nice, maybe I can apply that too with the stuff I ordered. Thanks!

[kmj0426]

I use a 100’ hose that fits in a 1-½ gallon bucket. It’s one of those expanding hoses that shrivels up when there is no pressure. Think it came from Walmart. I usually need to buy a new one every year as they will eventually fail, but it’s well worth it. I do mostly commercial and rooftop work, so mine gets a lot of abuse. I’d never go without one of them.

I got a collapsable hose for todays maintenance job. Needed to get something right away because company's provided hoses were crap. Old, super stiff, leaking, heavy, I just couldn't work with it.

Expanding hose was super light, easy to work with and easy putting away too. But I feel like dragging it everytime on the roof will wear this out fast... But for today, it got the job done quick and efficiently, it was good using experience for me. Thank you

[kmj0426]

The collapsible hoses don’t do well for regular hot water applications. Might be something available rated for hot water applications. I have never really looked.

I use a ~ 10’ scrap hose for purging. Both ends have female fittings like a washing machine hose.

For regular water heater use it makes sense to own a 25 or 50’ hot water hose. For occasion water heater work, normal garden hoses do ok.

Hopefully I get to do this kind of job one day, but I think it will be mostly air conditioning maintenance for me for a while. there are right type of tools for every different jobs. I will remember there are right hoses for hot water applications. Thanks guys

[PKP543]

@ PKP543 What kind of coil gun sprayer are you using? I bought a 'speedclean conderser needle' on trutech tools and I will get it soon. I hope it works well but I am curious what brand spray gun you are using.

It's Nu-Calgon. You can use it on the condenser coil, or even blower wheels (once taken outside of course). There is a setting on the the sprayer to meter out how much cleaner you want to use.

The Fluke 902FC you have is a great meter, and it will 90 95% of everything you need it to do. You won't regret buying a magnetic strap off of Amazon though.

[R600a]

I figured I'd post this here because I start way too many threads.
This is the best coil cleaning wand I have ever seen. It is amazing. The multiple little Jets clean a couple inch wide swath which is so much better than one single jet and if you have extremely high water pressure there is virtually no chance of bending the fins from the water while even if you don't have terribly good water pressure it will still do a good job of cleaning the coil.
I just bought a replacement because mine disappeared in the fall and I was able to get a new one from Locke Supply. I'm sure there are plenty of other places that sell them. For some reason I have never seen anybody stock them but I just got my Locke supply to start stocking them when I told them how great they were.

Sent from the Okie state usin Tapatalk

[R600a]

It's solid aluminum nice and thin you can stick it down in a residential condenser between the compressor and the coil even when there is not much gap and it just cleans like crazy. The only problem I've ever had with it is if I don't flush my garden hose I end up getting bugs in the holes and I have to blow it out with nitrogen.

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[ehsx]

Don’t forget the fin combs.

[RLJN]

That MA line wand is what I have also.
The water valve was pretty cheesy and I replaced it with a brass Wye ball valve.
The Wye portion makes for a better handle. Keep a cap on the unused port for obvious reasons.
Only seen one place to buy it.....IIRC maybe $40.

[R600a]

That MA line wand is what I have also.
The water valve was pretty cheesy and I replaced it with a brass Wye ball valve.
The Wye portion makes for a better handle. Keep a cap on the unused port for obvious reasons.
Only seen one place to buy it.....IIRC maybe $40.

I have bought them at Locke Supply and an independent carrier distributor.

Sent from the Okie state usin Tapatalk

[corny]

First off. Work should be providing or paying you for those tools.. You might be selecting them but work should be paying for them.

I would think safety first. Face shield or safety glasses, rubber gloves, and I might even suggest some cheap rubber boots.

Years ago the company I worked for hired a new tech and put him to cleaning coils... we provided people with everything..including the cheap rubber boots. That boy was wearing tenni shoes... had a leaking sprayer... and the guy who should have been surprising him shirked his duty.

Anyhow.. that boy ended up in the eroom for coil cleaner...burns... on his feet hands and arms..

Just starting out... make safety equipment your priority.

[Hurst11]

It's solid aluminum nice and thin you can stick it down in a residential condenser between the compressor and the coil even when there is not much gap and it just cleans like crazy. The only problem I've ever had with it is if I don't flush my garden hose I end up getting bugs in the holes and I have to blow it out with nitrogen.

Sent from the Okie state usin Tapatalk

I was just looking at one of those while at Locke on Friday and wondering to myself how well it worked. Well now I know. Thanks