Tips, Tricks, Advice.

uaplumber

This would be a good thread to post your experience driven tips for those members who are just starting or are still learning after 40 years.

I will start, always follow the power when troubleshooting. It helps keep to the KISS principal.

hvaclover

here's one I like: Instead of just putting your Schrader caps to the side screw them on to your hose holder on the back of your manifold.

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Not Stupid, Just slow

beenthere

When installing or converting an evap coil to a TXV. If you have to make a hole for the external equalizer on the vapor manifold, or vapor line.

Use a sheet metal screw, no drillings to fall into the copper.

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How many times must one fix something before it is fixed?

hvaclover

C'mon! There has got to be some shavings, no?

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Not Stupid, Just slow

beenthere

Not if you use These self piercing.

Not self tapping.

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How many times must one fix something before it is fixed?

Yuri

Use alligator clips or jumper cables on the ends of your multitester probes when doing continuity tests on low voltage wiring. Your body conducts electricity and holding the wire and probes at the same time can give you false readings and is annoying. Especially when the wiring is above your head.

hvaclover

When trying to find a short that blew a transformer, connect a 3 or 5 amp mini breaker in series with R of the transformer (secondary side of course).

Pops the breaker instead of board fuse or transformer

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Not Stupid, Just slow

Yuri

A 3 or 5 amp GM blade fuse works real well. Use 1/4" stakons on your wire and slides onto the blade fuse real nice. Leave it there for the next guy if necessary. Saved my butt a few times.

Yuri

The grease from McD's big Maks makes excellent hand cleaner. Used to clean the oil and soot off my hands real quick when I did oil burners and then ate there. Imagine what it does to your guts.

beenthere

If your trying to put a 1/4 or 5/16" hex screw back in and it keeps falling oout. And you don't have magnetic nut drives. A small piece of paper from your tablet will help edge the screw in your nut driver.

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How many times must one fix something before it is fixed?

hvaclover

just reminded of something else. Small piece of cork tape on your dead magnetic bit works great too.

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Not Stupid, Just slow

RoBoTeq

Outdoor unit pads should always be flat side facing up.

More seriously, to do a great leveling of a a pad, level it up with any kind of rocks just to get it where it is level, then shoot expanding foam under the pad, around the rocks.

The foam will fill in voids that over time sag the pad and it locks everything under the pad and the pad together for a sturdy finish.

At the end of the day, take a long insulation knife and trim away the exces foam that oozed out and hardenened.

RoBoTeq

When trouble shooting controls issues, remove all of the thermostat wires from the indoor air handling unit and control each function you are testing independently with jumpers or a HandiStat type of control tool.

This will keep from having feed back situations taking you in the wrong direction and let you know whether the problem is from the unit not doing what it is being told to do or if the stat and wires telling the system what to do are at fault.

RoBoTeq

When things just don't look right, consider first that your test tools may be faulty and secondly that you may be doing something wrong. Then, and only then, consider that the equipment or the controls are at fault.

RoBoTeq

Before ever calling for techical help or for a part, document the model and serial numbers of all of the indoor and outdoor system parts. The few minutes it takes to gather all of the proper system information can save you and someone else a lot of time and aggravation, not to mention guess work.

evapman

use ball valves on ends of refrigerant gauge hoses(high side mostly) saves some burnt finger tips.

Yuri

Wear leather gloves when disconnecting hoses. Had a schraeder valve not seat once and liquid freon sprayed on my hand. NOT fun!!

mechanicalDvr

A fuse instead of a breaker for troubleshooting seems to defeat the whole purpose of the last post.

Yuri

Mini breakers are rare, a blown fuse is better than a blown transformer. Unfortunately some York units and others had no fuse on their circuit boards and the first short blows the transformer. Leaving a fuse inline prevents headaches and callouts at night and a hostile customer.

mechanicalDvr

Most York made RTUs have mini breakers in them that can be pulled out and saved when you are replacing a unit. Other than that Johnstone has them on special all the time for @$10, the point of the breaker is not to blow a fuse when your troubleshooting. I agree that if there isn't a fuse on the control voltage adding one is a step in the right direction.