r/HVAC

▲ 23 r/HVAC

A shitty moment

About 14 years ago I got sent out to do a regular system maintenance. I was told this was a new customer and to leave a really good impression because she's a lawyer that works in the court house.

One of the judges there is our customer. We service his house and he gave her our number.

So, I arrive , at this nice looking mini Mansion with a marble floor entrance. She answers the door with cleaning gloves on, and cleaning spray in her hand. Very polite, points to the basement entrance so I can go to the unit. Then immediately gets on her hands and knees (full business attire)to scrub what already looks like a clean floor.

Tells me "sorry I have to clean this floor and get out of here soon". I mentioned briefly "what happened to the floor?". She said "nothing , I just like cleaning, I can't stand even the smallest speck of dirt".

This triggers red flags to make sure I'm as clean as possible around the unit.

No biggie.. anyway...something I ate. I don't know. My stomach started rumbling. I held it in but eventually had to take a dump so bad I couldn't hold it too much longer. I noticed a bathroom immediately next to the room I was working in. But I figured since she's a clean freak, maybe I asked her to use her bathroom.

I walked upstairs and asked her if I could use her bathroom. She was still scrubbing the floor. She smiled and said "sure go right ahead". She was literally next to the bathroom on the first floor but on her knees...

I didn't want to walk next to her so I just went back downstairs to use the bathroom next to the unit.

As soon as I got in, i flicked the light switch and it didn't turn on. I can clearly see the toilet from the light shining in from the room, but no toilet paper. I peaked into the cabinet and there was nothing. So I went outside to my truck to grab a box of tissue and use that. By the time I got back downstairs to the bathroom I was about to explode. I turned on my flashlight , shut the door and immediately exploded on the toilet.

After about 5 min I wiped a few times , stood up shut the lid, went to flush....But the toilet didn't flush. Just a loose handle. I'm like wtf...so I lift the top lid off, shine my light down it and I realize it has no water in the reservoir. It's dry as a desert... I lift up the seat , and no water in the toilet! Stunned, I flash the light in the back to see if the valve is closed and that's when I see.... The f'n toilet isn't even connected. I flash my light around and realize it's an unfinished bathroom.

I'm in complete panic at this point. I know she's gonna find it, I know she's gonna know it was me and her being the clean freak she is...she's gonna probably cancel all her appointments and call in a quarantine company and of course Its gonna get back to my boss and jeopardize the account.

So I have to think fast. My shop vac. I pull that in and suck it all out. Mostly. But theres still fresh stains and smears all over the inside of the toilet.

So I run to the laundry room, fill up my bucket with water and dump it in with some green cleaner and suck, dump.and suck. Until it's pretty much unnoticeable.

As soon as I get done and leave the bathroom...she's literally standing behind me. "Did you just use that bathroom?".

I said "no no! I was gonna dump water out but realized it was empty and not connected" she says "omg thank God ....I wouldn't lost my mind

...you can dump it in the slop sink and eww what is that smell?"

I'm like....the drains! I cleaned your drains...the water in there smells terrible but you're good now!

Very close call. I ended up just tossing the whole shop vac in a dumpster. $150 out the window. I had to explain to the boss( another lie) that I dropped the vacuum climbing the ladder and it smashed so I had to throw it out. He then asks me "why did you need the vacuum for an RTU?"

I said For the drains, he starred me down and said "you've been using a vacuum for that this entire time? Why? All you have to do is tap out the p trap." More lies I eventually just said I enjoy going over the drain pan with a vacuum. He said not to do that anymore, he doesn't need anymore vacuums being dropped off buildings.

The next morning he calls me into his office and says "did you pour anything down that ladies toilet?". More lies...."no... Why?". He said she was just curious she didn't know why it was damp inside it when she went to clean it And saw you poking around in that bathroom...try not to use customers bathrooms anymore.

I hope you enjoyed this. Next time a light doesn't turn on in the bathroom....make sure the toilet is connected.

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u/JuicySpark — 4 hours ago
▲ 11 r/HVAC

What brand has the best parts availability for residential right now?

Basically the title. I'm a chiller guy, I don't want to recommend a brand that you can't get parts for when people ask me what to buy.

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u/AdventurousRip3916 — 12 hours ago
▲ 11 r/HVAC

Should I take a commercial duct job

Currently a resi service tech (almost a year). Mostly do maintenance, but I get sent on diag calls often too. I struggle reading pressures (I normally call for help), and I can't braze. I've been applying to install helper jobs because I feel like that would give me a good opportunity to practice brazing, get a lot of practice dialing in refrigerant, and help me fill my skill gaps. I plan to stay in residential just because I feel like it's something I want to know for myself, and that it's lower pressure while I'm still learning, but I do want to eventually move into commercial.

I just got offered a commercial duct job from one of those staffing companies. I feel like it's kind of a step into commercial, but I also read a lot of Reddit posts where people hate it. Should I take this job to get my foot into the commercial world, or should I stick to my current plan: work on my skill gaps, and then push into commercial when I have all the basics down?

Right now I'm leaning towards declining the opportunity, but I'm curious for other perspectives.

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u/OverallStranger5646 — 13 hours ago
▲ 186 r/HVAC

Always great to be on call for a holiday and find this crap ....

3 out of 4 of the Trane CGAMs look like this.... Head pressure is 550+... "We have gotten several quotes to clean them but just keep waiting"... This is a county Admin building on top of that.

u/ManiaCCC86 — 19 hours ago
▲ 13 r/HVAC

Transitioning out of the trade?

Red seal mechanic up in Canada. Wondering if anyone has moved on from the trade and what exactly you moved on to do.

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u/ImABadSpellerOkay — 18 hours ago
▲ 77 r/HVAC

Anyone have any ideas what’s going on?

Ran the vacuum for over an hour came back to this after doing some finish up work inside. Re purged and second test did same thing. Anyone run into this? Can the heat mess with these that much? Fresh copper, humid day though.

u/Mikefebreeze — 1 day ago
▲ 32 r/HVAC

What in the actual fuck is happening

A lot of you have been doing this a lot longer, but I've never seen this before.

I double checked my clamps and hoses thinking I was losing my mind.

Compressor's pulling 6.4A on all 3 legs, OA is like 76.

u/ACEmat — 2 days ago
▲ 7 r/HVAC

Reversing Valve concern

Got a problem in the field, asking for some advice.

Doing some selfless service on the 4th (lol) by helping with a cooling issue. They installed a smart thermostat (Honeywell) and it is blowing hot air.

I go through the normal procedures by checking air filters, making sure nothing is crushed, refrigerant levels, so on and so forth.

I'm kind of baffled as i started troubleshooting outside because the superheat was extremely high. Like 115 degrees high. I was thinking and started switching the cooling and heating modes and boom. Reversing Valve energizing on heat but cools the house, cooling leaves the reversing Valve open and heats the house.

Is that an issue with the smart thermostats or what? I gave them the heads up but I'm not too savvy with smart thermostats so this is a good learning lesson for me.

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u/CallMeBigSarnt — 1 day ago
▲ 147 r/HVAC

Show me that last minute hack before you disappear for the holiday👌

Customer states: Another company was out yesterday and said all it needed was the breaker reset and something about how it has 2 outdoor fans, but really only needs one.😂😎
They won’t answer my call today🤣

u/HuntPsychological673 — 2 days ago
▲ 26 r/HVAC

No rain vs Rain pressures

Was checking pressures, and a thunderstorm came over me, so I went inside and kept my pressures up on my field piece app and watched them. As as it stormed it dropped from like 97ish to like 89-90ish outside in like 15 min. It’s crazy how much the liquid side changed in that short amount of time because of temp drop and water hitting the coil. This system is a little overcharged before I got to it though.

u/RealExiite — 3 days ago
▲ 95 r/HVAC

Yummy cotton candy

😋😋😋😋😋😋 a little dessert after lunch

u/Brandbro — 3 days ago
▲ 61 r/HVAC

Wtf Wiring!

Got shocked brushing my hand up against a rollout switch yesterday. It was super weird so I got my meter and was reading 115v!! It took me a minute to figure out why and I finally found this. Whoever tf did this needs a beat down. This ridiculous bs is going to kill somebody or burn a house down.

For context, the black and yellow wires are for the fan and the blue and brown are the low voltage wires. You see the issue? I was extremely upset when I found this.

u/Crafty-Gazelle4646 — 3 days ago
▲ 9 r/HVAC

Current Apprentice Questions

I’m currently 15 months into my apprenticeship and I’ve been running service calls on my own since the beginning of this last winter. I still fuck things up but do my best to not make the same mistake twice. Is this normal?

Edit: Thanks guys for the replies. Glad to know I’m not the only one.

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u/Fickle-Surround6978 — 3 days ago
▲ 76 r/HVAC

To the engineers of First Company through the wall condensers.

Your mom's a hoe and I hope your fireworks get wet.

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u/windblowshigh — 3 days ago
▲ 151 r/HVAC

It finally happened

No cooling call. It is almost 100 in Maine today. The customer just purchased the business and wanted to get AC running. There were no outdoor units. The added bonus was that three phases power was just live lying on the roof

u/Nappy_D — 4 days ago