Ah, it's time to chill out and get ready for a mediocre Q A live stream. If you're old enough, grab yourself your favorite adult beverage and if you're not, stick with apple juice. put your feet up and relax. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the chat.

and now let's cue up the intro music. Foreign. thank you thank you thank you I know I know I'm due for some new intro music. You know a lot of people ask why it seems like it's the start of Miami Vice or something like that I don't know what it is about the 80s Miami Vice the the the synth that pop like I don't know New Wave Music I I dig it I listen to everything though.

but like there's something about that that for some reason gets me pumped up. but I've been getting really bored with that intro because it's been quite a while. The problem is that I've been scouring my um, my copyright free music library I use Epidemic Sound and I've been scouring Epidemic Sound for a new intro and I just can't find one I think I found one for the overtime thing because we did a temporary Um intro for the overtime show and uh, but I don't know if that's gonna stay permanent, but that was a pretty decent little song or something. But yeah, anyways, it is what it is.

Hello welcome to the Hvacr videos live stream I See some really awesome people in the chat right now. Lots of great friends in here. You know that's one of the really cool things about producing this content and being on the Internet is we have a great group of people that come together help each other. It's a great Community it really is.

You know. The interesting thing is I have some friends that are very active on Instagram and some of them really don't like Facebook and vice versa or YouTube but like I mean to be honest with you I have a pretty good Community all throughout the different social media platforms. There's a lot of great people so it's awesome. Thank you guys for being here as usual.

I got a bunch of stuff I want to talk about and then we'll get to you guys questions. So if you guys have questions, make sure you throw them in caps lock all capital letters. It helps me to see them. If I don't answer your question, you know there's already 74 people in here right now and there'll be more here in a few minutes.

It gets kind of hard to see all the questions, just feel free to keep repeating them and or send me an email to Hvacrvideos Gmail.com if I miss your question and I'll try to get it on the next one. So and you know that exactly happened I have some questions from the last live stream that I'm going to be answering on this one. So again. so uh, My Buddy Rich is in the chat a few minutes ago I saw him pop up rich Gt350r and uh, he asked how the weather in California is You want to know that the media has over hyped the whole weather situation in Southern California bigger than it really was now I Don't want to downplay the snow in some of the mountain communities that we do have in California in general because yes, they did get dumped on as far as snow up in Northern California I think they have is it 68 feet I think up at Mammoth Mountain they got 68 feet of snow I think and then up in Tahoe I think they might have like 70 feet.

Uh, that's nuts right? But down here in Southern California that's just in the mountain regions. Okay California has a bunch of different micro climates. A good majority of the state is on the coast. Um, we have desert climates and different things like that.

so you know we only got snow in the higher elevation Mountain communities. It's really not affecting us down here now. we we're getting a lot of rain I Want to say that I read something that said we had over 48 days of rain since October or since November or something which is insane for California that is nuts Southern California specifically. but as far as my weather, we took a turn and turned up the temperature this last weekend and uh, let's see Sunday I believe I Went up to one of our Mountain communities and when we came down it was in the 50s up there and when we came down it was 92 degrees.

That's the warmest it's been all year so far. Today was in the 80s somewhere but we're starting into spring starting Into Summer for sure. and also to recap uh down in my Mountain communities my local mountain communities. they got about six to eight feet of snow in the mountains which is pretty big for them too.

but yeah, down in the lower elevations it was just a bunch of rain. So but again, lots of great people in here. It's awesome to see everybody. Hello to everybody reading through here.

Uh, we are um, broadcasting live streaming on LinkedIn several different Facebook pages and chat uh, groups and different things. We are live streaming on YouTube If you guys are watching from another platform, that is great. No problem. But YouTube is the main platform and if you don't already know you're going to see me interacting with the chat a ton and typically I don't think on the other social media platforms that you see the YouTube comments I For some reason I don't think that's I don't think you do.

So if you do want to be part of the chat and the the the the conversation that's going on, it's probably best to jump onto YouTube but you know whatever is easier for you go for it. Okay, uh, but again, lots of great people in here and I'm very thankful for all of you. It's really awesome to see you in here. Okay so uh, let me read through here and uh, let's see Jason says he's in Texas uh Austin area I believe and he said they were in the mid 90s last week so that's really cool.

Yeah, it's really really cool. Uh, let's see Jesse uh Caroth from LinkedIn is just saying: have I ever just let r 20 I'm assuming you do You mean r290 or do you mean R22 leak into the atmosphere? Um, so before it was, uh, you know, illegal to vent refrigerants into the atmosphere? Yes, definitely. I was uh, taught at a very young age because it was perfectly legal that you could just vent the refrigerants under the atmosphere. So yeah, pre you know EPA Montreal protocol that fancy stuff.

Um yeah, you know there was times when you vented refrigerant because that's just what you did. Uh, of course. now no, we don't do that anymore because you know we've been, um, educated and we've learned how bad it is for the environment, what it does to the atmosphere, and all that different stuff. So of course, no, we do not vent refrigerants into the atmosphere anymore.

Now there's certain ones you still are allowed to obviously. CO2 and r290 being that it's a hydrocarbon refrigerant, those are the two well actually I don't work with CO2 besides using it as a gas to you know, clear drains and blow condensers which I don't even like doing that. But anyways, r290 I do work with and that you do vent into the atmosphere which is kind of odd. It's a very weird Eerie feeling for sure, so let's see what else we've got going on in the chat.

um huh Jason says he uses water and uh Refrigeration Technologies coil cleaner. So I'm assuming someone was asking about cleaning condensers. So all right, Um, before 1994 it was okay to vent and I was certainly very young but doing air conditioning and Refrigeration with my father previous to 1994 for sure. So um, reading through here, have I considered taking on Supermarket big office building customers ion storm is asking the question uh, that is coming from YouTube no I I can't I'm limited by by my employees essentially okay and I really don't want to take on any more employees so we do what we're good at and we stick to the restaurant, refrigeration and air conditioning.

Now it's very interesting. Uh, this community that I'm very thankful for has afforded me the opportunity to meet some really awesome people and become friends with them. I Was very fortunate that last Thursday I was able to meet up with Trevor Matthews go have dinner with him, hang out and talk Trevor Matthews is from Refrigeration Mentor Really cool dude, awesome guy, lots of great knowledge there and then over the weekend I was able to meet up with Ty Branaman and his wife and their little dog and we myself, my wife and we brought one of our dogs and we went and hung out and had dinner and had some drinks or had lunch and some drinks and we were having some great conversations and it was really cool to be able to sit down and interact with. you know Ty and Trevor both you know it's really awesome.

Previous to social media, I wouldn't be able to do that kind of stuff because where would I meet them other than you know, at maybe a trade show or something like that. So social media even though I get frustrated with social media at times, it's really cool because it allows me the opportunity. and then I have friends that I communicate with online. my best friends uh Bill Russell Adam Muffet and Joe whatever his last name is, we really don't know what Joe's last name is.

Uh, all four of us are very good friends and we all met online so it's really, really cool. all right. Um, reading through here and let me see what else we got going on in here. What am I missing? Um, how to get rid of refrigerants Jason G asks.

So what you actually do is you take them into a supplier someone that we buy the refrigerants from and when you take them in there, they send them off to a Reclamation company who's going to recover the refrigerant out of those and what they typically. my understanding. Maybe someone in the chat can correct me, but my understanding of it is is that they'll separate the different refrigerants and try to make use of the different refrigerants if they can. And if not, the refrigerants are destroyed now.

I Believe that when they're destroyed, that there actually might be some venting into the atmosphere. but I believe they do it in a controlled environment I think I think that there's I try I think they try to pull as much of the toxic stuff out of the refrigerants before they vented into the atmosphere. Um, so it's not just like they're just dumping it in one Consolidated place. But anyways, I'm not a genius with that.

That's just my general understanding. So yes, when we do recover refrigerant, we typically take it to the supply house, they send it to a Reclamation company and then they dispose of it appropriately right in air quotes. So let's get through here: Have I ever had a compressor fitting leak after a while due to vibration? Steve Yes, a hundred percent. Steve Rooker Asked that question.

Rotoloc fittings are notorious for doing this. Oftentimes what actually happens when it comes to rotoloc fittings and aeroquip fittings. Any kind of a mechanical fitting is a good majority of the time. What I find And this is me and I'm not saying that this is for everybody.

Okay, but what happens with me is is I find that when I over tighten fittings, they tend to back themselves off and they tend to vibrate loose and leak if you actually tighten a fitting. For me, if I actually tighten a fitting properly and torque it properly, then I tend to find that it doesn't leak ever again. There's a couple different things you can do to try to make sure that you tighten your fittings right. Make sure the biggest thing is make sure that you lubricate the area of which the the flare nut, the rotoloc nut, or whatever it is.

It has some sort of a mechanisms mechanism inside of it that when you twist it tight, sometimes it can grab the metal that it's sitting over and it can twist that. Okay, so say, for instance, you have a brass flare nut. Okay, if you slide a brass flare nut onto a um, a piece of copper that has an end that is flared using a flaring tool, the point at which the brass contacts the copper. Oftentimes when you tighten, that will actually start to twist the copper.

So what you actually need to do is make sure that that little spot where the copper and the brass are going to touch on a flare net is actually lubricated. Now me personally I know a lot of people don't like to do this. me personally. I Also like to lubricate the threads.

put a dab of Nylog on the threads. It helps to lubricate them and it's really important to understand something though if you're lubricating a flare nut, hold on. foreign. So I have some Nylog right here.

This is actually really cool one. Uh, this is Japanese Nylog. it says asada on it for some reason. don't know why and this one is oh, what is this one? Oh shoot, this one is Brazil I believe this is from Brazil maybe someone in the chat can tell me I'm almost positive this is from Brazil but anyways, um, collect them all, right? I'm fortunate enough that I have some friends in high places and I can get Nylog from other countries.

but Nylog is just. uh, a thicker viscosity of polyoester oil. At least the blue one is okay. You have different colors though.

You have a red one that's meant for mineral oil. you have a blue one that's meant for polyester oil, but the blue one is universal amongst everything. so it's just a thicker viscosity and of oil. That's all it is.

so you only want to use oil on the threads. Okay, but I put a little bit on there I Personally don't use a torque wrench, but I'm not Advocate I probably should be using a torque wrench I really should. but I don't Um, I just use the torque wrench of my elbow and it clicks when I I mean it legit clicks because I'm old and everything clicks. My neck hurts, my bones click.

everything. Isn't that the worst thing as you get older? I Don't know if you guys are running into this, but if I ever try to like ride my wife's exercise bike or anything, my knee just goes pop pop pop pop. It's like oh, that's annoying. Just yeah.

Drives me nuts. All right, let's see what else we got going on in the chat. What advice do I have for women entering the Hvacr field? Well I have some good news for you. Okay, Uh, Rainey I Hope I'm not butchering your name I believe that might be your name, but this is a great time as a woman to enter the HVAC space because it's becoming more and more normal now.

Of course, there's still going to be some hurdles. Here's my fear: I Have two daughters and you know someone asked me recently I don't know it wasn't recently. there's probably two years ago. Actually, it was.

it was at a the Hvacr training Symposium I was doing a talk and I was saying that I'm embarrassed to say this, but I would be afraid to have my daughters enter the trade now. we've made some huge Leaps and Bounds since I said that. But one of the things that you still have to understand is this trade has been dominated by men for so very long and unfortunately myself included a good majority of men don't know how to talk properly to each other let alone around women and it's very inappropriate. Some of the things that I have said and we have said I've become more aware of all of that, especially since I started having daughters for sure, but it was just something that was acceptable for the longest time.

the way that we would talk and just be degrading to each other and talking about other people so you're still going to have to get you know, deal with some of that because there's some inappropriate stuff that's still said, especially when men are around other men and they're joking and stuff. it just is a little bit inappropriate. but I think in general, this is the best time for a woman to enter the HVAC field. or at least the best time that it's ever been.

Essentially right. But it's awesome and there's some great great women influencers that are in the trade. just to name a few. Off the top of my head there's HVAC chess.

Uh, she's active on Instagram Um, there's HVAC rah-rah There's uh oh shoot uh Chiller chick which is Brandy I don't remember her name but there's several different great women that are in the industry and they're advocating for more and more women to get in and guess what I was. It's funny these conversations that we have Ty myself Ty Branaman and myself were just discussing at on Saturday when we went out to lunch we were this. We came onto this topic about women in HVAC and you know I I said this I said in in Tai and I were both laughing about this. But you know one of the biggest arguments when you talk to other men that just don't get it that just don't think that a woman could operate in in work effectively in this trade right? Which they can.

Okay, they can do just fine. But one of the arguments that some men not all but some men will make is well. but a woman can never lift something as good as I Can a woman can never lift a compressor like I can a woman can never You know, lift that tool bag up under the roof. But the question that I pose to that person that said that is, should you actually be lifting that compressor as a man, should you be lifting that tool bag as a man Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something Right now my neck is killing me I don't know if you got if it comes across oftentimes, but I've got some massive pain going on in my neck and it's probably because I lifted something I shouldn't have lifted okay uh Scott HVAC rookie I saw your Super Chat come through earlier thank you very much and Hvs are wink HVAC again I Really appreciate that Super Chat.

It's very kind of you. Thank you very much. Okay again for those that don't understand because I know on the other social media platforms you're not seeing this on YouTube these guys are donating via Super Chats. It's just a way you don't have to do this.

I'm just telling you for the people that are watching on Facebook and on LinkedIn because maybe they don't understand what I'm communicating about right now. Okay, but anyways, the question that I posed to the people that think that a woman can't be in this trade simply because she can't lift something. Should you actually be lifting the things that you are talking about? Okay, just because you can doesn't mean you should and again I know I'm repeating myself, but that's so important to understand that. Okay, all right, let's see what else we got going on in the chat.

Um, let's see. Uh, Akimbo says that he has worked with multiple women and he feels like ours really hurt them. But again, should you be working that many hours? I mean really, you know you're maybe used to it. And do you think that if a woman has been in the trade for 20 plus years like I have that eventually she could do the things that I could do? Sure, once she abuses her body the same amount of that I have and gotten used to it.

But I mean just because you can work that many hours doesn't mean you should. Okay, and a woman that doesn't want to work as many hours as you doesn't necessarily mean that that's a weakness of hers. Maybe she just doesn't want to devote her life to this. I mean again.

I I don't I don't really see those as arguments that are logic or that are relevant when it talks to women. and I know that's just an observation that you made and there's nothing wrong with that. So all right, let's see what else. Um, uh, somewhat curious says that they have a young lady in Central Utilities whose sharp is attack and that's exactly right.

the Silverstone Victor or silence silent tone Victor Hey man, how are you doing Bud, uh, super tech says that he can't talk to women. therefore they shouldn't work with him and he's being sarcastic. But I mean there's so much of that you know it's weird. All right.

Um, reading through here, reading through here women in Trades more there are the less awkward it will be says Hamilton Mechanical and that is a great quote that is a hundred percent the truth. Okay, the more women in the trades, the more used to it we are all going to get. And guess what? This trade Hvacr in general Hvacr encompasses heating, air Conditioning ventilation Refrigeration right? Electrical Plumbing Um, Carpentry Masonry I Mean there's so many different facets. now we don't We're not experts in every one of those fields, right? but we know a little bit about all of them.

This is a very challenging trade and we have a problem right now. Because we have a good majority of people that aren't in the trades. We have a skills. Gap Okay, now let me ask a question again.

Not even just talking about women in the trades, just talking about people in the trades. Do you and I'm asking the chat right now as the chat. Do you all think that it is possible that part of the blame of the skills Gap that we have and the lack of people in the trade, right? We have too many people retiring, not enough people entering. Do you think that there's a possibility that part of that is because of the fact that people don't want to work themselves to death? I Mean think about it again.

I Know that it's normal. It's normal in my head to go to work and just pound through it and just knock. Don't eat food, Just damn. let's get it done.

You know that's not right. and we've been doing it for so long. And from the outside looking in, someone watching me, you know from a bird's eye view is going I don't want to do that right. So maybe they don't get into the trade.

So let's change it. Let's make it easier. Let's stop abusing ourselves. Let's stop expecting everybody to bend over backwards and make Hvacr the number one priority in their life above their family, their health, and their life right? I Struggle finding that balance of of you know thinking about myself and my family I mean in in my eyes right now I don't care I'm a business owner and the number one thing that is most important is my life in my life is my family and my health in my business.

and HVAC those are second to my family and my health. Okay, that's that's what I've had to learn and it's and I still struggle with that. But all right, what do I think about Vfd systems I mean you know I got a couple different Vfds, some smaller ones back here. Variable Frequency drive.

It's just something that changes the frequency. Um, and it it helps to slow down, speed up, and modulate motors. Electric motors especially, um, obviously electric motors. duh.

But yeah, they help to modulate it. and I think they're great. but using Vfds and advanced circuitry and Vrf systems, right? Variable refrigerant volume? uh, or Vrv or variable refrigerant flow? Vrf right? Using those types of systems, they they use a lot of sophisticated electronics and there's there's a weakness that I see a lot, especially in Southern California because we don't have the greatest power grid here. Okay, we have a lot of brownouts.

We have low voltage I Just commented in one of the Facebook groups the other day that I uh or no, it was in a live stream I will regularly see 196 volts, sometimes 195 volts on a 208 volt system. I'll see it that low in the summertime and and it just happens when Peak demand goes up, it gets really hot and it just goes way down. Okay, that's not good. So with all this new technology, Vrf, Vfds, Vrv, all these different systems, and uh, you know, inverter driven systems Mini Splits and all this different stuff that all these sophisticated computer boards in them, and different things, you've got to have.

Proper power conditioning. Okay, you have to have things that make sure the power is consistent and monitors and shuts down the critical equipment. When the voltage that's being delivered from the utility to wherever you're at, dips below certain thresholds or goes above certain thresholds. You have to have stuff that protects you.

It's not just as simple as putting a surge protector on there. You got to have sophisticated equipment. now. Unfortunately, that's not practical.

Nobody can afford that kind of stuff. But you know, here in the United States and the rest of the world, we tend to like implement great technological advances before we figure out the infrastructure to make those technological advances work. Okay, that's a very common thing that we do, and that's just a problem that we have. all right.

See what else we got going on in here? Uh, someone. I I scrolled way past it I saw a comment and said what's the big deal with women in the trade like as in general? why are we even making it a big deal and that's a very good point and again I forgive me I scrolled right past that so I didn't get to see who wrote that, but it's it's that's a really good point the moment that we stop making it the focus of everything, then maybe we'll just get used to it and move on and accept the fact that women and men can work together in the trades. Okay, it's a mindset that you have to get past. A lot of people have to get past their their quirks with it right? All right, let's see what else.

Um, again, there's so much scrolling by. look at Jennifer Manzo that's another person that's HVAC chicks Jennifer and she's also from Oh come on, come on, come on, what's the name of the new show? Come on, someone in the chat remind me I keep forgetting the name of the new show yet I still watch it. Oh my Gosh. I can't think of the name of the new show that's driving me nuts, but she does a new show with Ryan Hughes on YouTube um Misfits of HVAC There we go I Just remembered it now so that's another great one.

But yeah, Jennifer is a woman in the trade too, right? And she's a lot smarter than me, guys. guess what? She's like an engineer and has like all kinds of crazy smart degrees and she still manages to run a household and all this different stuff. Okay, so again, I think like someone said a few minutes ago, we need to get past the whole making it a big deal and just move on with everything. You know, that's a great point.

So um, all right, let's see. yeah Misfits of HVAC that's right. I keep forgetting the name for a second. So could a broken belt cause a motor bracket to crack? Mr Green I mean that's a really interesting question and I don't think so, but I mean it just depends I mean is it broken to the point that it's vibrating really bad and the motor bracket is? it doesn't have any play then I Guess maybe it could put some stress on some metal or something like that? It's hard to say though.

Okay, all right, let's get to a couple things. So all right all over the news. right now. everybody seems to be at least that.

HVAC News, right? And on social media it seems like a good majority of the people have shared one particular story about an exploding refrigerator in nauseum, right? It just keeps popping up and I do have to address it. Um, because if you do a Google search for exploding refrigerator, you're gonna get a bunch of of Articles talking about it in other countries and then a lot in the United States or even go on YouTube and just look up exploding refrigerator and there's going to be a bunch of videos and different things. Okay, why is this happening? Well, a couple different reasons. okay, um, could be manufacturing issues.

Uh, could be the fact that the technicians working on the particular refrigerators are not competent to work on them and they're not following proper practices. Um, it could have to do with the hydrocarbon refrigerants in the system. but I just want to make a point that uh, even a non-hydrocarbon refrigerant. uh under the right situations when the oil and the compressor gets hot enough, can have a flare out, can have a burnout where the the or a flame out coming out of the compressor depending on if it blows the terminal off at the right temperature.

Okay, so you can have combustion happen because of the temperature of the oil coming out of the compressor, the way it interacts with the oxygen and then obvious so you have to have a spark. It can happen even on non-hydrocarbon systems. Okay, but something to understand. I Posted a few days ago about it was like a short or something about hydrocarbon refrigerants asking people if they were afraid to work on hydrocarbon refrigerants.

Okay, and then I said it's not a big deal if you follow proper practices and and I truly mean that. Okay, but understand something in my eyes if I could come up with another solution, something that works better than a flammable refrigerant of course I would choose something better if we could get it economically and it would work of course. I would rather not have flammable refrigerants in the systems that I'm working on and Welding on and doing different things. Okay, but unfortunately, they're here.

they're not going anywhere anytime soon. And if you're gonna stand on a pedestal and say you refuse to work on systems that have flammable refrigerants I mean you might as well just put your tool bag away right now because everything is going to be flammable to some point, or to some, uh, whatever, to some degree. Right there you go. we're going to A2l refrigerants with our mildly flammable meaning that there's usually a flammable component in a small concentration mixed in with other refrigerants in that system.

and we also have the A3s uh, butane or isobutane and R290 which is propane. Okay, those are in refrigeration systems, small refrigerators, domestic refrigerators, r290s, and ice machines. Now it's in small air conditioners, butanes, and small air conditioners. so you just got to be smart about it.

In a perfect world, I wouldn't have flammable refrigerants in the systems that I'm working on. like I said, but it is what it is and I have no control over it. so I'm just learning how to work with them. Be smart.

Okay, there's a video going around about a lady who had someone out to her house to fix her refrigerator and it exploded. Okay, there's a key point in the article or the video about that refrigerator. The lady goes on to say that she had a particular brand of a domestic refrigerator and something just went boom and it exploded and it blew apart half of her house. and everything's you know, everywhere, right? But in the story, she said that she just had a manufacturer's representative come out because her refrigerator wasn't working.

The manufacturer's representative said that she needed some sort of part. I've heard a couple different things one time I heard a motor a couple times I heard something else. Okay, but regardless, this is the whole point. All domestic refrigerators right now are hydrocarbons.

okay. or at least the smaller ones that you can buy at the big box stores. Majority of us are going to have hydrocarbons in our domestic refrigerators at our houses. Okay, so the the appliance technician came out, said that something was bad and that particular technician supposedly ordered the part.

Okay, and specifically in the article about the exploding refrigerator, it says that the technician had not been able to come back yet. and then the lady said that her refrigerator exploded in the meantime. So I want to see if anybody in the chat can get where I'm going with this. Why is there a problem that her refrigerator exploded in the meantime between the time that the technician ordered the park you know, and before he came back to put it in, why is it a problem that the refrigerator exploded between them? I'm asking the chat.

what do you guys think the technician did incorrectly in that situation? So let's ask in the chat. let's wait for someone to collect to answer the question. I'm looking at it right now. So why is it a problem that the technician ordered a part and then in the meantime before he could install the part, the refrigerator exploded.

What could the technician have Potentially and we don't know for sure, but potentially done to prevent something like this happening? Okay, exactly Info Warrior Said: left it running Okay, the technician came out on a system that had hydrocarbons in it because it had a failed component. We don't know for sure what the component was at this time. Okay, when the technician left. Now let's be fair.

Maybe maybe the technician unplugged it, but between the time either the technician left it running or the homeowner plugged it in and something happened. So maybe just maybe if the technician took the piece of equipment out of service, unplugged it, locked it out, made it so the customer couldn't plug it back in, and then ordered the part and came back and put it in. Maybe this wouldn't have happened. Okay, again, we don't know what happened for sure.

when you're working on hydrocarbon systems, If you have a failed part, do not leave it running. Take it out of service. Tell the customer they gotta wait. Don't leave it running with the leaking joint.

Uh, don't leave it running with electrical motors that have failed. Don't do that. Okay, take it out of operation for safety reasons now. I'm not saying that would have solved all the problems, but right when I read that article, that was the first thing I thought was she was still using it because she said all my food blew out everywhere like it was it was everywhere.

She was still using the refrigerator when whatever part was ordered. You know that's that's just the problem. We have to be smart about it. Okay, so again, I'm not advocating saying flammable refrigerants are the best thing in the world.

but they're here and we have to learn to deal with them if we want to stay in business. So be smart about it. Follow proper practices. All right.

turn equipment off now. I Know I Get it. You know if if I go to a homeowner's house and I tell them that the brand new refrigerator that they just bought six months ago stopped working at that? they can't use it. They're going to be upset, right? because they don't have anywhere else to put their food on a domestic setting in a residential thing.

If you're not a refrigeration technician, you know you might only have one refrigerator in your house now. I'm fortunate enough that I have three. Okay, I have a deep freeze, we have a normal refrigerator and then I have a refrigerator that I fixed I took it home from work and I fixed it and I use it for like drinks and stuff. Okay, I'm fortunate in that, but if one of my refrigerators went down, I could figure something out right.

But not everybody's not. Every home is like that. They don't have redundancy built into their equipment. Okay, so they're going to be frustrated and that's going to be upsetting.

Well, that's something they need to take up with the manufacturer. Hey, guess what if that technician went out to that job site and he said, you know what? I'm here under warranty and it has this bad part. if he called the manufacturer and said hey, are you guys okay with me leaving this in operation while I order these parts guaranteed they would have said no. Okay, they they don't want to take the liability on that.

If if you're ever a technician and you're curious about leaving something running even better, email the manufacturer in writing. Get them to send you an email saying yeah, you can do this If a manufacturer on the phone tells you yeah, just leave it running. It'll be fine. Ask them send that to me in an email please.

They're not gonna do it because they realize too that that can be dangerous. Okay, um, let me see what else. Uh oh. Gaming with Nathan says that my next video is going to be my 800th video.

Thanks Bud he said congrats that's shoot I didn't even know where I'm at. Um I'll tell you a little secret: I'm actually probably above 800 because since I created my channel five plus years ago, November of 2017 Is that five years 18, 19, 20, 21. Yeah, we're five and change, right? Um, going on six years this November I've actually deleted I believe three videos off of my channel in that time? Uh, most of them were because, uh, there was massively bad incorrect information set in them or they caused controversy and I just took the videos down. Um, but uh, one of them I was very vocal about a particular manufacturer and I was just really bashing them and it didn't make me feel comfortable when I watched the video after I posted it.

So I just deleted it. Um, but uh, so thank you very much for that. I really do appreciate it. Okay, uh, let me read through here right now.

Um, reading through the chat, you had a guy turn his boiler back on after he locked out the boiler and it said it had 600 PPM of Co in his basement. Okay, uh, let's again. this is just one of those things I Understand, the general public doesn't understand this, but there's a difference between Co and CO2 and oftentimes I even hear HVAC technicians. Oftentimes saying I need to get a CO2 monitor when I'm working on heaters and gas pliernesses that would be Co Combustion or carbon monoxide.

Okay, the abbreviation for carbon monoxide is Co and carbon dioxide CO2 is the the gas the air that we breathe out. Okay, so both of them can be bad in large concentrations. but like Jason's saying, he's saying Co so that's carbon monoxide. Okay, that's and I saw that you said that they got mad and wanted to plug it back in.

Yeah, that's that's crazy man. Um, no. I was not talking crap about York It was an exhaust fan manufacturer so uh, when a cooler goes down, shut it down. so the parts can be ordered when you're working on hydrocarbons systems.

and also I advise you always order OEM Parts when you are working on hydrocarbon systems again I come from being cautious about people suing me, right? I Live in a very litigious state California Meaning that people are so happy here. Okay, so it's ingrained in my head to always be thinking about liability. unfortunately. I Think that should actually be more than liability I should be thinking about safety and what's right.

But in general I Think about liability a lot and one of the things is just think in your head right now if you have an exploding refrigerator. Okay, the one that I was talking about a minute ago in the lady's house, right? And let's say that you know you know you put a part on the compressor because it won't start, You use an aftermarket component to get it going temporarily. What happens if there's a problem, The manufacturer is going to basically avoid a lawsuit by saying that you used aftermarket parts when you are working on hydrocarbon systems that are dangerous and can cause damage and hurt people. Okay, if they're not operating correctly.

uh, you know if you put aftermarket parts on there, you're going to become liable. so don't use OEM parts That way the manufacturer holds the liability as long as you're in installing them properly and doing the proper procedures. Okay, so don't use aftermarket stay OEM when you're working on hydrocarbon systems. Okay, um, do not use three in one start devices on um, hydrocarbon compressors.

Just don't stick to the manufactured OEM Parts Again, just to prevent liability. Okay, be careful about that stuff when it cooler. I already answered that one I shared across these questions off because I'm writing through them so uh, Derek is really interested in giving back. Uh, I'm assuming that Derek has been in the trade for a very long time and he sent me an email just asking for advice on how to start posting videos on social media on YouTube in different places like that.

Derek So the advice that I'm going to give you is is that if you have knowledge and this goes to anybody, if you have knowledge I encourage you to share it. Okay, everybody that's watching this right now has at least one piece of knowledge that I don't have. It could be about all sorts of different things. And yes, I can learn and gain knowledge by making mistakes and learning from them.

Or I can also learn and gain knowledge from other people. Okay, I share the little bit the knowledge that I have I encourage all of you to do the same in hopes that you can help someone and prevent them from making mistakes that maybe you have made in your career. I have certainly made a crap ton of mistakes and when I make these videos, I'm sharing those mistakes in hopes that you don't make them okay. But to be clear, I did not intend on these videos being for the general public to be open.

I'm not this perfect saint of a person that just came up one day and said I want to share everything I have it wasn't like that. okay I was looking after my own I made videos for my own employees because of a weird situation that I was in, had to train them and I had to train him fast. So I started making videos and someone convinced me to hit the public button and here we are now. Okay so I didn't have intentions on sharing everything with the public, but it just kind of happened.

So I encourage everybody out there. So how did I do it? How did I grow my YouTube channel? How did I get it to where it is? How did I get all these people to start watching? I'm gonna tell you something and this is going to be just completely frustrating and not make sense for a lot of people. I'm not trying to brag I'm not trying to gloat or anything like that. but the best piece of advice that I can give you is don't try, don't try And what I mean by that is don't try so hard.

Okay, just put content out there right. Do you have to have fancy computers like this that I'm looking at? No. Do you have to have fancy, you know, editing softwares? No. You'd be amazed.

There's several and I'm telling you, several amazing content creators out there that only make content on their phones. They never even get on a computer. You want to know one of the biggest YouTubers that I know uh that does this. You want to know what his name is I'm actually going to ask in the chat right now what's a not biggest YouTubers in the world I'm saying but biggest YouTubers that I know that are most influential So I'm asking the chat right now what's one of the biggest YouTubers that does HVAC content that you know of that edits everything with their phone and doesn't use a computer.

Okay, who is it? I'm asking the chat answering the chat right now. Um, anybody have it. Love my videos and what would be my favorite brand of AC yours would be trained a Kansas farmer? Um Well when I say a favorite brand a favorite brand is going to be in my opinion is going to be what I'm comfortable working on as far as commercial equipment I'm really comfortable working on Carrier and Linux commercial equipment. so if I had to give you a favorite, it would be one of the two of those.

but you know someone else might not like carrier. that's you that doesn't work on them very often and they might like train or whatever. so it's really going to be a different opinion from everybody. Okay, but you know I'm comfortable working on Carrier and um, uh, Linux so you know those would probably be my favorites.

All right. So I'm I'm seeing in the chat right now. let's see who it is. Well I see it right here.

NorCal Dave that's right. Nor Cal Dave right? Who has an amazing YouTube channel? He's hilarious, he does some of the funniest stuff and the guy just genuinely has a good time making content right? Um NorCal does everything from his phone. That's crazy I I wish I could My my own mind gets ahead of me and makes me be the person that I am and just goes through this meticulous crap that I have to go through to edit a video. So um, super tech says that he's gonna make videos purely for the revenue.

Okay, to each their own man. I'm not gonna knock it because if it works for you, it works for you. Whatever makes you happy. I Know content creators out there, some really really big content creators that make it just for the money.

That literally just do it for the money and good for them. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, that's what works for you. Again, it's awesome. and I know you're being sarcastic, but it's okay.

Um, all right. So anyways, Derek Derek is asking me how he could start giving back how he could start making content. What's going to be the best way Derek film with your phone, get an editing program and just put out content that's real and when I said don't try what I mean is just just be you. Okay, don't try to be perfect, don't try to do everything right, just continue to be you and be your own personality and people will gravitate towards genuine people.

Okay, so when you're genuine and when you're true to yourself and when you're being you on camera, people can see it. even if you're not telling them okay, they can see it in the way that you talk and I find myself gravitating to content creators. Uh, not even. HVAC just content creators all on social media that are just real and that are just interesting people.

Okay, all right, make a Bloopers video. Yeah, that's a good idea. All right. Um, what else we got? Uh, open up the door man, it's me.

Dave Yep, that's right. Uh, if you guys haven't, go watch Dave's new hack and Mo video. Uh, it's pretty hilarious. I Gotta say, we're talking about NorCal Dave right now.

Okay, um, he he's he's a quirky dude and he just does funny stuff. He sings funny songs and just does all kinds of stuff. He's a musician and uh, he has this little uh little skit sketch thing that he does and it's called hack and Mo and it's hilarious. His newest video.

um oh my gosh, it's just just funny. Okay, do I check sub cooling on a remote unit with the receiver. He doesn't super tech, so no, um, not very often. So if you have a remote refrigeration system where you have a condensing unit somewhere else from the evaporator, the condensing unit typically is going to have a liquid line receiver.

When you have a liquid line receiver, he's asking do I check sub cooling on that system? Not often. No. Now there is a place for sub cooling on a system like that, but on a remote refrigeration system with a liquid line receiver. Typically, the only thing that subcoin is going to tell you is that number one.

if there is sub cooling, you more than likely have are on your way up to or yeah, you have a solid column of liquid if there is subcoin. Okay, the next thing is that, um, it's going to tell you if you have a gross overcharge, but it's not a very practical way to tell you either of those two things and there's easier ways to do it. Okay, But to be clear, on refrigeration systems with receivers, you're typically not charging to a required sub cooling number. Okay, on refrigeration systems, you are usually ensuring that you have a solid column of liquid going to the expansion valve via a sight glass, a liquid glass, or a glass on the liquid line.

That actually gives you a window into the system and a sight glass will help will tell you if you have a solid column of liquid. Okay, but some other things come into play there that's on a basic system. If you have a system that has any kind of head pressure control valves in it, then you're typically going to require more refrigerant than just a Uh Clear Sight glass. So there's variables and different things you have to go through to find out that information.

Okay, but on some residential equipment on and equipment that has um, that typically doesn't have liquid line receivers, oftentimes they will at charge, add refrigerant until they get to a certain sub cooling number depending on specs given by the manufacturer. Okay, but it's typically not on refrigeration systems with receivers. Okay, and technically, if you put a get a sub cooling reading on a liquid line coming out of a receiver, technically that means that that there is liquid inside that line, but not necessarily the easiest way to do it. A sight Glass near the expansion valve in a perfect world is the best way to tell if you have a solid column of liquid.

Okay, because the point at which you measure the subcoin. There could be restrictions after that point. So let's say you measure sub cooling up on the roof, at the receiver right coming out well. There could be a restriction somewhere down the line, and there actually is a restriction in every refrigeration system after the receiver, right? but it's meant to be in a certain spot.

That restriction is metering device that restricts the refrigerant and then kind of aerates it to make it the easiest way to understand it. It aerates it and then that way it can boil off completely in the evaporator and then you know, repeat, repeat the cycle cycle. So all right, let's see what else. Um, uh.

Reading through here, do I work on any super deep freezers Negative 20 and Below No. I have done very, very limited work on freezers that were below negative 20. I've done them in hospital settings Uh, but I do not and I was never great at doing that kind of stuff. Um, I was never an expert I should say right? Uh, so no.

I the the coldest freezer that I work on right now is a negative. 10 Negative 15 That's about as cold as it gets for me. Um, all right, don't answer the phone says Del Mar All right. Uh, let's see.

using your senses while diagnosing equipment I Put a YouTube short up talking about that. That's a really important thing is using your senses I put up a YouTube poll or quiz about that. right when you go out there and uh, you know you are, um, working. You're walking through you.

You're using your senses, listening and looking okay. Now, using your senses only works for people that know what they're working on and know the sequence of operation. Okay for the most part, because if you don't know what it's supposed to sound like, how are you supposed to use your ears? If you don't know what it's supposed to look like, how are you supposed to use your eyes right? Or feel or touch or whatever. So you have to have an understanding of the operation.

But once you get used to working on something in refrigeration equipment, especially walking coolers and freezers, you start to recognize sounds. And if you've ever walked into enough Refrigeration units that have a low charge, you'll tend to hear distinct sounds down at the evaporator. And that typically is because when it's low on charge, it doesn't have a solid column of liquid going to the expansion valve or the metering device. Okay, and when that happens, it can be very loud.

You can hear the air running through the valve and it makes a loud hissing sound, so it's something that you tend to recognize when you see it and hear it enough. Okay So it's really important to use your senses. smell, sound, all that different stuff. Okay Stephen had a great question Stephen is a homeowner I encourage everybody out there I Love to answer questions for homeowners for business owners for technicians I will share what little bit of knowledge I have with anybody that wants to listen.

Okay So Stephen asks about replacing a compressor and his 20 year old air conditioner. Okay, it's a residential air conditioner. He says that it's working and it's running. It's doing fine, but he's starting to notice a sound.

He thinks that the compressor is going bad and he's curious whether or not it would be a smart decision to replace just the compressor versus replacing the entire system. Okay, honestly, I can't tell you for sure, but I'm going to give you pluses. uh, positives and negatives to both sides. Okay, replace the compressor versus replace the system.

replacing an air conditioning system residential in California Going with most companies is going to cost you minimum twenty thousand dollars typically. okay, some sometimes in excess of forty thousand and up past that depending on what kind of work needs to be done to your home. Okay, putting in higher efficient equipment can save you money on energy. Does that necessarily save you the amount that you're going to have to spend? No, it's never really going to work that way in air conditioning.

but you tend to make educated decisions based on a lot of different factors. so it's not always about the money. But remember that. Okay, so I can put in I'm replacing the air conditioner in my own home I'm going to put in probably one of the highest sear units I can get my hands on.

Is it really going to be a return on investment for me? No, but you also got to Define investment. You're talking just monetary. Are you talking? You know comfort and peace of mind and different things like that. So it's more than just money when it comes to replacing the air conditioner in my house.

Now one of the bigger factors in my house is also I Really don't care if my own air conditioner fails? Yeah, it'll be uncomfortable, but it'll make for great content. So I have another thing going for me. So I'm still going to choose the brand that I think is best, but if it breaks cool I get to film it something else right? So it's kind of a fun experiment and a business expense if you say it, you know, So it's kind of fun All right. So should you replace the air conditioner, you know that, or just change the compressor, It really depends.

Okay, so I'm going to give you some negatives: The refrigerant that's in your 20 year old system more than likely is an A Legacy refrigerant now. R22 Okay, so it's very expensive. So if you do replace the compressor, is the refrigerant reusable? More than likely if the compressor's still running, but still, is there potential of contamination? Yeah, sure. So you may have to replace that refrigerant, that refrigerant, let alone it's bad.

for the environment. It's extremely expensive. Okay, it's nuts how much R22 has gone up in the last four years. Okay, so that's something you gotta keep in mind too.

And the replacement cost or the repair cost of changing the compressor in your in your air conditioner is going to be pretty high because most companies don't want to do it I hate to say that. so they're going to jack that up to make you really want to go for the replacement thing. you know, replacing the whole system. but some other things that I need and again, I'm not just going to give you a yes or no answer, but I'm just giving you some variables.

Okay, again for everybody that's just tuning in, Steven's asking he's a homeowner and he's asking if he should replace the compressor in his system or replace the entire system. it's a 20 year old system. Okay, so another thing that I'm going to tell you Stephen and this is why you know: he mentioned that it might cost twenty thousand dollars. Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it technically, if you do it right, it's going to cost probably double, if not more.

Okay again. I'm changing the air conditioner in my own home and I'm realizing that it's not just the air conditioner that I need to change I Need to upgrade the envelope of my house I Need to find the air leaks in my house because that's infiltration, right? Heat comes in through the air leaks, unwanted pollutants come in through the air leaks and it raises the temperature in my house and then it causes me to have to run my own system more and it's cost me more money and electricity. Okay, so there's a lot of variables at play I Highly encourage you. if you are going to replace the system and it's 20 years old, investigate the ductwork, Have a competent technician come out and find out if the ductwork is sized correctly.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say 99 of the systems are not sized correctly as far as duct work goes. Okay, but air conditioning contractors I know they're in it to make money and they have to I'm I'm a contractor too I have to make money, but at the same time you don't. Gotta you know? Kill everybody I I Wish that we could really focus on the duct work and the you know the the things that cause your system. You know that that help your system to work properly and stay efficient.

We need to focus on those things before we just change the air conditioning system if that makes sense. Okay, um, let me see. uh Jennifer Manzo says she wouldn't charge 40 000 for it, but someone might uh, you'd be surprised I mean for a ductwork system, Uh California right now is probably pretty close to 30 grand. Uh, some of the big box companies right now the biggest, you know Nationwide companies and stuff.

They're charging pretty close to the 30 grand now and uh, that's usually not including a technician properly designing the system. A lot of times they're doing cookie cutter work just because they put a system kind of the same in a house that was kind of the same from like 20 feet away with one eye closed. Yeah, it kind of looks about the same. So they put in the same size system a good majority of the time.

not all of them, but so they're pretty high. But if they actually if someone actually goes out and does duck testing, duct ceiling air leakage, you know, and all that different stuff. and Home Improvement upgrades, that's going to be in excess of 40 grand for sure. So all right.

Um, a Kansas Farmer asks if I've ever worked on chillers and how do they work? Uh no. I I really haven't worked on chillers? I mean I guess on the smallest sort of them like glycol, chillers, beer coolers, and things like that. Yeah, I've worked on those. But essentially all a chiller's doing is it's cooling.

Instead of usually cooling water air, it cools water and then uses that fluid to pump into something to cool something so you can have an industrial machine that needs to be water cooled. for instance, Perfect example. if you've ever seen stainless steel, hold on just a second. My good friend Rich was in the chat earlier Rich made me this.

Okay, so this is stainless steel metal and what he did was he put this on a laser and programmed a computer uh, program or set up a computer program and told the laser what to do. That laser has to be cooled. So oftentimes in industrial equipment and things like that, they need to be water cooled of some sort. So that's a perfect situation where a chiller would benefit that.

Okay, and so what they do is, instead of cooling air, they cool water or a fluid glycol, whatever it may be, and they use it as a secondary fluid to exchange heat. Okay, a chiller is a basic, is is just a another type of refrigeration system, so in you know, direct exchange. DX Air conditioning. We are typically taking air across a coil and cooling the air, dropping the temperature of the air, the refrigerants absorbing the Heat and it's bouncing out the door right? so they're just switching it with water.

That's all all right. Um, I'm gonna ask the chat right now in the chat. What are your guys's superstitions when it comes to work? So for me, I'll give you one of my superstitions and I'm curious what the chat has to say when I am working on the roof and I'm getting done. Uh, braising.

Okay, I have a Superstition that I Cannot put my torches away until we have refrigerant in the system. When we know that the system doesn't have any leaks, it's a Superstition of mine. It probably is just goofy and doesn't make any sense. but in my head if I put my torches away when I go down to the van to get something else, some refrigerant and try to be, you know, smart about it.

What actually happens in my mind is that there's guaranteed refrigerant leaks. It's a Superstition It's not real, but it's just in my head. So what are your superstitions in the chat? I'm really curious. Um, don't think about calls when on call.

Okay, Oh yeah. like please don't get another service call. Please don't get another service call. And then boom here it comes.

Yep, because you willed it upon yourself for sure. Um, what else we got going on in here? All right? Uh, so I'm curious what those are. Let's see if anything else comes in here. Never overbook a full day on a Friday That's when the calls come to ruin your weekend Brandon 100 bud and also I never overbooked Mondays that's actually another Superstition of mine is I Never plan on taking when whenever possible I try to avoid taking days off and over booking Fridays and then also over booking Mondays because a good majority of the customers want to sometimes Wanna Hold calls off either they call you in last minute on Friday because they need to have you or you get the other customers where something breaks down on Saturday and they're like yeah, you know we'll wait till Monday when it's not overtime to save a couple bucks and then they all hit you at once.

So in the summertime I never overbooked Fridays or Mondays Vacuums are an urban myth. Ah, super tech is being facetious there. Um, reading through your step out of a live chat and tap. Oh, that'd be really nice please? Uh, my buddy Dave Johnson um is uh, reminding everybody to hit the thumbs up button.

Please do we have 142 people watching this right now and we only have 71 people that have hit the Thumbs Up Button uh, that includes Facebook and Linkedin So hit that Thumbs Up Button help the stream out or YouTube please? Um, reading through here always bring your tool bag even for a filter change. That's actually a very professional thing that my dad taught me at a young age. Whenever you go into a restaurant, you can do this for anything else and you are being practical. But for real whenever I go into a restaurant out of common courtesy to the customers I Always walk in and I'm ready to work.

Okay, always have my tool bag with me when I'm walking into a restaurant. it's just a common courtesy. that way you're not just walking and I know it, it's it's just something silly, but it's always been ingrained in my head, but also for very for practical reasons. If you bring your tool bag on a filter change, it's there when you need it.

That's a pretty smart thing to do too. So um, don't make plans on call Jennifer like I Can't agree with that more. My poor wife um unfortunately has Stockholm syndrome. Okay, uh I've I've freaking brainwashed her and you know in her head she knows even her, it's it.

She gets the same feeling in her stomach that I get right and for her it, she's never experienced it besides being my wife. Okay, but she knows not to plan things when I'm on call for me to go to and she knows that that's going to ruin me right? Oh my gosh, I am so broken when I just you know what? I'm gonna go to the to the movies. it's fine. I'm on call.

No big deal I it hurts my stomach inside when I get a service call I'd much rather be sitting at home twiddling my thumbs than actually being somewhere where I'm going to be disappointed when I get a service call. So odd thing. But all right. uh, cross that one off.

So uh I made an ice machine video. What? Thursday I think last week and uh, it had a plugged up drain line. Let's talk about that real quick. So in that video, what actually happened was something obstructed the drain line and it caused it to back up.

What I think happened is I think the customer. Oftentimes they'll get super busy and I think that something got kicked up under the drain and it didn't get taken out for a day or two and the ice machine and this is where this starts to go. Okay, so ice machines typically have water filters. Okay, the good majority of the problems on an ice machine is going to be water related.

This particular ice machine had water filters. In fact I changed them in the same video so some people asked, well, maybe the filters went bad and that's why it plugged up. No, because when water filters go back on bad on most of the ice machines we work on, they stop flowing water.