Hey guys in today's video I Want to talk about some of the parts that you have in your heating and air system that are interchangeable and some that are not And what do I mean by that? Well, years ago we used to be able to keep a handful of parts and I say a handful. but I would say somewhere between 20 and 30 parts on our vans and be able to get most Folks up and rolling in the middle of the night. Now in some cases it was not a permanent fix, but you were able to get that customer up and going in the middle of the night until you can come back the next morning with the part in hand to get them permanently fixed. The problem is as time has gone on with newer Technologies those days are ending if not over.

We're seeing more and more parts that are specific to a brand, proprietary and not interchangeable and I don't look for that to change anytime soon. I Think it's going to probably get worse as time goes on now. I've heard some heating and air guys make the argument that this is a reason to stay away from newer Technologies and I actually would disagree with that assumption. The pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to this, especially if you have a plan B of some type.

So if you have more than one system in your home and you can get by with that system being down for the night, or if you can at least plug in a couple portable units to you know, maybe in a bedroom to keep you cool overnight until that heating and air technician can get the part ordered or picked up. So that being said, even with all the new technologies, there's still parts today that in most systems are interchangeable and there's exceptions to every rule. But I Wanted to go over a few of those parts, so that way you knew if you had a contractor that you knew if things were adding up or not. And so if you have Parts like capacitors, those are usually pretty Universal across the board.

Some are better than others, but for the most part they all do the same thing. uh, even like a contactor. In most cases, not all, but most cases they are pretty interchangeable, at least enough to where you can get going in the middle of the night if you have a system that should have, say, a double pull contactor versus a single pole. And depending on what the solenoid or coil in that contactor is voltage wise, that may play a role in this as well.

But I would say most residential systems with a contactor in them, they're somewhat interchangeable and they should be able to at least get you going for the night. Another one would be a Transformer If you have a transformer in that system that steps the voltage down to the low voltage components, then in a lot of cases that's also interchangeable. In fact, we still keep Transformers and contactors and capacitors on our trucks for a service call in the middle of the night. and I would maybe even go so far as to say that Motors are somewhat I'm not saying they're interchangeable.

There are tons of different Motors out there. There's different types of Motors variable speed ECM of course the old PSC Motors There's single speeds, variable speeds. There's all kinds of different types of Motors RPMs horsepower. All these different ratings.

but I will say that you know most good heating and air technicians should be able to have some sort of rescue motor on their truck to get you going one. In a lot of cases, not all cases is it going to be possible. But even if the system has a variable speed motor, you might be able to put that rescue motor in there and then just wire it straight to the live voltage wiring. They would have a constant fan and a temporary fix for that point in time until you were able to get the actual motor in.

But at least the homeowner is going to be able to have AC for the night until you can get the actual OEM part installed. Now what are some parts that are definitely not interchangeable? I Would say that most boards control boards are not interchangeable. Now there are Universal Boards out there different types of defrost boards or furnace boards that are interchangeable and you can program that board based on the brand that you're installing it, but even still, with those on the market. I Would say it's fair to say the majority of boards are not interchangeable.

Other parts would be anything to do with the refrigerant. so coils, compressors, accumulators, anything reversing valves, Anything that's has anything to do with the refrigerant flow in that system I would say more times than not it is not interchangeable. It's not going to be something that they're you know, going to be able to pull off a one unit, put it on another. and it's also a good chance that they may not have it on their truck that night.

Now, if they have something like a filter dryer, those are pretty interchangeable and it's rare. but if you had a filter dryer that was leaking refrigerant and that just only that one little part needed to be replaced, then that might be something that is interchangeable. And then lastly, I would just say that any components that are located outside of the indoor or outdoor units Parts like float switches, drain pans, disconnects anything located outside of the unit. In a lot of cases, that is something that is interchangeable.

It may not be something that they have on their truck depending on what that part is in the middle of the night, but for the most part you know that's not going to be something brand specific, if that makes sense. That's kind of an overview. We didn't even touch on thermostat stats and all the other parts on there. Of course, if you have a communicating system, things get even more brand specific, especially when you're talking about thermostats and Zoning modules and things like that.

But hopefully that gives you kind of an idea if you have a contractor trying to get you going in the middle of the night. I Would say as a homeowner if you could deal with a heating and air contractor that tries to make it a good habit or practice to have portable ACs and or heaters on hand especially for their you know customers that are valued customers at Griffin Air we have something called the VIP Club and so because of that anybody that joins our VIP Club In a lot of cases we will provide services like that to them and I think it's a good idea as a you know homeowner if you could deal with contractors that provide certain things like that, especially if you're you know, say elderly or if you're someone that's disabled having a contractor that's going to have other options in place there for you so they can get you back up and rolling in the event that you know you did have to order a part or your system is down for an extended amount of time anyway. I Hope that helps in today's times. I Feel like this is more of a pertinent video than it would have been in years past.

These days, there are parts that were at times having to wait weeks if not months for and we're having to be a little more creative with some of our options when installing that rescue motor because we're waiting on that OEM motor to come in and things like that. Have you had a contractor have to order a part for you and it take longer than expected? I'd love to hear about that. Please comment down below. Thanks for watching Hit that subscribe button.

We'll see you next time.