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, foreign foreign foreign. Well, hello everybody, how are you guys doing this evening? I am doing well I think I messed something up there. Let's fix my screen just a little bit. Let me transition that over. there you go. I had some settings wrong in my streaming software and the picture wasn't quite right. So hey everybody, uh yeah I just posted a link to uh Josh's Channel you guys should go check that out! I Had recently just found Josh's Channel he's a uh if I if I say it correctly Josh you're a remediation expert, right? So you deal with all kinds of problems when it comes to uh, leaks and and air quality and air sensitivity and stuff like that, right? So anyways, if I think I got that right? But um I just posted a link in the chat, you guys go check it out. I Actually just found Josh's Channel and we were actually just talking yesterday. so pretty cool. You know what's neat what's happening is as I've been doing my home project I've been introduced to a lot of new people within the HVAC space. A lot of the people within the building science side of everything. Um, ironically I actually just got my book too Allison Dale's new book. a house needs to breathe or does it now I haven't read this um I just have seen people talking about this book and Allison Bales in general. um and uh I saw that he had released a book and I was like I ordered it. it was a couple months ago and had been waiting and waiting and I've been seeing everybody else on social media. Get it. I Just got it today I haven't even really read it I just skimmed through it and the one thing that the one takeaway that I had was it reminds me so much of how Dick Werr's book is written now. I again I haven't read the whole thing I just skimmed through it. but you all know that I'm always preaching about Dick Wars book Commercial Refrigeration for air conditioning technicians, the way it's written is just so interesting. Scene like he he dumbs stuff down but he doesn't make you feel like a dummy if that makes sense. Okay, so that's why I like Dick War's book because I'm not a genius I'm not a scientist I Love how you know Dick Wars just does a good job and my my brief takeaway of the Allison Bill's book is very similar so we'll see I'll give it a read and I love the fact that it's a hardback I Love a good hardback book. So um, let me see Slick Sloth, Do I know a Scott yes I know Scott very well. Scott is a good buddy of mine. uh, he may or may not pop in here. his name is Hvacy rookie so yeah, Scott and I have known each other for quite a few years. Scott and I actually have a really interesting past. We crossed paths many years ago when he used to work for a particular uh customer that I used to do work for. And long story short, we probably crossed paths but didn't even know each other at the time and it's just kind of funny. and then we met each other. You know, many years later as Scott got into HVAC I think he started watching my videos or something and then he messaged me one time and then we ran into each other at the trade shows a bunch of times and yeah, Scott's a good buddy of mine. So um, cool dude. cool dude for sure. Um, let me see what else we got going on the chat. So before I forget if anybody is watching right now and you do have questions or things that you want me to talk about, um, do me a favor and throw your questions in caps lock. It'll help me to get to the questions. but that's not to say that I'm gonna see every single question because oftentimes there's a bunch of questions coming through here so if I miss your question, feel free to keep reposting it until myself or one of the moderators tells you to stop or send me an email to Hvacrvios Gmail.com So the way that I structure these live streams for the new people that are in here is: I Usually have a I have a Word document I've got three screens right here I have a Word document right here has a list of questions and things that I want to address and then obviously I'm going to try to get to everybody else's questions and comments as we go along. Um, if I haven't done this already for the new people too my name is Chris and I'm just an Hvacr service technician here in Southern California started making YouTube videos and here we are five years later. Okay, so it just turned into this thing that I never planned on. but um, so I wanted to address something you know I I mentioned that as I've been going through this this home renovation where I'm changing my air conditioner I've been digging into the building science. Now let me, let me be careful. I I am dabbling in building science I do not understand it, nor is it something that I fully feel that I'm going to be able to completely understand within the you know five months that I've been just kind of thinking about it and then researching and learning. But I'm working my way through this right? I'm I'm doing blower door testing on my house I'm doing duck testing I'm I'm finding air leaks I'm fixing air leaks I'm having friends lots of friends help me because I do not have all this knowledge. So my buddy Adam uh Adam Muffage from the HVAC Overtime show is helping me to do the load calculation. He's kind of a person that I lean on for advice and then also I've been lucky enough to uh, become friends with the Energy Conservatory and um Chris Hughes and they are awesome people and they have been helping me through this process. uh, you know, educating me Steve Rogers like oh my Gosh Steve Rogers is such a smart dude and it's really awesome that he takes the time to have conversations with me and help to educate me. So it's really, really awesome. And that's the cool thing about the HVAC space. If you're a cool person and you're not a jerk which I assume I'm not a jerk I don't know because people still want to talk to me. You know, for the most part people want to help okay and I can I can I think I can go out on a limb and say most of the people that are helping me would be willing to help someone else even if they're not in in a YouTube influencer or whatever you want to call it right? I mean of course they're not going to walk you through every single step. I try to do the same when people send me emails asking me questions about whatever you know I try to help when I can. but also, and that's something that I probably need to address. Understand that I run a business right? a normal business and then I have the videos business and and on top of that, the most important thing is I have my family right. So it's a constant juggle of trying to focus when I need to focus on certain things and then oftentimes the videos is the one thing that probably gets pushed to the side the most because it's not my primary gig. So I try and I try to help people when they email me. but oftentimes people will email me some pretty crazy questions that are just like oh my gosh I just can't get to that one like that is a a three day long you know, ride-along to be able to answer all those questions. some of those things. so I try okay and I try to answer as much as I can. but again, I encourage everybody out there feel free. send me an email I try to get to your questions as much as possible. One thing that I've started to try to do is when people send me an email. do me a favor, you know, give me your name. It's just like a weird thing that I have when I'm just looking at a screen name through an email and I want to address it. It's just kind of weird to say some of these random screen names when I'm trying to address a question. so either I don't pronounce the name or you know whatever, but just try to give me your name if you shoot me an email just that way I know. Okay, so let me look at uh. the um Jacob Crabtree is asking me if I have any experience on Red Robin Refrigeration Racks? Um well I don't work for Red Robin the company? Uh, but I I would imagine that they probably use just a multiplex rack. It just depends. Give me some context and I'm sure I can help you so you can either ask in the chat or feel free to send me an email and I can try to answer it there hvacrvideos gmail.com Um, you know, but yeah, if if you want to try to post what your questions are in the chat, I can definitely try. if not, shoot me an email and I can try to answer it there too if you guys send me like technical emails again I can't always get to them but if you guys include pictures and different things like that, that'll actually help with the email because it helps me to visualize and be able to answer people's questions a little bit more so let's see what else we got going on in the chat. I'm already missing a whole bunch. Have I flooded a compressor out early in my career changing an evaporator fan motor? Have I flooded out a compressor? No. I I don't know I'm assuming you're asking if I have sent liquid refrigerant back to a compressor while changing an evaporator fan motor with the compressor still running I'm assuming but no I've never done that before. So um, let's see. Uh, I'm reading through here and seeing what I'm going on. Okay, so you have a seven and a half ton three-phase compressor just humming. What could be wrong? Adam Dude, there's so many questions to that question. Um, if you have a three-phase compressor, does it have three-phase power going to it? If it has three-phase power going to it and the compressor itself is humming, I Would highly suggest that you turn off power, isolate the leads to it, disconnect them, and test for resistance across the compressor windings. If you have even resistance and the compressor is not starting when you have applied power at the compressor, then it sounds like you got an issue with the compressor. Okay, now another thing that I want to cover too when people tell me okay and this is a difficult thing, but understand I come from a background where I have a hard time believing people when they say the voltage is good. Okay, the voltage is good. Why tell me it's 208 three-phase voltage at the compressor or at the contactor. Because if you're measuring out the contactor, then theoretically you could have a voltage drop, a broken wire, maybe something like that in between the two. So you need to measure at the compressor whenever possible, then that'll tell you a lot. Check current on the compressor. Does it have current? Is it drawing locked? Road Ramps Okay, but I mean assuming that your voltage is correct, assuming that you know everything's good and the compressor is just humming I would assume it's probably kind of warm, then it sounds like you have a bad compressor Possibly, you know. But again, you need to to verify all that information. Um is quoting a TXV along with a bad compressor Justified Slick sloth. Okay, Um is quoting a TXV with a bad compressor wrong? Well, it depends. Okay, Are you doing the customer? Um, a solid by changing the TXV at the same time? That's the question. How much does the TXV cost? Is it a standard for me to change a TXV and a compressor together? Not necessarily, but in certain situations. Sure. Let's say I'm working on a 10-ton package unit and the system has a Um a restriction in it? Okay, but no, let's not go with the Restriction. Let's say it has a grounded out compressor. Okay, the compressor is grounded out. It's burnt. It's definitely bad. You're going to be doing a crazy system cleanup. Well, in that situation, there's a very good possibility I'm going to recommend replacing the expansion valve at the same time, but understand something: There's not a lot that can fail in an expansion valve. Okay. Expansion valve right here. Okay, this is a Sporlin thermostatic expansion valve. Okay, there is a power head. There is a, uh, a push rod that's going to push down on a seat that's going to open and close. and there's a spring opposing the pressure of the power head. Okay, that's pretty much it. That's all there is to this expansion valve. Now you make it a balance. Port Valve: It's going to change a little port in the top, But the point I'm trying to make is what's going to go bad on this expansion valve. If you have a grounded out compressor. I Mean there's not a whole lot now. Is the expansion valve completely contaminated with burnt oil and burnt refrigerant and sludge? That's a good question. Does the customer do routine preventative maintenance? That's a good question. Okay, can you simply change the power head on the expansion valve? Yeah, if it's a spoiling valve, you can change the power head. Okay, now, if you have no way of proving that and you really suspect you know, say you don't know the customer if I Didn't know a customer and they came and asked me to change a grounded compressor on a package unit that I have no history on. Yeah, more than likely when I quote that compressor I'm going to do a suction line filter dryer that's an HH core so that one has the high wax cleanup from sporland. Then I'm going to do a liquid line filter dryer with an HH core. I'm going to quote to cut the compressor out, cut the expansion valve out Purge, and blow the system out with nitrogen. That includes isolating the condenser, isolating the evaporator, trying to get out all the old oil when I pull the compressor out. I'm going to pour the compressor out and measure the oil and find out if that oil is severely low inside that compressor. If there's no oil in that compressor, it's still in the system. Okay, more than likely unless there's a giant leak. but it's still in the system and we need to get it out in order to get it out. Yeah, we're going to open up the evaporator, the inlet, and the outlet of the evaporator and we're going to purge through it with nitrogen. Now, me personally. I'm not a fan of additives you know the the the acid clean things that you add to the system I don't really fly with those things. Okay, so I'm just pushing nitrogen through the system I'm going to blow out the old oil, then I'm going to put new filter dryers if I'm going that crazy on a burnt out compressor. Yeah, more than likely I'm going to quote an expansion valve too. but is it just a sporland valve that I can easily pop the power head off and disassemble and open it up and look at it? Well, then what I might do is I might consider telling the customer. Hey, this expansion valve might be part of the problem. Maybe it's not. So there's a chance we're going to change it and my quote will reflect changing the expansion valve. But when I recover all the gas, I'll go ahead and take the valve apart in place and look at it. If I don't see anything wrong with it, then I'm probably just going to go ahead and put it back together and not replace the valve so it's not a cookie cutter response. Do I change an expansion valve with a bad compressor every time? Not necessarily, but there's always going to be a variable that's going to lead to that. Okay, so back to my response: Is it going to do The customer: Is it going to benefit them? For me to change that expansion valve at the same time as the compressor? It just depends. Okay, now is it an expansion valve that you can't take apart? Is it like a Danfoss or an Emerson valve Or a son who I don't even know how to pronounce that valve or whatever that you can't take apart? Well, in that situation, Yeah, I might just quote to replace the valve because I have no idea what caused it. see I have some pretty good customers that understand when we run into problems. Now there's another variable here. How much work are you going to have to go through to recover all the refrigerant from that system? And is it? Are we talking like two hours of extra work to go ahead and recover the refrigerant? Well, in that case, if you change the compressor, you have no idea why it failed. You put it in, you start it up. the expansion valve isn't let in refrigerant for now. you got to go recover all that refrigerant again. Well, in that situation, you know again, depending on the variables, I might go ahead and just quote that expansion valve and replace it just to be done with it. Okay, so it really depends and and the customer needs to be included in all these decisions. Okay, um, you use Acid Scavenger to clean up the system. No. I Do Not use Acid Scavenger to clean up a system I just use nitrogen. Um I I Personally don't like any additives I don't like leak sealers I don't like acid scavenger. Now let's be fair. Okay, I'm not going to go on a high horse and say I've never used a leak sealer I've never used an Acid Scavenger or an acid neutralizer or whatever. There's all different name brands of them. I have for the first good part of my career I Used Acid Scavenger acid neutralizers with every compressor change. That was a burnout. Okay and honestly I never really had any problems. But as I got further in my career and I started to understand the potential of problems from adding things to the system that don't belong in there I started to question using any of that stuff and I stopped listening to the supply house because the supply houses are the ones that told me hey, you're changing a compressor you need to put this stuff in there too and I was like okay, you know that was the beginning part but then I started saying no, why why am I going to put that in there Because the manufacturer Copeland they don't recommend using that and so for those that don't know if you guys could understand how difficult it is for a company to get approved by Copeland to add their product to a Copeland compressor. It is insanely expensive because what Copeland does is Copeland makes that company. So let's say you have a miracle oil additive that you know makes your system operate 150 times better. When you simply just add this additive to the system, it just makes it operate better, makes it more efficient. You know it's it's just got some magic voodoo stuff in it right? Well Copeland they'll entertain the idea. Sure we will consider your product, but Copeland goes to that company and they say if you want us to consider your product, you're going to have to spend a couple million dollars to have us test your product in all the situations that it might be used in. And they're going to test it in really hot conditions, really cold conditions. And and here's the kicker: Just because Copeland approves your product for a low temperature refrigeration system does not mean that it applies to chillers. and to all these other different refrigeration systems. And most of those additive companies. They don't pay those millions or hundreds of thousands or whatever it is. It's stupid amounts of money. They don't want to pay that because they don't believe in their product that much. If they believed in their product that much and they really were that oh my gosh, this stuff fixes everything, then they would just pay that money and Copeland would give them the stamp of approval if it actually worked and then Copeland wouldn't Well, they wouldn't endorse it, but they would approve it to be used. Okay, a lot of these additive companies, they have misleading marketing. If you go into the supply house and you look at a leak die sealer, right? So they have dye that does leak sealing too. if you look on the box, it'll say OEM approved. Well, what does that mean? An original equipment manufacturer can be whoever made a piece of equipment. So just because Hyundai the car manufacturer said that this is a good product. Well, they could technically put OEM approved on that box and they wouldn't be lying. It doesn't mean that it's OEM approved for every manufacturer. Okay, and just because Copeland approved it to work for this one scenario doesn't mean that it's Coupland approved across the board. Okay, so a lot of these manufacturers they have misleading marketing and it's actually rather stupid and I don't like it. Okay, so going on a tangent. but yeah, I really don't use additives? I use oil and refrigerant is the only things that really go in a system. Okay now I know that during the Uh, the debacle that Copeland went to when they when they had a rust inhibitor problem many years ago. you know there were some manufacturers that were recommending to use a certain product and I'm not going to mention it, but you guys can mention it in the chat that cleaned up the system in different things like that some manufacturers approved it, but it didn't necessarily mean it was approved by Copeland Okay, that was a whole debacle too. What actually happened? My understanding of that situation was down the line. One of Copeland's third party people um, they because Copeland would have my understanding was they would have their compressors shipped dry and they would have a rust inhibitor in the compressor to try to keep it from rusting because it wasn't hermetically sealed and sealed up in the system. And that rust inhibitor. Someone changed the rust inhibitor along the way and it wasn't approved and it just led to a catastrophe. Again, Why Copeland is so stringent about approving certain products so someone didn't go through the process of asking: Copeland Is this okay, that's what I heard I could be wrong. Okay, um I got to tell you guys something and I kind of mentioned it in the chat earlier. I You know, again, going through my home design process, this is my favorite time of the year when it's cool outside. okay, it's probably like 50 degrees outside and I love fresh air. I Love opening my windows. Um, but even when I'm not opening my windows right now, it is so dry in Southern California Specifically the Inland Empire that I'm living in. Uh, it is currently 18 relative humidity inside my house and it is 11 outside and it's been that way all weekend. My arm itches because it's so dry and when I scratch it, it just starts bleeding like it's so ridiculous. So I'm really considering adding some sort of a humidifier to my house in my home system replacement. But the downside. The thing that I'm worried about about adding a humidifier and I don't know much about humidifiers, but I have a general understanding of how they work is I worry about bacteria buildup and different things and calcium and different stuff like that now I know you got to filter it, but we have a horrible domestic water supply at my house because I personally don't have my own well, but we have a community well that our our water district pumps from. so there's actually multiple Wells that they pump to reservoirs and then they pump to our homes and it's just horrible water quality, high in calcium and other bad things too. And I worry about putting a humidifier in my house because what's the maintenance and the upkeep going to be? And then I Also worry about you know the things that can happen if a humidifier isn't maintained properly or you know like you know is there possibility of spreading Legionnaires disease. You know when you're when you're heating up water or you know that's what I'm Con: I need to do research. So I'm not the kind of person to just slap something in because someone told me to I got to go down down that deep dive to do research to find out if there's the potential of bacteria contamination and also how much maintenance is it going to take. you know and different things like that. But I definitely want to solve this problem, you know? Uh, definitely want to solve it. So let's go to the chat and see what I'm missing. Let me cross that one off my list. One thing I wanted to talk about: Okay, let's see. have I seen a stuck expansion valve and could it flood the compressor out? Yeah yeah I've seen them before and yes it could flood the compressor out Copeland won't even warranty a compressor if it's R22 and you use R422b infow Warrior Ah I Got to say this carefully, but how would they know I mean really, how would they know that it had 422 be in it? Okay, it's wrong of you to deceive them, but I mean how would they genuinely know that? But on their part I understand that's why I don't really use many of those. you know those alternative refrigerants. I have started using 407c because I do have a lot of R22 equipment. but I will tell you something using 407c. I've actually run into nothing but problems because I live in a very hot dry climate where we get to about 115 degrees you know in the summertime, sometimes higher. but 115 was what we hit this last summer and every unit that I converted to 407c that was a fixed orifice metering device all of a sudden was just tripping Breakers and causing problems and the current draw would go up super high and the refrigerant in combination with the units just Falls flat on its face with the performance when we get high Ambience it just can't handle it the only way. and I had like six units that I had converted to 407c done and there was nothing else wrong with the units new compressors, new evaporators. because they had plugged up metering devices. we did a crowd ton of them this Summer and every one of them that I put 407c in just hit the wall when it hit 115. We had to put misting devices on everything because we were just tripping Breakers Running off on high current on everything. It was a pain in the butt. so I'm not a fan of using that in those. High Ambience Now I have converted systems over the 407c that had expansion valves and we had good luck with that. but with the fixed orifice metering devices, we've had nothing but problems. So um, all right, you have to replace the canister every two years on humidifiers as well as normal filter changes. infowarrier says, so that's interesting. Yeah, I'm going to definitely do some research. So um, in my experience, our supply house is reliable for advice or do they seem dishonest? Uh, Dex Nation Gracie Supply Houses. Okay, so let's let's answer that question carefully: what is the supply house in business to do? Push boxes out the door? Okay, a supply house is a hundred percent about sales. Okay, inevitably. and so are we. as technicians and contractors. we're there to sell whatever we're going to sell our services. Okay, so our supply house is dishonest. Well, I Can't say yes to every single supply house out there, but our supply house is going through the same issues that we are finding employees. I Can say a hundred percent? Yes. Okay, in my area, every supply house is having a hard time finding good, reputable employees. Now there's lots of variables that lead to that same thing with normal contractors. Are they paying good wages? Do they have good work environments? There's lots of variables, but supply houses are struggling. Supply houses get oftentimes incentives from manufacturers and Distributors that they purchase from so they tend to push a certain product. Our supply house is a hundred percent across the board. Every counter guy educated on proper Refrigeration practices and proper. You know, install practices and manufacturers best practices. No. 100 I can guarantee you across the board, there is not a supply house out there that every single counter guy is an expert in every aspect of this field. It does not exist, but supply houses do employ people that are experts, but they just can't afford to put those guys on every single counter position. So when you walk into a supply house, okay, my experience: I'll walk into a very good supply house, one that I work I I Frequent all the time and I'll give you a perfect example. Probably about six seven years ago I Walked into a supply house I had a train package unit that had a 3D scroll compressor. It was a 10 ton 3D scroll compressor. So big boy right! We needed a crane to get it on the roof. We had a 10 ton 3D scroll compressor that failed and it was right at the beginning. This was probably 10 years ago. It was right at the beginning. of the the rumored phase out of R22 and the prices of R22 were just starting to climb. Now mind you, they were not 500 a drum. They were not a thousand dollars a drum. They were not two thousand dollars a drum. It was probably two hundred dollars a drum. Boy do I miss those days and boy do I wish I bought a couple more pallets back then right? But when I went into the supply house, I was just talking to him saying hey, you know what I've got a train compressor I got to replace I already got the compressor coming from Trane but I'm looking for one of these new alternative refrigerants and I just listened to the supply House so he sold me on 427a. 427a is a refrigerant and there's nothing inherently wrong with the refrigerant. but I didn't do my research. Okay, the supply house told me it works perfect. All of our customers love it. You don't have to do an oil change, you're good to go and I was like so it works with mineral oil. It works perfect with mineral oil. Okay, so I installed it and within two days the compressor failed. Well I don't think there's anything wrong with the compressor I Thought I mean with the refrigerant I thought so I changed the compressor and I thought maybe there was just a fluke. you know? So I called another crane. they lifted the compressor up, called train, they lit, they brought me the compressor you know again and installed another 10 ton compressor. all proper. Refrigeration Practices weighed in the charge up to about you know, half a pound. Then I dialed it in from superheat because it was a fixed orifice metering device. All was well. two days later, second compressor fails. Hmm, something's not right here, you know? So I started doing my research. What actually happened was I didn't know this because I didn't do my research and I simply just trusted the supply house. Train does not approve anybody to use alternative refrigerants at least Back then they had service bulletins saying do not use alternative refrigerants in place of R22 with mineral oil. Do not And what actually happened was the oil did not travel properly with the refrigerant and it basically ruined the compressor. Okay, so I trusted the supply house. They told me it was a reputable supply house. They didn't mean anything bad by it, but you know where? They got their advice from other technicians from the Distributors reps that came out and said yeah, buy our refrigerant. It works perfect with mineral oil. Okay, so they fed me the information that they thought was correct and I listened to them and and then it bit me in the butt. The supply house didn't pay for that compressor, They didn't pay for the labor. They didn't pay for anything now. long story short, I ended up getting the customer. What I ended up doing was I ended up getting the customer because I explained everything to them and they're a very good customer of mine. and what I said was hey, let me change the package unit. Okay, it needs to be replaced. We're not going to put another compressor in this thing and I will eat the cost of that compressor and I just did my normal markup on the package unit which ended up being a wash to where I didn't make money on the packaging it but I didn't lose money. so for the entire job I didn't lose any money I just ended up washing it out and they let me install a new package unit. So it did cost them a little bit more money because they let me sell them a package unit but they got it without a markup and then I ate the cost of the first compressor and then it was just a wash and then I I called it a Learning lesson. Okay, so our supply houses misinformed. Oftentimes they are misinformed. they don't have enough time or manpower to research everything properly. That's our job as a technician now. When I was coming up, I was taught to 100 trust the supply house. But to this day I still have great supply house managers that I love to death that are just old school and they try to feed me information and I'm like no, no, no, that's absolutely not correct. So I do my own research I don't trust any anybody? Okay, all right, let's see what else. Um, uh, let's see if I have anybody. how often do I have my dad for tech support these days? John Harrell My dad has not worked in over 15 years now, probably 18 years. Uh, he knows absolutely nothing about the industry so he is not a tech support person to lean on whatsoever. He still works in the business with me. Um, but he does not provide anything because everything has changed a hundred percent. So he uh operates in a support role in the office and helps me with billing and paperwork and different things like that. But I am a hundred percent in charge of all of our technicians. I run and make the decisions as far as technical support and different things like that. Everything has just completely changed from when he was a technician. So uh, let's see what else. Um, reading through the chat, the old guys who used to know have retired these new cats in the supply houses couldn't get themselves out of a wet paper bag with a knife and directions. Uh I agree for some of them Jason I agree for some of them for sure. So um I'm reading through the chat right now I just wanted to see if there's any comments. Um, okay, you have a train SCU with 3D Scrolls Factory 407c but there's polioester oil in it. Okay, so that was the difference. Mine was a mineral oil compressor and we were converting to 427a. That said, it worked with mineral oil but it doesn't Okay And then that's actually something that I came to because many people tell you, um, many people out there will tell you that or if you read the the manufacturer's data for those alternative refrigerants, insert whatever flavor of alternative refrigerant for R22 you have out there and it'll say in there works works great with mineral oil Okay, but if you go down to the bottom of that pamphlet, there's an asterisk and it says in these certain situations with high pressure drops with long line set runs, we don't advise using this refrigerant without doing an oil conversion. Okay, um, honestly, if a refrigerant out there tells you that it works perfectly with mineral oil, but it's um, it's not designed for it I mean just don't trust those guys. Okay, so all of the 407c systems that I have out there I have either done oil changes or replaced the compressor on the smaller equipment that I work on and I'm talking about package units. For the most part, it's not cost effective to do an oil change on most of the smaller units because they're hermetically sealed compressors with no oil ports so you can't add oil to them and remove oil. You got to unsweet the compressor, dump out the oil. Most of them are really old, so it's more or less smart for the customer to just go ahead and approve the compressor replacement. The new compressor will come with Polyoester oil. we put 407c in it and I got no worries anymore except for the refrigerants performance in high ambient conditions. So let's see what's the story with that massive circuit breaker back there. The massive circuit breaker right here is from a video that is A and it's actually not a circuit breaker. Okay, so this right here. I Got into an argument with an electrical supply house guy. This is a Square D safety switch. Okay, and uh, this is from a Linux package unit Linux Prodigy unit. Actually no a Linux L Series unit and uh, right on here it says FH 150 amps. Okay, but if you look it says molded case switch and if you read through it, it does not have a circuit breaker in it. This is a 150 amp safety switch. It does not trip. Okay now I know that they do make circuit breakers that look like this, but this is not a circuit breaker. It's funny because I went in there. this was from a service call A Couple months back I made a video on it where they had an electrician come out and run a new power feed and then they screwed everything up and they stripped out one of the lugs on the bottom. this guy's missing a lug. they stripped out the lug the the little screw piece that goes into the lug and I went to the supply house to try to see if they had a lug or if I could do something and they're like no now I know I can send this off to get rebuilt and get a new lug but I needed it at the moment. so I ended up having to install an external aftermarket safety switch and not use this. so I just kind of have it up there as a conversation piece I leave it up there for the exact reason that you asked me a question about it because you gave me something to talk about on my live stream so those are conversation pieces in the back. but yeah, it was kind of funny when I went in there because the counter guy at the supply house the electrical supply house was like and I walked up and I go do you guys have a lug for the safety switch and he goes well, that's not a safety switch, that's a circuit breaker and I go welp no it's not, that is a safety switch and I need a lug for it? Do you have it? He's like what do you mean all right, gets all grumpy and I go dude. I wasn't trying to be a jerk but I said when you immediately walk in and try to correct me and you're wrong I'm gonna say something okay I'm not trying to be a jerk about it I said that is a safety switch and I go. What makes you think it's a circuit breaker and he goes well. it looks like a circuit breaker and I go. Okay so you're assuming and that's not correct I Said look at it. Yes it says 150 amps on it but it is a safety switch. It doesn't trip, it is just an on off 150 amp safety switch. All right. Um, let's see. that's a service switch that can handle 150 amps and they're very expensive. Hard working. knows exactly what I am talking about. So uh, let's see. um it's a safety switch. See everybody else out there knows. Okay you replace the Rawl device a raw valve on a 10 ton with two compressors. Damn line set is like 200 feet long and one circuit has 35 pounds in it and it wasn't overcharged now Jason um are they using that? is that for like a server room that they're running all the time and they're never shutting off? Is that why they have the Rawl device on there? Uh, I'm curious because my understanding of the rock it's so hard to pronounce that word. but the rawal devices are awl is that they essentially are. Is it just a D superheating expansion valve? That just, um, it's like capacity control Is it not? That's my understanding of how those things work. I Don't know if I'll see a response to that, but um, usually supply house guys are the ones who didn't make it in the trade info. Warrior I mean I'm sure there is some. let's not categorize every supply house guy because I do know some great Supply House people out there I Really do have some really good friends that work the supply houses too, but there is some bad ones too. Just like Service Technician guys, we can joke around and say that electricians don't clean up their messes. We can joke around and say that plumbers always run their lines in our way and different things like that, but honestly, that's a small percentage of that one battle electrician in that one bad plumber. I'm sure there's plenty of bad air conditioning guys out there too that all the other trades can talk about and vice versa. I'm sure there's supply houses out there that can say this guy brings in bad compressors all the time that are never bad and the manufacturer keeps sending them back. so you know it's easy for us to point fingers and different things. but it's not every supply house counter guy for sure. Um, let's see uh, reading through the chat. All right. Cool, all right. So um, this last uh since the last live stream I think I had a few videos and different things I had the Heatcraft podcast video thing or whatever. So uh, there was a series of four interviews that I did with Heatcraft Refrigeration. I I Was fortunate enough to fly back out to Uh Stone Mountain Georgia a couple months ago and we did some interviews and the first one was released about two weeks ago and I'm Gonna Keep releasing them I have another one coming in about a week or two and then another one in a week or two. after that and then one, you know, one more so we have four total. Uh, the next one is gonna be um and I'm currently working on the footage, some of it. We're kind of running into problems with some of the footage and some of the audio and different things so I'm I'm trying my best to edit them down. but the next one's going to be really interesting because it is a research and Development Lab tour. So I Walked through the Research and Development Lab of Heatcraft Refrigeration. Now this is their like special Projects lab where they test components for installation in their equipment. They test evaporators under crazy conditions. It was a really interesting interview and it was really cool to be able to walk through that lab. so that'll be coming out in about a week and a half. two weeks or something like that. Let's see what else we got in the chat going on. it was installed due to humidity as what you were told, whoever installed it butchered It in. Oh okay, right on. Um, how to scare a plumber dress like a broom for Halloween and trick-or-treat at their house? That's funny and I'm sure they all have something to say about us too. So uh, let's see. Um, all right. Uh, when you find a TXV out of adjustment, do I replace the power head or adjust the valve Jonathan Turner Uh, when I find a TXV out of adjustment. The first thing I think is why was this valve even adjusted in the first place? Okay, majority of the expansion valves out there honestly don't need to be adjusted. Okay, uh, if the valve was sized correctly and installed correctly, oftentimes you shouldn't really need to adjust it very much. Now, if you sized it on the top end of its capabilities or on the bottom end of its capabilities, Sure, you might have to go in there and adjust the expansion valve, but if you sized it with room for you know, both sides of its operational capacity, then for the most part they should be already adjusted. The next thing I'm going to think about is does it have any sort of a strainer? or is there any sort of a restriction going to the expansion valve? So in refrigeration Valves and hold on foreign. So this is a typical balance Port Externally equalized actually I Don't know. this is balance Port I Don't think it is, but it's an externally equalized valve. it's a right angle valve. This is an older one and you'll see right here. There should be a strainer right there and the strainer is missing. So always check to make sure that the strainer is cleaned. I Keep extra strainers in my van for the typical valves that I work on and so I can just pump the system down to a low pressure, do a quick hot swap, pull the old strainer out, put the new one in, and then tighten it up, and then just clean the other one later and then reuse it later down the line. but always check your strainers first. Next thing if I decide that the valve does need adjustment, we're going to look at the system's refrigerant pressures. We're going to look at the evaporator sizing and all that good information. Make sure it's not iced up again. No pressure drops or anything like that. Then I'll go in and adjust the valve now. I'm not going to replace it just because it needs to be replaced. Am I going to change the power head because it needs to be adjusted. No, not necessarily because think about the purpose of the power. Hood The purpose of the power head is that it has a constant pressure while it has a pressure in it that reacts to temperature. So it's going to push down on the diaphragm and oppose the spring pressure on the bottom and open and close the valve because of that roller, It's going to open the valve right. So if a valve needs adjustment, typically, it's not going to be a power head issue. Now, if the valve is not feeding correctly, if you try to adjust it and it just doesn't feed well, then maybe the power head might be bad in that case, depending on the situation. I might pump the system down and change the power head if it's a sporland power head because it's removable and you could just pop it off right, change the power head, and then try that. But yeah, I will try to adjust the valve and if it doesn't react to my adjustments and if it you know, do the research, find out if the valve is sized right, if it's sized right, and you're having to close the valve all the way down or open it all the way up, then something else is going on and you need to dig into it further. Hopefully that answers your question for you Bud. Um, am I a Roblox or Minecraft fan? No, my kids are but I'm not Landon uh no I don't really do any video games I did just get a PlayStation for the first time since I was a kid I just I'm a grown man and I ordered a PlayStation I mean whatever. but uh, it's funny because I ordered old school right? So I ordered a PlayStation and I'm like, all right, what games would my kids want because I have teenage daughters and I'm like what games do you guys want and they told me these ones and I ordered those games but then I got myself Gran Turismo So that takes me back to my Playstation days when I was a kid because Gran Turismo is my favorite game. So uh, I'll give myself about 20 to 30 minutes a day and I play Gran Turismo for a little while and that's about it. But I'm not a huge gamer person. honestly I get like motion sickness so I can play the race car games but I can't play other things like first person stuff. It makes me sick so uh, do I ever work on chillers? No uh, the biggest you ever worked on was a 2 000 ton water chiller, six inch output shaft. You could only start every 15 minutes. The sound when you start it was very loud I could only imagine but I would love to see that kind of equipment. Uh no. I've only ever worked on Light commercial refrigeration and air conditioning. so 30 ton package units and lower and five horsepower condensing units and lower. I've worked on a few parallel racks but I'm not well versed in it at all. So um, let's see. uh. reading through the chat, you was told CMS is finicky with having a CAC I don't know what that means frost Um, oh you're saying Journey Okay, you're answering someone else's question. Okay, got you? uh. reading through here. Uh, adults playing games is no issues? No, no, it really isn't I mean whatever floats your boat right? Uh, it just is fun. For me. it's like old school, you know? Um, let me see. Uh, let's see fun Fact: Gran Turismo run and Grand Theft Auto came out a month apart Gran Turismo Released seven this year and GTA 6 is a while off. Yeah I don't know which one I got I think it's like the 25th anniversary something or other I think it might be seven I don't know I I have no idea. Um, all right. Uh, let's get my So yeah. I Released the new Heatcraft one that's coming out uh, recently this last week too. It was really awesome! I Was able to attend the Ihackie Trade Show which is a local annual HVAC trade show. It was really neat. I got to meet a lot of great people walking the show floor and I got to talk with some cool manufacturers. Um, it was really neat. It's it's really humbling to be recognized by people when I'm walking around events and different things like that. True Tech Tools was there so I got to talk with my uh friends at Truetech Tools so that was neat and got to hang out with them and talk for a little while and got to see some of my Rscs friends. uh I used to be very active in my local Rscs chapter I Have not been active honestly since I started these videos because this has been taking up all my time. but it was good to get to catch up with everybody and then saw a lot of Manufacturers and Friends It was really neat so it was awesome and I'm looking forward I will be at the Ahr trade show in Atlanta Here in I think February it's either January or February but I'm going so I'll be there and that'll be fun too getting to talk with all the manufacturers I'll be spending time at the spoiling booth and the refrigeration Technologies booth and maybe some other booths too. so it just depends. it'll be a three-day event. I'm gonna be there actually three days before the show and a day after the show. so I'll have plenty of time there. Um, so interesting. If you guys haven't heard yet, there was some really interesting news that came out. Uh, first off, this last week I got a press release from of all Things Heatcraft. Refrigeration sent out a press release and notified me that Copeland is no longer going to manufacture their CF compressors or their CR hermetic compressors. So those are typically I think like one and a half horsepower. up to like three four horsepower compressors. Those are the medium temp in the low temp hermetically sealed compressors. They're the reciprocating compressors. Yeah, Copeland's no longer going to manufacture those. Wow, That is a huge thing in the industry right now. That means that we're gonna have to be doing scroll compressor conversions. and uh, you really, really when you're doing that kind of stuff, are really going to need to pay attention to the performance data of the scroll compressor. And make sure when you're converting one of Copeland's CR or CF compressors to a scroll that you follow the Copeland mobile app for their recommendations. they do have I mean I'm sure they'll figure this all out, but they have conversion recommendations for cross-referencing from one compressor to another and you're really going to need to follow that stuff because if you don't you can't just rely on the supply house to say that use this compressor. You need to do some of that research yourself. So that's something really big. And then on top of that, about a week and a half ago, I Read a press release that Emerson the the parent company of Copeland Compressors and White Rogers and Scentsy and all the different Uh Hvc controls and compressors. So Emerson is selling off all of their climate divisions. They sold off 55 percent of the company to a private investment firm. Uh, Blackstone Partners I think is what it was and I think they said they sold it for was it 14 billion dollars or something like that. But it's interesting because Emerson is no longer going to have a controlling interest, they're only maintaining like what? what? The press release that I read said like 45 of the company. So I'm we'll see where this goes. I've heard that it's going to allow for more innovation in Copeland compressors and different things like that, but I don't know. This kind of worries me I Don't know about you guys, but the private Equity buying up the entire industry right now is getting kind of scary. So what was it a couple years ago? Johnstone's Co-op Like all the owners of Johnstone because they're like franchise, they did some sort of a a cell a sale where they sold the majority of their company to a private investment company or something like that. or I think uh, United Technologies or something like that someone bought Johnstone right? and then now Emerson Climate is selling all their stuff out and what concerns me and then you have all these private Equity groups that have bought up all the residential and Commercial companies. At what point do those companies start merging and controlling the industry I Know that's conspiracy talk and stuff, but that is a little disheartening to think like. Okay, does that private Equity company that bought Emerson Climate division. You know, do they have any interest in residential, supply, house, or residential service companies? Do they have any interest in commercial service companies? That's some interesting stuff to think about, right? So that's some interesting uh news about the industry for sure. So uh, let's see what we got going on in the chat right now. Uh, what's the biggest walk-in that I've ever worked on? Biggest walk-in Um, I'd probably say maybe 4 000 square foot walk in. Maybe three thousand square foot somewhere in that range? Maybe is probably the biggest Probably. Uh, dual. three four horsepower condensing units running. you know, each half of the box or something like that. It's been a long time since I've worked on anything that big though. Are the CR and CF the Piston ones that look like Flathead engines? No, they don't look like Flathead engines. They look like giant pots. and they're They're uh, oval shaped and Tall so they're not re uh, they are piston driven. But they are not semi hermetic compressors that you know you can unbolt and take all the way apart. They're totally welded piston driven hermetically sealed compressors. So um, all right answered that one. You were in a walk-in that was the whole building. It was 57 000 square feet. That's pretty interesting. You get into some of the the warehouse style work and you'll see those big ones for sure. So let's see what else we got going on here. If you have a long line set, you have to upsize the receiver. Um, yeah, definitely. Uh, if you have a long line set, well, you don't necessarily have to upsize the receiver, but you have to make sure that the receiver, is sized appropriately for sure. Okay, so there's some calculations you can do because you want to make sure that when you pump down the entire refrigerant charge by front seating the king valve on that receiver, you want to make sure that when all the refrigerant goes into that receiver when it's pumped down, that it's no more than 80 percent full. That way you have room for expansion so there's some calculations that you need to do to make sure it is sized correctly. So Alaska had asked how was the Blue On experience. Ah see I See you follow my social media So uh I Met Brian one of the tech support guys from Blue on because he was at the Ihackie trade show. Shook his hand and talked to him about a few things and um uh, it was interesting. Uh, very cool dude. it was really awesome because um, he recognized me as I was walking by. he's like Chris you know and we started talking. So um and uh, it was pretty cool so you know I I Kind of told him you know in the past I had some frustrations with some marketing stuff and different things but you know what? um that was in the past and uh I've got no hard feelings. It is what it is. I'm really interested in what Blue One's doing these days and their tech support stuff so I kind of asked him about the whole tech support thing and like, you know, where's this going and and it was pretty cool. Really nice guy and I look forward to having some more conversations with him soon. So uh, let's see what else we got going on. the check: How to check the winter charge on an insulated receiver HVAC Boy oh, that's a good question. If you have an insulated receiver, well, then let's hope that you have some sort of receiver level system in there because if there's insulation covering it, then you have no way of heating up the receiver. So uh, maybe there's there's there's a float in there. Maybe there's uh, sight glasses in the receiver? I Don't know. You know that's a good question. but if it's completely insulated and there's no sight glasses and different things like that, you're kind of. Sol So um, let's see. Blackstone is generally known for leveraging leveraged buyouts with follow-on sales. Uh, divide and sell off. Oh interesting. Let's see if that works or doesn't you know I don't know. uh, it's a conspiracy theory that hits too close to home. Definitely can see it happening Zach Cody You know I mean I I'm not a conspiracy person and I don't want to spread rumors or anything like that like I don't ever want to use my platform for that. but maybe I shouldn't have said that, but that's something. That kind of made me feel a little uncomfortable. So those Cascade reefer units are pretty cool. only worked on a few I've only worked on one and I walked up to it and and it was a scientific Cascade unit that had multiple condensing units and all kinds of fancy controls. and and my gosh, there was so many relays and different things on that unit. and in all honesty, it was very early in my career and I was smart enough to tell the hospital that had called me out there like look guys like I'm sure I could figure this out, but I wouldn't do you any justice. and I'm not going to make any money trying to work on your equipment. so I highly suggest you call a company that specializes in your scientific type Refrigeration equipment and I let them take care of it. so I knew when to walk away. Okay, so I used to do work for a hospital customer and you got to be careful because some of that equipment has millions of dollars if not more of vaccines and medications and sometimes some of the stuff is invaluable. You know, because maybe it's a experiment that they're doing? or maybe there's samples in there that they're testing other people's DNA and doing blood work. And so you got to be really careful working on that stuff and you really got to make sure you know what you're doing. So for sure what is squeaking there is squeaking your tinnitus level sensor I don't know what's squeaking. That's interesting. Yeah, is there a mouse in my room? if there is. charge him rent because Cali is expensive? No. Is it possible that my levels are too high? I apologize if it's squeaking on you guys or maybe my pop filter I don't know I apologize. Hopefully it stops. Is it like when I say my s's Is it when I'm doing the plosives in different sounds? All right. let's see what else we got going on here. should you change phase rotation when doing a scroll conversion? Should you change phase rotation, it depends if it's phase dependent. Is it a scroll compressor? That's three phase and you got to get the phase rotation correct? Well sure, you need to make sure it's going in the right direction. If it's a single phase compressor, there's not much you can do. So how do I do inventory? You are in the Stone Age and writing everything down Jonathan I'm in the Stone Age too dude. I'm a small company so it's not too difficult for us. Um, let's see huh? I don't know what the squeaking is I think it might be me whistling when I'm talking. Hmm, yeah, that's interesting yeah. I don't know I apologize so it's I'm trolling you guys Yeah I don't know I have no idea. Uh, okay. one of the more common questions that I get quite often and I did another video where I had an iced up walking cooler and I just have to address this. Okay, why in the heck do we not have door switches or door alarms on our equipment or curtain strips on our walk-in doors? Why do I not sell those to my customers? They haven't wanted me to. Okay, here's the deal when you're dealing with these chain restaurants: I have installed door alarms in the past. The customer. uh, the cooks will just put duct tape over the door alarms. Okay, um, an alarm is not going to stop them from propping the door open. Okay, they break the alarm off the wall. These restaurants are having a hard time finding kitchen staff and they don't want to work any harder than the kitchen staff wants to work. Okay, it's basically that kind of an environment and uh, the customers just don't want to spend the money. Curtain strips: The moment that we sell them curtain strips, they end up just ripping them off or folding them up and over and out of the way so they just become irrelevant. I Would love to sell the customer all this different products, but you also have to understand something. I Try to inform my customers I try to tell them hey, uh, you know we should really do something better here. We should really eliminate this. Let me install a door alarm. but I'm in business to fix their equipment and I'm only going to go so far trying to convince them. Other than that, I'm just going to keep going out and making money de-icing their equipment. I Mean it's it's a fine line. If they want me to sell them a walk-in door alarm and walk in curtain strips and air curtains on the door. Sure, I'll do it, but you know it's kind of beating a dead horse because half the time they don't want us to do it. They just don't. So you know I can only do so much when it comes to that. What about a door switch that kills the power to the equipment? Well, there's a lot of variables that's involved in a door switch that kills the power to the equipment. If you're working on a walk-in cooler, it might be just as simple as killing the solenoid valve, the liquid line solenoid valve, but that's not going to turn off the fans. Now the refrigeration has stopped, but is the customer still going to be? It's cold when they walk in the door? Yeah. so they're going to be inclined to prop the door open. The other thing that's going to happen is you have oftentimes very, uh, scared, um, kitchen staff and they think that they're going to get locked in the walk-in door. The walk-in like, you know they're afraid and uh, it's just it's really difficult to convince them. Okay, I've seen customers that walk in and keep one foot out and they'll just reach and grab something because they're afraid they're going to get locked in there. I've seen customers prop the doors open with chairs because well, I don't want to get locked in the Box It's like you're not going to get locked in. You know it has emergency door releases and stuff so who knows. All right, sell them a DVD on how to use a walk-in That'd be a smart thing to do. Uh Michael Lingfelter says you work for Tech24 company you're owned by HCI Venture Capital yeah I Remember when you guys actually got bought out by HCI Um, it was a while back. but I remember that uh, when am I gonna have a pineapple party? Um, are you referring my my pineapple tea cup right here? that says Chris that my buddy Bill Russell from the HVAC overtime show got me. Uh yeah, my wife will not let me have a pineapple party. plus I'm not interested in having a pineapple party. Maybe we'll have a pineapple themed Meetup where everybody wears a pineapple hat but there's no freaky stuff going on. Yeah, we'll probably do that sometime. Um, so I had oh, but about the door switches and stuff. If you're trying to install a door switch on the walk-in freezer, it's pretty complex. You know you need relays and different things to shut the entire equipment down. It's not just as easy as breaking a wire because there's just a lot of complexity in installing door switches and making sure that they can handle the current and all those different things. So most of the times the customers just don't want it. Trust me. I'd love to sell the customer all kinds of stuff, but they just don't want it half the time. So uh, Fit for Strength says you've been in residential for 12 years running your dad's company. What's the best way to Branch out and learn something new in your industry? Books my friend. Download: Read: Purchase books I am not in the building science side of the industry, but I'm intrigued by it. I'm replacing the air conditioner in my house and I'm investigating and learning about building science. I Ordered this book right here I have no affiliation with Alice and Bells, but I'm interested. So I read it. You want to learn Refrigeration hands down from the air conditioning side. whether it be commercial or uh, residential, purchase this book. Commercial Refrigeration For Air Conditioning Technicians by Dick Wurz This book is an amazing book. It's not hard to read. it's very well written and it's for the person that understands the refrigeration cycle in general and understands how electricity works. How you can jump into the commercial side. This will teach you great great books research. Join the Facebook groups email watch YouTube videos Ask YouTubers There's lots of great stuff and always want to be bettering yourself for sure. Um, Alaska says he wonders what Bill did to this cup before he sent it to me. Yeah, it's true I washed it in really hot water. Okay, so uh and that's interesting I mentioned watch YouTube videos. Okay, so a commenter had emailed me saying that they watched they learned more from multiple YouTube channels and he named off a few and my mine was one of them. Then he actually did from school and that's that's a bummer. if you're learning more from YouTube than you did from school, then the school didn't do a good job. okay and I realize it's oh guys I know what the squeaking is I know I just found it. That's what it is I am trolling you I fidget with things I just realized it and I'm fidgeting with my pen. my apologies I'll put the pin far away from my hands I apologize I was messing with you or I wasn't intentionally messing with you but it was me so I apologize that was me that was making the squeaking sound. um, my bad. Okay, um, let's see. Uh so yeah, it's a bummer if you're learning more from YouTube videos than you are from a traditional education. I Realize that there's some bad schools out there, but schools need to do a better job. and I think it's very important that you have a formal education whether it be just a certificate or even like I don't even have a certificate I went to my local trade school. In fact I actually ran into my teacher actually just ran into him at the Ihackey trade show this last week too. but um I ran into my teacher uh, a couple years back and and he asked me he's like he was talking to me and he's like so you have your degree right and I was like no and he goes, you have a certificate right and I'm like no I was like I only need two classes I need to take technical math for air conditioning and