They called late in the evening and said the walk in cooler has been warm all day and they needed me there asap...
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For any inquiries please contact me at chris @hvacrvideos.com
Mailing Address
HVACR VIDEOS
12523 LIMONITE AVE.
440 - 184
MIRA LOMA, CA. 91752
This video is brought to you by Sporland quality, integrity and tradition. Well Happy New Year it is uh 909 PM Friday December 30th We're gonna walk in cooler not working 51 degrees high temp and we have an A1 alarm. This is a heatcraft QRC controlled evaporator coil so let's pull the cover off and see what it says in there. So this is not what I want to see on a Friday night.
We also got an E6 A1 So if we come over here A1 is High room temp E6 is low superheat during Cooling and we're in pump down mode right now. That stinks Let's uh man, we're gonna pop up onto the roof. it's uh, raining outside so that kind of stinks so let's go up there and see what's going on. So uh, before I ran up onto the roof I decided to run by the main circuit breaker panel and uh man I found that the main circuit breaker had been left off.
That is a a bit frustrating to say the least. So I flipped the breaker for the evaporator real quick because obviously the main breaker for the compressors was off. So I think the unit went into an error and because it was saying PDN for pump down more than likely because it had low superheat for so long. The reason why it sees low Super easy because it sees basically no superheat so it thinks it's low superheat.
So Eventually it'll shut off on an error. Um I Think that what happened was the customer got a delivery today and they did what they were supposed to do and turn off the breaker when they did their walk-in delivery and put everything away and someone forgot to turn it back on but I already showed the manager because I literally called and asked them before I came out uh did you get a delivery today because I know this restaurant and they said yeah and I said did you check the breakers and they said yeah, they're all on I said what kind of breaker did you check because there's there we go see now we have a delay and it's turning on So I said what kind of Breakers did you check she I said was it a really small one or a big giant one and she said it was a small one and I said go check for the big giant one because it's a three-phase circuit breaker for the condensing unit and she goes well, nothing's off and they don't turn anything off so we'll see I'm gonna jump up on the roof real quick and check. All right. So it's raining up here, but I gotta figure out which one's which now this one is the walk-in freezer.
I'm just guessing because we have a liquid injection on the compressor and it's not running but you can see that it had been running. Nothing's labeled I don't know why when I walked up I heard this one turn on so I think this is the walk-in cooler and then I think this is their beer walking I think this is 448a So yeah I think this is the beer walking and I think this is our walk-in cooler so we're going to give a minute. Let's have a look right here. Sight glass is clear, both condenser fan motors running, suction line and liquid line see liquid line section line is cool.
Let's open up the electrical panel real quick. Oh yeah, walk-in cooler. So cool. I heard it turn on right when I walked up. So yeah, it was just them leaving the breaker off and good gosh. we've got loose belts. So here's what I'm gonna do. Yeah, this is frustrating.
Yeah I tried to walk him through it. Yeah, I'm here late at night. Yeah, it's raining all that good stuff. but life happens.
Okay, yeah, the manager should have checked like I asked her. but again, why be negative when you know it is what it is. Life happens right? So I know that that makeup air unit has a loose belt. Guaranteed these guys are going to have loose belts too.
So what I'm going to do is I'm going to go around and just take a quick look on the roof while I'm waiting for that thing to drop. You know, just a little bit in temp the walk-in box and I'm just going to look and see if there's belts and stuff and I'm going to generate more service calls out of this because I'm genuinely just going to look around and say hey, you know what I can hear a belt squeaking on that We'll get them to create a work order I might as well while I'm here, just kind of look out for their best interests, see if they've got any other issues. So I'll open up the ACs real quick. It sucks being here, but you know I'm gonna make the best of it, huh? It's already coming down.
I mean not a lot, but it's at 49. Sight glass is clear. Let's look at the back of the coil see if it's all dirty. It's kind of hard I gotta climb to get back there.
Remember sending one of my guys here to clean this? It's not dirty at all, so that's a good sign. All right? Well, we're just gonna watch it drop a little bit in Tim and then I'll get out here and we'll be coming back to look at the belt on that make up our unit. The other exhaust fans seem to be they're all running so I don't know if they have loose belts or not, but we'll deal with it when it's not raining. So that was extremely frustrating because I literally called them and tried to walk them through.
Are you sure you checked all the breakers? you know and I I know that particular restaurant. So I was like did you guys get a delivery today because that was their typical delivery day and they said yeah and when I got there, you know I found that the breaker was just simply off. It was frustrating to say the least and I can promise you that when they offered me food in consolation, I uh said yeah, no thanks. Oh man, what a day that was.
that was the date that was the 30th right and then I got a call on the 31st too. That was a frustrating one like oh my gosh, So stay tuned for that video. But whoo boy what a New Year's pre New Year's Eve or whatever you want to call it New Year's Eve Eve But I mean for real, you know I'm really complaining like these are the petty problems that I talk about I'm so fortunate to have these Petty problems and again, you know, while I was up there I heard um belt squealing and it gives me an opportunity to go back out there and you know I was able to generate another service call, have the customer create another work order and then I'm going to go back out and change belts I haven't even been. you know, been back out yet. but uh, you know it's just one of those things. it's It's a bummer when you get those calls, but just remember, you know the manager on duty. You know it's frustrating, but for real, they have a lot of stuff going on. They're understaffed, it's just crazy.
So while I still am genuinely frustrated I didn't really vent into the customer. they knew you could see the embarrassment on the manager's face when I just politely, you know, kill him with kindness kind of a thing. So I went through the equipment and then you know, just go grab the manager hey, do you mind, Can I show you something for a sec you know and she goes, oh please don't tell me it was something easy and then I just walk her right over to the breaker panel and I go. is this the breaker that you checked and I turned it on and I go.
the breaker was off, you know? but hey I and I told her I said but hey, I'm gonna still go through the equipment I'm going to check it all out, you know and then also I didn't show it in the video. the walk-in cooler door is not shutting right the hinges don't work. so I'm gonna go back and change all those too. but it's just one of those things.
It's a bummer. but like I said, it is what it is, you know I just do the best that I can and I try not to get too overwhelmed with this stuff. And it's funny too though because on the way home I called my wife and I'm like you wouldn't believe what it is and she goes, don't tell me it was the breaker Because she was sitting right next to me when I walked and when I tried to walk the manager through everything and I was like yep, I just had to turn the breaker on. You know Here's your sign kind of a thing but again, you know, still do your due diligence, make sure the equipment's running.
Check the sight glass I Saw no need to put service gauges on it, but you still just kind of check everything. It was cold and it was raining so that's a perfect time to check the sight glass make sure it's not empty. It's also really important to understand and be able to differentiate between an empty sight glass and a Clear Sight glass. It's hard for me to describe how to tell um, but you know an empty sight glass looks Hollow a Clear Sight glass.
you can usually see a haze if you're curious. Just shut the equipment off, turn it back on and you'll just watch the sight glass clear right up. I Really appreciate you making it to the end of the video as usual. Thank you so very much for all this continued support! Um 2022 was an awesome year and uh, let's hope that 2023 is just as good if not better.
I Hope to continue to uh you know, keep making these videos and hope to share the new podcast with you. Um, and you know all that. So thank you so very much and we will catch you on the next one.
“Can I show you something for a sec” my favorite saying!!
you could have had the mgr send a picture of the breaker panel to you
panel breakers need labels. it is code
Another great video thank you. Are you in Barrhaven ?
Im a new subscriber
May I ask what was the problem?
i not only like how your doing such a good job, but your humor is best!
It happens to every field service engineer, even after talking to other people on a site,Ye,Ye everything is switched on. Drive 3 hours to switch on, or open a valve on a compressor or something. On weekend service cover,it's six hours overtime, which is nice, during the week,when there are other calls to attend it's very frustrating. The other really frustrating bit is when someone else has been to a call and done nothing and you fix it in 10 minutes. The number of places that just put someone untrained in a department that needs a little knowledge,but was stacking shelves the day before is ridiculous.
Never say no to free food. Even if you don’t want it. next time you are there you will be hungry and they will subconsciously remember you said no last time and not offer food. I learned that years ago when I was a helper on a beer truck
Always remember — "don't get mad… just charge accordingly"
Apollo 13, flight control, do we have a go or no go? copy? Chris are we still on VOX or Baby VOX? copy?
I'm not in the trade, so I wonder with a call like this, is it a billable visit? Or are these covered under some "retainer" type contract?
I’ve made a lot of money off of staff messing with schedules on thermostats….. Are you in Ottawa ?
It's called New Years Adam… 😁
You would be a lot more negative if you weren't working for yourself, Chris.
probably a new manager weekly or temp manager and nobody has a clue.
when you asked "are the breakers on", they were probably looking at the light switches, headsets or water valves. 🤡
Easy overtime money, at least.
Circuit breakers are not meant to be on-off switches. Somebody needs to cure that end of the problem.
these type of call are the wrost to get but we still make sure every thing with that bit of equitment is work and that it din't trip a break/fuse
They need one of those twist timers to shut everything off for a few minutes then the timer expires and everything powers back on.
I wouldn't be too pissed. They are just catching an $800 invoice for that shit.
It’s still money right?
Thanks for these videos !! Big fan all the way from
Montreal Canada!! Happy new year !!
Can you explain the purpose of liquid injection? Good video!
One of the problems of this type of service call is a lot of times you get calls complaining about the 6-700 OT bill for what is ultimately just flipping a breaker. Sometimes the headache isn't worth it, so gotta get a plan to make it so this issue isn't a future call again
Glad to hear about changing hinges – they wear out. Much better then adding closers that eventually tweak door and then BAM! They need a new door.
Hey Chris, I like your podcast/social media, looking thru some comments? I don't know Chris? cost cost cost, who is the boss boss boss? But again, human behavior. Love you buddy, jolly good show old boy.
Is this location hesitant to install a timer switch for deliveries and thus use the breaker? Wouldn't OT fallout costs almost pay for one? Would it be possible to make a maintenance contract provision that a timer install merits a discount to nudge customers to do the right thing, under the justification of less wear from delivery temp changes?
Thumbs uP
I feel you. I do IT work for airlines, mainly United. I've had calls for kiosks that don't print and they're out of paper which is the agents responsibility to refill. Another one is device not working; switch unit to the ON position and presto! And my absolute favorite is when Dominion Electric managed to cut power to all of DCA airport at night, I was asked to come in. Just as I walk into the main comm room the power comes back on. Time to go home! 🤣🤣🤣
That is true customer service!!!! I rather have one of those than open up supply house, swapping out heavy parts in the rain. That customer will call you for all kinds of work. Service area Barrhaven??
Man I hope your late night trip charge was worth you going out there for a breaker…
Can you put a twist timer on that unit for them to use instead of them sitting off the breaker? Service area Kanata??
Personally I would rather have a quick fix than a huge science project at 9pm.
Just reinforces how good of a technician you are, plus you look like a Hero!
Hi Their, It happens to all of us, I fix scissor lifts and Cherry pickers. The amount of times I get called out out of hours and talk them through the fundamentals and check the basics, get there and the main on/off switch is off ! Basic laziness, can't just check, then they quibble about the charge ? Are you in Nepean ?
Time to put in the pneumatic button and contactor to turn off the unit for x minutes at a press without wearing out a breaker not designed for switch duty (actually for some things switch duty breakers do exist, but they are special breakers) and without the risk of it being left off, that or an alarm that triggers based on lack of power on the main circuit for x time.
Last week, on one of my days off, a frantic plea for help went out over the crew chat: "I can't get water from the mop cleaner dispenser." It's my day off, I'll look at it when I come in next. Open up the mop closet, walk over to the bib sticking out of the wall, opened the hot water valve, and… Wouldn't you know, it works fine. All you need is actual water to make the water flow.
What did they do before I "fixed" it? Lifted the mop bucket into the center section of the three-bay sink, filled it up 1/4th, and struggled to lift it out of the sink. I mean, we have FOUR 2-gallon plastic buckets that could be filled in the sink and dumped into the mop bucket, but… Same lovely crew members who didn't know to turn the water on in the first place. lol
All the best in 2023 Chris and family. 👍
In the end it’s a overtime call + spawn of extra tickets = more money for your company and it’s better then lack of work. This not the best time of year for most HVAC people.
They will listen once they get the bill for that visit. After-hours, emergency call, labor only, ouch. If their home office gets the bill, then their boss will be on the horn with them ripping into them like a jug of Drano does to clogged pipes.
Hey, they are the ones paying for the service call. At least by looking around you let them know you actually went up to check things.
Well……fuck
Frustrating, but still decent revenue. 😁
Breakers are not switches. They shouldn’t be going into the breaker panel ever. Whoever taught them to flip off the breaker should be fired. Are you in Orleans ?
I've had this happen to me before. Extremely frustrating but at the end of the day I'd rather customers call me than another company
I usually ask customers to take pictures of alarms or breakers if they can bfore I go out
job security!? Service area Orleans??
Time to put in a timer. Lol
Very typical /r/talesfromtechsupport story 🙂 Service area Nepean??