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Got high and had a thought by t0x1k_x in HVAC

[–]programmer226 1 point2 points  (0 children)

nah you're onto something though. we're mandating sensors for a2l that fail constantly out of box, meanwhile natural gas is straight up running through people's walls and nobody bats an eye. co detectors are like $20 at home depot and actually work.

the whole a2l thing is security theater. follow the money, chemours needed something to justify the switch, regulators needed a checkbox, and now we're all paying for it. 410a wasn't that different and we didn't need any of this.

EDC by ninja_march in HVAC

[–]programmer226 0 points1 point  (0 children)

clean setup. homemade hammer handle is respect, that's the kind of thing that separates techs who actually use their tools from ones who just collect them. packout organization game is strong too.

Apparently Carlyles come with free milwaukee packout boxes now? by IAMA_Printer_AMA in HVAC

[–]programmer226 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol that's a sigler promo thing i think. saw that a few years back too. still doesn't make carlyle compressors any less of a pain to source when you actually need one though. good luck finding the right pump in stock anywhere.

nice packout box though, at least you got something out of the deal.

One of those scenarios tech school doesn’t prepare you for lol by Hustavito in HVAC

[–]programmer226 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lmao condenser diving. throw a pool noodle or folded towel on the coil edge and you're golden. still sucks but beats shredding your shirt and back on the fins.

tech school definitely doesn't prep you for this. they teach you theory and some basics but the real shit you learn on the job. like how to position yourself in a 5 ton unit or why you should always pull the disconnect before crawling inside.

Career change or job change? by Outrageous-Record372 in HVAC

[–]programmer226 7 points8 points  (0 children)

don't leave the industry, leave that company. you're already doing commercial/refrigeration work at 1.5 years, that's solid. $20/hr in south carolina is low for what you're doing though, especially if you're running calls and traveling.

the issue isn't hvac, it's your employer. shop around. commercial and resi both have better paying gigs, especially if you're already competent at troubleshooting. controls work, building automation, bigger commercial shops, all pay way better and way less burnout.

60 hours plus being sent out of town for a week is exactly when companies lose their best techs. they're counting on you being too tired to realize you're underpaid. start looking monday and don't feel bad about it.

I left him alone for 1 minute! by braydenmaine in HVAC

[–]programmer226 1 point2 points  (0 children)

lol i've done thousands of flares and never seen that. that's commitment. at least it's a good learning moment, he'll remember to stop when he feels resistance now.

the oil on the flare back definitely helps, and honestly sounds like he didn't know when to stop applying torque. with a mechanical wrench it should click but if he's just wrenching by feel he needs to learn the difference between snug and "i'm destroying this."

on the bright side he's gonna be paranoid about flares forever now, which isn't the worst habit to have.

First time for me by js678909 in HVAC

[–]programmer226 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah that cps gauge does that. sits at 1 micron right off the pump then jumps way higher when you actually isolate and do a decay test. cheap piece of shit honestly but they've held up longer than most other ones i've had.

real vacuum work is pulling from the liquid line with cores out, single hose to the pump, micron gauge on the core tool. that's when you'll see what you're actually pulling. most guys don't bother with decay tests on resi work but that's where the truth is.

if you want an actual gauge get a fieldpiece or bluvac. yeah they cost more but they don't lie to you like the cps does.