Testo 557 vacuum gauge and Appion core removal tools shown I've had a change of heart. Back in the early 2000s, during the big construction boom, I did many system startups on residential units for a large company I worked for. When installers ran the line sets prior to startup, they weren't always very careful […]

We already know that oxy-acetylene torches have a lot of safety considerations attached: don’t oil regulator threads, bubble-test your hoses, you get the picture. But there’s one more we haven’t really covered: the 1/7 rule (or 1/10 rule, based on the latest industry guidance).  This commonly cited rule reduces the likelihood of flammable acetone coming […]

When sealing ductwork or repairing HVAC insulation, the tape you choose dictates the long-term integrity of the system. Temperatures fluctuate wildly in attics and mechanical rooms,  and the tape must be able to withstand these environments without degrading. To better understand how different professional-grade adhesives actually perform under elevated temperatures, we decided to put them […]

In this podcast, Jeremy Smith joins us to discuss demand cooling in low-temperature applications that use R-22 refrigerant. R-22 is NOT an ideal low-temperature refrigerant because it leads to high compression ratios. The discharge gas also gets really hot and can burn up the oil in the system. (The head of the compressor is even […]

Today, Jeremy Smith joins us to discuss low-ambient conditions and controls, condenser flooding, and headmaster valves. He has also given us a companion article on those subjects, which you can read below. Download the podcast directly HERE. As always, if you have an iPhone, subscribe HERE, and if you have an Android phone, subscribe HERE. […]

Jeremy Smith goes over floating suction and floating head refrigeration strategies. He also talks a bit more about low-ambient equipment operation. Floating suction controls developed when we started using low-pressure controls on rack refrigeration. As the electronics advanced, we developed controls that could control temperature, which impacts pressure as well. Nowadays, controls can cross data […]