Diagnosis & Troubleshooting Method

When you walk up to a piece of equipment, you want to follow a process to ensure that you accomplish five things: #1 – You diagnose the fault correctly. #2 – If possible, you find the “why” of the failure. #3 – Find any other problems or potential problems with the system that can cause […]

This tech tip about non-invasive testing comes from a post in the HVAC School Facebook group by Ed Janowiak. Ed is the Manager of HVAC Design Education at ACCA, a longtime friend of HVAC School, and an educator who does a lot of great work for the industry. Thanks, Ed! This past Thursday, I taught […]

There are many great diagnostic tools available to the service technician today, but I haven't found a tool as versatile as the simple isolation diagnosis. There are many ways this concept can be applied, but let's start with some examples so that you get what I mean. Low Voltage Short Circuit Isolation Diagnosis You arrive […]

What is your methodology for troubleshooting an HVAC system that “can’t keep up” on the hottest days of the summer? Let me walk you through my process and hone in on one or two ideas that have been overlooked for too long in our industry. In this article, I’m assuming we have ruled out intermittent […]

This tech tip is based on the podcast with Joey Henderson, “Using Refrigerant Troubleshooting Charts w/ Joey Henderson.” You can listen to that podcast HERE. The HVAC trade is very much a visual one; I wouldn’t recommend doing a drinking game where you take a shot each time you read “Do a thorough visual inspection” […]

If you’ve been in this trade for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve run into situations that have left you scratching your head. If you’re lucky enough, you have the ability to call a senior tech, service manager, or company owner to bail you out of this situation. But have you ever run into […]

Today, I ran a service call with another tech where the previous tech had diagnosed an intermittent piston restriction. I read the history beforehand. For the past several years, there were many assorted comfort complaints and a lot of minor charge adjustments in both the summer and winter. It is worth noting here that the […]

This is the tale of how I found myself stuck on a service call for over 12 hours on a weekend due to my failure to re-diagnose an issue. I was working for a service company that had many accounts with local gas stations. These were large customers, and we did everything we could to […]

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GENERALIZATIONS. IT DOES NOT APPLY TO EVERYONE, AND WE HAVE ALL PROBABLY BEEN ALL OF THESE AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER. IF YOU FEEL PERSONALLY ATTACKED, I SUGGEST FINDING A SAFE SPACE AT A WEST COAST UNIVERSITY AND BORROWING A BINKY FROM A NEARBY TODDLER. ALSO, MY CAPS LOCK BUTTON IS […]