Diagnosis & Troubleshooting Method

  You've probably heard the famous last words, “Dude, watch this,” before a concussion, burn, shock, broken bones, or some other bodily harm. This phrase has become synonymous with young guys doing something dumb to impress their friends. Technicians have two common phrases that may not lead to bodily harm (although sometimes they might), and […]

A good technician uses their senses before they use diagnostic tools. Is your suction line abnormally cold? Make sure the evaporator coil isn't frozen, and inspect for obvious airflow issues like a dirty filter or evaporator coil. Is your liquid line abnormally warm to the touch? It could be a dirty condenser, condensing fan issue, […]

This article is part 5 of a 5-part series on troubleshooting by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC tech Jeremy Smith. This step might be the most challenging part of troubleshooting. We've got a “Most Likely candidate” for the trouble, but we don't know for certain that's what is wrong. So, we have to combine our customer […]

This article is part 4 of a 5-part series on troubleshooting by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC tech Jeremy Smith Ok, so we've got our data scribbled and scratched out on paper. Maybe a bit of grease, dirt, and oil, too, if you're doing things right—blood if you're doing it wrong. Now, time to take a […]

This article is part 3 in a 5-part series by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC Technician Jeremy Smith. Let's start with step#1 in the flowchart: Gather data. This is why we spend money on those fancy digital manifolds, shiny electrical meters, and other gadgets, widgets, and doodads. It isn't to brag about them on Facebook; it's […]

This article is the second in a 5-part series by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC tech Jeremy Smith.  The Ground rules I've spent some time thinking about troubleshooting and the processes and procedures that I use to find problems. Not the “why isn't my air-conditioner running?” problems, but the “Things just aren't quite right”-type problems—the really […]

This article was written by Senior Refrigeration tech Jeremy Smith. Big thanks to Jeremy for his contributions to HVAC School and the tech community. Having spent many years in the trade and many years reading posts from techs on forums and social media, a big issue that I see is that troubleshooting is something of […]

I was watching this video on the HVACR Videos channel by my friend Chris Stephens, and I was impressed by how completely he diagnoses the system both visually and with his tools. Take a look. I say this all the time, but a good, efficient technician is one who sees everything and can also quickly […]

How many times has the following situation happened to you? You're on your way to that final service call. While you're listening to the customer explain their complaints over the phone, there's this precise moment where you've thought: “I know what it is already. This will be a quick one.” Sometimes, intuition proves to be […]