The summer is a season of opportunity for HVAC technicians, and by opportunity, I mean a super high volume of service calls with a greater chance of callbacks. 

We’re based in Florida, so our techs have to deal with the combination of blistering heat and higher humidity. That combo can cause all sorts of problems: failed capacitors, drain clogs, and a difference between a customer’s expectations and the reality of their system’s cooling capabilities. On top of that, we may be tempted to rush through calls, and intense heat can cause or worsen brain fog. Both of those increase the likelihood of callbacks.

Our residential team recently had a meeting where we discussed how we can stay on our game during the busy season and reduce the likelihood of callbacks. This tech tip will cover some of the ideas from that meeting.

Sharpen Your Saw

If you’ve read Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, then you’ve probably heard “sharpen the saw” before. It’s about taking the time to repair and hone your tools—physical and mental—so you can work more effectively. 

In woodworking, your saw is your greatest physical asset, and a sharp saw makes much faster, more precise cuts than a dull, rusty one. Keeping that saw sharp requires a regular time commitment between jobs, but you save time on each job in the end by reducing the need for rework or unnecessary exertion, which is where time pressure and fatigue really add up.

We can “sharpen the saw” in HVAC/R service work by defining, tightening, and really knowing our processes.  

Here are some ways to “sharpen the saw” in HVAC/R service:  

Know Your Tools

This one may seem obvious, but you want to make sure you know your tools very well before you use them to diagnose systems. That means knowing two key things:

• How they work 
• How to maintain them

RTFM applies to tools, too, especially leak detectors, combustion analyzers (yes, even in the summer), and vacuum pumps. All of these have unique operational features and limitations that you’ll want to be aware of.

Electronic leak detectors are of particular importance because there are a few different types. You’ll likely have a heated diode (like the Bacharach H-10), an infrared (like INFICON’s D-TEK Stratus), or an ultrasonic leak detector (like the AccuTrak VPE). Heated diode leak detectors may have a warm-up period or have heat temperature adjustments. It’s possible to get false positives if you STOP moving an infrared leak detector (or expose a leak detector to certain chemicals, like automotive ones). Some may have a calibration vial and recommended maintenance intervals. 

All the information you need to know about operation and maintenance can be found in the manual. You can find these in the box, if you still have it, or look them up online. That goes for all tools, not just leak detectors. If you look the tools up at TruTech Tools, you can scroll down and click the Resources tab, where you will usually be able to find a PDF of the tool manual there.

Create a Checklist

Checklists are great for establishing a routine and preventing callbacks. When you list tasks in order and commit to following that order, you can do the job slightly quicker each time—without rushing and risking mistakes.

Plus, when you can literally “check all the boxes,” you’re less likely to miss crucial steps. If you need to write “Make sure the disconnect is back in and the system is running” at the bottom of your list and check it off, do it! Forgetting to power the system back on is an extremely common callback that you can practically eliminate with a checklist.

Reduce Your Movements

Being intentional about tool placement in your van and which tools to grab and when can shave time off your service calls without making you rush. 

For example, if you get the call notes and are pretty sure you’ll be dealing with a clogged drain, know where your shop vacuum, bottles and/or funnels, and cleaners are so that you can grab them in as few trips as possible.

What you’re really doing is turning five trips to and from the van into just one or two. Instead of making up time by rushing through service procedures, you’re leveraging your organizational skills and being more intentional. Again, organizing the van and maintaining what goes where takes time and discipline, but it’s easier and takes less time to maintain it than to scramble to find the tools you need on each service call.

Prevent Your Mindset From Drifting

We’ve probably all had times when we’ve had a goal that was going well… and then we slipped… and then we lost sight of the goal entirely. It tends to go like this:

You set out to lose 15 pounds, get the first few down, and then Taco Bell (or McDonald’s or Chipotle or whatever you’re into) calls your name. “Just once,” you say, but we all know it almost never ends up being one cheat meal. If you’re not careful, the scale will go right back up to where you were before (maybe with a little extra).

The same principle applies when we don’t make it a point to uphold our own standards in the field every single time. 

Build and Reinforce Habits Based On Thoroughness

At Kalos, we train our techs to be thorough. That means using qualitative AND quantitative data: observations and numbers, respectively. 

Qualitative data includes: 

• Observing platform and plenum condition
• Checking the pitch of the drain line and float switch position
• Touching the suction line and checking insulation
• Throwing your hand over the condenser to feel for warm air
• Looking for bloated capacitors, messy splices, etc.

You can notice things that may or may not be related to the service call. If you notice a float switch tilted up, give it a quick nudge into the proper place; you could save the customer a lot of money (and trouble) by preventing an overflowing pan and water damage. If you notice something like a sagging platform or a poor splice, you can quote options to fix it. The customer doesn’t HAVE to agree to the quote, but you’ve made them aware and given them the choice. If something happens a few months down the line, we can know we’ve done our due diligence. 

To get quantitative data, the techs deploy ALL their probes. Deploying all the probes lets you see things beyond the obvious and allows for more thorough diagnostics. In the case of new customers, we also get historical data on their system that we can use for faster, more accurate diagnostics during future service calls. 

Now, there are legitimate situations where we WON’T want to deploy all the probes (such as hooking up probes during a downpour). But if we slack off for the sake of getting through a job faster, it’s easy to revert back to a more lax service mindset where we’re more prone to missing things. Same for getting tunnel vision and ignoring important qualitative cues.

Resist the DESIRE to Rush or Skip Steps

It seems like we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from being thorough and intentional about van and tool organization. Why on earth would we want to rush or skip steps?

Well, when you’re actually doing the work, it can be tempting for a few reasons:

• It’s late—you just want to get home and rest
• You have several other calls ahead of you and don’t want to hold anyone up
• The customer seems challenging and might not respond well to quotes about other, seemingly unrelated issues
• “I’ll have more time tomorrow” (will you really, though?)

All of those make perfect sense, but you’re setting yourself back if you give in to that desire to rush or skip steps: 

• If you rush a call because you want to get home or to the next call and leave the disconnect out, you’ll have to take more time out to drive back.
• If you don’t mention a nearly level drain line to a testy customer and it eventually spirals into full-on water damage, that customer is going to be even more frustrated with an expensive call later. 
• If you don’t reorganize your van tonight and can’t find your cleaners on the drain clog call you get tomorrow, you’re spending more time on that call than you need. 

See how you just end up losing time when you rush?

It’s All Part of the Wide-Narrow-Wide Mindset

Even though it may seem like being thorough and deliberate takes more time in the moment, it’ll actually save you LOTS of time in the end. Whether that time comes from eliminating callbacks, reducing the amount of time it takes to find a tool, or making fewer trips to and from the van, it all adds up. 

But we have to establish and practice those good habits to make the most of them. Most of all, we have to recognize when that mindset is starting to drift. How can we recognize it? 

Think about what you’re doing in terms of the wide-narrow-wide framework. 

Too Narrow?

When you pull up to a house, are you:

• Mapping out your plan of attack based on the call notes so you’re in and out in under an hour?

Or are you:

• Noticing how shade or sun around the structure might relate to complaints about “the AC not keeping up” or high humidity?
• Taking the time to talk to the homeowner and ask questions about their comfort and what they’ve been noticing?
• Putting your hand over the condenser, grabbing the suction line, and looking at the wire splices?
• Remembering clearly where your tools are and planning to take readings?

If you resonated with the first bullet point more than the others, then you may be diving too quickly into the “narrow” phase. You may be missing out on key observations in the “wide” phases. 

The narrow phase is crucial—it’s where the real focus happens—but we can also make mistakes when our focus is so narrow that we neglect other big-picture factors that may have immediate or long-term effects.

Go Wide to Stop the Drift 

Again, going wide is about deliberately taking everything in. You can create a “wide” checklist to make sure you don’t miss any potential “big-picture” data or secondary problems. 

This checklist can include things like:

• Service disconnect condition
• Drain pitch
• Float switch position
• Wire splice condition
• Platform condition
• Plenum condition
• Readings of the 5 Pillars
• Condenser discharge air
• Suction & liquid line temps
• Listen for any odd noises
• Feel for airflow at the registers

A list with items like these will force you to focus on the entire system, not just the one thing that might be the problem.

The same principles apply to van organization. Having a day-end checklist, perhaps with a reminder of where things go and why it matters, helps you establish and keep up these time-saving habits. 

What to Do When You’re TEMPTED to Drift

Now, it’s not realistic for there to be NO desire to put off cleaning the truck until tomorrow or to breeze through a capacitor replacement. Service techs are under a lot of pressure, and it’s understandable to power through calls and relax as early as possible. 

When we need that reminder and a checklist doesn’t provide enough structure and motivation, think about what a cleaner van will allow you to do. Think about how much you (and the customer) DON’T want to deal with water damage three months down the line because you didn’t notice or mention a poorly pitched drain.

Remember what you’ll achieve:

• Fewer callbacks
• Reduced likelihood of future emergency service calls for preventable problems
• Less scrambling to find tools on-site
• The potential for less physical and mental fatigue at the end of the day
• More time for your family

Those will hopefully make it easier to keep at it. In the meantime, take full advantage of the summer as a time for growth. There’s no shortage of calls for you to practice and refine your processes.