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Limit Switch Troubleshooting for HVAC Techs

By Roman Baugh Sam Behncke Larry Willoughby

June 28, 2026

Limit switch troubleshooting is a must-have skill for every tech in the field. In this video, we break down how these bimetal devices work — and why they trip in the first place. From dirty filters restricting airflow to failed high-pressure switches, understanding the why behind the fault is just as important as the fix for HVAC systems.

We also cover the big question: should you ever bypass a safety switch? Short answer — never walk away from a system with safeties bypassed, especially on electric heat strips. Always investigate the root cause, communicate clearly with your customer, and leave the equipment protected.
Pro tip: Keep a limit switch on your truck. They could save you a callback!

#airflow #commercial hvac #filters #hvac #limit switch

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Does AI Belong in Trades Education w/ Ty

byBryan Orr

Bryan opens this conversation with Ty Branaman, Head of Training at the GRIT Foundation, by digging into a question that anchors everything else in the episode: what is trades education actually for? Ty’s answer is unambiguous — it’s about people, not information. He describes his own struggle with traditional, reading-heavy instruction and explains how that personal experience shaped his teaching method, one built around making concepts visible, relevant, and hands-on. Bryan builds on the idea, arguing that education is too often treated as a simple transfer of information when it’s really a deeply human exchange, a kind of gift passed from one person to another through real, physical, kinesthetic experience rather than passive reading or watching.

From there, the conversation turns to artificial intelligence, the central topic of the episode. Ty is careful to clarify that he isn’t anti-AI; he uses it daily to clean up grammar, soften prickly emails, and refine images. His concern is specifically about AI replacing the human elements of teaching — the mentor a student looks up to, the instructor who visibly cares whether someone actually learns. Bryan adds a related warning about AI confidently producing false information, citing examples from law and HVAC alike, and introduces the idea of an “AI human sandwich,” where human creativity starts the process, AI assists in the middle, and a human vets and rehumanizes whatever comes out the other end.

Much of the discussion circles back to Ty’s long-standing frustration with PowerPoint-driven training, and how AI threatens to make that problem worse by adding a synthetic avatar to read slides aloud instead of fixing the underlying issue. He recounts being written up at a previous job for skipping a PowerPoint lecture to take students into the lab, and shares a favorite teaching memory from Kalos, where an instructor named Burt used the Socratic method to walk trainees through assembling Unistrut by hand. Stories like the blower-wheel, set-screw lesson — where students learn far more by struggling through a mistake than by hearing the right answer recited to them — reinforce the episode’s larger argument: hands-on repetition simply cannot be replaced by slides or scripts.

The episode closes on the mission of the GRIT Foundation and the broader case for investing in human mentors rather than administrative shortcuts. Ty and Bryan talk about the cost and effort behind genuinely human-made training videos from creators like Craig Migliaccio and SkillCat, contrasting that investment with how easily AI could fake the same content for far less. Bryan shares a personal story about teaching basic electrical work in Haiti and the unforgettable reaction of an elderly student who lit up the moment her circuit worked, while Ty reflects on the mentors who shaped his own career. Both agree that AI can support trades education, but it can never substitute for a person who genuinely cares whether someone learns.

Topics Covered

Why trades education is fundamentally about people, not the transfer of information
Where AI genuinely helps: grammar and tone, reassembling ideas, image editing, and basic legal or HR research
The line Ty draws — using AI to assist a person is fine, using it to replace one is not
The risk of AI confidently presenting false information, and why everything still has to be fact-checked
Bryan’s “AI human sandwich” framework for using the tool responsibly
Ty’s long-running critique of PowerPoint-heavy training and how AI avatars make the problem worse
Classroom stories: getting written up for skipping a PowerPoint, the blower-wheel set-screw lesson, and Bert’s Socratic-method exercise with Unistrut at Kalos
The GRIT Foundation’s commitment to hands-on, mentor-led learning over app-based or AI-generated content
The human effort behind training videos from creators like Craig Migliaccio and SkillCat
Personal mentorship stories, including a memorable lesson in Haiti and the mentors who shaped both guests’ careers

Learn more about the GRIT Foundation at https://www.thegritfoundation.com/.

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