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Btu Buddy 83: Electric Heat Questions and Answers
Bob and Btu Buddy have gotten together for coffee to discuss the previous service call and some of the questions about electric heating that came up. Btu Buddy said that they would talk about them one at a time, and probably other questions would come up.
by Bill Johnson
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Improving Chiller Efficiency
When you improve chiller efficiency, you can have better control of the chiller and the air conditioning in the building, and the chiller will also last longer. The recommendations here are for centrifugal chillers. Several different methods are suggested.
by Mike Taitano
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Btu Buddy 82: Electric Heat Furnace Confusion
A call has come in from a new customer that the system in a small office building is not heating properly. Bob finds the building has an electric heat furnace and, when he removes the panel, he is amazed at how many wires and terminals there are and starts to become confused. Btu Buddy arrives to assist him.
by Bill Johnson
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Troubleshooting Challenge: A Modular A/C Unit That’s Not Cooling
In this month’s troubleshooting situation we’re taking you to a modular classroom with a heating/cooling unit that employs resistance-type elements for the heating mode, and a direct expansion system for cooling. The complaint is that there is “very little cooling” being accomplished.
by Jim Johnson
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Btu Buddy 81: Frosting Heat Pumps
The day has been cold and damp, and Bob has been called to do a routine checkup on a heat pump in a condominium complex. Most of the units in the complex are frosted over, but the unit that he is to service has a very different frost pattern. Bob is trying to figure out what’s going on when Btu Buddy appears to help him.
by Bill Johnson
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Top Five Reasons Commercial Customers Need an Energy Efficiency System
The greatest energy cost reduction opportunity lies with the HVAC system — a facility’s largest discretionary source of energy demand and, thus, its highest controllable expense. Advancements in commercial energy efficiency systems have now made them far more affordable for small to mid-sized facilities.
by Gus Ezcurra
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Btu Buddy 80: Duct Restriction
Bob gets a service call where the owner says there is not enough heating at one end of an office building. With Btu Buddy's assistance, Bob checks the duct system and finds that a piece of duct liner is laying down in the duct blocking the airflow and he proceeds to correct the problem.
by Bill Johnson
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Troubleshooting Challenge: A Furnace That’s Not Heating the Whole House
In this troubleshooting situation, we have a customer who is complaining about one of the bedrooms in their home, specifically that the gas furnace doesn’t warm the room properly. When you arrive, you find that the bedroom in question is the furthest from the furnace, and that the duct system is an extended plenum system.
by Jim Johnson
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Btu Buddy 79: Lunchtime Lesson on Dew Point
Their last service call is continued as Bob and Btu Buddy meet for lunch at the restaurant where the call occurred to discuss dew point. The duct through the dining room was dripping because the duct surface temperature was below the dew point temperature of the room and moisture formed on the duct surface.
by Bill Johnson
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An Ounce of Prevention Can Be Worth $1 Million
We probably heard it many times growing up, the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When it comes to your customer’s HVAC system, preventive maintenance not only increases the life of the system, improves energy efficiency, and reduces pollutants, but it also saves homeowners money.
by Dale Green
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Btu Buddy 78: Sweating Duct
Bob gets a call from the dispatcher that a new customer, a restaurant, has some ductwork in the dining room that has been sweating during the lunch hour for the last several days and dripping on the customers. It is about lunchtime so Bob goes to the restaurant to check it out. Btu Buddy helps in solving the problem.
by Bill Johnson
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Btu Buddy 77: Starved Evaporator, TXV
This service call is for a routine checkup on an old 7½-ton unit using R-22. The call is going well until the owner mentions to Bob that the unit has actually never cooled well. Bob then proceeds to do a complete check of the system with Btu Buddy’s assistance.
by Bill Johnson
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Higher Amps: For Better or for Worse?
A critical element of motor servicing technique is being able to determine whether or not a replacement motor that is not an exact duplicate of the original is suitable for the application. As a technician, you must consider a number of factors, but this article focuses on one of the more important issues: nameplate amps.
by Neil Simon
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Btu Buddy 76: Condenser Fan Motor Problems
Bob receives a call from the dispatcher telling him about a restaurant that is having difficulties. When he gets on the roof at the restaurant he notices that the unit's fan motor is turning, but seems to be very slow. As he approaches the condensing unit, the fan stops. With Btu Buddy's help, Bob diagnoses the problem.
by Bill Johnson
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Btu Buddy 75: Water-Cooled Chiller With Low Charge
Bob gets a call to go to an office building where its water-cooled chiller is not cooling the building. Bob finds that the suction pressure is a little low and the head pressure is about right but the unit is not cooling the water down to the 45°F design setting. Btu Buddy helps him in going step by step to solve the problem.
by Bill Johnson
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Troubleshooting a Refrigeration Control System
When you’re troubleshooting a refrigeration control system, keep in mind that no matter how complicated the schematic might look on paper, the control system is actually only trying to provide a few simple outcomes.
by Mike Taitano
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Btu Buddy 74: Freezing Evaporator
Warmer spring weather is here and Bob is beginning to get calls about units that are not cooling. He has just received a call from an old customer who said that her unit cools fine during the morning and daytime, but at night, it stops cooling. Bob investigates, and with Btu Buddy's help, finds the coil is dirty.
by Bill Johnson
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Troubleshooting Challenge: A Comfort Cooling System That’s Not Gettin’ Down
This time around we have a customer who has called to say that it’s warmer than it should be in their home. When you arrive you find a nine-year-old package unit, and you determine in a short time that, electrically, everything is as it should be, which means that what you have is a unit that is running, but is not cooling enough.
by Jim Johnson
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Btu Buddy 73: A Second Opinion
The customer had called another contractor and was not pleased with the results, so Bob’s company was called. The other technician said he could not get the compressor to start. With Btu Buddy’s help, Bob checks all the components that have to do with starting the compressor. He finds that the start relay needs to be replaced.
by Bill Johnson
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Cleaning and Remediation of Insulated Ductwork
If duct cleaning is necessary, it is important that the cleaning professionals be familiar with both the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) and National Air Duct Cleaning Association (NADCA) guidelines. Today’s air duct insulations are designed to withstand the rigors of cleaning.
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Btu Buddy 72: Lunchtime Discussion on Humidifiers
Bob and Btu Buddy sit down for a lunch discussion about humidifiers and Bob asks: “Aren’t all humidifiers about the same?” Btu Buddy responds, “They are all the same in that they add moisture to the air. Different homes have different types of heating systems.” He then discusses the ways water is evaporated in various humidifiers.
by Bill Johnson
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