The Best of Extra Edition: Sept. 22, 2014
At www.achrnews.com, The NEWS’ Extra Edition page is home to hundreds of online-exclusive service and maintenance, technical, and business-management articles. Here are some of the best.
Btu Buddy 10: Working with a Gas Furnace that is Down Drafting
The dispatcher called Bob first thing in the morning before he left his home and told him a customer with a gas furnace has a strange smell in the house. Bob arrived and the customer explained that, when the furnace is operating, he smells something peculiar and he’s concerned. It smells like his gas grill when it first starts up. Bob turned the furnace on and went to the furnace room to take a look. The unit appeared to be operating correctly. Btu Buddy then entered and asked, “Is the furnace drafting like it should?”
The Benefits and Limitations of Corrosion Coupons
An estimated one-sixth of all steel production worldwide is used to replace corroded metal — much of it for cooling and process water piping systems. While various options exist, such as ultrasonic testing, metallurgical analysis, spool pieces, and instantaneous electronic measurement, corrosion coupons still remain a widely used form of corrosion measurement and monitoring today. Overall, corrosion coupons do offer some useful diagnostic information, though with very clear limitations.
Bulldog Recruiting: The Pursuit of Talent
If you want to hire the best people, you have to be like a bulldog. With the growing shortage of qualified people in our industry, it’s not likely that a superstar employee will just fall in your lap. The most successful HVACR companies from across the country have accepted this reality and have adopted a bulldog approach to recruiting. Bulldog recruiting means that you won’t stop pursuing a potential employee until you get closure. Either they’re coming to work for you or they’re not.
A Techs’ Eye View of Good Service
I had an interesting experience while visiting with the technicians at one of the contractors I work with. We were reviewing what was necessary to do, things that are always in the best interest of the customer. One of those things, in my opinion, is to write everything down they see, right and wrong, with the customer’s system. A lot weren’t doing that. Most of the time when technicians recommend additional work, it gets done — as long as the customer trusts the technician.
Publication date: 9/22/2014
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