Bob and Tim arrived at their fifth service call of the day. They were both wet from servicing a heat pump outdoor unit in the snow. This was a no heat call for a gas furnace. The weather was cold and there was no heat at all in the house.
Older cities are loaded with boiler rooms full of steam-heating boilers, and lots of people — knuckleheads included — have had decades to mess with what the “dead men” once lovingly installed. So, here’s a short list of things to look for when you’re troubleshooting one of those old systems, starting in the boiler room.
When it comes to choosing a multimeter for servicing refrigeration systems, there are a lot of choices on the market. Careful planning should go into selecting the right meter.
In this troubleshooting problem, the customer’s general definition of the situation gets more specific when you arrive at the site and discover that the reason there is no heat is because although the burners ignite on a call for heat, the air handling system never starts, and the system’s limit control shuts the furnace down.
Fluke Corp. introduces the Fluke® VT02 Visual IR Thermometer, a troubleshooting camera with infrared heat map. This one tool combines the visual insight of a thermal imager with the point-and-shoot convenience of an infrared thermometer.
Interplay Energy develops 3-D interactive simulation training and testing applications. The company was approached about developing a companion program for the HVACR textbook, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Technology. The end result is the new Delmar Online Training Simulation: HVAC from Interplay Energy.
Bob and Tim have gotten together after work to discuss the oil furnace service call that they were on earlier in the day. Bob had asked Tim if he would be willing to stay after work and review the call and Tim readily agreed.
Onset, a leading supplier of data loggers, announced that the company will be hosting a one-hour online training course, “Economizer Diagnostics Using Data Loggers,” on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 at 2 p.m. EST.
Bob and Tim were on their way to a no heat call. It was an oil heat application and Tim was anxious to work on an oil system. He had not seen an actual oil heat installation, only in the school lab. Those are great, but not like the real thing at a customer’s house.
Today more and more systems are incorporating microprocessor controllers into their design. Troubleshooting the operation of these controllers can be a little tricky at times, but if broken down into sections it can be easier to handle.
