Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine November 2022

HVACR NewsMagazine September 2022

Feature Story

conversation is a great way to avoid talking over someone. Listening, by the way, is 90 percent body language. If the call is return visit or the customer has been disappointed by another contractor, listen for an opportunity to overcome obstacles. Reassure you are here to bring the issue to a close. If the failure of another contractor is the issue, resist the temptation to trash talk the competing company.

Therefore, it is imperative we check indoor fan settings, cleanliness of the evaporator and air flow availability. Only after establishing the filter is clean, fan setting is correct and there is adequate airflow should we turn on the system.

… we are all too quick to place gauges on the system

There are ways to check refrigerant without placing gauges on the unit. We will follow up in a later article on that topic. With the price of refrigerant, the possibility of contamination or the risk of leaks, it pays to be prudent. When the call turns out to be something unrelated to refrigerant, it may be wise to simply check the Delta at the return and at the nearest outlet if the temperatures are not at an extreme indoor or out. When attempting to charge heat pumps during winter weather, it is best to recover the charge and weigh it in. Any other method is simple guess work. To be sure, the reference check described here is no substitute for comprehensive charging when installing or repairing components containing refrigerant. We should begin to get accustomed to installing gauges as a last step, rather than the first. Remember that 80% of the homes you enter will have air flow issues. This is a big opportunity for sales that benefit the customers bank account, comfort, and equipment longevity. A quick evaluation of static pressures with a manometer can help you close the sale. Across the filter, static should be at or below .15 and the supply should be a .2 or better, while

#5 Turning the system on. Not! Too often the service tech is in a rush to get the system on. There are many things to check long before the fan is turned on. We witness filters being

accessed while the system is on. This can introduce foreign materials into the evaporators quickly. Fan setting should be reviewed, and a simple calculation made to see if the return is properly sized to allow air flow at the proper quantity and velocity. That formula is the system CFM divided by two. A three ton or 1,200 CFM system should have 600 square inches or more of gross grille area to flow air at the correct velocity. If the customer suggests that the equipment has lost performance over time, this may be a hint to check for refrigerant leaks in the indoors section while the system is at rest. Refrigerant can linger for hours in the evaporator. #6 Checking the charge Just as #5 reminds us to slow down, we are all too quick to place gauges on the system as well. We must understand the charge is only as efficient as the airflow is.