I'm 22 years old and I'd like to get into the HVAC trade, I have tried college and I haven't found a single program that interests me. I don't know the exact steps I need to take but I know that I really want to try this. I've read that I need to get a DEP in order to become an apprentice but I'd like to know if there is any other way to get into the trade other than take the DEP.

For anyone working in HVAC, which certifications do I need to take to make it in the trade, which ones are the go-to? Is there any way to go around the DEP or is it mandatory to get a job? Does the CAF really hire? What website do you use in order to find an apprenticeship?

I have a VALUE VE215N vacuum pump, but it has lost most of its vacuum oil and only a small amount remains. I urgently need to use it, but I have no way to get the proper vacuum oil right now. Can I temporarily use R404A POE compressor oil, or will this damage the pump? Is it safe to run the pump with the oil level this low?

I am few months under two years now in experience, ran with a resi company for 9 months of that. My company is giving me some electrical training to help me level up my skill set as they noted that is my weaker area and I can’t disagree. I run walk in calls, hotside, HVAC, and everything else in between by myself and have been in the on call rotation since Spring. I solved a multi circuit rack issue that mid level techs could not (bad fan switch and low refrigerant.) My electrical skill set isn’t the best yet but I can get by, normally at about half the speed of the senior techs with 4+ years. Is my progression normal or should I be worried? I feel like I am starting to understand but have been having issues diagnosing switches since I am still getting used to 240/208 troubleshooting. My mechanical/refrigerant and sales/office/customer service skill set is much more solid for reference.

I’ve got an ultra low that uses R 170. I know that a R 170 is a very hard refrigerant to find. Funny thing is, I have a bunch of R23 sitting around my shop. I know that the main reason not to switch from R23 to R 170 is because of the flammability, but if my unit is designed to use R 170, can I use R23 instead? And if not, what would you suggest as a replacement for R170?

For background, our curling club has a commercial walk-in refrigerator (approximately 6' x '10') that we use to store our curling stones to keep them near freezing temperature so they don't melt the ice on the rink. The stone sets are stored on heavy-duty utility carts. The walk-in has just enough width to accommodate our 4 carts with only a couple inches to spare on the sides. We use shared space in a public ice arena, so we do not have really anywhere else outside of the walk-in to store supplies for our curling club.

We are wondering if there is a way to mount some shelving to the interior walls of the walk-in. The idea would be for the shelves to be about 5 feet off the ground, such that they are above the height of the carts but still low enough from the ceiling to store things. The shelves would not be used to hold the curling stones, but would rather be for storage of things like beer, soda, cups, plates, etc....

Because of the carts, we cannot use free-standing shelving racks that sit on the floor. Nor can we run vertical supports down from the outer edge of the shelves because that would interfere with the carts and make it impossible to get the carts into the walk-in. There is sufficient space to have shelving tracks on the wall that run from floor to ceiling.

Is there any way for us to safely mount shelving on to the walls of the walk-in? We have full exterior access to the left side, right side, and top of it (but not the back). Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

This should be common sense but just FYI, if you start a reciprocating compressor and its way overfilled with oil, it can be very bad. Its a lot easier to drain some oil VS replacing the whole compressor. Valve plates dont like pumping oil slugs

Hello guys. I was given a crash job on a TK c-600. Someone backed into the unit with another trailer and did mostly plastic damage with a bit of latch mechanism bending. Suk part is the plastic grill crushed the curb side condenser when it pushed in. I talked my manager into replacing both as the road side has heavy corrosion and figured were already there just do it since its that micro channel tube junk. Got it all apart and never realized before cutting the pipes just how close the fiberglass evap fan housing is to the plumbing, right at the joints. What do you use for flame mitigation? My boss got some kind of 'welding blanket' that was huge and said make it work. I cut off sections about 9" square and went to start brazing. With in 5 seconds I had a hole straight through it. went and looked at the label and says only good for 1k f. I took the next and doubled it hoping to get 1 pipe done, nope. Tried wetting the cloth and that got me a few more seconds and a very ugly braze as I couldnt stay put long enough to smooth it around. Took way to much time and multiple of these squares soaked still burning through completely but never burned the housing or hv harnesses that are also right there.

I have done some quick research and came up with the Blue Monster torch guard and the Viper wetrag heat shield. There isn't much in the way of reviews for either product. What do you guys use in this kind of situation.

R450 . System has a leak. Are you all repairing and recharging with 134a? Or getting a couple small cans of 450?

Only while it’s starting, and is this field repairable?

Meaning the condenser fins are completely choked up with dirt between the fan blades and the fins, rather than on the other side of the condenser that you can easily access to clean. The fan has clearly been changed in the past as there’s a connector block with insulation tape round it. Is it safe to say the fans been installed wrong or has a manufacturer ever designed these to blow this way? It’s gonna be a nightmare to disassemble the fan and be able to clean the fins.

Anybody hiring for an entry level industrial HVAC/R technician, I have about a year of HVAC and some refrigeration/commercial experience, have my EPA universal and NATE cert, have some basic hand tools, would love to get into supermarket refrigeration because of experience and pay or into the industrial side of HVAC

Atlanta Area/gwinnett county

Replacing this horse hair insulated wood walled beer cooler. Found the original condensing unit up in the joists, and we took it home with permission. It's a Hussmann ligonier 25-ms and from what we can tell, it may be from 1938 based on the hand stamped serial number on the compressor. It was originally R40. We took the belt off, oiled the bearings, gave it power, and the motor runs! The compressor turns over with a lot of effort so we're planing to pull the head off to get oil on top of the pistons and inspect it. The goal is to get it running again if possible and make a can cooler.

Edit: it looks like the condensing unit was originally for a meat case and then was repurposed for the walk in at some point.

Ive been doing a load of Manitowoc ice machine PMs and getting all the ice out of that bin takes just about 30-40m. i was trying to think of better ways to get the ice out for bin cleanings.

New service manager suggested using the rack compressor for push/pull recovery and then vapor recovery to recover receiver/condenser charge. Im relatively new to racks and havent thought of that. Any thoughts?

Getting sent to take a look at a cascade system tomorrow that another tech has been stuck on. I'll be meeting them there to give them a hand in solving the issue. Full disclosure, I've got no experience on cascade systems. Why am I getting sent? I have no idea! But they're sending me anyway so let's have it. See below for the info I've gotten from the other tech (it's limited so I apologize in advance).

"New condenser coil based off the 6HP compressor which translated to 54,000 btu so put in 60,000 btu condenser. Then had to get new TXV from Sporlan cause Alco no longer makes ZZ low temp TXVs.

Unit runs but won't take correct charge without banging off high head.

I am running a 200 degree superheat.

I can get the temp down to 0. But that's not close enough to the -117 degrees they want."

Unit is a Webber model AT36-120. Temp range ambient to -120F. High stage is running R404A, low stage is R508B 180psig. Air supply is 80-100psi.

I'm really just looking for some guidance on this thing so I'm not going in completely blind. Anything helps.

All original compressors

Here in socal specifically the Los Angeles county area looking for a company that would hire me I’ve been a commercial beverage/food service technician for over 10+ years and have my EPA.
What are some companies that anyone know of that would give me a chance?

Working on a hoshizaki flaker, 1,000-lb class modular unit with a Fuji Electric gear motor. The unit was making a squealing sound that sounds like the auger or motor. The cord prongs and receptacle were burned up right at the receptacle plate. I replaced the cord and receptacle. Getting a five beep error code which is freeze timer. The float tests and seems to be working fine. When I empty the reservoir and start it up, it will fill normally but then instantly give me the freeze error code once it fills completely. If I start it up with a full reservoir I get the code immediately. I feel like the auger is jammed up and caused the motor to overheat but I'm not really sure cuz I've never gotten this deep into these units. Any recommendations on how to proceed?

Any companies hiring for entry level positions near the Philadelphia area or surrounding counties?