Troubleshooting & Commissioning Q&A

In this podcast episode, Kaleb, Joe, Eric, and Bryan answer some troubleshooting and commissioning questions from Facebook.

Whether we're talking about troubleshooting, commissioning, or any other HVAC/R task, the best training is on-the-job training. Meetings, educational videos, and quizzes also help to a lesser extent, but bypassing training altogether is a mistake. Senior techs can also become better diagnosticians when they teach others. "The Diagnostic Game" is an especially useful tool to help teach newbies how to troubleshoot a system.

However, training is something that is ultimately what you make of it. When you consider external training, you must consider the value of that training. (For example, NOVAR training would be useless for a residential tech but critical for a grocery refrigeration tech.) You also want to make sure your training makes you a valuable job candidate and that you stay motivated throughout training.

When it comes to diagnosis, you can't truly diagnose the equipment until you know how it operates under normal conditions. Until you become familiar with normal equipment operation, you're essentially relying on trial-and-error. Getting the answer correct is only part of the equation; you also need to know why the answer is what it is when troubleshooting.

Kaleb, Joe, Eric, and Bryan also discuss:

• Leaving subcooling just shy of the target value
• Balancing the charge during a hot pull down
• How much can we expect techs to do training on their own time?
• Just-in-time education
• The relationship between training and pay raises
• "Understand before you do"
• Replacing parts on a unit with a failed compressor
• Megohmmeters and multimeters
• The Kalos residential commissioning process
• Troubleshooting no-cool calls
• Inspecting customers' homes
• Communicating with customers
• Money-losers for residential companies
• Classroom training vs. field experience
• Fluid dynamics in ductwork

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