[Answer-Man]

Just sayin in about any hands on type job be it skilled trades, nursing, cooking, etc... at about the 5 year mark you become seasoned. I'm not saying you don't know anything until then but it's just my observation at about the 5 year mark that it all starts to click. 100 hours, 40 some hours of class time and 38 different subjets you are only spending about 1 hour on each of the subject that was identified. How knowledgable are you after 1 or 2 hours of anything?

 

[servicefitter]

How do you weed out who shouldn't be in this trade?

Sent from my LG-M327 using Tapatalk

Just wondered who you are to ask that question. A qualified person in this trade has to do with what they work on and who they work for. Started in a residential factory service job my father ran service on mainly 480/3 chillers. Called me having problem with his compressor, stop by wired in a hard start kit took off running and thought to myself why didn't he know this. 20 years later working on 480 to 4160 volt chillers i had the same problem and with a diagram wired hard start kit in. You can learn from anyone from apprentice to counter guy at a supply house.

 

[TechmanTerry]

How do you weed out who shouldn't be in this trade?

Sent from my LG-M327 using Tapatalk

I'll take a shot at an answer for you. I weed them either in/out when our paths cross.

I call a contactor ,a contactor"and they CONTINUE to call it a "thing". Or I tell them to remove all 3 cond fan motor assemblies to wash the cond coil, they remove just the center assembly and then they tell me to reach my arm/hand /hose/nozzle in thru the center fan shroud. Or I tell them to slowly add freon until the SGMI is 75% full. They charge to a full glass and smile about it.Or,I tell them DO NOT STEP ON ANYTHING laying on the floor of the truck.They then proceed to walk on my extension cord/garden hose.Manifold hoses are also stepped on. Then I weed them out from working with me any further.Or they have snot bag answers to a Professional Q from me.


Or ,one guy. I asked him "what is the hi/lo side press readings" & he hands me the manifold and says "Here,look for yourself",,,,stuff like that.

 

[BBeerme]

Were the pressures normal?

I'll take a shot at an answer for you. I weed them either in/out when our paths cross.

I call a contactor ,a contactor"and they CONTINUE to call it a "thing". Or I tell them to remove all 3 cond fan motor assemblies to wash the cond coil, they remove just the center assembly and then they tell me to reach my arm/hand /hose/nozzle in thru the center fan shroud. Or I tell them to slowly add freon until the SGMI is 75% full. They charge to a full glass and smile about it.Or,I tell them DO NOT STEP ON ANYTHING laying on the floor of the truck.They then proceed to walk on my extension cord/garden hose.Manifold hoses are also stepped on. Then I weed them out from working with me any further.Or they have snot bag answers to a Professional Q from me.


Or ,one guy. I asked him "what is the hi/lo side press readings" & he hands me the manifold and says "Here,look for yourself",,,,stuff like that.

 

[TechmanTerry]

Were the pressures normal?

If memory serves me here,the press were in fact "normal"for a comp w/ a busted discharge reed.

 

[Jim1959]

They don't want the job.

 

[BBeerme]

As has already been stated, 100 hours is unlikely to do much. Money might be better spent on a good 'general' book like Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. Probably can get it pretty cheap these days, what with the Internet and all. Study it at random, whatever suits your fancy for that day. It's not necessarily a book you sit down and read from start to finish; just too much information.

The school I went to was just shy of 1,000 hours, I think it was. Which was just shy of 8 hrs per day, five days a week. For nine months. First half of the day was classroom, the second half was in the shop with the equipment.

They had a method of teaching which worked. They wrote everything on the chalk board, then you copied it. That method reinforces into your memory. I was committed to a better life, so I took it all very serious, and did as I was told. Then I would also review the previous three days every day. Further reinforcing things to memory. When it was over, I was ready to hit the ground running. Keeping in mind I already had a well rounded mechanical and electrical background. Electrical is usually the most difficult for techs entering the trade.

For a reference, I carried those (over 400) written pages with me in the work truck for maybe the first three or four years. They were invaluable. Like when I needed to troubleshoot a Carrier Time Guard and no schematic was in the unit. I still have those written pages:

Hello,
I am new to the forum and hope I posted this in the appropriate area.

I am 29 yrs old. I live in Central California. I have a full time job, but due to working 12 shifts, I have 3-4 days off a week. Plenty of free time.

I been thinking of learning HVAC for awhile now. But due to my current work schedule, attending a traditional trade school has been out of the question. My work schedule changes every 3 months, I got from working 6 months nights and 6 months days.

I recently started looking online for an accelerated HVAC program. I found a couple out of Texas that charge from 1,500 to 2,500 for 100 hour course on HVAC. I imagine the course to be limited on the content to due to hour required to complete the course. The one that caught my attention is Tech Zone HVAC-R. I reside in California so I would need to travel to Texas for this.

I am really just interested in this trade as a side job, mainly repairing and maintenance to the system.

The course focuses on the folowing:
The course will be 100 hours of classroom and lab (approximately 48 hours of class and 52 hours of lab)

Heat

States of matter

Pressures

Temperature

Heat of Compression

Humidity

Basic Refrigeration Cycle

Low & High Suction Pressure

Low & High Suction Pressure

Tools of the Trade

OHMs Law

Continuity

Amp/Volt/Ohm Meters

Heat Pumps

Series & Parallel Circuits

Phases

Capacitors

Relays

Wiring Diagrams

EBTDR Boards

Transformers

Thermostats

Furnace Control Boards

Heating (Electrical Gas)

Flame Rectification

Evaporators

Condensers

Refrigerant Components

Superheat

Sub-Cooling

Charging Techniques

Refrigerants

R-410A

Metering Devices

Magnetism

Motors

Compressors (hermetic)

Recovery Techniques

Will the above course teach the foundamentals to service and maintenance a system? Is Tech Zone HVAC a good school?

Thank you. I really appreciate any help.

 

[servicefitter]

Ask three questions 48 va 24 volt transformer how many amps is it rated for, what pressure is freezing for the refrigerant your using and the one they never know how do you know how deep to make a condensate trap. This should tell you how well they listen and taught.

 

[Griffin1]

HVAC program is a good direction to plan your future. It can be reliable and profitable if it's done right.
If you plan to work inside a company I recommend getting ready with something like Interview Questions & Answers - Job Prepare
that will help you get enough confidence and assist you getting into the job you seek.
Like others said here don't plan to offer free work, make sure you make the business profitable.
Good luck.

 

[TexasTech214]

I have attended TechZone and have friends who have attended the other school named Linsey Copper. I can tell you that it was not worth it. The instructor is a great person and I feel that what I learned was very useful BUT! having been through the school I can tell you that if you have the discipline all it will take is reading the book (Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning 12 Edition or greater) and spend the tuition money on buying your tools instead. One of the schools has a instructors who take naps during class while you play with mock wiring rigs and the other reads word for word from the book. The truth is that if you are not capable of reading a 700 page book reviewing taking notes and doing additional research because you are busy or for other reasons then a school like this might be useful. But other people are right that when you get out you wont really have enough skills to be dangerous as someone said. The cooper school does a good job at focusing on electrical diagrams but little exposure to the refrigeration cycle and using equipment. Techzone spends little time on electrical but does a great job at showing you the refrigeration cycle and having hands on experience using recovery machines and vacuum pumps multimeters and so on.