THE OTHER COMPANY COULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT 

I design variable frequency drives and vfd panels for many segments including HVAC for a major VFD company. It’s really eye opening to see these units installed in the field and what happens after years of service. In our factory all the wiring is clean and perfect wired to UL508A standards. I think all design engineers need to see units like this to know what the real environmental factors are. I wonder what we could design differently to make troubleshooting and service easier? I love your channel and learn so much from you about troubleshooting! Thanks!

Intermittents are the bane of anyone who does repairs. HVAC, automotive, electronics, doesn't matter. It's hard to fix something that's working.

The worst part is they always call on a Friday night or Saturday saying we have to have it death die or emergency. Yet it hasn’t worked for a year.

Dodgy Bros HAVC strikes again. I guess they are bottom feeders -- 'gas and go' types. No invoices? Sounds like Dodgy Bros is a cash-in-hand operator.

You are not an ass, you're honest. Most people can't tell the difference.

Man, I have zero experience and don't even live in the state, but I'd love to train for a job like this under people like you. Do the job RIGHT! Tired of jobs where you're trained to scheme your way into making sales for the boss's boss's boss's next mansion.

27:45 you can see a spark on the ground wire when you tap the base with the handle of the screw driver.

Well the other company isn't as good as yours. Im assuming

Low voltage shorts are my absolute favorite calls, especially after multiple companies failed to resolve the issue

Be careful calling yourself an AH to work for, you might scare off good mechanics. High expectations is not being an AH. Good work habits are very necessary in this trade to avoid call backs that cost the company money. Can't work for free to often. Good Video on a hard to find short.

Being OCD myself I totally love the fact that you feel the need to fix stuff correctly, and that you tell the customers the hard truth and that YOU need to be doing the pm work so they can get back to normal versus hack.

I hope you find yourself a great technician. Your company does top-notch work.

The Inland Empire sounds like a good name for a business... Or a house in a fantasy novel. _Dude walks into the Kings Throne room. The court Marshall calls out, "And from the Inland Empire, his High Emperor Coolant of House HVAC_

I'll bet someone stood on top of it for some reason and crushed the top in, and then did their best to straighten it back out without the proper tools or experience. It would explain the strange state of that top-center seam, as well as the insulation being down inside.

Always check safety's first, as check safety switches, limit, torque, carbon, valves, etc. You're good.

I was really wondering how could a company who previously work on this, hired 87 technicians that puts a thumbs down.?

Who else wants to start cutting wires like your a bomb technician?😂

I’ve enjoyed your videos. You remind me of my electrician father. He also fixed other’s problems, and expressed frustration with badly maintained equipment left in messy, badly installed condition. I never followed his footsteps directly, but as a child assisted him to complete his 5th, 6th and 7th National apprenticeships (he didn’t speak English that well. The skills he taught me have allowed me to to be professionally employed in a variety of industries. The primary skills he expected me to to display was the practice of working clean, restoring to industry standard, and the if necessary going back to first principles to remedy factory design failures, but only after user and technician failures had been eliminated. Your explanation off fault finding and the logic of repair is very well presented. Not overly explained, but in language most of your clients could also grasp. I suspect none of your clients ever refuse payment of your invoices. In this instance, you might have up-sold the preventative maintenance if you had pointed to lower AC power bills, and higher unit efficiencies.

Hope you manage to find a good worker. The problem with good people is that, as long as they are happy with their current employer, pay and conditions, they stick to them like barnacles. Second rate people are a dime a dozen.

Not an HVAC guy but spent most of my life repairing various types of machinery and equipment. The worst case scenario is always when someone else worked on it first...

Good luck on finding that technician! Too bad I can't say I'm experienced to your standards and expectations, despite doing this a couple of years. Haha. Reminds me of what literally happened to one of my junior technician co-workers just this past Friday. He spent quite a bit of time chasing a no cooling problem thinking that there was an electrical problem on an residential Lennox AC unit. Three hours is what he told me. I ended up showing up on the Saturday the next day, checking what he looked at, looking at other things he may have not checked, finding out that the unit locked itself out on low pressure and the trip condition on the diagnostic module was actually doing what it was supposeded to do. I felt sorry for him, since it took me 20 minutes to verify it after hooking gauges up and getting 0 psi on low and high side, all while the customer watching me. I ended up calling him up to explain my thought process, and he wanted to know what he may have missed that night. Good kid, and still learning. Shoot, I consider myself stupid too and still learning. Thanks Chris, for beating on that "big picture diagnosis." Still saving me from causing callbacks from jobs I do, and saving face for the company I currently work for by just looking at everything, and UNDERSTANDING how they play together.

Best guess for removing the top, degreasing/cleaning the evaporator due to the heavy grease load in the return air the filters don't stop it all (especially if they are missing because they were plugged), is also why the roof insulation was hanging down (poorly or un-trained apprentice). Second guess, roofers chasing a roof leak, likely due to a plugged condensate drain (roofers can really mess up a unit, even tar seal condenser section access panels). I've had a chinese restaurant where the return air was in the kitchen by the exhaust hood, grabbing all that super greasy air which plugged the evaporator every few years. We also had to add a sheet metal shield to the kitchen exhaust fan which was just 2 feet away from the rooftop unit's condenser intake. It all helped, but really the kitchen/hvac wasn't designed & built correctly for a kitchen. no one would shoulder the bill to do it correctly (landlord or restaurant).

HEEEEEEEEEEY Some used a Sharpie YaHooooo, to label somethings that factory dosnt to make service quicker.. EVERY Mechanic should carry a Sharpie

Buddy, if I lived out there I’d apply. But I’m in Oklahoma and I’m not interested in living in Cali. It’s the whole conceal carry thing. But if I was I would. Also, interesting info, when I worked as a draftsman, I probably drew that schematic. I did a lot of side jobs to pay for college for mechanical engineering. I did stuff for Lennox, Aaon, trane, carrier rooftop units. Now, I think, we’ll, almost positive, they do it in-house but back in the day, early to late 90’s AutoCad was not a common place. But I’m sure that dwg is newer. But originally, it’d have my initials on it.

Sometimes the NTE limit restricts technicians from spending the time needed. Worked at a local truck stop recently with an NTE of 500.00. RTU AC was not working. Found low r22 charge {almost flat} which of course means need to find and repair leak which i found but could not repair due to NTE. Also there was a make up air unit down due to static pressure switch tripped because of dirty evaporator. Call them to get NTE raised. Now they want a quote for everything. How do you quote for "everything" when the 500.00 did not cover finding "everything'. All the while store manager is getting really mad at me because he will have to wait a few days while all this gets approved and his office is 80+.

I wish that some of my former employers in various fields were like you. I wish they could understand why I would take an extra 20 minutes to do a proper diagnosis and touch up the small details required to really do a job right. From the customer side who understands where attention to detail and minor things like cleaning and double checking can be the difference between a short term repair and a long term relationship, I feel that service providers like yourself are way too few and far between. Unfortunately, I am neither interested in working in the HVACR field at this time, nor am I interested in relocating from California to Florida. I watch your videos to get a better understanding of the fundamentals of HVACR and to pick up on customer service principals that span multiple fields.

It's in a way good that you didn't just replace it. Now, if tou ever see this issue, you know where to look for.. I ran I to this issue too.. great video Chris.

NO BIll second time around Your the number one on the JOB.

They probably removed the top for evap coil leak. Had a couple that leaked on the backside of the coil. How they mangled the top dunno. The usual suspect for the transformer tripping is the wire to the bottom freeze stat.

Dude, I wouldn’t be reaching in to that unit without gloves!

Thanks for making the gas safe when safety disconnected. Intresting they removed the heating relay, so close to the problem and a miss.

You should charge double for fixing a mess someone else made.

Condenser Fan 1 running at 1.8A could be as a result of a capacitor oversized for the job. You can see there are three capacitors that look OEM / standard, and the first one to the left is physically larger, leads me to believe it is a larger capacity.

Very interesting case. Did you turn back on the gas heating? No mention made of that. Yes, front limit switch, I did see one cable was disconnected/broken off.

Suggestion? i've found when a condenser fan pulls less amps than the others to test the voltage going to the fan, i've often found a voltage drop (hence the low amps) and often is caused by a bad spade or a bad relay

Hey you got/ had rain pouring down, that's an pluss right? :)

Good job diagnosing the problem. I used to take care of 100 or so of them old Lennox Units.

I don't know anything about HVACR units or plan to learn, but I do enjoy your videos. your production of them is very good. you seem very good at your job and it looks like that you really enjoy your work...

The condenser fan motor running low amps looks like the blade needs to be moved up a little to draw more air. Maybe all could be. That we ould increase amp draw and help lower head pressure.

You had a no load short to ground on the limit switch where the wire was touching the sheet metal. That's not something you would normally look for with your transformer circuit breaker tripping, especially when you had the wrong transformer, relays missing, condenser fan motors wired to the wrong relays and all the wiring issues. Then, add the fact that you were coming behind another company made this call way out of the ordinary. You're right. All of your time was billable because of the cluster**** you had to deal with before you could even start troubleshooting. Another awesome fix, man. You have high standards and a work ethic beyond reproach, and customers should be thanking you for the attention to detail you bring to the table. Technicians should be beating a path to your door wanting to work for/with you.

Documentation such as this video may help the customer to recover some money back from the prior company. That Lennox looks like a Trane Voyager. Wires, wires, every where. That vibration in the air handler can be a back breaker. That unit needs a bath. Good job on cleaning the birds nest.

Some of the best and most successful people were a*holes, Steve Jobs, Charles Kettering, Hyman Rickover etc., etc.

Best recruiting pitch ever, "I'm probably an @$$. (Come work for me.)" If I was 30 years younger, and living in California (and both of those are never gonna happen!), I'd rather work for someone as blunt as you than someone who blows sunshine and cuts corners. AND, if I was still in charge of my HVAC section (Air Force, HVAC Superintendent, MSG, Retired), I'd have my Airmen watching your vids regularly. Keep up the great work, and I hope you found your tech.

Watching this from Texas and I just like to say that there are so many bad companies in the Dallas area.

If they don’t use your PM service, it is their lose.

I have been working for a mechanical contracting company for a while now and following behind shoddy work is always frustrating… how expensive are wire ties really? Like he said, I’ve left units a bit messy if I was returning soon, but not permanently. And to you guys who just flick the hardware everywhere while you disassemble a unit, just stop.

I KNOW!! the things you have to work on SUCKS! and this cost time and money cause of others "F" ups. at least you know you know how to fix it. looks like you have more work then you can keep up with. THATS CRAZY

You're not an asshole, just thorough! I would love to move to CA, have in laws in CA,... 38 total, thinking about it. Love the Show-Tech...

Thanks for the video. I stumbled across your channel by pure chance, I love your honesty and your logic in working things out. I'm not an A/C engineer I come from a chemical engineering background but one of my best friends was an A/C engineer here in the UK but he tragically died of a heart attack over ten years ago now he was 38. He had a congenital heart defect that he had, had several surgeries to correct but unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. Well anyway I like your videos, do you ever watch bigclivedotcom? he is a talented electrician and an all-round nice guy you might enjoy although I doubt you have the time at the moment

Oh wow... Looking for experience workers to make money for me... instead of making it for themselves?!? LMAO

Thank you, I enjoyed your video. I used to trouble shoot laboratory instruments. It's a challenge. Again, thanks.

If I ever move back to LA I’ll be sure to let you know before hand. I do exactly the same thing you guys do. I live in Utah work with stepdad at his business doing hvac mostly commercial. Servicing restaurants, installing hoods, exhausts etc. after work I watch your videos lol the trip is all the equipment you use we have as well. Small and larger lift for anything big ass help to avoid paying crane money. Thanks for your videos it takes people like you guys with honestly and I admire that as well. 👍

Watched a few videos of yours, and those Lennox units seem to be a mess direct out of the factory, and that usually doesn't help the next guy trying to fix something. Technically, an HVAC is only a small machine, so it doesn't qualify much for a bus system instead of direct wiring because of the short runs, but so is a CNC machine, and those profit intensely from that. Especially seeing how much one could save on maintenance over a lifespan of 10 or even 20 years, when most time is spent on diagnosing errors. I'm used to cables on which the ends light up when there's 24V applied, so you can see what actuator is active and which is not.

In a previous life I did aircraft wiring and power distribution. All those harnesses flopping everywhere, bundles hither thither and uninsulated terminals and whatnot are making me freaking twitch. Just argghhh! Looped over harnesses, hanging down. I ever saw an airplane like that I'd lose my Sierra Hotel India Tango.

I’m a service manager from the uk. Did 10 years on the tools as an engineer / technician. Many years spent in cinemas and restaurants working on RTUs and walk ins. Would love the opportunity to come out to California and work with you!

Wiring like that is not done in Europe, you guys don’t use wire gutters and or pipes and clips? I’ve watched a number of your videos and every time you open a unit I’m just stunned by what I see....jeez. You never afraid of getting zapped? How you figure out spaghetti is even more impressive to me because of all the chaos. You’re a top tech, that’s for sure.

Is all experience, all my 18 years has a service Technician on a commercial hvac company,it is troubleshooting of many hours of struggling 😢😢😂

so, in the past, If i couldn't find out what was causing the short I supplied the circuit with a high current power supply and then looked for smoke or sparks. It works quite well if you end up spending too much time troubleshooting. Could use a bigger transformer. This stuff can drive you nuts and at the end of the day, time is money.

You can figure how much a transformer can handle by dividing the VA rating by the secondary voltage output

Been watching your videos and subscribed what's really great to see is how you conduct business very professional also you know your field it's great to see were I'm from I'm also a business owner and to see how other companies conduct and diagnose the problem is sad I'm 56yrs old been doing this type of work for about 40yrs I'm still learning to this day the younger guys well it's all about the money the greed I just shake my head keep up the excellent work I'm very impressed

Wish I could work with you! We are two pees in a pod my man! And I love California. Got my own company to run though and it’s way too busy to leave for anybody worth a damn to run it for me. Much love to your company though. Keep up the great work!!!!

Woah...I figured you were in SoCal, but I didn't realize you were in the IE! Have you ever done data center cooling?

It is very funny to me that when you ask the customers: hey, do you have the previous invoice to see what they wrote? They never know anything about previous invoices. How do they keep track of their expenses, taxes and the management of the place? I have never gotten a previous invoice when I have asked for it. Thank you again for this video. Low voltage troubleshooting is challenging and fun at the same time.

No reason to remove the top panel you say. That all depends on what needs repair/replaced doesn't it? You ever replaced a leaking dran pan, or either coils on one of these? Hmmmm......

You're not an asshole. You're a very competent technician that doesn't have time for bullshit and values good workmanship. If people can't deal with that, they're the assholes.

Looking for a tech. ?? If only, if only I was a few years younger. Got a solid 31 years plus in the business. Great job by the way!!

You should work for the NTSB or maybe NASA for your ability to discover subtle problems that others miss.

I could sleep to the sound of all 3 stages on that thing running. Scroll compressors sound awesome

Good experienced workers are very very hard to find, most companies are just rush through and sell new. You are going to have to poach from another company.

I think databases are awesome for troubleshooting purposes... (Helps to keep up with the limits of human memory).

Refund the cost of the transformer you changed on your first visit. The original problem was the shorted transformer.

If you make the Ecto dip-switch active the Ghostbusters will be dispatched.

Awesome powerful 👏👏great job thanks again for your honesty

What are the factors that would prompt you to suggest they just replace the whole unit? What are the factors that would prompt you to arrive at the work site and say to the customer that you won't touch it? (I have a buddy who sees roaches and runs.)

appreciate you saying that you will later be considering someone who needs to be trained. FYI you arenèt an asshole at all. Just a professional.

Im interested to be part of your team. But unfortunate i am from philippines and working here in saudi arabia. I hope you will hire technician outside the USA.

I don't know if it will help in your area. In my area i work with the local tech school and take students in the field with me to get their first experience with service calls. I have hired several students that instantly display the ability to thoroughly diagnose! I have over 14 techs that work in teams and very very seldom do i have repeat calls.

I bet this video is being watched by the other company.... :D .... and they're beating their head crazy... hahahha

Is the fan pulling low amps the one with the new run capacitor? Maybe it’s larger mfd.

Wanting work done right does not make you an asshole. Quite the opposite, to some extent, and with luck you'll find a worker who has the same commitment.

also peak amp draw on contactors pulling on control circuit side.. might have weak coil which would ohm good , but when pulling in, amp goes high causing trip

Am I the only one who thinks the unit in the thumbnail of the video looks like a Jawa SandCrawler opening up?

Intermittent problems are the most difficult to troubleshoot. By definition, those type of problems exist, then go away, then come back in a cycle we, as technicians, are frustrated by because there is no known time intervals for the sequencing of the problem manifesting itself to when it goes away, then comes back, etc.. If you are the technician working on resolvimg the issue(s) during the time that the problem has gone away, the unit runs properly. As a technician, you have to be working on the system during the time that the problem has manifested yet again and hope it remains throughout the entirety of the troubleshooting process. Great work!

I have worked for assholes and they are never fair and nothing is ever their fault and they are always right even when they are wrong. That doesn't sound like you. A boss who is an asshole but fair isn't an asshole he's just tough. You sound smart and tough.

my late friend Tom who for many years installed and repaired background music/PA system, many for restaurants, had a long mental list of places where he would never eat. He did his own HVAC repair and helped friends as needed. He was not above calling the HVAC company manager who recommended a new high side with an "ear full" when an $8.00 run cap solved the problem

I wish I lived in your area. I would almost pay you to be able to work for you. I would love to have your knowledge.

If still cant find the short... I got push button 5amp resettable mini breakers, about 5, put them before and after a load after the transformer.. the ones that blows its that load causing the short

I've seen units that have one section of the condenser coil dirtier than other sections and that causes that specific fan motor to run at a lower amperage because it is moving less air. Amp draw is directly proportional to work. Once I cleaned the coil it allowed for better air flow and the condenser fan motor amp draw was much closer to nameplate.

I would have done the same thing I think. The visible stuff should be replaced /rewired. Then check past that. The main thing is to keep your train of thought. I have had to go back on other employees repairs that really didn't work. So frustrating. Good call. Maybe they thought a frost detection thermostat wire had rubbed out across the blower like on a Carrier.

Sir, you might think your an assholr, as a Owner/boss myself; I feel it's the passion and professionalism that causes (attitude towards others) i feel where your coming from... It seems like 1 in 25guys actually care and give a hoot about work... most are just looking for their 40hrs. We seem to carry the cross for some trades. It seems like years ago if you weren't going to college they were just force you into the trades but now to be a professional Tradesmen there's such sophistication involved in our trouble shooting in our day today environments. I'm sure you know all this I'm just sympathizing with that, because I don't think you should be hard on yourself at all. I've had jobs where I walked into and they turned out to be three day jobs unengineering all the stuff that other people have done, it's not fair to the customer but after noticing safety hazards I can't just walk away and close my eyes to it.

If I were the owner, I would not use the company that was servicing this equipment. Loose screws were everywhere, the wire connection were wrong etc.

I wish i could have seen this six months ago! I would of love working with you! I'm in Perris

Those low voltage short are a pain in the butt, I currently have one on a trane Voyager I have to come back, I removed the ground from the common on the transformer, checked everything to ground, put one load at the time and it was not tripping, thought it was the transformer, replaced it run for a few hours, next day same call. I'm going back Wednesday.

nice video again, time and pacience, with this units, every time someone else is trying to figure it out, trying to fix the unit, you need to go trough every pi ece of the unit, i learned it thr HARD way.

You are superstar athelet of the industry and working on your team is opportunity of a lifetime of knowledge

This is my favorite Lennox troubleshooting video, great work staying focused despite being called back to that gem! I appreciate the time and effort you put toward sharing your knowledge THANKS FOR SHARING!

Nice job, shorts can drive a person insane. One of my biggest issues when I was younger not listening to my gut. I found when I second guess myself when I had most problems.

Man I’m a residential guy and come across some shit. This takes it to a whole new level for me 😂😂

Great work, very well done, I know how hard and stressful it is when you are looking for low voltage short, 👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏🎉🌹💥🎊❤️👍👍🙏🙏🇨🇦🇺🇸

Did u ever notice what you saying u looking for experienced people lol u think we are stupid we rather work for our self coz we experienced rather then working for someone good luck better u find non experienced people and train them as you like