Give you a lot of credit for showing the struggle. A lot of hvac guys only show their victories and when things go easy. HVAC is great trade but definitely is unforgiving at times. I did 14 years in service, got lucky and went to a utility company and got away from it. Hang in there and keep up the positive attitude. Thanks for videos very entertaining
Gas company ???, same here after 15 years of service in residential and commercial, got a job at the local gas utility and i tell you what not only the money is great but the work is so much less stressful.
We all have had days like that, unfortunately it probably won’t be the last one. Keep up the good work, it seems like you have a great boss who understands that shit happens. Hope your wife and new baby are doing well, and you’re getting some sleep.
I admire you for having the guts to show us all your screwups. Very few techs would have shown this😂 Most would have reformatted that SD card so it would NEVER be seen again by another human being. This is “must see” reality, RU-vid tv. The life of a HVAC tech, on a really BAD day❗️Thanks for sharing.
With nearly 40 years in the trade, I can tell you that your boss is doing you no favors by not teaching you some of the old-school tricks that just work. Always carry 110 V back ups of your power tools. And yes sometimes you have to tighten things to get it loose and lots of heat would also be helpful. I always carry a rosebud tip for my OXY acetylene just for days just like that. But I commend you for breaking out the nipple without destroying the threads, been there done that. And other good comments mentioned here should be also helpful. And I gave up on the dewalt years ago and went with Makita, the other red brand also is good. Hang in there you’ll get it …
lol…yea I know…but been that situation many times were you need the last couple minutes of battery power to finish the cut and it freaking dies on you… specially if you’re in a dungeon or an attic, or some other horrible place that you squeezed into to get things cut apart….
FlexVolt tools need the FlexVolt battery, its actually a 60V or 20V battery so the tools that want the 60V output block the 20V batteries from being installed. That's why it has the "FlexVolt" label where the tool's battery attachment is located.
Good job I had a bad habit of beating myself and feeling stupid it’s refreshing to see you kept good spirits after all that I’m definitely inspired by this video and how you didn’t give up
I carry a $25.00 corded Harbor Freight saws all just for a back up in case my battery dies on the cordless. I bought it as a one time throw away saw for a crappy sewerage job and this saw is better than my Milwaukee. I've had it 4 years already and beat the hell out of and it still works. Great video! Sometimes you eat the bear, other times the bear eats you. Keep up the good work.
You got the “new baby brain” it will take some time to adjust. It’s hard to go back to work and be 100% Congratulations and it will take some time to back into the new routine.
I've always found that with large copper fittings the "heat the fitting, not the joint" approach works better. When you heat near where the joint is the fitting doesn't get hot enough to draw the solder in and makes for a weak, leak prone joint. Heating back by where the threads are will draw the solder in evenly around the fitting.
Heat will conduct through the copper of the fitting but doesn’t conduct as well from the fitting to the pipe inside the fitting because of the gap in between. That’s why you should heat the pipe first, to get heat into the pipe in the fitting.
An old trick when you’re soldering, bigger size fittings is to pre-tin the pipe. Also, because it’s not potable water use 50-50 solder. Also, I noticed with that turbo torch you held it in one spot too long and it burnt or overheated the fitting. Good luck keep up the videos.
And this is why when I was doing my course the teacher made us only use a hack saw... and to this day I still just use a hack saw for most situations for this very reason, running into a dead battery is a rough time but at least you got some good scrap out of this job lol
Wow wow i respect this vidoe 100% ive been a hvac service technician for 16 years now i feel your pain brother been through this shit show of problems muitiple times . I've also learned to appreciate your good days because we have more bad day then good days few tips to give yoy . 1. Get your self a A-32 turbo torches tip for better Disbursement of heat around bigger pipe . 2. Alway carry a 110 saw-saw machines Unfortunately with the wireless tool generation we have now saw-saw are better used with 110 volts 3 . Safety glass brother ive been to the hospital manytime for Fragments penetrating from the pipe even got soft solder my eye one time . Also remember Life is a lesson filled of ups and Downs. We're not always going to get it right, but we try our best. That's all we could do god bless
Harrington 1/4 Ton LX Lever Puller Hoist 10 ft Come Along LX003-10 this a link to what we use to break fittings we latch one end to pipe wrench and the other to another pipe wrench/one to the fixed pipe and crank away
This video depicts the reality of service that a lot of guys and girls don't show .. the abuse is real .. we can only take the nightmare calls as learning experiences
As much as I love my cordless tools, I usually bring the corded ones along. Batteries are just too unpredictable, especially when stored in a cold truck. Save the cordless for when you really need them. Also looks like the boiler is overdue for a major de-scaling and clean up.
Yeah, when sweating copper that size I always go with the oxy-acetelyn torch. Most of the time I am brazing and need that high high heat. I've also had to put the 10 foot cheater bar on a 4 foot wrench to just get something to budge. Definitely had days like this. 1 day turns in to 3, 4, 5 and you bang your head on what should have been an "easy enough" job. Hang in there, we all have these days. You did acknowledge being disorganized. I was just like that for many years. Once I took the time to commit to organization, it made life easier.
Easy Trick to solder big Pipes: get a empty small Soda bottle and fill it half with about 20% Hydroclorid acid. So in will Not Spill if you Tip the bottle. To apply use an old toothbrush. Clean your pipes with Sandpaper as normal an Use the acid instead of the Flux or Resin. With the toothbrush Apply the acid to the inside the Fitting and Outside on the the pipe. Solder as normal and clean the joint with a wet rag. Best wishes from germany!
Even though you were tightening the flange. Sometimes it does help break it free to tighten first before loosening it. Looks like you had water in the pipe still while soldering. I would’ve pulled the pump and boil out the water out.
Not every job goes as planned. Build on this one. Keep the takeaways for future knowledge for other jobs and keep trying, keep growing. I enjoy watching you, I like your videos. It's dumb to have so many battery options. I have done similar. Keep on, brother
On old stuff like that, you’d have gotten the job done faster and had less risk of breaking stuff by reusing the volute and just replacing the bearing assembly and motor. Use a spiro link coupler instead of the X style, and you’ll be fine. Yes, a cartridge style circulator is less expensive, but you eat up the savings with extra labor.
The battery you needed was the "flex volt" battery. Its a flex volt tool, so it needs that specific battery, but it can be used on other tools as well.
Happens to the best of us man, ive gone back to a call 5 times once until once until i finally figure it out, dont even stress about it welcome to HVAC
Those battery sawsalls and battery everything are convenient, but at the same time, nothing but head aches! A lot of times they just end up taking you more time rather than to just use a extension cord with a regular saw or drill or whatever. Great job also on cutting out that nipple without cutting into the female threads, I've done it many times and it is challenging, even for well seasoned pro's.
I think a lot of us has had those kind of days. Makes for a great video at least! As for a thought on getting that nipple out, I would have heated the crap out of it with the torch first and then tried to unscrew it before cutting it out.
So for your pipe wrenches get two short prices of pipe that will fit over your wrenches for leverage 3 feet long this will help in taking apart old piping just a thought steel pipe works best
I can't believe that you did not take the saw with you to the store the second time to make sure that the new battery would fit. Having to rework a solder joint that had water in it is not fun! You have to get all the water out before it will get hot enough to melt the solder again. I've also had to break out rusted nipples like that. Good job on getting the iron nipple out without damaging the softer brass heat exchanger tapping.
1/2- 1 sweating pipes is relatively easy,bigger then that u have to have good control of the flame and practice. Been there it sucks. Some white claw is much deserved after that.
Way to stick with it, we all have bad days like that. Soldering and unsoldering larger pipe like that takes practice and patience. Taking old pipe like that apart is a bear as you learned. Thats a day worth a couple cold ones. Hope it eventually turned out in your favor or your boss helped you finish it out. Keep pressin on kiddo!
Next time try taking the threaded flange off before heating it essentially steals the heat energy from the copper and makes it way harder to heat to melting point, keep the good work my friend. PS get rid of the Dewalt junk:) #RideRed
You gotta get yourself one of the speed chargers. Also your sawsall is a dewalt 60v tool so you need the 60v flex batteries... sorry for your tough days.
Had a day like that doing an evap coil in a terrible attic. Shit happens. Seems like you have a cool boss to come give you a hand. Mine wouldn’t have gotten off the couch
30 years in the hvac trade and this was absolutely painful to watch. I don't blame you but as someone else commented, your boss should have taught you some tricks.
When you deplete those batteries below their minimum rated voltage, the chargers won't charge them. When the tool stops...stop. Getting those extra couple of chuggas is ruining your batteries. That being said, you can recover them.
You probably already figured it out, but the reason for the difficulty on soldering the pipe in was simply not enough heat. Need LOTS of fire for the big stuff!
We all go through it Jersey keep kroil spray withyou it will save you 25.00 bucks but there was not much I couldnt free up nipples .Your going 2be exc7 journeymen, Be safe thanks for video since 1987 Jersey voc tech graduate!
Gotta love those jobs where you start on the wrong foot and spthe rest of the job getting in your own way. Been there. Will be there again I'm sure. Chin up brother.
