THIS FREEZER EQUIPMENT IS DONE 

The store manager is watching your videos and now thinks he's a refrigeration tech 😂😂😂

"Someone must have hit it" - Yeah, that happens all the time. When the evap unit gets bumped, the sheet metals screws unwind, fall out, and the cover comes off. You would think they could design better units.... "Someone got in here and cranked on the low pressure control" - What would this manager say about that?" Ahhh the joy of dealing with liars in the world. Just another reminder that one must CYA, watch your back, and charge full price, don't pay attention to the 'poor mouth' stories.

If telling him that trying to fix it himself could kill somebody, maybe instead you have to explain to him that his attempts are costing him money.

When I started out in Residential/light-commercial, we tried to do what we could to get the customer up and running temporarily during after-hours, and come back on straight time to do a more comprehensive check-up and repair. A lot of residential companies in my area have even priced themselves out of having to run on-call altogether, and there’s a greater emphasis on work-life balance. Since switching to Commercial Refrigeration, none of that has applied. Companies in that sector, in my area, don’t like to say “No” or even attempt to price themselves out of overtime rates. It’s gotta be fixed. It’s gotta be fixed TODAY. Whatever it takes, whatever it is. Even if it’s something as menial as an REAC with a leaking coil on a Sunday.

That Stratus is a leak-searching super power. Worth every penny.

In my field service days in the oil/gas/power generation equipment, we mostly did 'Get it up & running' during after hours trouble calls if it was at all possible. Your Sunday visit certainly represents the type of approach I'd take with troublecalls. Good work as always, Chris!

24*7 equipment should always have all included service/maintenance contracts on it, for a fixed monthly/yearly fee that increases with the age of the equipment. The tech maintaining it will be motivated to do an excellent maintenance job, which will minimize the chance they'll need to come out at night or in weekends. Owner will be encouraged to replace it before it gets too expensive to keep it running. ...But unfortunately, a lot of equipment comes with "users"...

GREAT JOB CHRIS! I hate it when customers try to fix it before they call you. Had a customer today who is 100 miles from supply house self-diagnosed a Manitowoc ice machine as a bad control board. He said it was doing a lot of weird stuff. I asked him if it was going into safe mode (safe mode means bad ITP or water level probe) and he said no. I picked up a board AND a water level probe AND Ice Thickness Probe JUST in case he MAY be wrong, wink wink. Got there and started machine and guess what? Yup runs one batch then after harvest goes straight to safe mode. Changed both probes as unit is 6 years old and no more safe mode. He also was playing with gauges that had 4 foot hoses on it. Wasn't sure if he purged hoses before so I removed charged and weighed in new. He is too far out to guess and make return call.

For after hours calls unless it's a major issue that I can fix while I'm there, it'll be triage until I can get back to it during the week. Great video as always!

i am 3 rd generation and have been working over 50 years....and i like watching your vids. great work ethics. we need more young people like you.

I work in the medical industry fixing medical imaging equipment, so I try to minimize down time as much as possible. Usually I try to get stuff done in a single visit. Typically for weekend work, I try to get all the major stuff fixed, and push smaller stuff to the next PM visit

The company that I had worked for before working at a school district wanted you to repair the unit no matter the issue so they would not have to go back at the site anymore, but there’s several problems with that. They were accepting companies that never used us before on the weekends for emergencies, they had leaks, dead compressors, and shorts! And you had to have them all running before the weekend was over, with you and maybe one other tech! Did it for 12 freaking years before I got smart and left that company! This was all in the DFW area! Learned a lot , learned not to do that again ever!

"Get the pressure control to kick on. Once it kicks on." *clank* "...try to get it to kick on." lol

Make notes on service sheet. "Arrived on site found side cover off. LP set below zero" take pictures on arrival and leaving.Tell your guys the same because if/when something happens he will dump on you to cover his arse as sure as eggs is eggs.

Goes to show you Bro a little knowledge is a VERY dangerous thing! They watch you once and now they are refrigeration tech not a Manager! 😂

I’m an electrician I find these videos entertaining

As a new tech man this is really great information I’ve started in hvac/r since school and that was in may and your vids I’ve been watching for about 3 years and just wanna salute you for the many tips you have given .

I have never been told the difference between the valves. I probably will never forget now.

Makin it to the end of the video gang! 👇

For locations like this you might want to consider marking screws and adjustment points with tamper evident paint. Something that tells the manager “I will know if you’ve messed with this”

Same with you, unless my wife is working or busy with something else, I just get them up and running. I'd much rather be at home.

If I have to go out on an OT service call, I typically will get them going if I'm able to. I will send the customer a quote to do any other repairs, cleanings, etc.

GOOD MAN MAKING TIME FOR YOUR FAMILY. ⚘⚘⚘

The company I work for is more or less trying to prevent weekend service calls. I remember when a customer called and wanted us to come out on overtime and my boss was like „Are absolutely, 100% certain, that you want us to come out on a sunday evening/night for a non critical system, that has been down for at least 48h?“. Yes the customer wanted… I keep enjoying your videos even though I fell like skipping steps more and more often because time constraints. Keep going and thanks for your work.

On the weekend its mostly get it up and running...a lot of what breaks on what i work on isn't at the supply house anyway and has to be ordered. Some smaller type repairs yes, open a supply house for a simple repair, yes.....you got a leaking flash tank on a York YCIV.....can't help you much on a Saturday or Sunday....or Monday for that matter. Quote it and let the customer decide what we do until it comes in.

I'm retraining currently and definitely feel my age, considering all the industries where I could be a field technician. A little late to start some of them. Think it'll be electrical/automation or try to pursue engineering. Thanks for showing us how it is in HVACR!

11:00 most people would say that is a wrench, but i know better. that is a pressure control percussive maintenance tool. it just happens to double as a wrench to.

I wanted to say thank you! I just replaced the capacitor on my dishwasher motor that wouldn't start and was hot. Thanks to seeing it during one of you're debugging video's. A 2 euro fix instead of a new dishwasher.

I love your videos. I think I am going to be a tec when I get a job and this will help me learn thank you.

Lol. Love it when customers f with things. Had one that did things like you had here, they wouldnt stop messing with things, and of course it was always my fault. Finally had to go to corp and complain, it stopped immediatly.

Hi. Chris Has. Always. Good stuff. And. Enjoying. This. Videos Keep caming

I have watched loads of your stuff you are an amazing and clever guy and such a great teacher.... great stuff keep it up Kevin from UK England !

So, if the store manager is the "touchy feely" kind of person, I'd do 2 things: 1. Tamper-evident tags/labels, with "Licensed service technicians only" printed on them or something scary and official sounding like that on it. Hopefully, they see that, think "maybe if I touch this and it breaks I pay for the fix out of pocket". Maybe that keeps them away. 2. Somehow rig up one of those permanently skin-staining "indelible dye marking" tags that they use to ruin the value of stolen clothing to the access panels, with a way for you to (with a key, probably) render the "don't touch that" device inert. Those tags are highly effective at preventing tampering, theft, and/or vandalism, and they're why it's very rare that you hear of some grown adult pulling a fire alarm without an actual fire and getting away for it. All you have to do to catch the perpetrator is look for someone with the dyed hands. As for what to tell the manger who's tinkering with things they have no idea how to fix, just tell them "I've put measures in place to alert me if you mess with this again, so just don't do it". And if they ask you if you booby trapped it, tell them "Only someone intending to mess with the very thing I literally just said to not mess with would ask that question, so now I'm putting a padlock on it". And in this case, that manager will have NOBODY else to pin the blame on, because you need only look at someone's hands to determine blame. Getting caught like that (repeatedly) is how you "correct" a habitual liar. They might have reasons, but if you just keep not letting them have any wiggle room between their story and the truth, they'll eventually get it banged into their head that maybe lying doesn't get you anywhere. Maybe they have to lose their manager job before they learn, IDK, that's not my problem nor is it my place to try to let them slip thru the cracks. In any case, if you were to show a picture of the dyed hands and the dye-releasing tamper seal to that "tinkering" manager's boss, they'd have a lot of explaining to do about why they were touching things that are covered by service contracts with ACTUAL technicians who actually know what they're doing because they know how the things work instead of just randomly making adjustments until it either totally stops working or is (extremely rarely) fixed by "just" an adjustment (even then it's probably not fixed "properly"). It's not entrapment if you can avoid the punishment by just following the rules, after all. It's just making the rule violation readily apparent and impossible to hide.

Sporlan has two bulletins 90-30 which covers the application and operation of head pressure control valves. And 90-30-1 which covers the proper charging. There are 3 states the valve may be in, no bypass, partial bypass, or total bypass depending on system load and ambient temperature. 90-30-1 explains how to determine condenser volume and a chart indicating how much refrigerant to add to ensure proper low temperature operation.

We typically just get the system operating. We try not to open the supply houses because most of our contracts are full coverage contract, meaning we pay for the materials. Also, most of the parts we would need aren’t typically on hand. Great instructional video, Chris! Love what you do for the industry

Over the pond we’d be shot for topping the charge off. Most of the time it’s a long evening if it’s leaking regardless of the day of the week.

Good work 👍

Another really great video!! Keep up the great work fella!!!

I usually leave the option to the customer usually they say come back when it's not so expensive haha.....I love your videos man you've been an inspiration to me on how to conduct myself out in the field. Big Picture for the win!!

Yes, weekends are “ gas and go” where I am, if that doesn’t work, stuff gets put on ice.

Here in the UK we are not allowed to put refrigerant in if the system is leaking, you have to find the leak first.

Great video. I really like how you systematically share with us the process and break down of these service calls.

when i am out on a servicecall on weekends, i fix everything. Unless i have to order parts. In my country it is eligal to fill a system with a leak. We have to empthy the charge and fix the leak, even if the customer will replace the equiptment. Maybe i should come to U.S and work for you :)

Great Video. Thank you for sharing

I saw you using that Glasgow screwdriver as a hammer on the pressure control.

Your an amazing teacher! I pray i find a mentor like you 🙏

In most cases we got them operational and went back later. I would say 90-95% of the time it was a dirty condenser on the freezer. White fuzzies from Poplar trees.

After hours service call priority is to get them up and running - repairing the issue is left to the discretion of the tech - which can be many factors including what the service call interfered with at home, motivation, attitude, how much time repair will take, etc. Thanks for another great vid!

Had filter dryer fail on a multiplex not allowing flow back to the compressor that was a fun one. Thanks for sharing per usual.

like ya train of thought all good chris we work hard enough hope to catch up 1 day in your part of the planet.Cheers for your great work.

I just bought all my guys the new flir edge pro thermal cameras that are Bluetooth, the pics I get back from them on diagnostic calls are awesome, I like how you can display 4 temps at certain spots on an image, I also like how you can set it inside the blower compartment and monitor with the panel closed from your phone. Great video!

I work in Controls. So watching what you do is cool as I used to do that work

I think that you should also consider the Global Warming Potential of those refrigerants more when not fixing leaks.. For example just 1 kg (ca. 2.2 pounds) of R404A has a GWP equivalent to 3920 kg of CO2. That's almost a third of the CO2 that a person in the USA emits in a whole year.

Since I work as a biomedical engineer at a hospital I unfortunately always have to go all out, even on weekend calls.

I follow your standard operating procedure....

Awesome video

#respect Chris always enjoy checking in here....Bill Havasu az.

I’m so envious of your tools, but so happy to see the new stuff like the jb hygrometer

i usually get them up and going unless its a issue that wont hold out till the regular hours or the customer asks to stay and complete it i give that option great video Chris as always.

I usually just get operational and come back. Thank you!

If we go out after hours we get stuff working and schedule to come back next week.

Sa-Bu-Son.... I had a leak at work on a chiller unit that cools hydrolic fluid. Now their is oil all over the place, so saying look that fitting it has oil on it, their is the leak will never ever ever happen. So this supervisor walks up, and calls the unit a pos, grabs my big blue and starts shooting at the unit wildly. He hit the sight glass on a fluke and it started to bubble around it. I was like holy shit! I pump the unit down cut it out, and just put in a copper until I get another sight glass. I took it back to my office, and the top ring was loose. I have never seen that, however it makes sense, it has to be put together right?

Love these videos!

Awesome 🙌👌👍😊🍀

As a journeyman hvacr tech, when I find the customer has played with the unit, I charge extra if I need to correct what some one did, as a lesson that they will pay big costs if damage occurs, so education is expensive, even if they never learn, they will still pay...I enjoy your videos and have learnt lots of tips..thanks and be safe brother..

Weekend is "get er running" and go home or even another call. You should work where its cold in the winter where winter charge is critical. It gets down to -20f here and working with metal and tools at those temps isn't fun.

I usually just get them going, fix as much as needed to get them running. Our on call is insane at times, so I usually don’t have time to get everything done that needs to be done.

It's kind of like trying to drink from a firehose. But man, that's a lot of information! It's easy to tell you understand exactly what you're talking about!! Normally what I do is if it's on fire. I put the fire out, then I get him through until I can get back there and work on it just like you normally do. If it's a triped g f c I then I'll see you when I have time! L o l

When I went out on a er call the only goal was to get it running 'til next day or whole weekend. Then come back on normal hours to troubleshoot and fix the problems once for all

That Alco solenoid valve has an O-ring gasket that you will find no longer has a round cross section it has become square, hot gas passing thru the valve from the head pressure control valve and operating with low charge caused this.

Hey hvacr videos! I remember this system from your new years 2023 special.

I triage and get operational on weekends.

Install tamper resistant fasteners at this store equipment

Hi there I'm so interested in this career path love this trade so much. I've been reading books watching videos on this trade any advice on how to get certified as an HVAC technician. Love your show and keep sharing your knowledge it so helpful to people like me 😂keep in cooled

Depends, if i know i have to go back then one and done, if i only see the equipment once then ill just get it going, most customers want the equipment running and dont want to pay after hours rate to fix the whole thing, so ill fix the leak or replace the belt and tell them about the other stuff.

💪👍🇺🇸❄️ great vid n information thanks for sharing

I would make a point to tell your customer all the things that cost their company extra money and how that may affect his or her future raises because they're spending so much on HVAC repairs. Like just for an FYI if you did happen to adjust that pressure control you could've cost your company an unnecessary $3000 extra for an overtime compressor change out.

Oh, I bet $100 he called his boss and his boss said have you looked at it first, might be able to fix it and the guy said maybe, boss said try to fix it before we call someone

just like an auto tech bring a paint pen and mark bolts nuts and knobs were you set it and tell them if the stuff is moved its on them if it breaks

Like you said depends how busy I am. But I am not spending a lot of time on a Saturday and Sunday I do have a question what do you use to heat up your receiver.

Time to get some tamper seals on the equipment to see if they're messing with it.

If I was a Tech, whether or not I just do the minimum to get then running for a day or 2 or go to town and fix absolutely everything while on time-and-a-half (or double-time) would depend of a few factors... - How busy my Schedule is for the next week or so. - What I had planned for that day off. - Does the Customer do Preventative Maintenance or just wait for everything to crap out and then call me in a panic because the equipment is down. and the most important factor... - What kind of Attitude does the Customer give me on any given visit - i.e. are they respectful of me and my time and otherwise nice polite people or are they rude, arrogant Pains-In-My-Ass and regularly Piss me Off? if it's the former, then I will do the minimum and save them some money...if they're a Royal PITA, then I go to town on Labour and Parts (without deliberately going slow just to maximize my time on site) and burn as much of their money as I can without Breaking the Law by excessively dragging my heels and committing Time Theft... Basically, treat me like a Human Being just trying to earn a Living and I'll be as gentle to your Budget as I can...treat me like something below the dog shit you scrape off your shoes and your budget is going to scream for mercy while I cackle like a Demented Madman... 😄😁😆😅😂🤣

Actually a decent looking system relative to what I see. 19 months is a pretty slow leak. I would have at least thrown some leak seal at it and go from there. Hate to condemn equipment that may have another 5 years on it.

Operational on 90% of the time on Weekend calls rather be home spending time with my kids.

I have always been perplexed over the years of watching you, that you fully charge a leaking system before actually looking for the leak! Can you explain that? I understand Sunday call and overtime charge…. That said, a quickie wand with an electronic may reveal a loose stem at a Shreader, loose flare nut fitting, etc. A quickie check could eliminate a return trip.

Where my service calls are I fix the problems due to the distance if I have the parts

The company I work for pretty much mandates a “get them up and running until Monday”, so what’s we do.

Man I'd go to work for you and be a door heater tech ........

There is an Idiot Tax for places like this.

that "tiny leak" on the solenoid valve could be under higher pressure when pumped down and may be leaking worse. 🤔

Do you ever use dye in systems?

It looks like you are going to find a way to put a lock on some things.

I have the Dtek-3, seems to work well. It looks like yours but doesn’t have the fancy display. For finding leaks is it as good as the stratus?

Maybe my eyes are deceiving me but it looked like that right fan was fluctuating in speed….

How long until we cant say king or queen valve?

What do you call the service valves on an old semi hermetic compressor?

Didn’t you hear??? 40 is the new 20!

I would definitely have found that leak and replaced that solenoid on the weekend, we’re way too busy to keep coming back to jobs, it really would of taken extra 20-30 min to pump it down burn that valve in a quick vacuum

Saw that you were running the JB temp probes. Eh. The price point is way too high. For that money you can get 6 pieces from Fieldpiece. Air, pressure, temperature.

At what point will you stop servicing their equipment if they are playing with it?