by High Performance HVAC | Refrigeration |
Condenser Coil Repair - A crane is used here to lift a new condenser coil to a rooftop. The old condenser coil was leaking and could no longer be repaired. The process involved recovering all the refrigerant from the Trane rooftop unit.
The rooftop unit was then partially disassembled and the old coil cut out from the system taking great care and planning to ensure the new coil could be retrofitted to the old refrigeration piping system.
Good planning and skilled HVAC techs make the jobs go smoothly and make the replacement seem easy especially to the customer. (more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Air Handlers |
Warning!! blowers can cause injury if you do not turn the power off! Additionally, blowers that are belt-driven can be harmful to loose clothing and fingers. Be very cautious when working around moving parts such as blowers.
Air Handler Blower Motor - All air handling units have a blower located inside the air handler cabinet. The air handler blower motor has a motor that drives it. Some air handling unit blowers are direct drive and some are belt driven.
Many light commercial and residential blowers are direct drive blower motors by the motor’s shaft while many commercial air handling units are belt driven by the blower motor and some sheaves attached to the blower motor shaft and the shaft attached to the blower wheel.
Some sheaves are adjustable and some are not. If the belt is slipping always change the belt first before adjusting the sheave. Adjusting the sheave can cause the unit to produce more or less than designed airflow. Sheaves are typically set by Testing and Balancing HVAC Technicians. (more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Refrigeration |
What you will learn in
Air Conditioner Compressor Troubleshooting article:
- the difficulties in troubleshooting a hermetically sealed compressor
- differences in various compressor manufacturers and HVAC manufacturers
- the commonality of single-phase compressors
- basics of troubleshooting an air conditioner or heat pump compressor
- Compressor capacitors and compressor mechanics
- basic tips for compressor repair
- Air Conditioner Compressor Repair - Heat Pumps are included
- lots of resource and related links that allow you to go in-depth and learn about HVAC compressors
(more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Technical Reference |
What you will learn from
Run Start Capacitors | Electrical Basics :
- Common uses for motor capacitors heating and air systems
- Capacitor Types for HVAC Motor Applications. The two different types of capacitors used for HVAC - Motor Run Capacitor and the Start Capacitor
- How capacitors are made
- Rules for replacing a motor capacitor
- Motor capacitor safety measures
- Lots of valuable related links to give you a closer look so you will learn more about HVAC
(more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Heat Pumps |
Converting an Air Conditioner to a Heat Pump
Can I convert my air conditioner to a heat pump?
Yes you can do this if you:
I get this question a lot in my emails and wanted to address it. The time and materials it would take to change an air conditioner into a heat pump are not worth it. You would be better off having a new heat pump installed replacing the old air conditioning unit. For me, or another HVAC technician, this would be a pet project for teaching students how to braze for refrigeration and wire heat pump controls for the proper sequence of operation.
It would be a good lesson in metering devices for air conditioners and heat pumps. It would also be a good lesson in finding all the appropriate parts for the size and model number of the air conditioner equipment.
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by High Performance HVAC | Heat Pumps |
Heat Pump Components - Heat Pumps are similar to air conditioners with a few extra components. Components added to allow the heat pump to offer both heating and cooling. The two major differences between a heat pump and an air conditioner are the controls and the refrigeration circuit.
While there are many different types of heat pumps and air conditioners the methods and means these two types of heating and cooling systems use are basically the same. (more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Refrigeration |
Superheat and Sub-cooling - In HVAC refrigeration coils and fans are used for air conditioners and heat pumps to transfer heat in one direction or another. A good HVAC technician is well versed in refrigeration. Refrigeration is defined as moving heat from one place to another. Modern air conditioners and heat pumps use a chemical refrigerant used in vapor compression refrigeration.
This chemical refrigerant has great properties for absorbing heat. What makes these chemicals so efficient is the temperature at which they change state or change from a liquid to a vapor and condense back to a liquid again. This is key to understanding superheat and subcooling. (more…)
