HEAT AND HUMIDITY( Part 1)

Thanks to wet noodle for the kick in the pants. I haven't posted for a while and hope that will change. Anyway, with all this rain that we've been having lately,wet noodle got me thinking about humidity and how it can affect both the comfort and quality of an A/C system.
Humidity refers to the amount of moisture that air can hold at a specific temperature and pressure higher the temperature of the air the more humidity that it can hold. The higher the pressure of the air the less humidity that it can hold. A relative humidity of 50%indicates that the air has one half of the amount of moisture that it can hold at that temperature and pressure. There are all kinds of tables and charts which explain this in great detail. Think about it this way- dry air(low humidity) causes rapid evaporation which makes a surface feel cool. Wet air( high humidity) slows down evaporation which makes something or someone feel warmer than the actual dry bulb temperature. So why all the fuss about humidity? Because if the humidity is high even though the room temperature may be 68F the occupants will not be comfortable. There is another more sinister problem here as well and that is that if the humidity is excessively high it can promote the growth of mold and other nasties.

AT LEAST IT'S DRY HEAT

There are times when no matter how diligent we are at maintenance that we need to inform the owner of a piece of equipment that it is time for replacement.
Even if you could get a unit like this running, imagine the energy savings by "selling" a newer more efficient unit.
All this being said, it is still important to spend the necessary time to properly clean coils, check electrical connections, oil motors, change filters and other routine maintenance.
A clean coil can save upwards of 30% towards the cost of operation. Certainly reason enough to make it a part of our spring start up routine.
Anybody! What cleaners work best for you when you are PM ing HVAC equipment?

I'M ONLY KIDDING-SORT OF.....

As my truck bounced into the parking lot, I thought to myself :"this is good, nobody here, I should be able to get in and out quickly.".
however, walking up to the service counter I soon realized that I must have a sign tattooed on my head: "ignore me, please". There were at least four counter people who seemed very skilled at being completely absorbed in doing everything else except to acknowledge a paying customer. One counter geek was on the phone, one paging through some manuals, another answering the phone and asking the person to hold, and the fourth engaged in some conversation with the other customer about lawn grubs.
Did I come at the wrong time? I waited patiently for almost twenty minutes before the guy on the phone asked some office slug if he would see what I wanted. The office guy reluctantly came in my direction mumbling (not so softly) that this wasn't really his job.
I had enough! "You know," I said,"I've been waiting here almost twenty minutes and your complaining that you don't want to wait on me!"
It was at this point that he realized that he had made a parts guy faux pax. Now things were beginning to happen. Pages turned, printers printed and those much needed parts appeared from the back room with an apology.
My demeanor softened and we thanked each other cautiously.
"I think something is missing " as I emptied the contents of my purchase back on the job. "I forgot to get the capacitor #@&*#". This time I would drive twenty minutes farther to that other parts place. It's the one with coffee and doughnuts that I can pig out on while I'm being ignored.

In case you are unaware the RSES intl. has changed its logo to better reflect its true purpose which is to provide training in all aspects of the HVAC industry. Every one of us needs to constantly upgrade and improve our skills to stay current in this ever changing industry.

For example, just consider all the different refrigerant blends that most of us handle today compared to just a few short years ago. Without constant training and retraining we will "loose our way" and may even cause significant damage to a system.

One of the best investments that you can make is to invest your time in some additional training that will upgrade your skills.

All that being said, Does anybody out there have any experience with NU-22? Is it a good drop in for R-22?

Wake up and give me some input!

Lehigh Valley Search and Rescue and LVRSES

Who would think that one of the members of our Local RSES club is also involved with the Valley Search and Rescue club? Jim Roberts, my friend, co worker and fellow RSES member has a wonderful German Shepherd . Today I had the pleasure of allowing his German Shepherd in training to track me to my hiding place in the woods. I was given a five minute head start -do you realize how far you can travel in five minutes? Definitely far enough to get seriously lost!
After traveling about one half mile up a steep incline I found a good hiding spot behind some large rocks. Jim told me to wait about 20 minutes before I started to yell. After 25 minutes and in the middle of a light drizzle and thunder, I started to move down the hill not really sure were I was. After about ten minutes of wandering we meet each other. The dog lost my trail about half way into the search. Hey, he's in training and I traveled much farther than he is currently trained to sniff out.
We reassembled and decided that I would walk parallel to the mountain with a three minute head start. By this time it was raining pretty good, but the dog needed some confidence and I needed to see how this really works.
I traveled across the mountain with the head start and waited no more than what seemed like a few moments before the Shepherd ran up to me. I WAS TAGGED! He turned around and ran back to Jim so he could lead him to my location.
Cogo's reward was getting to play with a little red ball! I thought that was a rip off, but the Shepherd couldn't be happier.
Jim is a very skilled HVAC technition that at one time owned and operated his business. It's impressive that he is still interested in pursuing new skills and interests. The owner of a search and rescue animal has more to learn than the dog. It requires a lot of commitment.
Hey RSES members we could all learn a lesson from this!