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A day in the life of an HVAC technician

NicPaus

NicPaus

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Wayn-o said:
Not really sure what they were after by stacking a new unit on top of the old unit and ducting down into the old unit. Maybe its art?
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Not having to pay to have new curb roofed in? Saves cost on curb as well?

Phone was to low to take a pic. Helped my AC Guy roof in package unit yesterday. Install and roof came out clean. I will text him to send me some pics.
 
yz450mm

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TrollerDave said:
I'm sure the building owner was wondering why that bid was so much lower than the other ones. :rolleyes
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Probably be wondering why his roof is so much lower too, after it collapses from too much load LOL.
 
Classic Daycruiser

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Wayn-o said:
Not really sure what they were after by stacking a new unit on top of the old unit and ducting down into the old unit. Maybe its art?
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What amazes me is no one knows any difference. If it works, they'll never know until it needs fixed or repaired, by then, the people involved have moved on. Now it's the next guys job to either add to artistic mess and keep expenses in check, or break the bank and do it right. ;)
 
Wayn-o

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Biggest packaged AC I have ever changed out. Had Alliance custom build them to replace piece of crap Aaon units. They are 230 fricken tons each!!! Used a 450 ton crane as it weighs 38,000 lbs. 2 down and 2 more to go next weekend. IMG950559.jpg IMG950560.jpg IMG_0565.jpg
 
Cray Paper

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Cute photo's.

I need to dig up some from my last project, it had a CUP on the roof and took a 550 ton mobile to hoist everything before the structural steel was erected over the top. Our tower crane couldn't pick most of the units. The design build mechanical contractor went with chilled beams throughout, never seen those before but they worked great.

The project I am now on dwarfs that one, except that were taking apart one of the largest biotech campuses in the world and turning it into open office spaces. Miles of 2' - 12' diameter stainless steel ductwork, 72" steam piping from the CUP and running through miles of utilidoors, 24" hydrdraunic piping. RODI throughout, Edstrom SS animal watering systems, 6 plus RODI plants and all associated piping and services (BMS, UPS etc) going in the dumpster.

Wish I could share pictures of the hundreds of millions of dollars of workmanship that will be tossed in the dumpster. 4each 900HP steam boilers not needed, several CAT V16 Gensets being sold to lowest bidder or just dumpstered if not purchased, not to mention each building has split air handlers that wont be reused, huge cooling towers that are way oversized and not needed.
 
Cray Paper

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I ran several phases of a local bio tech companies expansion several years ago. They were building out existing 2 and 3 story tilt ups and when it came to the mechanical units, chillers and pump house on the roof we built galvanized structural steel platforms 4'+ above the roof for all of the mechanical equipment to sit on. This platform also had the windscreens which had sound deadening designs on specific sides. This allows replacing units without having to get in to the roof as well as placing the load right over the columns. We had to upsize some of the footings, add stiffeners to the columns and support beams at each floor level but it was much faster than opening up a large area of roof and building a bunch of curbs. We would typically make a 12'x12' opening through each floor as well as the roof and all ductwork, hydronic piping, power, data, BMS etc. would pass through this single opening. The grating was removable so access for service was a breeze as well as access to each unit.
 
72Hondo

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Fancy systems suck,

We had a Aaon 8 ton system installed at work 2 years ago. This system has 5 individual thermostats and a master control panel. A third party had to come in to install the control panel and thermostats. So Wednesday a thermostat was completely blank, no power. I've had this happen before and the fuses in the VAV blow but no one can ever tell me why. Call the AC company out to change the fuse and all was well, or so I thought. AC system had very little air flow now. Weird but ok. It's been 100+ so I let it rest overnight, maybe it froze up. Everything was well in the morning but quick rose above the set point on the thermostats. Going through the thermostat viewing the data, load is at 100%, dampeners are all 100% open and none of them are hitting the CFM target.

Called the AC company out and the tech seemed lost on such a complicated system. His verdict; AC is fine and maybe it's a problem with the thermostats and to call the third party out. Really, all five go bad or out of calibration at once? Each has its own VAV so if it was fuse related, I would think it would be isolated to that room. But it's all of them.

Any pros have experience with Aaon or a fancy system like this? It's worrying when the company who designed and built the system, seems lost working on them.
 
Flying_Lavey

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btnhtillidie said:
Fancy systems suck,

We had a Aaon 8 ton system installed at work 2 years ago. This system has 5 individual thermostats and a master control panel. A third party had to come in to install the control panel and thermostats. So Wednesday a thermostat was completely blank, no power. I've had this happen before and the fuses in the VAV blow but no one can ever tell me why. Call the AC company out to change the fuse and all was well, or so I thought. AC system had very little air flow now. Weird but ok. It's been 100+ so I let it rest overnight, maybe it froze up. Everything was well in the morning but quick rose above the set point on the thermostats. Going through the thermostat viewing the data, load is at 100%, dampeners are all 100% open and none of them are hitting the CFM target.

Called the AC company out and the tech seemed lost on such a complicated system. His verdict; AC is fine and maybe it's a problem with the thermostats and to call the third party out. Really, all five go bad or out of calibration at once? Each has its own VAV so if it was fuse related, I would think it would be isolated to that room. But it's all of them.

Any pros have experience with Aaon or a fancy system like this? It's worrying when the company who designed and built the system, seems lost working on them.
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Call the controls contractor. VAV controls can be a bit complicated and the tech needs to be trained on that particular system that was installed. If you know what control system was installed, we could probably point you in a better direction.
 
H

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btnhtillidie said:
Fancy systems suck,

We had a Aaon 8 ton system installed at work 2 years ago. This system has 5 individual thermostats and a master control panel. A third party had to come in to install the control panel and thermostats. So Wednesday a thermostat was completely blank, no power. I've had this happen before and the fuses in the VAV blow but no one can ever tell me why. Call the AC company out to change the fuse and all was well, or so I thought. AC system had very little air flow now. Weird but ok. It's been 100+ so I let it rest overnight, maybe it froze up. Everything was well in the morning but quick rose above the set point on the thermostats. Going through the thermostat viewing the data, load is at 100%, dampeners are all 100% open and none of them are hitting the CFM target.

Called the AC company out and the tech seemed lost on such a complicated system. His verdict; AC is fine and maybe it's a problem with the thermostats and to call the third party out. Really, all five go bad or out of calibration at once? Each has its own VAV so if it was fuse related, I would think it would be isolated to that room. But it's all of them.

Any pros have experience with Aaon or a fancy system like this? It's worrying when the company who designed and built the system, seems lost working on them.
Click to expand...

IMO - You need to call a real service company that has a decent controls guy. If they don't have the software to plug into your system, MAKE THEM CALL THE CONTROLS COMPANY. Any decent mechanical company should have a working relationship with the control company. The last thing you want to do is let the controls company and the mechanical company bat the ball back and forth. Get them both onsite and get it fixed. FWIW - I can count on one hand how many times I had to call a proprietary control company to one of our accounts in 15 years of commercial service, I'd bet all you need is a good journeyman tech to get you fixed up.
 
Riverbound

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HotRod82 said:
IMO - You need to call a real service company that has a decent controls guy. If they don't have the software to plug into your system, MAKE THEM CALL THE CONTROLS COMPANY. Any decent mechanical company should have a working relationship with the control company. The last thing you want to do is let the controls company and the mechanical company bat the ball back and forth. Get them both onsite and get it fixed. FWIW - I can count on one hand how many times I had to call a proprietary control company to one of our accounts in 15 years of commercial service, I'd bet all you need is a good journeyman tech to get you fixed up.
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Agreed.
 
72Hondo

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WattMaster are the controls.

Mechanical company called me today with the control guys number. Called the control guy, "I've never been to your business and I don't do rooftop units, it's not us"

Mechanical company states it has to be them. I'm supposed to get a call back to verify... Yea....

This is turning into a cluster fuck. We've probably spent close to 100K with this company, and I feel like I'm getting blown off.

Here's the issue, the single mechanical guy who knows the system inside and out is no longer with the mechanical company.
 
Flying_Lavey

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btnhtillidie said:
WattMaster are the controls.

Mechanical company called me today with the control guys number. Called the control guy, "I've never been to your business and I don't do rooftop units, it's not us"

Mechanical company states it has to be them. I'm supposed to get a call back to verify... Yea....

This is turning into a cluster fuck. We've probably spent close to 100K with this company, and I feel like I'm getting blown off.

Here's the issue, the single mechanical guy who knows the system inside and out is no longer with the mechanical company.
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I hadn't heard of Wattmaster before so I just looked them up real quick. Looks like a fairly antiquated controls system. I think you may have a hard time finding someone proficient in them.

Do you have a computer terminal with software that allows access to the controls system?

Edit: just spoke to my dad that has a LOT of HVAC controls experience. Kinda confirmed my suspicion, Wattmaster is ancient tech that the programming is DOS based (think 70's and 80's computer programming). Add to that it's propitary so you will have to have Wattmaster come troubleshoot and repair it.
 
72Hondo

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That's just awesome. The system was just installed about two years ago. Anything to save a buck I guess.
 
Flying_Lavey

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My roof top today..... hopefully I'll be done before it gets too hot in Paso.

uploadfromtaptalk1470762632595.jpg
 
K

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Try this guy he is out of AZ but he may be able to Help 602.769.1157
 
72Hondo

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Controls and mechanical out today.

A lot of bickering on stuff I didn't understand.

"It's not hitting the CFM target, the until is not putting out enough air"

"It's running at 70 hertz with a constant supply of 54* it can't put anymore out."

Surprisingly they came to an agreement, the unit and controls are running properly. They started popping ceiling titles and following duct work to a point they found a section of duct sweating along with the beams around it.

They suspect an air leak or a duct blockage. Mechanical will be back out tomorrow to drill holes in the duct and see what's going on. Everyone now seems very interested in what the problem is.
 
Flying_Lavey

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btnhtillidie said:
Controls and mechanical out today.

A lot of bickering on stuff I didn't understand.

"It's not hitting the CFM target, the until is not putting out enough air"

"It's running at 70 hertz with a constant supply of 54* it can't put anymore out."

Surprisingly they came to an agreement, the unit and controls are running properly. They started popping ceiling titles and following duct work to a point they found a section of duct sweating along with the beams around it.

They suspect an air leak or a duct blockage. Mechanical will be back out tomorrow to drill holes in the duct and see what's going on. Everyone now seems very interested in what the problem is.
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Interesting. I'm going with some duct liner ripped off and got caught down stream thus blocking air flow? Total guess without being there though.
 
Outdrive1

Outdrive1

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Flying_Lavey said:
That would be some payback for you and RD conspiring to spray myself and others with the secret foot wash on that baby blue Ultra you had. Lol!
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that's a memory from way back. [emoji106]
 
Outdrive1

Outdrive1

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The Dynamic duo hooked it up today. Thanks Bill and Brian. [emoji106]
 
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