The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is warning homeowners, wholesalers, contractors and all related personnel and companies of potential fire and explosion hazard related to the use of propane or other unapproved refrigerants in home air conditioning systems.
As R-22 being phased out and price increase (actually price has dropped more than 30% recently) in the future more and more R-22 substitutes are filling the market. Some of them contain propane or other flammable gas that makes it unsafe to use in regular residential systems. There have been explosion caused by flammable refrigerant inside and outside the country where individuals have been injured as a result. According to EPA, some of the names for unapproved refrigerant include R-290, 22a, 22-A, R-22a, HC-22a and CARE 40. Hydrocarbon refrigerant, refrigerant with propane or any refrigerant with any flammable gas should not be used in systems not designed to run those gases. Most if not all standard home a/c are not intended to run on those refrigerants therefore home owners must confirm with service personnel when additional refrigerant is needed for addition or replacement for their a/c system.
At this time, EPA has not approved the use of propane refrigerant or other hydrocarbon refrigerants in any type of air conditioners. EPA has only approved the use of propane as a substitute refrigerant for R-22 in industrial process refrigeration systems and in new, stand-alone retail food refrigerators and freezers that are specifically designed to use flammable hydrocarbon refrigerants. EPA's Significant New Alternative Policy Program has already listed numerous refrigerants as a R-22 replacement. More information about the program : http://www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/r22a.html
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK
I was given some advices on how to write a good company blog and one of them was to try to connect to the reader personally instead of writing all about technical and product stuff. I really don't know what to start but some interesting stuff happened this week so I guess I can write about that right?
One of our supermarket customers had a huge refrigerant leak from the system relief valve and lost a lot of money this week. The reason was that the water treatment company who does service for them probably forgot to shut down all compressor before shutting down the water cooled condenser and the relief valve releases refrigerant in order to lower the system from dangerously high pressure. Now interesting thing is that this is not the first time and I really don't think it will be the last. Not sure who will pay for the mistake at the end but there will be some heated discussion between them for sure.
Another customer (a contractor) installed an A/C unit he bought from other distributor. Before he bought the unit he had confirmed with the sales on stuff that he needed for the project since it is a newer version of A/C and it needs some kind of electronic communication controls to work. Upon start up the unit could not communicate with each other and long story short, it turns out the distributor forgot to mention the correct electronic control that's also needed and it will cost $3000 more. If you are in the HVACR field you know distributor will not pay for the mistake so now the contractor has to ask the customer for $3000 more to complete the project, otherwise he will lose the job and get hit with the restocking fee (a lot) of the wrong unit since it has been installed. Contract has been signed and done so what would you do if you are the contractor? What if you are the customer?
This next one is more like a legal situation but a real one that just happened last week. This contractor was in a supermarket to fix a refrigerated case. He took off the front cover and lay it on the floor and put a safety cone in front of it then left to get his tools in the truck. A supermarket employee walked by, saw the cover on the ground so he put it back since it was a simple metal cover and no tool was needed to hang back on the case and removed the safety cone. Now the cover fell back down on the floor shortly after the employee walked away and a customer tripped over it and was injured. Of course there will be a lawsuit for sure but who is at fault?
As a supplier we hear stories like this all the time and when stuff like this happens it is definitely not a laughing matter for those who are involved. Mistakes like this do happen all the time and it could take a huge bite out of any person/business big or small. I just found these three incidents pretty interesting and thought to share with you. Hope you like it because it may relate a little to you more than some of our products. Do share with your thoughts and comments, who knows, maybe you can teach those involved what to do.
One of our supermarket customers had a huge refrigerant leak from the system relief valve and lost a lot of money this week. The reason was that the water treatment company who does service for them probably forgot to shut down all compressor before shutting down the water cooled condenser and the relief valve releases refrigerant in order to lower the system from dangerously high pressure. Now interesting thing is that this is not the first time and I really don't think it will be the last. Not sure who will pay for the mistake at the end but there will be some heated discussion between them for sure.
Another customer (a contractor) installed an A/C unit he bought from other distributor. Before he bought the unit he had confirmed with the sales on stuff that he needed for the project since it is a newer version of A/C and it needs some kind of electronic communication controls to work. Upon start up the unit could not communicate with each other and long story short, it turns out the distributor forgot to mention the correct electronic control that's also needed and it will cost $3000 more. If you are in the HVACR field you know distributor will not pay for the mistake so now the contractor has to ask the customer for $3000 more to complete the project, otherwise he will lose the job and get hit with the restocking fee (a lot) of the wrong unit since it has been installed. Contract has been signed and done so what would you do if you are the contractor? What if you are the customer?
This next one is more like a legal situation but a real one that just happened last week. This contractor was in a supermarket to fix a refrigerated case. He took off the front cover and lay it on the floor and put a safety cone in front of it then left to get his tools in the truck. A supermarket employee walked by, saw the cover on the ground so he put it back since it was a simple metal cover and no tool was needed to hang back on the case and removed the safety cone. Now the cover fell back down on the floor shortly after the employee walked away and a customer tripped over it and was injured. Of course there will be a lawsuit for sure but who is at fault?
As a supplier we hear stories like this all the time and when stuff like this happens it is definitely not a laughing matter for those who are involved. Mistakes like this do happen all the time and it could take a huge bite out of any person/business big or small. I just found these three incidents pretty interesting and thought to share with you. Hope you like it because it may relate a little to you more than some of our products. Do share with your thoughts and comments, who knows, maybe you can teach those involved what to do.
Friday, July 26, 2013
HVACR TERMINOLOGY
Before doing any work yourself or talking to any HVACR technician it is important to get your HVACR technical terminology right so you can at least communicate. The following are some common terms with not-so-technical explanations:
Condenser is the outside unit which consists the condenser fan motor, compressor and some electrical components like contactor, capacitor etc.
Evaporator Coil is the unit that sits on top or on the side of your furnace that connects to the condenser.
Furnace is the heating unit that uses natural or LP gas to heat your home. It consists of a blower motor, gas components (pilot, gas valve, flame sensor etc.) and some electrical components (control board, relay, capacitor etc.). It is located in the garage or attic most of the time.
Packaged Unit is an a/c unit that has all the components within the unit instead of having a split system like a condenser and evaporator separately. Packaged unit will simply blow hot air or cold air into the house.
Gas/Electric is an unit that runs on electricity to provide cooling (compressor) and gas to provide heating (combustion).
Heat Pump is an unit that runs on electricity (compressor) only to provide both heating and cooling.
Liquid line is the copper tubing with the smaller diameter that runs from the condenser to the evaporator coil. It is where the liquid refrigerant travel from the condenser to the evaporator coil.
Suction line is the copper tubing with the larger diameter that runs from the evaporator coil to the condenser. It is where the gas refrigerant returns from the evaporator coil back to the condenser.
Thermostatic Expansion Valve or TXV is a metering device that forces liquid refrigerant into gas refrigerant according to the temperature sensed by its probe. Usually it is located in the evaporator coil.
Basically how a typical residential split system work is like this: When calling for cool, the compressor runs and compresses the low pressure/low temperature gas refrigerant into a high pressure/high temperature gas refrigerant. The condenser coil then cools it so it becomes a high pressure liquid refrigerant and travel thru the liquid line to the evaporator coil. Then the TXV restricts how much refrigerant can go thru and thus high pressure liquid refrigerant will become gas refrigerant and in the process will absorb heat thus cooling the evaporator coil. The furnace blower forces air thru the evaporator coil into you house so you have cool air out from the registers. Low pressure gas refrigerant then goes back to the condenser thru the suction line and starts the process again. When calling for heat, the furnace simply turns on the gas valve and ignites the combustion process while blower force air thru the chamber so you have warm air coming out from the registers. Both condenser and evaporator coil are not in use when system is calling for cool. Well, this should be enough for one day, now that you know the basic names lets talk about common a/c problems next week. Have a great weekend.
Questions? Suggestion to write? Leave us a comment!
Condenser is the outside unit which consists the condenser fan motor, compressor and some electrical components like contactor, capacitor etc.
Evaporator Coil is the unit that sits on top or on the side of your furnace that connects to the condenser.
Furnace is the heating unit that uses natural or LP gas to heat your home. It consists of a blower motor, gas components (pilot, gas valve, flame sensor etc.) and some electrical components (control board, relay, capacitor etc.). It is located in the garage or attic most of the time.
Packaged Unit is an a/c unit that has all the components within the unit instead of having a split system like a condenser and evaporator separately. Packaged unit will simply blow hot air or cold air into the house.
Gas/Electric is an unit that runs on electricity to provide cooling (compressor) and gas to provide heating (combustion).
Heat Pump is an unit that runs on electricity (compressor) only to provide both heating and cooling.
Liquid line is the copper tubing with the smaller diameter that runs from the condenser to the evaporator coil. It is where the liquid refrigerant travel from the condenser to the evaporator coil.
Suction line is the copper tubing with the larger diameter that runs from the evaporator coil to the condenser. It is where the gas refrigerant returns from the evaporator coil back to the condenser.
Thermostatic Expansion Valve or TXV is a metering device that forces liquid refrigerant into gas refrigerant according to the temperature sensed by its probe. Usually it is located in the evaporator coil.
Basically how a typical residential split system work is like this: When calling for cool, the compressor runs and compresses the low pressure/low temperature gas refrigerant into a high pressure/high temperature gas refrigerant. The condenser coil then cools it so it becomes a high pressure liquid refrigerant and travel thru the liquid line to the evaporator coil. Then the TXV restricts how much refrigerant can go thru and thus high pressure liquid refrigerant will become gas refrigerant and in the process will absorb heat thus cooling the evaporator coil. The furnace blower forces air thru the evaporator coil into you house so you have cool air out from the registers. Low pressure gas refrigerant then goes back to the condenser thru the suction line and starts the process again. When calling for heat, the furnace simply turns on the gas valve and ignites the combustion process while blower force air thru the chamber so you have warm air coming out from the registers. Both condenser and evaporator coil are not in use when system is calling for cool. Well, this should be enough for one day, now that you know the basic names lets talk about common a/c problems next week. Have a great weekend.
Questions? Suggestion to write? Leave us a comment!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
HVAC REFRIGERATION PARTS : OEM V.S. AFTERMARKET, WHICH SHOULD YOU GET?
We've answered this questions hundreds of times, there is no simple yes or no answer as it depends on what kind of part you are talking about. Before going any further, let's first understand what is considered OEM and what is considered Aftermarket.
Basically OEM means this part is the same or it is made or supplied by the manufacturer who original made the equipment as a replacement part. Most of the time it will look and work exactly the same but sometimes it won't. We will go into detail more later on. Aftermarket, on the other hand, means this is a replacement part not made or supplied by the manufacturer who original made the equipment. It is just what it is, simply a replacement that will work. So what is the difference?
The first difference you will notice, unless you are not paying, is the price. OEM tends to cost a lot more than aftermarket parts. If your unit is still under warranty then you can probably claim the OEM part for free. By using aftermarket parts you will most likely void your warranty so there is no reason not to use OEM if you unit is still under warranty, except that it may take longer for the claim to go thru. Now if your unit is out of warranty, then you got a totally different ball game. OEM parts can be 2-3 times or even more expensive than aftermarket parts so you can really have a hard time deciding which to get unless again, you're not paying or just so rich and don't care.
In General, for simple parts like capacitors, contactors, fan blades etc it won't matter much as long as the aftermarket one is with the same specification. In fact, these parts may actually come out from the same factory with different brand name printed on it afterwards so there is no reason to spend extra money. However, when it comes to control boards, motors, sensors etc you may want to stick with OEM since they are just more complicated and fine tuned parts. Of course, if you are a pro or have no trouble doing some modification here and there to make stuff work then more powers to you. For a lot of DIYers it is a pain in the butt when they find out even though the aftermarket motor has all the same electrical spec but the shaft is just a little too long or too short and they have to make changes on the bracket or mounting.
Now that you decide to go with OEM, does that mean the OEM part you ordered will be exactly the same as your old one 100% of the time? The answer is NO. Manufacturer has the right to make changes to their design and replacement parts anytime so if they say this is the part for your unit, it won't matter if it looks totally different. They might have an adapter kit to make it work but if not, you have to make the changes and make it work. Also manufacturers can discontinue any parts or models that they made anytime and when that happens you can only go with aftermarket or buy a new unit. One more thing to bear in mind is that your unit's performance data is based on all OEM parts when it was tested in the factory and according to most manufacturers their authorized parts are also tested in the same standard as their unit so it will work better. Bottom line is, for simple parts OEM will work just as well but when it comes to better tuned parts going OEM will save you more time and hassle, unless you are a pro and knows how to deal with making some changes or adjustment on your own.
The first difference you will notice, unless you are not paying, is the price. OEM tends to cost a lot more than aftermarket parts. If your unit is still under warranty then you can probably claim the OEM part for free. By using aftermarket parts you will most likely void your warranty so there is no reason not to use OEM if you unit is still under warranty, except that it may take longer for the claim to go thru. Now if your unit is out of warranty, then you got a totally different ball game. OEM parts can be 2-3 times or even more expensive than aftermarket parts so you can really have a hard time deciding which to get unless again, you're not paying or just so rich and don't care.
In General, for simple parts like capacitors, contactors, fan blades etc it won't matter much as long as the aftermarket one is with the same specification. In fact, these parts may actually come out from the same factory with different brand name printed on it afterwards so there is no reason to spend extra money. However, when it comes to control boards, motors, sensors etc you may want to stick with OEM since they are just more complicated and fine tuned parts. Of course, if you are a pro or have no trouble doing some modification here and there to make stuff work then more powers to you. For a lot of DIYers it is a pain in the butt when they find out even though the aftermarket motor has all the same electrical spec but the shaft is just a little too long or too short and they have to make changes on the bracket or mounting.
Now that you decide to go with OEM, does that mean the OEM part you ordered will be exactly the same as your old one 100% of the time? The answer is NO. Manufacturer has the right to make changes to their design and replacement parts anytime so if they say this is the part for your unit, it won't matter if it looks totally different. They might have an adapter kit to make it work but if not, you have to make the changes and make it work. Also manufacturers can discontinue any parts or models that they made anytime and when that happens you can only go with aftermarket or buy a new unit. One more thing to bear in mind is that your unit's performance data is based on all OEM parts when it was tested in the factory and according to most manufacturers their authorized parts are also tested in the same standard as their unit so it will work better. Bottom line is, for simple parts OEM will work just as well but when it comes to better tuned parts going OEM will save you more time and hassle, unless you are a pro and knows how to deal with making some changes or adjustment on your own.
Monday, July 8, 2013
HVAC SUPER PRO
Ever get tired or frustrated when brazing a connection that is just so hard to get to? Or just don't want to braze at all? Check out HVAC Super Pro. It is designed specially for HVAC Refrigeration connections. This stuff will make the connection fast and easy and handle the pressure just like or even better than brazing (brazing takes practice and you will fail many times before getting it right.) It is faster, easier, safer and cheaper. Just follow the in box direction and see for yourself!
Made in USA. Guaranteed to work!
HVAC SUPER PRO is compatible with all refrigerants and oils.
HVAC SUPER PRO can be used with standard ANSI copper or brass fittings. There is no need for costly fittings, crimping tools, or crimps.
Temperature range after cure: -65 to 350F (-54C to 176C).
Maximum continuous pressure after cure: 1200psi.
Works on all types of round copper, brass, and aluminum tubing (the tubing must be round and fit the connector properly at the bonding area).
Fill space: 20 thousandths of an inch.
Adherence Strength (ASTM 4541): Pull-apart: 1500 foot pounds on 3/4-inch tubing; Rotational: 450 foot pounds on 1/2-inch tubing.
A HVAC SUPER PRO bond will come apart when heated above 450F.
It is critical to sand the outside of the tubing and the inside of the fitting with 60-grit sanding cloth. 60-grit sanding cloth is included with each package of HVAC SUPER PRO. Using any sanding medium or a wire brush will result in an inferior bond, and nullifies all HVAC SUPER PRO warranties and guarantees.
http://www.gsistore.com/hvsuprosobo.html
http://www.gsistore.com/hvsuprosobo.html
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
HVAC Troubleshooting Question
Recently we had responded to a question in one of the HVAC DIY forums. We like to share it here so our readers can read about it and learn something. Below is a portion of the message.
"I started troubleshooting by making sure the condensate drain switch wasn't the issue and then did some tests with my multimeter. On the board I got 27ish volts across the heat, cooling, and fan terminals. At the t-stat I got... nothing. No reading at all on any of them. I jumpered R to Y on the board and everything runs just fine. House cooled down great. Jumpering at the t-stat wires didn't help anything. I've also swapped the board out with one I purchased at the recommendation of a service tech... there was no problem with the old board and it behaves the same way with both boards."
In other words, the unit will not run at all when the writer jumps or hardwired R to Y at the thermostat but it runs just fine when he jumps it at the control board inside the furnace. Usually when something like this happen you want to check for loose wire or broken wire which breaks the 24V signal between the control board and the thermostat. This is exactly what happened in his case and all he had to do is just run a new set of wires. By knowing how the control works and by reading the control diagram of your a/c system you can easily troubleshoot thermostats, control boards and figure out which part might be wrong. Of course you should always let the professional handle it if you have any doubts but knowing a little about stuff like this can actually help you communicate with the pros. It is pretty fun to troubleshoot this kind of things especially when you found and fixed the bug.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
We got this from our partner today. Please spread the word.
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Today, in a major address on climate change at Georgetown University, President Obama said what we’ve been waiting years to hear: “I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond fixing.”
He went on to outline his plan to tackle the climate crisis. From calling out climate denier politicians, to increasing government support for renewable energy – even committing to consider the climate impacts of the Keystone XL Pipeline – this progress is unprecedented for his presidency.
And it happened because of Greenpeace supporters like you. You and millions of others in this movement refused to let corporate money and power silence your voices.
We proudly stand with the President in the fight against carbon pollution, but we know that this battle for our future won’t be won with words alone.
Industry lobbyists from Big Oil and King Coal will surely continue to fight the President tooth-and-nail to stop these solutions from being implemented. Even as you read this, oil companies like Shell are gearing up to drill in the Arctic and coal companies are mining publicly owned coal for pennies on the dollar.
It will be up to us to make sure the President does not allow these dangerous projects to move forward. But the good news is our efforts are paying off.
Thank you for everything that you have done to get us to this point. This is your moment, and the President is standing with you.
For the planet,
Philip Radford
Greenpeace USA Executive Director
PS. SHARE this image with your friends on Facebook if you pledge to be part of the generation that ends climate change!
Click here to forward this message.
Greenpeace
702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 |
1-800-722-6995
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