CAREER CHANGE TO HVAC?

Dave in San Diego, California said: I just got out of the Marine Corps about 5 months ago. I took some classes down here at San Diego City college for a semester to learn the basics. At the same time I got a job in commercial refrigeration with a small company out here. What Kenny says is right, take all the overtime you can and ask lots of questions. Between the classroom stuff and the OJT, it all comes together much faster. Well, good luck.

Starting pay?

50 and under, that's fine. I am sure it's not every day this is done right?

Residential, that on the ground then right? I can use a dolly. Or figure a way around that. If it's on a roof, then its a two man team or you bring the whole unit up with one person?

GCRN7081 in Hesperia, California said: Residential, that on the ground then right? I can use a dolly. Or figure a way around that. If it's on a roof, then its a two man team or you bring the whole unit up with one person?

In a residential application most units are on the ground,You have split systems and package units. Package units all is outside.Split systems have an outdoor condensing unit and a indoor air handler,and a coil. Both can weigh over 50 lbs. you could use a handtruck or two wheeler as some call them two carry the outdoor unit. where things are difficult is carring and old unit down from an attic or an overhead room, you would have to carry the old unit down and the new unit up and you would not be able to use a dolly going up and down stairs. You know your strengths and weaknesses and what you could handle. I was just stating that there is alot of heavy lifting in this industry. try it for yourself if you are ok with it, go for it. If you think it may be too much, then you might try something differant.

In my experience, HVAC is heavy work. If the unit move is planned that's okay, but remember, nitrogen, vac pump, torches and tools are heavy too. Your back must be capable of moving heavy tools and equipment over and over all day long. Just wanted to say that it's more than being able to lift 50lbs now and then.

Thanks for being honest. Can you give me an idea of weight of those items? Or a normal work day?

Does anyone know of any companies that hire from hvac school, or will train?

Does anyone know of any companies that hire from Hvac school, or will train!!!

Does anyone know of any companies that hire from Hvac school in New York, or will train!!!

GCRN7081 in Hesperia, California said: Thanks for being honest. Can you give me an idea of weight of those items? Or a normal work day?

I cant really say what a normal day would be, in this industry each day can be differant. And it depends on the company you work for as well. I have worked for two differant residential hvac companies. One company only wanted to sell to high end customers and upper middle class. T he other company was quite a bit larger and would sell to anyone anywhere anytime. And they had people that would promise the customer that the unit would be installed and running the same day without first notifying the instalation manager. or having someone look over the job.Some units are heavier than others. And at times we had up to 5 or 6 jobs going in the same day which can be very exausting for a three man crew.The other company would only install one or two and would have 6 or 8 people on the job then after the install was complete the owner of the company would come back by and go over every detail and make sure everything was perfect, not just installed correctly but beyond. So it really depends on the company you work for. Doing service you may have 1 compressor bad or you may have several and some of the compressors are close to 100 lbs in weight. and you would have to bend over into the unit and unbolt it cut the refrigerant line and pull it up out of the unit. Then the same thing in reverse to install the new one.T he service Tech would be responsible for this not the installer. Sorry but this business is not predictable, and it truly is something differant each day. somedays you dont have anything at all to do other days you do not have enouph hours in the day to complete everything.

The HVAC field is very hard phiscal work at times, your tool bag is heavy and like someoneelse said carrying Nitrogen tanks and tourch kits, and recovery machine and a vaccum pump, all can be very heavy as well especially at the end of the day, and having to carry all that up to an attic or a roof somewhere. and in the summer the attic is the last place you want to be anytime after lunch.T he money you make is well earned every dime of it.

hvac tech 12 in Concord, North Carolina said: I cant really say what a normal day would be, in this industry each day can be differant. And it depends on the company you work for as well. I have worked for two differant residential hvac companies. One company only wanted to sell to high end customers and upper middle class. T he other company was quite a bit larger and would sell to anyone anywhere anytime. And they had people that would promise the customer that the unit would be installed and running the same day without first notifying the instalation manager. or having someone look over the job.Some units are heavier than others. And at times we had up to 5 or 6 jobs going in the same day which can be very exausting for a three man crew.The other company would only install one or two and would have 6 or 8 people on the job then after the install was complete the owner of the company would come back by and go over every detail and make sure everything was perfect, not just installed correctly but beyond. So it really depends on the company you work for. Doing service you may have 1 compressor bad or you may have several and some of the compressors are close to 100 lbs in weight. and you would have to bend over into the unit and unbolt it cut the refrigerant line and pull it up out of the unit. Then the same thing in reverse to install the new one.T he service Tech would be responsible for this not the installer. Sorry but this business is not predictable, and it truly is something differant each day. somedays you dont have anything at all to do other days you do not have enouph hours in the day to complete everything.

What's the do installer and/or tech do? You listed tham as diferent

GCRN7081 in Hesperia, California said: What's the do installer and/or tech do? You listed tham as diferent

The Installer is mainly responsible for the installation of the new unit which would include duct work, refrigerant line sets, and setting and leveling the new unit.Also would include runnig new wire for control voltage and putting on a new Electrical whip. From the unit to the electrical but not hooking it to a live energized circut.Running new gas line from meter to unit for gas applications.
The service Tech is responsible for trouble shooting and repair of exsiting system when someone calls in with a problem.Service techs also are responsible for starting up new systems after they are installed, with some companys that includes wiring in the control voltage and instaling a new thermostat and wiring it into the system. Service techs are responsible for refrigerant charging during start ups if needed. OR recharging a system should it have a leak in it. this is of course after the repair is made to stop the leak. You have to have a EPA Certification to handle refrigerant.
If you want more presise information, you can find alot of good reference books on the Internet just type in the ISBN NUMBER OF THE BOOK in the search bar of Google or yahoo whichever you use. I would suggest a very good book "Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Technology" sixth edition by Bill Whitman,Bill Johnson,John Tomczyk, and Eugene Silberstein. Just trying to help this book is very informative.

I am just starting my class in a few weeks and I think that is one of my books. Great information, thanks!

Here is the "wording" from my local college
Students interested in preparing for employment in this field may begin their studies any semester. The course of study designed by SBVC's Department of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning may lead to an Associate of Science degree or a vocational certificate in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning.

I will opt at this time for the certificate. I assume that allows me to take some state test?

GCRN7081 in Hesperia, California said: I am just starting my class in a few weeks and I think that is one of my books. Great information, thanks!

Here is the "wording" from my local college
Students interested in preparing for employment in this field may begin their studies any semester. The course of study designed by SBVC's Department of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning may lead to an Associate of Science degree or a vocational certificate in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning.

I will opt at this time for the certificate. I assume that allows me to take some state test?

there are a tremendous amount of good books on line you may want to check out Books4hvac.com, When you begin your classes get the ISBN number on the back right corner of the book, type that number in your search engine you will be amazed at the money you save.as opposed to buying in the school bookstore

1.4.0.1.8.9.5.1.3.1
$135 through your web link and $85 with Azon (indeed blocked it) Did I do it wrong? Both are new too.

you got to be careful about the advice you read here. There are jobs in other sectors besides the residential side of it. Allot of these people are giving out the gloom and doom because thats all they know. There are many jobs in facilities maintenance. You can also work for a machine distributor as a Service Engineer. Think of all the ice cream machines, ice makers, reach in coolers etc. and hit them up. Refrigeration is a very broad field. There is one thing that is universal though, if your not willing to work and learn on your own, you aint going nowhere with it. THe learning curve is a bit long because there is so much to do OJT, there just aint no other way to learn it. Once you hit that peak though, you feel like you can tackle anything. Be prepared to break some stuff though. A person that has never F'd up something is either full of it or dont do it or both (there are legions).Its up to you really. Some of it has to do with being in the right place and the right time, or even the wrong place at the right time. I say wrong place because some of the places I have worked at were F'd up but because they were F'd up, I got to touch all the machines, break them down and learn it that way. Some other places wont let you touch nothing but then you dont have to work as hard either.

Another thing that I wanted to add is that if your really serious about HVAC, why not take a NATE exam or join RSES and do some of their courses? At least then you will be half way there. Nobody want to train somebody from ground zero, you dont even know if that person will keep with it after you exhausted yourself training them. Nobody taught me jack where Im at, I had to hit the books hard, and still do. These days its on you to meet the employer half way at least. Even if you join the union you still got to haul for somebody for years.

Last but not least...."Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Technology" sixth edition by Bill Whitman,Bill Johnson,John Tomczyk, and Eugene Silberstein."

I got this book and scores of others. This book came with the Penn Foster course I did years back. The book is ok, but RSES courses beats them all hands down. Youll also have to read up on your own when you hit a situation thats not in the book. The book might tell you what single phase 200V (two hots instead of the single 110 hot and nuetral) is, but not how it works. It took me awhile to figure this "simple" one out. There are scores of other situations, that you find in the field, like spending hours leak checking a machine only to find that it was leaking from the schrader valves. Brazing has tricks as well. I had a machine today (a display case) that nobody could find the leak on. It took a week to drop from 65 PSI to 0 using Nitrogen. I pulled everything apart, brazed on service valves and sealed up the other ends and isolated the leak in one of the evaporators. This is tough work and the book wont teach how to find it. You might be able to use an ultrasonic leak checker or put in some dye, but they wont allow it where I work, its all done the hard way.

GCRN7081 in Hesperia, California said: 1.4.0.1.8.9.5.1.3.1
$135 through your web link and $85 with Azon (indeed blocked it) Did I do it wrong? Both are new too.

Sounds like you put in the data rright but the isbn number is 1.4.2.8.3.1.9.3.6.3. Indeed automatically block it because it thought it was a phone number. Another good source in which I had forgotten until I saw Mike's reply, that is RSES GO TO WWW.RSES.COM, Also check out the NATE reference manual as well it is the big thick yellow book. Just as Mike said books are a good place to start and good reference points to refer back to but ojt is the best.

Another sitiuation I had was that a heat pump was not working in heat mode. it worked great in cooling but no heat.The problem was that the RV was not being energized,this was a Rudd product in which the RV is energized in heat mode unlike other systems in which the RV is energized in cooling. They actually had a couple things wrong. the common wire was hookedx up at the t-stat but was not tied to any other commons only giving 12v across R & C and it needed a jumber wire across W & Y That way when the system called for heat(W) it would enegize the compressor contactor (Y)knowing where to check voltages comes from experience knowing what the voltage is supposed to be come from books.OJT is the best experience but in my opinion if you have both then it will not take as long to find the problem.

Great career choice- I am winding down after 32 years in the field.

They'll be plenty of work out there for you - Good Luck !!!!

If you have never replaced a good part, your fos. It takes time to be a great tech. The reward for me is knowing for sure what's wrong in like a minute, then fixing it and off to another one. When I was green, people used to say I made them nervous-worked 32 hours Monday thru Tuesday one week. Got a better job offer because of my total dedication. New job paid double plus but it was facilities maintenance and about bored me to tears. I lasted eight years, quit and went on my own. I had three kids and a wife at home and my first priority is and has always been to take care of them. Now I have one daughter at home, 21, a grandson at home and my wife. The best thing you can do for your family is live good and make lots of money. The only way to make lots of money is KNOW WHAT'S WRONG and then FIXING IT. I really do love repairing HVACR but summer weekends and cold Sundays will drive you nuts fast.

hvac tech 12 in Concord, North Carolina said: Sounds like you put in the data rright but the isbn number is 1.4.2.8.3.1.9.3.6.3. Indeed automatically block it because it thought it was a phone number. Another good source in which I had forgotten until I saw Mike's reply, that is RSES GO TO WWW.RSES.COM , Also check out the NATE reference manual as well it is the big thick yellow book. Just as Mike said books are a good place to start and good reference points to refer back to but ojt is the best.

OOPS! that should have been WWW.RSES.ORG, Not .com they have DVD'S and reading material both.

Yeah, its kind of a catch 22 situation. Its hard to get the job without experience so where do you get the experience? A votech program is a good start but allot of them are a ripoff. I seen some programs asking $10000. Thats B.S. The union is a good deal I guess but thats the hard way and it takes a long time. There are some good 2 year colleges out there if you can get a loan. Refrigeration isnt something you can practice at home like you can with engines etc. You need the R22 or R134, the Nitrogen, the vaccum pump, tubing, benders, recovery tanks (if your worried about that) and a recovery machine. Youll also need some actylene rigs and flux/rods, leak checkers, etc. Its a huge investment unless you pick it up cheap and used on ebay. I guess you could get a heat pump and play around with the TXV settings or whatever kind of metering device its got or mess with the reversing valve in your garage. Most service calls, however, have allot to do with leaks so you got to cut out the restriction or find the leak, braze in a new dryer then vaccum/charge and that requires allot of equipment. For the foreseeable future, I think HVAC-R will be this way, that is only certian people can service the equipment. The thing that sucks about being a service engineer is the fatigue. The shop your visiting might not close until 10 p.m. so you cant do squat until then. Then its a rush to find the problem and its usually in some cramped up place. we might get done at 12 p.m. and get home at 1 am or so,then its the same thing the next day. By Thursday, fatigue sets in. The mental, the traveling, the phsyical and the lack of sleep. Thats why I said facilities is the easy way to go, but thats just me.

Uh, $10,000 is ALOT less than a year at most colleges. How much do you think it costs per year for a BS in Electrical Engineering?? How much do you think 4 years costs? If paying $10,000 is what it takes to give you the possibility of getting a job, I think that is the price you need to pay and is hardly a 'ripoff'

Also, best thing to do is wait a month or two until the new admininstration takes over. Job training, tuition subsidies, expanded subsidized student loan programs will likely be part of the 500billion, 600billion or 1 trillion dollar + economic stimulus package.

Mike in Japan said: Yeah, its kind of a catch 22 situation. Its hard to get the job without experience so where do you get the experience? A votech program is a good start but allot of them are a ripoff. I seen some programs asking $10000. Thats B.S. The union is a good deal I guess but thats the hard way and it takes a long time. There are some good 2 year colleges out there if you can get a loan. Refrigeration isnt something you can practice at home like you can with engines etc. You need the R22 or R134, the Nitrogen, the vaccum pump, tubing, benders, recovery tanks (if your worried about that) and a recovery machine. Youll also need some actylene rigs and flux/rods, leak checkers, etc. Its a huge investment unless you pick it up cheap and used on ebay. I guess you could get a heat pump and play around with the TXV settings or whatever kind of metering device its got or mess with the reversing valve in your garage. Most service calls, however, have allot to do with leaks so you got to cut out the restriction or find the leak, braze in a new dryer then vaccum/charge and that requires allot of equipment. For the foreseeable future, I think HVAC-R will be this way, that is only certian people can service the equipment. The thing that sucks about being a service engineer is the fatigue. The shop your visiting might not close until 10 p.m. so you cant do squat until then. Then its a rush to find the problem and its usually in some cramped up place. we might get done at 12 p.m. and get home at 1 am or so,then its the same thing the next day. By Thursday, fatigue sets in. The mental, the traveling, the phsyical and the lack of sleep. Thats why I said facilities is the easy way to go, but thats just me.

HERE in NC the more certifications you have the better your chances.Also find a good two year college for just this industry, avoid the mail in courses go where you get real hands on with knowlegable instructors. Knowlege is the key to success.
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The key to getting the good job is getting a good quality education and then ask around the school, find out what employers support the school. Start with them when you finsh the class and have your degree unless you find one willing to hire youwhile in school. Obtain as much knowlege as you can go to outside resources like other books and trainning materal like you find at WWW.RSES.ORG, get all the certifications you can. Then whhen you do get a job in the field stick it out even if you hate it employer like to see stability. They just look at the dates not the reason you left. If it is a short time they question your reason for leaving.Some may tell you you dont need a school but, I belive school can give you an edge.It also helps to talk with others to see what struggles that may or may not have. And a good instructor who has actually worked in the field is worth a lot.

Hvac tech in N.C.,

Staying at a place too long can be a bad thing though. It depends on the place. If you specialize in one area, then its a good thing, but in order to get a broad range of skills, I say move around. some places you can only go so far, even if you bust your azz. The thing with me is this; milk the company for all the skills you can. Your getting used and so are they. Its a mutual relationship. Dont get bogged down in relationships or waste of time b.s. You have to feel it all out. Everything these days is a game. Ive worked like a mule at places while others went off and slept. They are still there, I got fired. They must be doing something right, the only thing I did wrong was work too hard. These days things are all backwards, its political and weird. Maybe Ive just had some bad experiences too. I tell you what though, Ive seen allot of the younger guys get away with and do things that were unacceptable years back. Its like if you dont work and find a way to scam, your doing the right thing. Ridicule those who work, seek out their mistakes and broadcast them and promote yourself by doing some serious azz kising to the boss. It makes me sick but I guess thats how its done now.

"Uh, $10,000 is ALOT less than a year at most colleges. How much do you think it costs per year for a BS in Electrical Engineering?? "

Im not an Electrical Engineer nor do I intend to become one. You can spend max. $1000 on RSES and other certs and get pretty much all the knowledge you need to start out in HVAC-R. The rest youll learn OJT. Some would probally tell you 1000 is too much. The old timers didnt spend 10000$ on some 3 month course. I say your a fool to spend that much. Read Doolins Troubleshooting bible front to cover 3 or 4 times and do some other courses, youll pick up everything you need to know. Once you understand the basics, everything else comes easy. When I started out I was buying all sorts of fancy tools, now I dont even use. I pretty much can narrow something down with a guage set, multimeter or clampmeter, and my hand. I mean the system is supposed to work a certian way, if it aint, there is only so many posibilities. i was working on a little slush maker yesterday. It was pulling a vaccum on the low side and the other guy couldnt figure it out. He said it was out of gas and was getting the recovery machine out. I went over and pushed in the schrader on the high side, a rush of gas came out. I knew then that the machine had pumped all the gas in the condensor and one of the solenoid valves wasnt opening. Sure enough, no voltage to the solenoid. I took my free jumper cable, jumped off the solenoid, it worked so traced the problem back to a faulty switch. Changed that out and everything works. I havent encountered a problem yet that required a 10000 answer. Somebody is ripping you off dude or maybe your the salesperson trying to rip me off.

Iam 49 years old I got married 10 years ago, I was working in a factory type job and had been for a little over 10 years, When I got married I moved to a city 50 miles away I was tired of the commute so I went to a similar type business somewhat closer. I worked there around 3 or 4 mos. and was laid off. I had no professional experience other than factory work. My wife has a great job as a office manager, but the company started moving to India, she was afraid she would have to relocate. That's when I chose to go to school for HVAC, I wanted to learn a career not just a job. While in school I began working at an HVAC company doing installs @ 14.00hr with no experience. I then after about a year was offerd a entry level service position with another company, I worked there for a little over a year and went to a commercial hvac co.I was lost on some calls I had not been around things like economisers, VAV'S,Chillers etc.AFTER 4 mo's I lost my job due to another tech who lied about some things, plus I was green in this area band did not know that much about the Chillers,VAVS,etc. I have now been out of work for 4 months,and can not seem to find a job even though I have schooling and some experience. I wish I had stayed at the residential service position, The boss was a jerk but the money was good and I knew what I was doing. I f you can find a job stay there and tough it out no matter how bad you hate the boss. Get the time in that looks better than 3 jobs in two years.

Mike in Japan said: Hvac tech in N.C.,

Staying at a place too long can be a bad thing though. It depends on the place. If you specialize in one area, then its a good thing, but in order to get a broad range of skills, I say move around. some places you can only go so far, even if you bust your azz. The thing with me is this; milk the company for all the skills you can. Your getting used and so are they. Its a mutual relationship. Dont get bogged down in relationships or waste of time b.s. You have to feel it all out. Everything these days is a game. Ive worked like a mule at places while others went off and slept. They are still there, I got fired. They must be doing something right, the only thing I did wrong was work too hard. These days things are all backwards, its political and weird. Maybe Ive just had some bad experiences too. I tell you what though, Ive seen allot of the younger guys get away with and do things that were unacceptable years back. Its like if you dont work and find a way to scam, your doing the right thing. Ridicule those who work, seek out their mistakes and broadcast them and promote yourself by doing some serious azz kising to the boss. It makes me sick but I guess thats how its done now.

AMEN! that's exactly the way it is everywhere I have worked I have run into that. Some of the younger guys and even some older that act like kids.I lost my job in Sept for that very reason its sad but I guess some guys feel intimidated and think they have to prove a point. I just want to work to make the customer happy that's why the work is even there to begin with, the customer has a need.

I hear you. It's every where. If your not into the politics and playing the game. You loose. I did sales at a job over two years ago. Same thing. I didn't want the bc with politics and lost. We had three people in our dept. You ould take all three of their sales, add them together and I doubled that! Although, I was the only one in the managers office weekly. Seriously. Everyone else found a spot to sleep in or a spot to talk on their cell phones. We would have customers ask where everyone was at. Honestly, there must have been a spot they all hung out at. I know some (managers did catch on to it) would hang out in the break room so the managers would think they were on lunch. I guess it's every where.

I hear you. It's every where. If your not into the politics and playing the game. You loose. I did sales at a job over two years ago. Same thing. I didn't want the bs with politics and lost. We had three people in our dept. You could take all three of their sales, add them together and I doubled that! Although, I was the only one in the managers office weekly. Seriously. Everyone else found a spot to sleep in or a spot to talk on their cell phones. We would have customers ask where everyone was at. Honestly, there must have been a spot they all hung out at. I know some (managers did catch on to it) would hang out in the break room so the managers would think they were on lunch. I guess it's every where.

Dmj in Houston, Texas said: I'am a 35year old male about to make a career change from carpentry to HVAC,I would like to know is HVAC a good career or not? SERIOUS ANSWERS PLEASE,THANK YOU!

yeah its a good deal...just keep it simple, BAS is the way to go....Get in with Seimens you got 'er made. Repairing hospital equipment isn't a bad deal either.......FFT

Please look at Bureau of Labor Statistics online. It has every job, what the demand is, what it is expected to be, average pay and more. This is actual government data that schools use to decide what to teach, etc.

It's BLS or something like that. Not hard to find.

Yeah its kind of sad whats going on these days with people. Its an American thing, because if you go and work for foriegners, its totally different. They got a different work ethic, but if your the American your the odd man out, so its not really worth it but youll learn allot. I did see a huge difference, or gap I guess you could say, when I worked with Americans and other nationalities. Allot of young guys these days have "figured out" that the best way is to have a big mouth, show their "leadership" by managing even though they have no experience, broadcast others mistakes to the boss and be lazy. The weird thing is that some of the bosses actually seem to like these people and are disgusted with those who work hard. Im not anti American, Im a American. I like the free flowing approach to things we have, we dont need to act like a robot and overkill everything. What I am disgusted by is how allot of Americans are acting these days at work. If this is the new way, then who is going to be the next engineers? Once all the hard workers and oldtimers are gone, there will be nothing more to copy from America. When everything is foriegn made, then they own you and they dont need you for anything except to exploit.

" I worked there for a little over a year and went to a commercial hvac co.I was lost on some calls I had not been around things like economisers, VAV'S,Chillers etc.AFTER 4 mo's I lost my job due to another tech who lied about some things, plus I was green in this area band did not know that much about the Chillers,VAVS,etc."

I worked around that stuff for about 2 years. It takes awhile to pick it up, especially chillers. The chilled water circuit and components is pretty easy though. There are so many brands of chillers now you almost have to specialize on one type to get it down. Dude you might want to check out light refrigeration. I personally like the big stuff but that isnt an option right now. Light stuff is a headache sometimes but its pretty easy to pick up. Dont sweat it that you got fired, its happened to the best of us. Actually it opened up some real good opportunities for me because I didnt care anymore and just went for it . It wasnt a pleasant experience because you have to swallow the fact you got the shaft while other, crappy people remain but its their loss.

Yep. Also worked for a contractor. Kid would leave work like clock work to do "whatever" not clocking out or anything. Then return. His work was poor. Contractor knew it. I think he actually look the other way because of personal stuff he had going on at home and the kid knew it. Any rate, I walked. Had enough. Sad part is these people are some of your friends, just no one says anything at a dinner, or party. Sigh, I could go on and on. Same with th ekids and baggy pants.Dads awhy are you allowing your daughter to date these guys? I didn't. Daughters knew it. It starts at home people!

Yep. Also worked for a contractor. Kid would leave work like clock work to do "whatever" not clocking out or anything. Then return. His work was poor. Contractor knew it. I think he actually look the other way because of personal stuff he had going on at home and the kid knew it. Any rate, I walked. Had enough. Sad part is these people are some of your friends, just no one says anything at a dinner, or party. Sigh, I could go on and on. Same with the kids and baggy pants.Dads why are you allowing your daughters to date these guys? I didn't. Daughters knew it. It starts at home people!

Mike in Kamakura, Japan said: " I worked there for a little over a year and went to a commercial hvac co.I was lost on some calls I had not been around things like economisers, VAV'S,Chillers etc.AFTER 4 mo's I lost my job due to another tech who lied about some things, plus I was green in this area band did not know that much about the Chillers,VAVS,etc."

I worked around that stuff for about 2 years. It takes awhile to pick it up, especially chillers. The chilled water circuit and components is pretty easy though. There are so many brands of chillers now you almost have to specialize on one type to get it down. Dude you might want to check out light refrigeration. I personally like the big stuff but that isnt an option right now. Light stuff is a headache sometimes but its pretty easy to pick up. Dont sweat it that you got fired, its happened to the best of us. Actually it opened up some real good opportunities for me because I didnt care anymore and just went for it . It wasnt a pleasant experience because you have to swallow the fact you got the shaft while other, crappy people remain but its their loss.

Hey Man Thanks for the encouragement, I did some Refrigeration work at that job as well. I had a ice maker at a rest homke that was a challange one time,since I had never worked on them before. The next day another tech with more experience went back with me and showed me some things,after that it wasn't so complex after all. we also done the walmart stores grocery refrigeration, they were not to bad they had Novar controls and the monitors kind of let you know what was going on. mostly the small evap. fans inside the case got unpluged or a door left open and the coil frozen over. But all you had to do was force defrost on the control, then reset it after it was clear. There really not many companys locally that does refrigeration. Its just hard being without a job for 4 mos. now.Im checking all posibities I recently interview at a local apt.

Maintenance at a apt.complex did not seem to bad, the pay is a little less than other areas but its close to home. They had some pretty good bennifits. T he only thing is they require several certifications like a CPO and some kind of apartment housing management. IM not quite sure what that is. But like I said earlier I am open to all angles.

Sounds like they wanted a CFM cert. Thats not an easy test from the looks of the website, but I could be wrong. Im guessing that the apartmet complex your talking about uses some sort of centralized heating/cooling, otherwise I cant see why they would require a CFM unless your going to be the manager of a huge facility. These days everybody wants a Mech. Engineer or some other unneccesary B.S. Ive never met an engineer who could do maintenance. Im sure they are good at design but maintenance is something very different. I wouldnt let that get in the way, though. The employer usually aims high, but will settle for less. Ive learned the interview is just a game, they want somebody they can trust and work out. In some cases its a who likes who game, but I can pick up on that and walk.

Yea, you right most engineers are just pencil pushers not phiscal workers.I called the facility back last Thursday, their reply was that she was sceduled to interview with some others latter on that had more experience. This lady is a office manager and has no clue about what it takes to repair HVAC Units or anything else, shes just a office manager. The day I interviewed the tech that was leaving there told me she was good to work for but she was clueless about repair info. I did tell her in the interview that it would be no problem to obtain any additional certifications that was needed. The HVAC units was typical residential 2-3 TON Heat Pumps. which would be no problem to repair if needed. I have worked on plenty of those. Oh well I am moving on, must not have been ment for me to work there.

Yeah those people are usually goofy. They try to mask their lack of skills/knowledge by playing some little political control game or by aligning themselves with overqualified people so they can always have a somebody around to ask if their lost and dont want to loose face. Your probally better off not going there, I made that mistake once before. The guy I worked for was clueless but a good politician and would make a huge deal about a stupid mistake. It made life hell for everybody except the ones close to him. I know service engineers are always in demand but I know thats a tough road to go down. I dont think there is as much politics, you either know your stuff or you dont.

Stephanie in El Cajon, California said: Absolutely! HVAC is a great career to go into. I currently work in San Diego and have helped a company start a HVAC training program because the industry continues to lose their journeymen to retirement. The pay is excellent, in San Diego you can make from 13.00-18.00 in the first year. The sky is the limit after you have a few years of experience.
To cement the fact that HVAC is an excellent career choice, look around at everything that needs to be refrigerated (airplanes, buildings, refrigerated trucks, ships) as the climate changes and the summer gets longer, AC will become mandatory in more and more areas.
Not only can you make money with a company, you can also work on your own and take on projects after hours. All the HVAC techs I know easily bring in $80,000 a year.

You could not be getting into this at the wrong time.

wow!! now thats what i'm talking about

True. Also servers need climate control. Allot of IT jobs are looking for HVAC skills as well, at least where Im at.

Id like to add, though, that you need experience before you can get into those big paying jobs. There is just no alternative. A 30 day HVAC boot camp, like Ive seen out there, cant teach you what you got to learn by hands on. Somedays it really sucks. Id say do a year and 1/2 or 2 years of back breaking work to get it into your blood then youll be ready. Knowlege in this game dont come easy.

I agree with Mike you can't possibly get the knowlege you need in just a short amount of time, it does take several years to become proficient, it's like any other career you have to crawl before you can walk and like someone else told me one time "sometimes you have to crawl even after you walk." Rome wasn't built in a day". If you really want to know where you are as far as knowlege try taking the "NATE "exams. North American Technical Excelence. I have been in the working field for a little over two years and a little over three years to present schooling in the hvac-r field. I have been out of work since Sept 2008 the employers are saying that they want 5 to 8 years O T J experience or 5 years plus an A.A.S. degree. I consider myself reasonably knowlegable and do hvac repair work on the side when I have the chance. I have not had any problem for the most part making repairs, but every once in awhile I will run across one that stuns me somewhat and I have to get the books out. Thats just due to lack of experience. So I know first hand it takes years of daily hard work to know things to the point that employers will consider you the go to guy for any situation. You can go to www.natetesting.org to get info for the nate test if interested. Being the go to guy can help you make a good living.