Bert shares AC Maintenance Top Tips . He shows us how to do residential HVAC maintenance procedures the #bertlife way. Maintenance procedures allow us to build good relationships with the customer and get to know their HVAC systems.
Before you even start the maintenance, you need to make sure you give a good first impression of yourself and the company. It’s best to be courteous; walk on sidewalks instead of the lawn whenever possible and wear shoe covers before you enter the customer’s home. When you communicate with the customer, ask them what they’ve noticed and experienced with their unit.
It’s best to do a visual overview of the system to catch problems early. In the case of the system in the video, Bert noticed that the line set insulation was starting to come apart and that the wire splices could have been improved at the outdoor unit.
Since this video was shot in the fall, Bert turned the heat on to see how it performed and if any issues needed to be addressed before the cold season. Bert tested the heat strips and noticed that they were rated for 5 kW. Since the unit was a 5-ton unit, the heat strips were likely insufficient for heating the entire home in the winter. However, the heat was on at the thermostat, heat strips were working, and the heat pump was running correctly. Checking the reversing valve is another important procedure when maintaining heat pumps.
Bert likes to start maintenance procedures with power-off checks and cleaning. That way, he can do the rest of the maintenance checkups and tests with a clean system and minimize the likelihood of leaving power off when he leaves.
When cleaning a condenser, Bert likes removing the top. Removing the top allows him to check all the wiring, check the compressor terminals, and clean out the leaves and debris inside the condenser. Then, he sprays the coil with water from the inside out (for dirty coils, he uses Refrigeration Technologies Viper Venom Pack solutions).
When cleaning the drain, Bert flushes a minimum of two gallons of water through the pan. Then, he pours two gallons of water down the service port directly. When the shop vac collects the water, Bert removes the top and analyzes the water to learn about the conditions inside the drain.
Once again, visual inspections are critical on the indoor equipment as well to check for rubouts, poor connections, dirt buildup, and biological growth. After checking the blower wheel and evaporator, Bert also changes the filter, which is a procedure included in our maintenance program. The indoor coil is quite clean, so Bert uses a very small mild concentration of self-rinse Viper evaporator coil cleaner. He also wipes down the indoor electrical panels and everything he sprayed on.
After cleaning, Bert turns the power back on and runs his tests. First, he tests to see if the float switch shuts off power when tripped. Then, he takes his air temperature split.
Bert also checks the refrigerant charge; while waiting, you may decide to start cleaning up the job site and start preparing paperwork or final discussions with the customer.
When closing out a job, make sure all panels are closed, everything is clean, the refrigerant caps are put back on. Clean up any messes you’ve made; you may also go above and beyond by wiping down the platform and doing other small, HVAC-related cleaning tasks that make the equipment look cleaner. Make sure the customer feels listened to and is aware of everything you’ve done and some potential recommendations to improve the system’s performance.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE, make sure the equipment is running and that the indoor unit is draining properly.
Remember: a customer will only know if you did a good job if you have productive, positive interactions with them and if they can see how clean the unit looks. (Also, walking quickly is a good way to show a sense of urgency.)
#BertLife
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Joel don’t like cameras 😂😂😂😂, great video Bert!
5kw on 5 tons?! Yall must never need defrost.
If only they were all that easy to work on
My a/c was working great 2 hours ago, now I need $3000 worth of shit…, get the hell off my property…lol
I do all of the above and I am highly rated on my Residential Tune up’s by my company customers . Is very important to be through and detail oriented because customer love that and is also your Perfomance winning chip. Really Good Tips. Thanks a lot for such great pointers.
Great video I just wish air handlers and furnaces where that easy to access in California attics 😬
In forty years, I have not found one a/c tech that act or works like the teachings i read about in Bryan Orr's school, 1500 dollars to change out a warrantied Compressor. Keep up the good work.
You did not check the bearings on either the indoor blower motor or the condenser fan motor, you did not clean the blades on the outdoor fan motor, you did not check wiring connections on the outdoor unit, what about the capacitors? you did not check the defrost cycle. why? Instead you poured four gallons of water down the drain and checked the condensate float switch in December…Very disappointed.
You did not ask the customer if there were ay issues with the system i.e; thermostat, etc.
That's funny… You guys inadvertently solved a problem I had as a maintenance tech. I had a unit on a Nest thermostat earlier today and was wondering why the heat strips weren't on. Had no clue there was a lockout function like that.
Bert seems like in other life he is a stand up comedian lol
2 dead lizards in the electrical panel. Might wanna put some conduit on that low voltage so theres not a 3/4 '' knock out punched out for lizards to get into on the bottom of hte electrical panel 🙂
BUY A BELT FLASHLIGHT / And I can only hope you ran the system to dry after all the water before getting your #. GET you some (triple D cleaner) FYI 25 years Yacht HVACR / 7 years resid/comm HVACR.
Joel seems like a good FNG
All fine and well if a company gives you the time. Companies seem to load calls up and expect this type of maintenance done
It's all about doing the best job for the customer both now and spotting any potential problems in the future.
My work give me about 45 minutes for a single maintenance
amazing learning
Please help… my ac keeps freezing if I set below 76degree. I have had 2 top rated ac professionals come out run multiple tests on my handler and compressor each said every test yields perfect results. I live in south Florida and 76 is just too hot given the humidity. Today it froze again. I read online to turn the unit off at the thermostat but, leave the fan running to help it defrost. I did, the temperature in the house dropped from 77 to 69 in 1.5 hours. Unit off, fan on. So then I turned the off the fan when it hit 69 degrees but the compressor kept runningfor 30 mins after turning the fan off. So I then turned off compressor at the breaker fearing it might get burnt out or something. Idk lol. I feel like maybe its an electrical problem? Or bad thermostat? I'm having a hard time understanding the logic that my ac is "testing like a new system" and that "its recommmended to replace the whole system" …at the same time. Any suggestions appreciated.
That is not your typical low-baller’s $39 PM. That is the way they are supposed to be accomplished. They should take 2 hrs minimum and cost $200 minimum. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make a living doing them. Make sure you stock plenty of contactors and capacitors. Add algaecide tablets to the pan. Always remove those horizontal drain pans on upflow AH’s. Avoid selling that brand unless you like filling out their warranty forms often. Of course, it’s not going to be seen by their friends like those big 2500+ sqft houses, jacked up 4wd $80K trucks or $10K vacations.
Great tips. Thank you.
Florida Pro tip for plugging the hole from the temp split………. golf tee
Very professional MasterClass
Must be nice in USA to have evap units on ground level. In Australia they’re all pretty much in sweltering hot roof spaces.
How long does it take for you guys to do a AC maintenance?
Dude looks like Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer) from the show "Supernatural".
And Bert still has 6 more calls to get done lol
This is a great starting point for residential heat and ac maintenances. I just want to tell everybody out there that you can really take the maintenance to the next level. And become very profitable. I love this video. And I would challenge any and everyone out there that number one if you don’t know everything about the system by time you finish your maintenance visit. Can you really say that you looked at it and did a thorough evaluation? And then Number two is after you have learned everything about the system, can you communicate with the customer in the way that is easy for them to understand and also they see the importance, of the preventative maintenance. Remember this a monkey can change the lightbulb. But to see the breakdown before it happened is true skill in the craft.
Love me some Bert
How many hours does your company expect a maintenance like this to take?
I'd say he's correct on all of that
How much time do you give your guys to complete these maintenances?
That was really good, and a great positive outlook on maintenance visits…. You check that static pressure though?
I love it..they all walk that slow! Its annoying as heck!
What do u guys charge for a maintenance over 100 or what…
Lol 😂 (“ if you ever see me walking that slow shoot me”)
Ah, I dont miss how ridiculous residential is lol. You guys do good work don't get me wrong but the way we do things commerically is so much better
Sounds good!
Thanks again for the videos.
🍺🍺🍺🥃🥃🏌🏻♀️🎯
Stay safe.
Retired (werk'n)keyboard super tech. Wear your safety glasses!
👍
Glad to see another Bertlife video, it has been a while!
HAHA the scene with the mouse outside at the condenser..
It is so amazing to see how different the hvac is in the states and Barbados but yet the same principles apply loving it
Good to see you Bert!
Excellent video !
Always enjoy the BertLife videos! So, a long running debate question here. Can you or can you not safely and effectively clean a micro channel outdoor condenser with a Viper type cleaning product? I’ve heard both sides of the argument here but any thoughts?
Happy new year guys.
Wishing you guys a year full of blessings and filled with new adventures.
Like always thank you for your videos.