Title#3 hvac advice, knife reviews, hurt butts, and sarcasm all welcome

palonej said:
All depends which furnace and evap coil you have.
Your choices are limited if you aren't changing out the furnace & coil.
Coil & outdoor unit MUST be compatible.
Joe
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yep. agree completely.

code here is ahri match, or mechanical engineer spec'ed and certified/approved...which youd never get done by any real engineer..... which means no outside only unless coil matches and i doubt it would.

replace the evap coil and outdoor at the minimum.....instead of replacing your furnace, unless you got a straight cool w/fan coil with electric heat....then use that money to buy a few knives.:)

you refrigerant guys dont give up or wimp out. no only oem part swapping nonsense..... bypass until runs again. sharp knives come in handy as youve shown.
 
Absolutely!!
Unless that furnace, or blower if cool only, is a rusted out mess.......leave it alone!! Little maintenance and I've seen some still going after 35 years!!
Coils & outdoor units.......not so much.
Joe

jbmonkey said:
yep. agree completely.

code here is ahri match, or mechanical engineer spec'ed and certified/approved...which youd never get done by any real engineer..... which means no outside only unless coil matches and i doubt it would.

replace the evap coil and outdoor at the minimum.....instead of replacing your furnace, unless you got a straight cool w/fan coil with electric heat....then use that money to buy a few knives.:)

you refrigerant guys dont give up or wimp out. no only oem part swapping nonsense..... bypass until runs again. sharp knives come in handy as youve shown.
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mobilerd said:
Knives, knives, knives.... I need a new outside central AC unit (no heat pump). What do you recommend?
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I'm sure a qualified tech/ reputable company in your area would be happy to assist you. "Knives, knives, knives" because this is BLADE FORUM. I'm not going out of my way to be rude to you, but I feel it's pretty rude to try and drag free advice out of AC techs and the like that are trying to talk about blades in relation to our trade. And seriously, you can't provide enough information here for anyone to honestly give you a solid recommendation without going ridiculously off the topic of knives.
 
mobilerd said:
Knives, knives, knives.... I need a new outside central AC unit (no heat pump). What do you recommend?
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I'll play Mr. Nice guy this once and point you in the right direction. Most of your new condensing units with a good warranty are going to be r410 refrigerant systems. Most of your older systems are going to be r22. r410 systems run at much higher pressures than your older r22 systems. Meaning, if you match up an r410 condenser with a 22 evap coil there's a good chance it'll blow that coil if the coil isn't rated for the higher pressures of an r410 condenser. Like others have said, If you're furnace/ air handler and blower motor are in good condition, it may definitely be worth it to simply have a qualified tech replace your evap coil and condenser rather than a full system change out. And like I said in my last post, there are many variables that would have to be considered to decide what would be the most beneficial to you in terms of efficiency, air quality, and your pocket book. Without physically looking at your system and truly putting eyes on it (not pictures) no one should be giving you hard line advice and you shouldn't accept any as concrete. I feel that HVAC is a competitive trade and that to make it for real you gotta get people cooling for a fair price or they'll scream all over the internet about it. Talk to people in your area and figure out who's trustworthy and go with them. Brand wise, I'd stay away from Maytag or Goodman. Seen too many warranty claims within a short time after being installed, and not just at my company, all over the place. Screw it talk about what you want
 
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Korean Hog said:
...you can't provide enough information here for anyone to honestly give you a solid recommendation...
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I jumped to the conclusion that @mobilerd was asking for an all-in-one blower/coil/condenser. Hence, my comment regarding the Trane XL15c. Seems as if @mobilerd was referring to a split system condenser. I have a lot of respect for the HVAC guys. Construction is a trade which generally sees slow adoption of change. Of all the trades in residential construction, the greatest progression over the last 10 years has been seen in HVAC through code and enforcement programs such as BPI, LEED, HERS and Title 24 (CA) and by way of an increasing number of HVAC-specific courses offered by local gas companies. Though a lot of the work performed by the old guard continues to fail basic air flow, leakage and wattage verifications for some reason. Back to the original topic: My expected grail knife for use in the field is likely the CPK EDC in 4V. But until it falls into my hands, it shall remain an expectation.
 
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Blues Bender said:
Joe ( palonej palonej )
Point being, just use whatever you have and know the limits of a folding knife. If your Sebenza snapped in two because you tried to lift a manhole cover with it, well, I'd call you a scissorbilled-jackwagon:p
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Dang it, you musta been there. I screwed up trying to repair a leady sink faucet, and it blew and I had water hitting my 13' ceiling in the kitchen. In order to turn off the MAIN, I had to run outside, and pry off a cast-iron lid on a large pipe in order to get at the water shut-off.
My Zaan suffered a couple of tiny chips in the blade, but made me proud. I sharpened it again this past wkend and still have one tiny chip that I can feel with my thumb-nail. That Zaan rides in my pocket right now.
best regards from a scissorbilled-jackwagon
 
palonej said:
How true! Problem is not many good ones around. Seems in this business, anyone that is really good, goes out on their own.
Used to be we had lines out the door with 16 & 17 year old begging for work.......not anymore.
I have found good people, but they either didn't want to put in the work, or they were thieves.
It is a total cliche, but it's really hard to find good help these days.
Joe
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It may be the math..

I worked for a bit for a couple brothers that had an HVAC business as well as a hardware store and the math to calculate airflow and the like was more than I could swing. My brother in law was and HVAC guy as a civilian and for the reserves then he went active reserves and re-classed but again he was and still is a math guy.

While some young men might not like to work judging by the privates I run into it seems that young men haven't changed much since I was one.
 
Threads going off topic is nothing new here and mostly those threads are more fun.
Although most new outdoor units today are 410A, we are still able to get nitrogen charged units.
They are compatible with existing R22 coils.
If my customer is tight on funds and the furnace & coil are in good shape, I'll just replace the outdoor unit.
Also, if I can help someone out, I never mind talking HVAC. There are tons of thieves out there.
I see the larger companies here in NJ & NY trying to sell complete system change outs for a bad capacitor.
If anyone on this forum ever needs some free and honest HVAC advice, hit me up.
Joe
 
palonej said:
Threads going off topic is nothing new here and mostly those threads are more fun.
Although most new outdoor units today are 410A, we are still able to get nitrogen charged units.
They are compatible with existing R22 coils.
If my customer is tight on funds and the furnace & coil are in good shape, I'll just replace the outdoor unit.
Also, if I can help someone out, I never mind talking HVAC. There are tons of thieves out there.
I see the larger companies here in NJ & NY trying to sell complete system change outs for a bad capacitor.
If anyone on this forum ever needs some free and honest HVAC advice, hit me up.
Joe
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Bad Capacitor!! You need a new unit!!!! LMAO! I wish this was a joke but I know some companies that do the same shit.
 
IMG_2368.JPG No joke Josh!! There are 3 large companies around me that I follow up constantly. Total crooks. They pay their mechanics a 3% commission on everything they sell. This always leads to stealing.
They told one customer if she continued using her AC system, her and her dog would get black lung disease.......I kid you not.
She called them for a $69.99 start up. They condemned the system and gave her a price of $13,000 for a 3 ton cooling system.
WHAT!!! She was about 75 years old. She tried to borrow the money from her son. He called me and sent me over.
There was NOTHING wrong!!
This is the company that pulled that shit. They're in a bit of hot water and I hope they boil!!!
I see garbage like this constantly!!!


Murphjd25 said:
Bad Capacitor!! You need a new unit!!!! LMAO! I wish this was a joke but I know some companies that do the same shit.
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It never ceases to amaze me how scummy companies can be. I used to see the same thing when working as a mechanic, people would come to us for a second opinion after a shop had told them they needed some massively expensive new part or other, and it'd be something we could fix in a few hours of labor. (We were racing-oriented and a common one was shops trying to sell people a whole new $6000+ shock setup when all they needed was adjustments and maybe new springs for their existing setup.)
 
Yup!! I've seen it in every service industry.
After more than 40 years in business I don't have one electrician, a plumber or a general contractor that I would recommend to my customers.
They're either thieves, don't show up or take a deposit and disappear for a month.
Ugh
 
I've been testing a microtech ultratech spartan lately, cutting lots of duct work flex and duct board and it's like a mini version of the old duct knife I had with the dagger shape, and serrations on one side. The plain edge makes nice clean straight cuts and the serrated side cuts flex nice and clean where normally a plain edge tends to hang up on the outer wrap. Be warned though if you don't clean and oil the blade the duct fibers will eventually cause the knife to misfire being it is a double action OTF. It will also misfire if you get half dried expanding foam all over it :rolleyes: all in all the knife is very convenient and I like the small size and easy one hand operation up on a ladder and in the attic, but I could see this knife becoming a nuisance for a lot of people because it is so important to keep the blade clean to prevent misfires, not to mention the price point. That's me trying to be objective. Subjectively I'd say freakin go for it the knife stays nice and sharp throughout the day, very convenient, and very fun
 
Murphjd25 said:
Nothing runs like a Trane!
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i do n/c commercial and residential and lots of it. so i have a rare experience of seeing all brands due to national accounts and i can say they are all pretty much the same in reliability and such. the biggest difference is who installs it and whether they do it right like running nitrogen through the lineset when brazing, weighing in the correct charge, and basically just doing the work correctly without costly down the road short cuts. you do get what ya pay for.....most times.:)
 
Korean Hog said:
I've been testing a microtech ultratech spartan lately, cutting lots of duct work flex and duct board and it's like a mini version of the old duct knife I had with the dagger shape, and serrations on one side. The plain edge makes nice clean straight cuts and the serrated side cuts flex nice and clean where normally a plain edge tends to hang up on the outer wrap. Be warned though if you don't clean and oil the blade the duct fibers will eventually cause the knife to misfire being it is a double action OTF. It will also misfire if you get half dried expanding foam all over it :rolleyes: all in all the knife is very convenient and I like the small size and easy one hand operation up on a ladder and in the attic, but I could see this knife becoming a nuisance for a lot of people because it is so important to keep the blade clean to prevent misfires, not to mention the price point. That's me trying to be objective. Subjectively I'd say freakin go for it the knife stays nice and sharp throughout the day, very convenient, and very fun
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you Sir are braver than me using an otf in the field. good deal though and thanks for the feedback on hows it working for ya.
 
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