I live in the southeast. When my house was being built the builder said the Air Handler would be in the attic. I told him to put it in the unfinished basement. The HVAC guys said thank you thank you thank you. Many years later when I had to have a new air handler, they thanked me for having it put in the basement.
I envy you Ted. The way you are able to sit cross legged in front of the unit. Even when I was working, I had to kneel because of sore knees(I did use kneepads). Good post, hopefully they have you do some p/m.
Notice most techs covered their butts by always recommending doing a PM. This way the customer can't call back with the 'you were just here' excuse when the weak cap blows.
@@bryansimon4072 The 5 minute delay is to prevent short cycling the compressor. It is a nuisance while you are servicing a unit but serves a purpose. Taking the time delay out puts the compressor at risk.
Happy that I live in the northeast and have a basement with a drain where I have my HVAC so techs don't have to hurt their knees and sweat profusely from an airhandler in the attic.
Another great video. Thanks for sharing. Go home and get some sleep... Then watch at 19:44 --- 20:02, 21:41 --- 22:25 And come back in the morning to remove the tape on the interlock. =)
I don’t a call in the attic this summer of new home owners that purchased a existing home . Checked the A/C out got it working checked float it worked properly. Called it good . 2 hours later A/C failed again . Came back and the dam float switch had went out . Must been intermittent failing first time I was there and couldn’t catch it .
Make you up some alligator clip test leads for the meter to keep alongside the regular set. I find they come in handy at times, along with several sets of jumpers.
Float switch breaks wires to low voltage. When switch is activated by lifting up by water, it opens cutting off wire. Apparently one of the connections went bad and interrupted low voltage. When they malfunction, they act as though there is water in pan
My knowledge is mostly from the roofing business in which I installed roofs, and designed roofs as an RCI registered roof consultant. I learned very Early on that you have to give water a place to go. Now take this to the bank: putting a mechanical device in the way of the water in a drain pan that can fail is just plain stupid. If there was ever a place where the admonition " keep it simple, stupid" fit, this is it. Put in a minimum 1.5 inch line in the bottom of the drain pan and run it to grade with the least number of turns. My condensate line runs right to a catch pan that drains right through my poured concrete floor into the gravel below. I squirt a little soapy bleach into the line exiting my evaporator coil from time to time to kill black mold, because I know that mold likes to form on the inside of plastic pipes. Running a small 3/4 inch pipe through a hot attic to grade is simply asking for trouble. Just because it's always been done does not make it right. It does, of course represent a lot of service calls for the HVAC industry. Maybe thats why they still do it?
I had that reminder last year. The float switch would let 24v to the stat but only enough current to run the stat. As soon as it would call for ac, the stat would die. Replaced the stat and had the same problem cause I thought that was the issue. Ended up replacing the float and everything worked fine
Your tips on electrical diagnosis and the process by which one covers basic things first then moves on are invaluable. Do you have any other channels you would recommend for apprentice HVAC techs trying to get the knowledge base of how all this clicks together?
I dont know about you ted, but I personally don't care for those aqua guard float switches. I hate that the pan will have to fill nearly to the top before it trips. I've also seen many that wouldn't trip on a full pan of water, ruining a ceiling.
The tail comes off the lizard and wiggles so that the attacking animal will go after the tail while the lizard has a chance to get away. The lizard will grow a new tail
Thanks Ted as usual you just seem to know how to fix things. Even if you don't like the brand. Maybe you can give us an update on your trane mini split. And ted maybe you can test out and do a Video on the new trane side discharge units. That are supposed to compete with the gree flex units with the conventional air handler but have side discharge units. Ohh and the Mr cool universals are rebadged gree flex units I took off the covers on the front and the compressor said gree on it. Began to figure that out 6 months ago after watching an install video for a gree flex. But verified this Saturday. So if you get one of those calls on those units you can order parts from gree. Since Mr cool seems to have terrible service. Anyway I wish trane would listen to you. They were a great brand along with Lennox and carrier and York back in the 1980s and 1990s, but sadly today the quality control is lacking with parts made too cheaply and that seems to happen with a lot of companies today.
always a good idea to record stuff like this even if you're not going to post it on youtube. could save you from a lawsuit when they accuse you of something you didn't do
You left the duct tape on the panel switch disabling it, wouldn't it be best to have left it working as it was when you arrived? Or is it just a nuisance and best jumped out?
Don't like nest or ecobee at all. Honeywell makes a wifi thermostat for 170 dollars that is just smart enough like giving humidity readings and outside tempetures without bieng too over the top or complicated. Who knows maybe Alexa will make a bad comeback don't like them either.
I have a 2 year old Trane smart thermostat with wi fi. Never been connected to the net and I hate the thing! Can I have a normal like Honeywell thermostat installed on our Trane system?
Probably. I don't know the trane product line, but unless the system uses a proprietary communicating protocol, any conventional thermostat will work. If your system supports multistage cooling or heating, or you have a heat pump, your new thermostat will need to support that. Most do. Sounds like you need an hvac contractor to do this for you, since you omitted some essential info from your question.
I live in the southeast. When my house was being built the builder said the Air Handler would be in the attic. I told him to put it in the unfinished basement. The HVAC guys said thank you thank you thank you. Many years later when I had to have a new air handler, they thanked me for having it put in the basement.
The only thing that should be in an attic is insulation.
I like that Ted wears loafers to work. Really brings something to the whole laid back vibe of his videos
Why not! It's his company
I watch a lot of these videos yours by far are the best. No goofy music intros just straight to the video. So much nicer. Hope you make more of them.
I envy you Ted. The way you are able to sit cross legged in front of the unit. Even when I was working, I had to kneel because of sore knees(I did use kneepads). Good post, hopefully they have you do some p/m.
Notice most techs covered their butts by always recommending doing a PM. This way the customer can't call back with the 'you were just here' excuse when the weak cap blows.
The Honeywell thermostat has a five minute time delay every time you power it up. 5 minutes seems like 5 hours when sitting in the attic waiting.
Step 387 reduce delay to 1 minute
You can go into settings and reduce delay to zero. Directions have the settings for it.
@@bryansimon4072 The 5 minute delay is to prevent short cycling the compressor. It is a nuisance while you are servicing a unit but serves a purpose. Taking the time delay out puts the compressor at risk.
@@bryansimon4072correct
I watch RUclips videos if nothing else to do
I look for a 10 minute video 😄
As a Joe Customer, my favorite part of these videos is that moment when Ted hunts for a piece of loose duct tape for the door switch. 😆
Did Ted remove that tape over the door switch...if so I missed it.
Go back and there is a piece of tape on the unit near the position of the door switch. IJS
Good video sir I like how laid back u are keep up the good work
Happy that I live in the northeast and have a basement with a drain where I have my HVAC so techs don't have to hurt their knees and sweat profusely from an airhandler in the attic.
Another great video. Thanks for sharing. Go home and get some sleep...
Then watch at 19:44 --- 20:02, 21:41 --- 22:25
And come back in the morning to remove the tape on the interlock. =)
I've seen an old Honeywell round mercury tstat that was 50 years old still working
I don’t a call in the attic this summer of new home owners that purchased a existing home . Checked the A/C out got it working checked float it worked properly. Called it good . 2 hours later
A/C failed again . Came back and the dam float switch had went out . Must been intermittent failing first time I was there and couldn’t catch it .
Well if she running you better go catch it
😂 quick and easy Way . Ho Lee Chit that was painful. Not easy ,easy ,easy Peezy. Like you said . Like following most of the time.😊😊😊
Nice fix, I don't remember ever seeing a bad float switch before, unless it was damaged or mis-used. Thanks
I ha d one easy trap switch not work out of the box.
Hi Ted, brilliant job, keep it up, best regards from the UK.
Nice video Ted, try and keep cool over there, its a cold afternoon here 120 km south of Sydney, it's 14C now and it may even rain ☔ Au
Make you up some alligator clip test leads for the meter to keep alongside the regular set. I find they come in handy at times, along with several sets of jumpers.
Makes me recall the nightmares of being on call.
I never knew that a bad float switch could cause a unit to not run if there is no water in the pan. Thanks for the tutilage.
Float switch breaks wires to low voltage. When switch is activated by lifting up by water, it opens cutting off wire. Apparently one of the connections went bad and interrupted low voltage. When they malfunction, they act as though there is water in pan
*tutelage 🤠
My knowledge is mostly from the roofing business in which I installed roofs, and designed roofs as an RCI registered roof consultant. I learned very Early on that you have to give water a place to go. Now take this to the bank: putting a mechanical device in the way of the water in a drain pan that can fail is just plain stupid. If there was ever a place where the admonition
" keep it simple, stupid" fit, this is it. Put in a minimum 1.5 inch line in the bottom of the drain pan and run it to grade with the least number of turns. My condensate line runs right to a catch pan that drains right through my poured concrete floor into the gravel below. I squirt a little soapy bleach into the line exiting my evaporator coil from time to time to kill black mold, because I know that mold likes to form on the inside of plastic pipes. Running a small 3/4 inch pipe through a hot attic to grade is simply asking for trouble. Just because it's always been done does not make it right. It does, of course represent a lot of service calls for the HVAC industry. Maybe thats why they still do it?
I just got one out of the box and my brand new install wouldn’t work. I picked up a new one and everything started working.
We all float down here. 🤡🎈
😎👍
Classic 😂 shannon I wear my sunglasses at Knight
@@Mrs.SusieDunn I'll try Susie, I try. 😎👍
Let's hope they leave their politics in California. Enjoyed the video.
Sometimes simple is overlooked as being something hard from my experience as a tech. Great job 👍 enjoy your videos 😊
That’s a good one, don’t see float switches go bad often. Nice reminder for everyone. Thanks
I had that reminder last year. The float switch would let 24v to the stat but only enough current to run the stat. As soon as it would call for ac, the stat would die. Replaced the stat and had the same problem cause I thought that was the issue. Ended up replacing the float and everything worked fine
Hey I recognize that truck! Fellow upstate service tech here checking in.
Your tips on electrical diagnosis and the process by which one covers basic things first then moves on are invaluable. Do you have any other channels you would recommend for apprentice HVAC techs trying to get the knowledge base of how all this clicks together?
Yay, new Ted video! Been too long. :)
I’m not a big fan of those float switches they don’t trip until water is really high in the pan so you better hope you put it where the low spot is
What's your favorite method then? Also Joe, maybe you can explain why he heard the condenser when he only jumped red to green?
That HR switch….. it had the hots marretted and twisted and had a wago on the neutrals, implying they switched the neutrals….. dear god….
I dont know about you ted, but I personally don't care for those aqua guard float switches. I hate that the pan will have to fill nearly to the top before it trips. I've also seen many that wouldn't trip on a full pan of water, ruining a ceiling.
You might be a Leaka Momma if You have to stay in that Attic for very long.
The tail comes off the lizard and wiggles so that the attacking animal will go after the tail while the lizard has a chance to get away. The lizard will grow a new tail
Great vid as usual Ted ... Thx
Thanks Ted as usual you just seem to know how to fix things. Even if you don't like the brand.
Maybe you can give us an update on your trane mini split.
And ted maybe you can test out and do a Video on the new trane side discharge units.
That are supposed to compete with the gree flex units with the conventional air handler but have side discharge units.
Ohh and the Mr cool universals are rebadged gree flex units I took off the covers on the front and the compressor said gree on it.
Began to figure that out 6 months ago after watching an install video for a gree flex.
But verified this Saturday.
So if you get one of those calls on those units you can order parts from gree.
Since Mr cool seems to have terrible service.
Anyway I wish trane would listen to you.
They were a great brand along with Lennox and carrier and York back in the 1980s and 1990s, but sadly today the quality control is lacking with parts made too cheaply and that seems to happen with a lot of companies today.
Sadly the Chinese companies are overtaking by making the suitcase condensers for all the American companies:(
Nice job, how ever, there is always a how ever, left the tape on de switch.
You left the tape on the door panel switch!🤦🏼♂️
Good job Ted!
Exactly what you don't want to hear "I just moved here from California".
Why would you not want too hear that?
always a good idea to record stuff like this even if you're not going to post it on youtube. could save you from a lawsuit when they accuse you of something you didn't do
Why a late night call if they aren't even living there yet?
That is an odd ball thing to go bad.
You forgot to take the tape of the switch, Doesn’t make a difference since you put the door back, but obviously you were tired
Looks like you left the duct tape on the interlock switch when you replaced the cover.
And leaves the tape on the door switch for the next tech…
Sir , what camera are using great videos
Soooooo what’s the combination to the lockbox?
Good videos,ive watch a few but some like this one have low volume and i cant hear your explanation
Nice work
BTW, did you intend to leave the tape on the door switch?
Thanks Ted
My units have “ wet switch” water detectors. They seem to be pretty reliable
An idle question:why the emergency call when no one lives there?
maybe not emergency. if i was working in attic i would not go there in the heat of the day
Who is ever doing the reno might have said something and the owners called.
Those time delays can throw you.
You left the duct tape on the panel switch disabling it, wouldn't it be best to have left it working as it was when you arrived? Or is it just a nuisance and best jumped out?
Just jump one wire lead from float switch to the other or tie them together. If unit gets power, there’s your problem.
More people fleeing crazy California; yep, they'll probably want a high tech thermostat. Like Ted's favorite brand, Nest. lol
Don't like nest or ecobee at all.
Honeywell makes a wifi thermostat for 170 dollars that is just smart enough like giving humidity readings and outside tempetures without bieng too over the top or complicated.
Who knows maybe Alexa will make a bad comeback don't like them either.
Yeh... my high dollar Honeywell failed after 8 months.
Can they wait until next April for their check up?😊😊😊
They sure can !!
are those steel toed slippers that you are wearing ?
Why would they pay for Afterhours call if no one living there yet? Won’t it been fine to wait till the next day?
You forgot to take the tape off the door switch
I have a 2 year old Trane smart thermostat with wi fi. Never been connected to the net and I hate the thing! Can I have a normal like Honeywell thermostat installed on our Trane system?
Probably. I don't know the trane product line, but unless the system uses a proprietary communicating protocol, any conventional thermostat will work. If your system supports multistage cooling or heating, or you have a heat pump, your new thermostat will need to support that. Most do. Sounds like you need an hvac contractor to do this for you, since you omitted some essential info from your question.
It doesn’t look like you restored the door switch by removing the tape
I'm trying to figure out why this unit is in the Attic. Is there some advantage to this?
I hope the Californian moving in doesn’t vote to ruin your city too.
If it’s an aqua dog anything, drown it.
Hope he doesnt bring his woke California ideas with him.
Tell her to leave her politics in Cali
why are you there? nobody is there> do you just want fix machines when you can be at home relaxing? Now I suspect he dont want to be home lol
Yellow break
Is it a normally closed or normally open switch, Ted?
Normally closed
I’m not Ted but FS is normally closed, so by definition it’s a supervised circuit.
Those float switches are normally closed (NC).
Last
Why are you anti DIY. We can do better than any HVAc guy.
The very worst neighbors you can have in your community are moving from California