You and your videos have rubbed off on me and I want to thank you. My value as a technician has dramatically improved, I am much more thorough, clean, efficient, fewer call backs etc. My job has gotten easier and my work has proven more and more satisfactory within the last 3 years just by watching these videos and applying the little gems of knowledge you give. Never quit man you are a legend.

"That's a whole other issue"... story of HVAC when you working on one thing and notice something else is not operating correctly. Lol

Always loved that you don't just fix it and end it. You take the time to do preventative maintenance wherever you can. You organize and clean the work units when others would skip it. And most of all you take the time to answer "why". Why did it fail, what caused it and how to prevent it. That's something that not many seem to do and it's so intriguing and informative.

Always cheaper to throw out spoiled product and do emergency repairs than do PM, right?

Huge respect for technicians like you. "... I don't want to go out there at 9 o'clock at night but I have to because it's an emergency." & "I'll do what i can while I'm up there, to make the equipment last longer." Society needs more people that take such responsibility and professionalism in their jobs. Not many people think about their HVAC, plumbing, electrics... , let alone the people repairing and installing such systems. But you guys deserve major respect for what you do and how you do it. Thank you. Great work.

You were right, T.O.D. is Copelands "Therm-O-Disc", typically trips around 290°F and blows discharge gas on Internal Overload to get it to shut off. Sounded to me it was stuck open when you got it fired up.

That recip definitely sounded like death in a can. Another big picture repair done correctly. Text book is for labs and is seldom realistic. I really respect your real world approach to things. Always look forward to your videos

This video is 8 months old, so you won't see this comment, but when the produce walk in short cycles at 3:00, your reaction made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. That feeling of "you've got to be kidding me," is so universal.

Why am i watching this video? What a KZfaq rabbit hole? As a side note my dad was a refrigeration technician for yearsss, he died last year... Somehow reminded my of my childhood... Running around restaurants where he did the same work... Going the same logical way, finding the same root problems. Thanks for the closing words

I know absolutely nothing about commercial AC units. I work in the I.T. field but for some reason your videos came up on my feed and are incredibly interesting. Your quality of work, depth of knowledge and cool tools have me watching many of your videos.

I agree fact the 3 phase piston compressor doesnt matter rotation only when is new. But if it turns 10k hours in one direction it is not good idea change rotation direction because bearings and side of pistons are worn only on specific areas.

I really like when you tear stuff apart and show what's going on.

I've been watching for a year and not in the field. Your teaching, communication skills are excellent and engaging which is why I keep coming back.

Absolutely the best channel to watch if you work in commercial AC and refrigeration. Recently moved from residential and I watch this guy a lot because he shows you how to troubleshoot.

It is so cool that he explains everything about compressors and acs in general, he gives us tips and works really hard. Great work!

Chris man, I love your critical thinking. Even without the videos our trade would be so much farther ahead with many more successful techs if a guy/girl had you as their mentor. You really do care about your craft. It’s not in and out; now it’s running who cares. You always follow up and search for cause of failure. Equipment actually has a chance of survival when you get your hands on it.

Love watching guys who go above and beyond. I'd work for free just to learn. I have seen so many techs half ass cooler/freezer repair. You go over the top bro.

All I can say is Wow! First thing.....the breakdown of you taking apart the failed components is beyond awesome! A little about me......I have been doing this trade for 39 years. I have been called an expert in my field and I started and ran my own business in the Chicago area for 20 years. I am currently a technician and a consultant. I am going to direct people to your youtube channel. Great job I am going to point out the obvious. If the equipment was maintained and the customer would have listened to recommendations, you would have never been there doing this. With that said, I cannot stress that a high quality PM including pressure washing is imperative. You are doing what I started doing a few years back on this youtube channel, but a divorce and losing my business took the front seat while I was being undermined and terminated employee(s) took my customers while I was distracted.......thats another story in this insane industry. Regardless........GREAT JOB, keep it up. we need more people like you in this industry. Thank you for the insight. I will share your videos when I need to make a point....like how important a PM is on customers equipment.

I would've probably put in all new refrigerant in that system. Being that low with a potential leak like that, the refrigerant will be fractionated and the blend that is left in the receiver may not have the correct ratio of refrigerants in it. I know refrigerant is expensive and it will usually work just fine if you put the recovered refrigerant back in, I just wouldn't want to chance it with a new compressor in the system. I've had it bite me in the ass before. I wouldn't feel comfortable putting in back in unless I took it over to United (or whatever wholesaler you have) and have them analyze it first. Just nit-picking with a little constructive criticism. Great job on the repair. Love the videos. Keep it up.

Could hear the internal head pressure bypass relief valve stuck in the open position on that overheated compressor. Sometimes a couple of hard blows with a hammer can get it unstuck.

This randomly popped up and I clicked it. I work on semiconductor equipment- it’s always neat to see different fields get into some troubleshooting. Pretty cool, thanks.

I’ve left the coil off and used a magnet, powered unit, what a mess, it melted inside a black mess, couldn’t charge for replacement, live and learn, don’t rush

2:50 - I actually jumped when that unit first came on, it was right about the time you put the meter's lead on the compressor connector.

I think it's a good practice that every time you change compressor you must change the contactor, relay and capacitor too.

Hi. I'd reccomend you to use closed contactors, so dust and sand couldn't affect contacts. Also you can pay attention that contactors may have a really big difference in materials of contacts. It have big inpact in lifespan of contactor. Also you can install three phase control relay after contactor and use it's built-in relay like a safety switch for entire system. I don't remember if you have such relays in US, but in europe we get a lot of them. But we have a 400volts of voltage between each of 3phases and i don't remember any of 3P voltage control relays which can be manually set to control such a low voltage as 200-220v. We got such voltage only betwen P and N conductors, so if we got 240v between 2 phases that's mean there's something bad happened with one phase. Advantage of this relay- you can choose (and manually tune it) a timered switch on. I remember one case... I metred 920volts between two phases (normally 400v +/-10%) and all three-phase equipment are already dead. Customer's choose to use one phased equipment only... Bravo!!! And of course there's a solid states relays on the market. Why still using old fashioned defrost timing relay? Why not using controller such as eliwell 974?

Man when I heard that other unit cycling on and off I had the same feeling lol

The way you panned over to the other unit kicking on and off said that’s a whole another problem made me bust out laughing and I lost it when you said what the heck was that about. 😂😂😂

Sounds like the internal high discharge pressure bypass got stuck open. Had that happen to me when the condenser fan motor went out and the compressor kept running and bypassing. It never reset and had to replace the compressor.

I really like that you dissasemble everything and show how it looks. Really gives a deeper understanding how stuff works

You're like the "Quincy, M.E." of HVAC doctors. I like your post mortems on the broken devices. Also, you have what many lack in the way being so conscientious about your work. It's like watching one of those Sherlock Holmes shows where Sherlock just by observation can tell you everything about a person/situation etc. Great SHOW!!

Love the videos been watching for about a year now. Trying to get into the field. I have zero experience but talked to a company they're willing to take me on. Excited to hopefully get into the field !

I am super proud that you take so much pride in your work and your company that you go above and beyond to make it easier for yourself and your customers. Others would just say " its their problem when it breaks" i will come out again and earn more money from these idiot customers.

I really respect your patience, working diligently troubleshooting, doing a thorough inspection in the entire process. Working for a contractor, I have them on me constantly wanting to know when I’m going to get it fix. Pressure is on I had to tell them more than a few times to back off this process takes time. I don’t want to come back because I over looked something that I had the chance to. Really good diagnosis.

Man, you are a BADASS service tech. I wanna be like you bro. 👍

Nebraska winter, 5 deg. F outside, parka on. Sale on beer, walk into the liquor section of grocery store and the walk-in 35 deg. F cooler, saying, "Ooooo nice and toasty warm in here".

Great video. Valves should come very close to your adjustment of superheat from the factory. Quarter turn meaning about 1 degree of superheat change. 8 degrees seems way out unless the txv does multiple tonnage coils

I see you checked for power at the compressor terminals. Little story for you. I had a tech years ago do the same thing but on a Trane unit. The unit was installed 2 feet off the roof wall. He was a larger guy and squeezed in. With the electrical cover off the compressor he check for power at the terminals. Just then the compressor went to ground, the terminals blew out, and hot gas scorched his chest. He couldn't get out of the way and suffered 3rd degree burns on his chest and arms. OSHA crawled up my butt and fined me to boot. No one in my company is allowed to check for voltage at the compressor. PERIOD. Good video by the way, other than that.

Haven't watched in a while. This felt like one of your old videos. More to the point, more hands on, less after talk because you covered it at the repair site. Even did autopsy on compressor and looked at contacts. Great depth to the video. This is the good stuff that had people watching before. not 5 minutes of repair and 40 minutes of after talk. Wish you could have pulled the rotor to check the bearings but I don't think it mattered at that point. Would have been fun to see. I've left shop towels wadded up and hanging out of refrigerant lines, briefly, even though it's dry just to prevent any air flow and possible moisture contamination. Yeah, probably won't but it's dry and doesn't leave fibers and I can quickly stuff a piece and yank it out before brazing. Made me wonder about silicon caps but I mean how often does that even happen anyways. You usually swap right there.

Nice video. I can only imagine that the bills must be very high on this repair. Three guys and two our travel each way. That would give most small restaurant owners a heart attack. We charge 125.00 a hour and our customers always want a price before we work on anything. Having the second day working on the defrost and other issues is a lot of extra time . This could cost a refrigeration contractor money if he gave a bid with out knowing that the unit had a defrost problem and evaporator fan motor issue.

3:08 "That's a whole another problem" LOL The moment you realize you will spend the next 6 hours at that location...

Lol.... Story of my life. I went from technician to garbage man. I totally enjoyed your video , nice to see good diagnostic procedures in action.

I love the squirrel moment when the other system was short cycling. “Ugh stuff”

Great job and excellent information. Your the man.

I love the videos, and it helps give a service perspective into some of the equipment I design. I wish we had more service techs like you.

If I do not yell out the window then I'm not a New Yorker😂😂

Those caps pop when the valve is bad. Sometimes working the valve down then back open with a new cap will fix it.

I did not see any compressor crankcase heater. Why one of my favorite thing is putting a thermostat on the crankcase heater set the temperature. It does matter in seasons

Thank you for sharing learned a lot every time brother God bless you always

Sounded like from the video the high psi bypass was bypassing. You usually get that hissing sound.

to make sure you check relief pressure,connect high side before the drier,it could have been plugged.but most likely compressor was bad.thanks for sharing great crew.

Thanks for all these videos .. watching from up North in Canada and I totally get your point on big restaurant chains vs PM’s ont the equipment! Cheers !!

Watching from Australia, Very thorough repair, I have just retired after 45 years in the game of refrigeration and air conditioning. Always changed contacters, relays, capacitors, overloads on every compressor change. Did you consider a burnout dryer on the suction line? Great video. Great work.

I'm an apprentice on refrigeration but I have been doing residential and commercial air condition for years would like to learn refrigeration and your videos are very instructing

I was always taught to replace the contactor with the compressor. I like the videos, keep up the good work.

It literally says micro channel safe on the packaging so idk how much trust is required of the narrator.

Nice job of finding, your problem on the defrost board follow up the next day or so.

Refurbishing a few contactors to keep as emergency spares makes sense to me, but it also makes perfect sense to replace with new equipment when you're replacing the core of the system - the compressor. For that matter, keeping a few _compressors_ around when replacing older systems makes sense. (When you've replaced a compressor, then replaced the whole unit six months later. Replace the oil, pump down lightly to remove moisture, then seal)

Cool stuff, I never knew how much goes into these things. My company bought a old McDonald’s meat factory and it was all refrigerated and had ton of these units to keep it all frozen. Just ripped a bunch out to clean up the ceiling of junk so we didn’t hit it with the fork lift. We now print labels in there.

Wow man I really liked this video. I for sure wished I was an apprentice working under you cause I learned a lot just in this 40 min video. Keep it up man and keep bringing in those videos!! They are 🔥

I like putting high pressure control. No automatic reset. High pressure control. I don't use it and I never use it. When I trip it trip I come in. I check the problem. Automatic head pressure control. They are guarantee to give more business and a compressor. I do not use it in my line of work. I use manual reset

I’m an IT guy but both fields of work are so similar…something broke, get called to a job. Has anything changed? Anything look out of place? Do an initial diagnosis based more so on prior experience. Find the main issue but fix big picture things at the same time to save time and money down the track (and hope the customer is on the same page!) Love watching all your videos keep up the great work 🇦🇺

You are right ,this type of business always wait until the system is giving them problems .and most of the time the result is that something is broken due a lack o maintinance. Like your videos ,i watch them from Venezuela.

Your videos help me get back into commercial work

This is why we don't fit auto reset hp switches When condensers get plugged or fan packs up You don't then have compressors failing Customer pays for a call out and the works to fix the discharge issue not paying out for a new compressor

Steve Lavimoniere in Massachusetts records every job he does. He explains that it's his documenting everything he discovers, his methodology in pursuing the root problem and everything else which may effect the system, and all that he did to perform his repairs. I've watched your videos and enjoy every aspect of what you do - great job, keep 'em coming. Those "switches" you might be looking for are actually thermistors. Thermistors are available for various temperature ranges from places other than AC parts houses. I believe you might be able to find them elsewhere - maybe.

Very interesting videos, I'm don't anything about HVACs but I enjoy the videos. Thanks for posting.

I did that screwdriver trick, and burned a solenoid. its not a good trick to do while you recover, its only worth doing if youre doing a quick check on the valve. The solenoids are really sensitive :O

Oh man, I didn't know how cool cooling systems are. Thanks KZfaq for showing me this channel 😅 Nice how you explain things - normally I am on the side in a restaurant that calls you to fix the machines 🤗

Did you ever end up looking at that other unit that was cycling on and off? I thought that was an interesting one

Nice job with the screwdriver. I never knew that

I think all refrigeration condensing units should anti short cycle timer put in when the system is on a pump down and auto reset head pressure switches 💯

How do you know so much with how different units can be? Always impresses me when fields like this and automotive can look at "a car" , or "a unit" and know what to even do. Like cars it seems these all have similar parts yet at the same time are absolutely different which forces the "insert job tittle here" to understand thousands of different little pieces, and parts which are only for certain models, years etc. Baffles my mind.

I remember having endless problems when I worked at a place with one here in Florida. We're by a lot of different water sources so we hardly get out of the 90s but all that water and humidity keeps the temp high well into the night. Right now it's 85*F at 11:30pm and I'd consider that cool for a late August night.

The compressor sounded like "kill me immediately"

This is satisfying to watch in the cool 62 degrees of this room. Almost therapeutic. Thanks for the lugging all that camera equipment around. The videos are cool and informative. Hope you wear sunscreen.

We always use ice to cool the case

Amazing how much I am learning about big air con systems. Quite fascinating! Really!

Chris your tech videos are the tops..you keep it up we'll keep watching!

The ol' "why are we paying so much for routine maintenance? We can just pay someone to fix it if it breaks!"

Suction check valves work better than time delay for short cycling when getting out of defrost. Look it up and you'll see better amps and more life on compressors

Makes me so happy to see compressors cut open and properly diagnosed. Good on ya bud

Excellent tear-down. Thanks for this one Chris.

Thanks for making these vids!! They really help me learn

Thanks for sharing your video I'm very much interested

Dude....I am reading the comments.....some are being critical. The only thing I can say that I would not do is use a flare drier, sweat is always better. I would be proud of your job and would be extremely impressed if you were working for my company as a technician.

nice video, I always tell younger techs at my work watching KZfaq videos like this is one of the best ways to learn the trade, schooling doesn't give you good information like this. Do you have any videos on how to understand according to desired box temp, what saturated suction temperature you want to see in a system?

No one puts back the freon from a burned out compressor

Do my little eyes see R410A? And oh no at 3:04 that copeland scroll walk in cooler is short cycling

This reminds me, I still have a blower motor and condenser fan motor sitting in my garage that I need to take apart to see what went wrong with them. 😀

I’m surprised you didn’t change out the dual pressure control at the same time of the compressor change out.

What the hell is a freezer? No suction dryer boy. Oh boy sucks and dry is very important. It help to remove any moisture

As a new hvac/R business owner. Very nice video.

Nice troubleshooting/maintenance/repairs videos of cooling systems. All the Best to You.! :)

Fantastic walkthrough, you are knowledgeable and skilled tradesman that I can tell cares about his craft. Also your video resolution quality is fantastic. Do you film with a go-pro?

lol , compressor on an of bonking ,, and in the distance i can even see a small ice mountain around @4:40 lol:P this roof is a mess already

My gosh. The compressor sounded like it was gonna blow up.

It would be cool if you showed how much hose you need to get water to the roof. I'm in western NY and it seems like 99% of the calls I go on there's no water anywhere near by. Usually have to run 200ft.+ of hose most of the time to get to a spigot. It can be a real pain.

Hola te escribo desde Argentina (Córdoba)...Sos un gran profesional y sigo tus videos, soy un fanatico de tus videos, seguí así.Aprendemos mucho de vos y estoy muy agradecido ! Que tengas salud y mucha vida.Fuerte abrazo a la distancia !!!.-

Some of those contactors can be rebuilt. After polishing place the necessary pieces in a silver plating solution