HOW TO USE A HVAC CHEATER CORD

SAFETY DISCLAIMER I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT DOING THIS IS NOT SAFE. IT ENERGIZES EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE REFRIGERANT LINES AND MIGHT BE DANGEROUS FOR YOU OR ANY BODY WORKING ALONG THIS UNIT. THIS IS A NASATY TRICK OF THE TRADE SO IF YOU CAN .... DONT DO IT. IF YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT ANY WAYS TAKE ALL THE PRECAUTIONS. IF THERE IS WATER PRESENT OR RAINING DO NOT DO IT.
In this video I will show you step by step how to get 120 volts out of a 240 condensing unit.
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[@mxslick50]

As an electrician with 45 years of experience I would like to caution you and other HVAC professionals: Using your cheater to bootleg a neutral via the ground of equipment is seriously hazardous. Electricity seeks ALL paths back to it's SOURCE, including neutrals and grounds. (That is why, even in a properly designed and wired system, it is possible to shocked from a neutral wire as your body WILL divert a portion of the voltage to ground through you.) Grounds are never intended to be energized (as a neutral normally would be on a 120v circuit) they are there as a fault clearing path, to bond together equipment and metallic structures to the same electrical potential (preferably zero), and to help ensure equipment cannot get voltage on it due to faulty components. Every time you guys use that cheater, you are energizing the entire AC unit and anything metallic attached to it. (Want proof? Next time you use a cheater, take one of your meter leads and attach it to the unit you tied the cheater to. Take the other lead and touch that to any other unit (A/C, exhaust fan, etc.) nearby, you WILL read some voltage. Anything over 3 volts is a hazard.) That exposes anyone touching anything connected to it via a metallic path to potential and possibly lethal shocks. Anything that gets touched WILL divert some of the current though the person touching it. I have attended jobs where someone was severely shocked (and a few fatalities) from this exact scenario. I have also been shocked many times with neutrals simply because I was a partial current path with low enough resistance to get belted. And yes, I have used the same cheaters and have also gotten bit doing it. Your pump will most likely fail because the current it draws can burn open some part of the ground wire, fittings or connections. You now potentially have a completely ungrounded A/C unit, which will leave you open to liability. The solutions? One, use your battery powered vac pump, two, buy a 240v vac pump (they are out there) and connect it normally via the two hots and ground in the unit, three buy a surplus step down transformer rated at 1kva (will weigh about 20lbs and won't be too big) to step down to 120v for your pump, or four run the necessary lengths of extension cords to a regular 120v receptacle. STOP using the cheater, one day it will get you and you may not survive it. Final note: What is the #1 killer of electrical tradespersons? Shocks (and/or the resulting falls from getting shocked) due to complacency. They get away with tickling the dragon for so long, until the dragon strikes back. The end results are not pretty.

[@armandorodriguez6447]

To hell with those cheater cords, not in the business of making units live. On route to Lowes and picking up heavy gages extension cords. Brother I thank you for posting this a million times and still that's not enough cause my life us priceless 💜 everyone that reads this,listen to this electrician he knows what he's talking about

[@globecomputers1]

Thanks for the video! Awesome info

[@alexthehandyman3494]

Thank you so much !!

[@zekenzy6486]

Great Video. Thank you for sharing

[@rambo_xovo7462]

Great video!

[@alexthehandyman3494]

Thank you so much.

[@rickrude9523]

I just came across your videos and I'm enjoying your content,I do however have to point out to you and your viewers how this video is unsafe and risky.By connecting your neutral on the case of your outdoor unit you are now making the unit itself and every other piece of equipment and piping energized, it is becoming a current carrying conductor the current goes to you recovery unit and back through your metal of your outdoor unit and other equipment.Just sharing my two cents worth of knowledge.

[@alexthehandyman3494]

Hery Rick, Thank you so much for your two cents Very important information. This is a very Nasty trick of the trade that we shouldn't do. But we still going to continue to do. At the end of the video I kind off warned of how dangerous it could be. I just put a safety disclaimer at the description of the video. Thank you so much for pointing that out, and thank you for being very respectful and kind.

[@Hvacman401_]

God damn octopus 😂

[@alexthehandyman3494]

Octopus??? That"s a compliment!!! 🤣thanks for your comment!!!