Trane HVAC System Not Cooling / Full Repair Procedure

[@AirsoftMemeNerd]

For any RTU data plate that is blank, take a sharpie and rub it on your thumb and then rub it across the data plate. The lettering is slightly lifted on the sticker so that sharpie will rub off on the raised letters and allow you to read it again

[@crabmansteve6844]

That fin comb is awesome

[@sterlingarcher46]

The old timer who taught me the basics always told me to " re-cook" the copper before swaging . The little spin-swage bits that go in the drill don't split the copper because they cook it from the friction .

[@HVACRSurvival]

Exactly why you can do ridged copper👍👍

[@Farm_fab]

Good ole itchalation. I did mechanical demolition for almost 10 years, and I don't miss that. Especially the old brittle stuff. Pro tip: baby powder is an essential when working with that. Rub it on your neck and arms, and it will block the pores so it substantially reduce the itch.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Interesting, I'll remember that🤜🤛👍👍

[@MikeB9771]

Love the longer format, great wealth of knowledge in a video like this. I know it is hard to get a job done like that with just yourself. At least it was on the ground and not the roof top. Thanks for all you do Rick.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks Mike🤜🤛👍👍

[@mansourramzey7711]

You did a two man job all by yourself, that's pretty good. ✌

[@HVACRSurvival]

We normally don't get help so I'm use to doing it by myself, but we added for labor for the guy to help get the coil in and out but figured I could get that money and keep the other guy at the job he was on so he didn't need to pack up to come meet me.

[@Farm_fab]

Rick, that's a nice swaging tool. I made a tool for a one time use. I was remodeling a house where the water pipes froze, but didn't split. They just swelled, fortunately. I had to expand one pipe just enough to use new pipe to repair the old system. It sure saved time and money.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Save lots of money on fittings and less places to have leaks.

[@Rs0229]

consistent video uploads , the best HVAC account 💪🏽

[@HVACRSurvival]

Your awesome! Thanks 🙏

[@scotthayes6946]

Awesome!!! Finally an HVAC tech on KZbin that knows how to use their oxy-acetylene and braze professionally..!!!

[@HVACRSurvival]

Wow, thanks!

[@garypoplin4599]

23:07 - Speaking of sharing what works: I can perform smooth un-sweats perfectly every time now since learning about the Sta-Silv White flux trick. Liberally flux the joint you want to unsweat before hitting it with the torch to make removal and reassembly go much better.

[@johnwalker890]

Great job Rick, You did the whole change out by yourself, and did a great job welding, you got skills.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks John! 👊

[@johnwalker890]

Your welcome, don't sweat it, weld it.

[@HVACRSurvival]

😁🤭

[@Eddy63]

Rick , your a one man wrecking crew ... Nice job and good vid ... Thx for sharing ...

[@garypoplin4599]

5:03 - So, you’ll be able to reuse that refrigerant in the unit after blending off the top? I guess that’s allowed. De minimus, right? 18:08 - My school taught us to use an “slightly oxidizing flame” for all braze joints. That has served me well two years beyond class.

[@HVACRSurvival]

R410a has more issues with fractionation more than other refrigerants do. I usually prefer to recharge with all new refrigerant but if that’s not how they quoted it then you can try what I mentioned.

[@Ted_E_Bear]

Thanks for sharing the video, Rick !

[@daleborg9070]

Rick, when you have that little extra feather on the flame that is when you have more acetylene than oxygen so you would have a carbonizing flame, not oxidizing.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I probably Said it wrong, good catch!

[@BillyN31]

I really enjoy your videos. Your editing is spot on. -from a service tech in Ct

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks Billy, I try to keep them moving quickly on the edit cuts, but sometimes I think I should show more detail, its a fine line. Thanks again for the feedback!

[@thesilentonevictor]

One man show 🙌 Rick you made it look easy Great video

[@zekenzy6486]

Great Video. Thank you for sharing. I like to watch more start to finish troubleshooting and replace. I'm very enjoy and relax for watch your video.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks bud🤜🤛👍👍

[@hvac01453]

I noticed you have the same swaging/ flare block kit I had in college @ 26:40. Every tool has its place. When I get in a tight place where theres no room or abosolutely cannot slit the pipe or it will screw me all up, this is my goto tool. It NEVER splits the tubing because it doesn’t try to stretch the whole length of the tubing at once, but rather in increments. Ihave several, and use my yellow jacket monster pair most often but it splits tubing rather easily if you dont rotate it often during the stretch, i often use it to repair fitting that dont seem to fit ok of have a touch of solder in them or trying to re-round out a compressor connector that was damaged in shipping. Like your videos... have you ever thought of taking the wife with you to shoot the videos while you work?...not all the time but on occation, she seems to be a pleasant personality with a good sense of humour. You guys seem to be a great couple, and she seems to be quite knowledgeable.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Well... she kind of has a job too, and she feels as though the whole hospital would shut down if she wasn't there 🤣 . If there's such a thing, we would call her like a super scrub tech, administrator assistant super something 🤣. Thank you for the compliment, she liked hearing that.

[@joelwatts7786]

I like to attach a liquid line drier to the bottle when re-using refrigerant, gives it half of chance to be semi cleaned.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I did that after I saw the brown oil. 👍👍

[@vinnyp16]

Thanks for the tips Rick and they always help .

[@HVACRSurvival]

👍👍🤜🤛🤛

[@davidberger4726]

I was always told (2x flame), a really nice flame! Ditto on the dye!

[@jrimechanical]

Run a filter on your recovery tank to prevent contaminates from entering system when using reclaim refrigerant

[@HVACRSurvival]

Yeah 👍👍 after making that mistake, that's what I've been doing. I've been using a quarter inch flare dryer on both sides with a short hose. Filtering it going in and filtering it coming out.

[@mainj54]

I have always used a slightly carburizing flame as I feel gave me a little more control of the heat.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I would say we're correct😏👍👍

[@captainron7904]

So I see you using the field piece vacuum pump and in your newer videos you use the Navac battery operated one which do you prefer ????

[@HVACRSurvival]

Eight CFM versus four CFM as long as you’re using a big hose either one’s gonna get it done rather quickly. Size and speed is nice with the wireless, but I would assume the plug-in model is going to last longer, it comes down to personal opinion.

[@samalmo]

Good thing you had 2 sets of Testo manifolds to confirm they were both working 😅

[@HVACRSurvival]

🤭 It save me some time but I would have had to check each individual circuit either way. I didn't always have all these fancy tools. But I've always had at least two basic manifolds.

[@throttlebottle5906]

whilst "dye" sucks, it's great in some scenarios! no solution/technology is ever the perfect, so heed the claims of grandeur and outcome with great caution and apprehension.

[@nebraskaman8247]

If you’ll heat the copper a little prior to swedging it will never split. I got tired of it splitting everything, and once I started heating it just a bit it never happened again. I do still try and rotate it several times.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I have done that on a few videos and it works great 👍👍 thanks for the feedback!

[@rwcasto]

Hey Rick- how long have been using the testos? I tried them just did not like them - mostly because I was used to fieldpiece - great content

[@HVACRSurvival]

I've had Testo for several years.

[@TedCookHVAC]

Pretty good with the fin comb there !! #Traneisbest

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks Ted! I wondered if the TRANE picture would get your attention ..😂

[@tomasnewson6744]

Brilliant video mate 👍🏻 full of knowledge and good practice 👍🏻

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks Tomas👍👍🤜🤛

[@chrisgreen8897]

Just Curious. How did the vacuum go using the core depressers? Did you have a good decay test using them?

[@HVACRSurvival]

Its not idea, Your taking a chance the vacuum will pull past the Schrader cores so I left the vacuum run even after I backed out the core depressors. Then I released the liquid into the high side. I was gone 2.5hrs on the other call with those big 3/4" vac hoses pulling down with the 8cfm pump, I can normally hit a perfect vacuum with a compressor in the circuit in 30 minutes or less. Whos to say the refrigerant didn't have moisture in it or was fractionated... so I'll be strait, I did not verify the microns. I'm a horrible person....

[@HVACGUY]

Great video

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks for the visit

[@EverythingHVACR]

Nice job Rick!

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks Steve 0

[@michaellingenfelter2929]

Adrian where can I get help with intelligen control

[@geofhanigumbs7555]

Did you purge nitrogen when you were un - sweating the old evaporator out?

[@HVACRSurvival]

Nope. I have a bottle brush if I need to clean out a fitting, normally it doesn't get that bad because you can un-sweat faster than finish work.

[@greenghopper]

My unit was low on refrigerant by 2 lbs over a 4 year period. It was recharged recently, but I'm beginning to wonder the impact on the heat pump. I hear new systems like Trane can heat without auxiliary heat when the outside temp is still 15 degrees. Should I invest on a new unit? The last unit was installed in 2008.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I run mine down to 20° and it's only a 12 seer. It doesn't put out much heat but it's better than running electric. I guess it depends on how much your electric bill is during the winter as to whether or not it would be worth investing the amount of money that they want for that unit. Carriers got one that is called the infinity VNA and it can do I think zero degrees outside at full capacity, I forget but I know it's a lot better than 15°.

[@greenghopper]

@@HVACRSurvival Good to know. It's in OH, so weather can be cold at times. Our first year we kicked in the aux. during a polar vortex and ended up with a $400 bill on month. To offset, we do run a woodstove about 70% of the time.

[@HVACRSurvival]

250-400 is about normal in Ohio for an all electric 1500-1800 square ft. In coldest part of winter

[@hvac01453]

Speaking of swaging, I was taught that when mechanics have stock in the truck, copper and fuses gothrough something called embrittlement. This is where the copper looses a bit of its ductility as do fuses as they age and loos their ability to flex.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I have noticed that, sounds correct to me

[@mavuk100]

It’s called annealing, copper work hardens. Also how do you keep manifolds clean with using different types of refrigerant or after it gets horrible dye in it?

[@HVACRSurvival]

Purge

[@sergioramirez9025]

Do you have a video about brazing?

[@HVACRSurvival]

I haven't made one but what would you want to see in a video if I made one dedicated to that?

[@coltonmoore1]

I’m pretty sure you accidentally left your manifold open on both sides, which is why your gauges were reading almost the same pressure on both the suction and the liquid side (as if the compressor wasn’t running) even tho it was. So, the refrigerant was just being passed through the manifold on the gauges.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I'll have to review the video again, anything is possible👍👍

[@davidaustin9009]

Have you tried the ars pro press fittings ?? They are fantastic..

[@davidaustin9009]

So, when you have two compressors..do you have two separately charged systems? Or one big charge?

[@HVACRSurvival]

Depends if the compressors are on the same refrigerant circuit. Smaller systems are usually separate. Larger ones are in parallel.

[@MrAdamd83]

I have the testo 557 and the 557s and I have had to send the 557 back to testo to get the gauge recalibrated because my sensors were off on the 557

[@HVACRSurvival]

Mine were defective when I got them, Testo swapped them out with a new set. I couldn't get the firmware to update, it would fail 35% into the update.

[@steve19841117]

Good job Rick.can I get the link for the sprayer that you're using for the insulation mat thank you

[@HVACRSurvival]

amzn.to/3Dzm0w0 Thanks!

[@HVACRSurvival]

I have used the 3m also and its less money. amzn.to/3BPpSaT

[@steve19841117]

@@HVACRSurvival thanks

[@johnbell6956]

Nice. Why didn’t you just pop the economizer out to give you greater access? Not a criticism, just wondered. We always remove them for access when swapping evaps.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I thought about that, I don't do a lot of Trane and was worried I might break that plastic damper linkage. You have a good point!

[@johnbell6956]

@@HVACRSurvival To save aggravation/ technician abuse, pull the whole end panel. The whole end panel/ economizer comes out as one piece. New units could be ordered with or without economizer. Same unit. Cheers

[@gendronhvac-r1269]

Great video!!! Thanks for sharing!

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks man!

[@joehead1294]

Use any colored glasses when you braze? Shade 5 gets the red out. 😁

[@HVACRSurvival]

I should but I don't.

[@jonnymac31]

Sweet dude.

[@HVACRSurvival]

How you been John boy!?

[@jasonjohnsonHVAC]

I have the same Hilmor swage kit. I also have their benders with the reverse bending attachment.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Same here, I love my bender

[@jasonjohnsonHVAC]

@@HVACRSurvival i did notice myself when you talked about swage that 3/8" line. Its done that to me as well. The other sizes it doesn't do that. Just 3/8". Anyways i really liked the video. It was cool to have a longer video than normal.

[@HVACRSurvival]

@@jasonjohnsonHVAC Thanks for the feedback!

[@HVACRSurvival]

@@jasonjohnsonHVAC I have the 1/4 and it will do it to but I heat it up or use the spin swage

[@tbelding]

With electronic gauges of any type (mostly I'm experienced with multimeters and other kinds of electronics), they can be REALLY picky about voltage. If that battery is going iffy, even if it shows a half or three quarter charges, replace it. Even a rechargeable lithium-ion is only really good for about 500 charges, and that's if you regularly run it down to the bottom and back up again. (5-10%) I don't know what kind of batteries those use, so I can't make a suggestion about a good one to keep as a spare in your vee-hickle.

[@HVACRSurvival]

4 AA.

[@tbelding]

@@HVACRSurvival - I've had good luck with the Northern Tool branded alkalines. For primary lithium AA, energizer seems to be really good for me. Avoid Duracell unless you're going to use it immediately and replace it as soon as it runs down. They like to go boom.

[@HVACRSurvival]

@@tbelding Energizer is my main one then I'll go to the rayovac alkaline which is owned by the same company that owns Energizer.

[@tbelding]

@@HVACRSurvival I always liked Ray-O-Vac, even before being owned by that conglomerate.

[@shine-cg9uf]

👍💪❄️🙏🇺🇸 I would think as long as u pull a vacuum then u should b fine sweatin out FD. Have u ever tried Fieldpiece sm480 gauges? Thanks for sharing your knowledge 🙏

[@HVACRSurvival]

I thought about getting them, I just like the size of the Testo. But I knew they have a lot of QC issues. 🤷🤦🏻

[@jeffgrant6914]

Good video 👍 buddy

[@HVACRSurvival]

Thanks Jeff! Glad you liked it!

[@theunit5939]

i usually solder all my joints stay bright 8 has a 6000 psi threshold, in 20 years not one call back because of a weak joint, used to braze all the time unnecessary.

[@HVACRSurvival]

That's what we use to use on AC work when I first started. Your correct, when properly cleaned it works great, I hate that it doesn't fill gaps in the pipe though.

[@throttlebottle5906]

"too this apart here, probably shouldn't've(lol)" 🤣my life story! take on what should be an easy job without seeing it, do said job taking three-x time, find multiple other show stopper issues along the way. private water well with too low of recovery rate, dinosaur federal pacific fire starter, bosch tankless (dhw) loosely vented into an old chimney, shared with a common gas furnace. good grief/oh dear! only a few of the endless issues I find and I'm NOT looking for said issues or any at all!

[@chainoflakesrefrigerationa2906]

Get some fieldpiece probes rickster. You will be happy

[@HVACRSurvival]

I have them. LOL there in my bag, I love them but I hate how big the Fieldpiece manifold is or I would have gotten that.

[@ccthepope]

Rick love your videos but (there is always a but) you used the incorrect name for your flame type you use. At time 20:53 you can see clearly 3 flames, the outer (some call the envelope), the middle cone and the inner cone. This is called a carburizing flame. It looks to me as a 1x carburizing flame (the middle cone is equal to the inner cone if the middle is 2 times the length of the inner it is a 2x). When you were annealing the copper so it would not split that might have been a oxidizing flame that is very hard to tell from the video. Also the soot you wiped off the dryer was because you used a carburizing flame. Do not get me wrong I also use a slightly carburizing flame when welding on aircraft. We were told to use slightly carburizing flame so we would NOT be accidentally using a oxidizing flame which in some cases very bad! In aircraft we only use brazing on fuel lines and such and they were mostly stainless steel. So when I braze copper lines I use a slightly carburizing flame as it is easier to see and keep.

[@adrianperez5628]

I am a believer that all Unitary products

[@HVACRSurvival]

Lennox Guy?

[@adrianperez5628]

@@HVACRSurvival Completely vendor-neutral. I just think it’s so much easier.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I like them too👍

[@shifter8207]

I ve had an oil flame burn my hand before trying to sweat off something similar like that. Couldn’t you have cut the stub between the equalization line and the coil and then sweat out the remaining stub? I wouldn’t want to see that happen to anyone else

[@HVACRSurvival]

That's why I try to remove the flame before pulling it apart. I know it can still happen and I have had a large flare up from a process chiller when I had to remove the drier.

[@Bretware904]

You are wrong on dye for the same reason cars come with it, its extremely effective. If its a old machine do the customer a favor and sell it to them, everybody wins. Acetone cleans it up like magic.

[@HVACRSurvival]

Auto mechanics use it because they're not air conditioning technicians. Hear me out... Air conditioning is just a touch of what they do, they don't specialize in it, sure they understand how it works and have the MAC card, so do I 😳. Car mechanics usually have a all in one machine they hook up, punch in the numbers and it does all the work otherwise they change parts that were already predetermined by the factory. They don't find a different brand of part to fix a problem or redesign it. That's a Huge difference, that's not too dethrone them or devalue but to just state facts they are mechanics that are good at fixing a shit ton of cars problems but that is totally different than just a dedicated hvacr mechanic that works on everything under the sun multiple different facets in the mechanical world. I'm not talking about just residential, I'm talking about commercial, industrial and all the other different things that most people never see.

[@Bretware904]

@@HVACRSurvival I don't think that argument makes much sense because a mechanic could have the same leak detector right. Cars come with dye not because of auto mechanics they come with dye because it's cheap, simple and effective. I'm not trying to flex over anybody but I've had my own air conditioning business in Jacksonville Florida for over 20 years and we've been the largest Fujitsu unitary dealer for at least the last 5, long before we used dye. Dye absolutely increases our productivity and we're probably going to start selling it on tune ups, costs us $5 a shot. You might want to stay out of Florida or at least make sure bring some rags and acetone with you. I don't know where you're at but I did see it one way drier on that unit🤣

[@Bretware904]

@@HVACRSurvival I actually have a trap question for you, do you carry UV light on the trunk for machines you know have dye, customers tell you they have dye or they have a label?😁

[@MegaDysart]

@@HVACRSurvival I was a mechanic for 7 years before changing careers to residential HVAC. I specialized in MVAC repair and diag. The dye I have always found less helpful than you'd think, usually you have to break out the leak detector or the big blue and a lot of times even that's not enough to find leaks, so you end up evacuating and leak detecting with nitrogen. It's pretty similar to residential HVAC. What sucks about MVAC is there's not a lot of help with superheat and subcool numbers to help you diagnose, and there are only service ports on the suction and discharge usually. Even if you could measure SH and SC accurately, there's so many variables like blower speed, engine speed, engine fan speed, ambient temps inside and outside the vehicle, mode settings, engine temp, etc etc so you end up trying super hard not to just guess and fire the parts cannon. Manufacturers generally only publish charge weight, oil volume and MAYBE target pressures at a certain RPM. MVAC could be ridiculously frustrating sometimes, even with the fancy all in 1 recovery machines haha

[@HVACRSurvival]

I have a UV light, the only place it was useful was inside a plant that recovered old refrigerators and recycled them. There was so much refrigerant in the air that the detector was going off non stop. But I didn't see the leak, it must of been leaking under the insulation somewhere in this large recovery machine

[@stephwaylonwells3218]

👍

[@rafaelgomez4304]

How come the job was not quoted for 2 men?

[@HVACRSurvival]

It was quoted for a guy to show up and help unload and reload the coil. But I figured I could do it and get the extra hour of labor.

[@steveblake8766]

275 thumbs up

[@HVACRSurvival]

🙌🤜🤛👍👍

[@throttlebottle5906]

1:09 and after. nice repair you tried, but the junk totally denied it! ahh, maybe we should all listen to and adopt some more "green"/"stooge" technology and ourselves forget how to do anything but simple tasks and basic skills. USA is about there as are many other countries.

[@harrydickson4575]

👍👍👍👍

[@user-cz8do7xl8u]

Trap on the run?

[@HVACRSurvival]

What?

[@daygoingward918]

Drip leg is wrong.

[@mikes1776]

That is a carburizing flame. Just saying.

[@sterlingarcher46]

If someone uses dye inside a refrigerant circuit , I'm not saying they're a bad person but I'm saying we just can't be friends.

[@HVACRSurvival]

I love that🤜🤛👍👍

[@carlseiz1266]

They should be ashamed of themselves for sending you a coil like that all damaged and it's brand new

[@tbelding]

Ahh, it's not their fault. It's the fault of the shippers for not properly caring for their package... :P

[@HVACRSurvival]

They know the shipper is gonna not care so it's up to them to pack it better. It's not like they're worried about added cost.

[@roqueherrera8471]

trane that fell off its tracks

[@HVACRSurvival]

😁😂😊👍👍