I would like to share a story of one of my major fuck ups in hopes it will help someone along the way. Although, until you make mistakes yourself, sometimes you dismiss the info...I am guilty of that too! It was a large Carrier rooftop probably 60 tons or close to it and one stage was out of refrigerant. I found the leak easily as it was a rub through and a large puddle of oil was present in the compressor section. The rub through was on the bottom side of the pipe. I blindly brazed a bead of silfos, don't remember if I even pressure tested (cocky 4th year). Pulled a vacuum and charged 80lbs of R22. Get a call next day, the lead tech at that site was waiting for me, the boss on the phone screaming...The entire charge was gone. I was forced to work a 13 hour day for free but man did I learn. I cut out the pipe I had not fixed and it looked like a blind monkey had brazed it. Installed a new piece of pipe, pressure tested and pulled a vacuum. Back then no one used micron gauges so it was 29.92" hg and good! Charged the system again and this time success. I had to bring that piece of pipe back to the office to show my boss, I may or may not have made it look a little neater before showing him haha. Moral of the story, put the cockiness away, and always replace pipe on a rub through. I would love to hear some stories where each of you learned. Happy HVACing!

Posted by HVAC Know It All at 2021-03-10 23:19:38 UTC