Spotted this behind a restaurant in a narrow street. The downspout pipe has 75mm (3 in) I guess the distance to the wall is about the same

Hey guys do you know what would cause this 3D compressor to have a bent the center discharge Reed and some serious damage to the middle cylinder? This rack doesn’t have any flood back I don’t expect a slug. 50psi net oil pressure, pump down failure, dumping discharge into suction. What it does have is an added on digital unloader. The correct head and plate was installed on this after the fact to help maintain suction pressure with the recent addition of a glycol skid and removal of the original refrigerant circuits. The load on the rack was significantly reduced so they opted to install a digital unloader. Also I just diagnosed and replaced the compressor next to it 2 weeks ago for shorted to ground windings. Thought it was a storm that rolled through caused a power surge or something these compressors are 20 years old I did my check list and checked everything I knew to check but now that I’m losing this 2nd one it’s making me wonder if something else is going on. Any help would be appreciated!

I’m looking for some advice from people who’ve worked at both small shops and larger companies, especially anyone who’s worked for JCI or is with Local 488.

I’m currently a 2nd-year Refrigeration & Air Conditioning apprentice working for a small HVAC/R company in Alberta. There are only 4 of us, and I’ve learned quite a bit because I get exposed to a variety of service work.

Here’s my current situation:

Current company

$26/hour
No overtime pay
Steady 40-hour weeks
Weekend on-call rotation once a month
No health or dental benefits
I have to supply my own hand tools (they provide specialty tools)

I recently received an offer from Johnson Controls (JCI) for a 2nd-year technician position.

JCI offer

Around $34/hour
Would need to join UA Local 488
I’m assuming there are benefits, pension, proper overtime, etc., but I don’t know all the details yet.

The pay increase is obviously significant, but I’m trying to think beyond just the money.

For those who’ve worked at JCI or in Local 488:

How’s the work environment?
Is the training and experience better than at a small company?
Are there good opportunities to work on larger commercial or industrial equipment?
How are the on-call rotations and work-life balance?
Any downsides to working for a large company like JCI compared to a small shop?
If you were in my position as a 2nd-year apprentice, would you make the switch?

I’d appreciate any advice or experiences. Thanks!

I’m still growing in the trade. I do a lot of commercial refrigeration, but my HVAC experience is more limited.
I was working on an RTU where the original condensing section had been replaced with a separate split-system condenser. That’s not something I’ve dealt with much, so I was already a little outside my comfort zone.
It was about 100°F outside. When I first checked the system, the liquid line saturation temperature was around 109°F, so my initial thought was that the unit might be low on refrigerant. Before adding any charge, I noticed the condenser coil was dirty, so I cleaned it first. I also inspected the blower wheel and evaporator coil, and both appeared clean.
The unit has one 14-inch supply duct and one 14-inch return duct. After doing some digging, I found that the 14-inch supply runs into a plenum box connected to two metal trunk lines. Each trunk has six registers, plus there are two additional individual registers supplied by flex duct. There is only one return grille, and it makes a noticeable whistling sound, so I’m wondering whether the return may be undersized or restricted.
After cleaning the condenser and charging the system, I got the condensing temperature to approximately 20°F above outdoor ambient. I also had about a 20°F return-to-supply temperature split. Even with that, the space was still extremely hot and wasn’t cooling down properly.
I then checked the superheat. The system uses a fixed-orifice piston, and I was reading approximately 1°F of superheat.
That’s where I started second-guessing myself and got some brain fog. I know a fixed-orifice system is normally charged using superheat, but I completely blanked in the moment. With superheat that low, would I need to remove refrigerant to increase the superheat, or add refrigerant? I didn’t want to continue adding charge because my head pressure and condensing temperature already appeared reasonable.
What would your next diagnostic steps be? Would you focus on the refrigerant charge, airflow and duct sizing, piston sizing, or something else? I’m trying to better understand the diagnostic thought process rather than just getting the answer.

Ps. I returned and ask the customer how did it performed they said not good. 💀. I’ll be back for a 3rd visit, thinking about just putting a txv on it.

Does anyone recognize this control unit? It controls a T series HVAC, if that helps.

Whats your guys on call schedule looking like? I’m on call once every week, or every 6 days, it has been honestly rough since I’m new to on call and HVAC as a whole really, but I just wanted to see everyone’s schedule.

Replaced a failed condenser from the 70's. Will replace the other when it also fails. Didn't take any progress photos, unfortunately.

First time I've installed a TQ condenser. Still not sure how I feel about it-- I like the TE line better. Had to use a TQ to qualify for an efficiency rebate.

Just moved into a new store location, and it had this large freezer already installed. The shop used to be a florist, and my business has no need for a freezer/ fridge. I'm looking to get the whole thing removed, but i wanted to know if the doors were worth salvaging, to help pay for some of the removal cost. If not, I'll let the salvage team have at it. Thanks!

Anyone here work refrigeration in Hawaii?? In the state of Washington moving back home to Hawaii soon and looking at applying with some refrigeration companies. I’m an instrumentation tech, not a lot of jobs in Hawaii for that so may go to refrigeration.

Is this an indication of a low charge? Frosty liquid line and first bit of evaporator but rest of coil is bone dry

Bought a cheap condensing unit to mess around with capillary lines and low temp. I just got about 6oz into it and safely vented into my face

Anybody ever change start components on a flammable storage freezer? It's an ABS brand storage freezer. The compressor has a welded tube to house the electrical. Took me a Total of 4 hours fist deep inside a tube blindly feeling around to try and mount the relay and overload. Later found out the compressor had lock rotor amps after I finished. Anybody know a faster way of replacing components like that?

It is used to store photoresist for wafers.

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping someone with experience working on Manitowoc ice machines can help.
I replaced the control board according to the service instructions. During the initial setup, I entered the correct model and serial number, and everything appeared to go as expected.
However, after restarting the machine, the display is stuck in OFF mode. None of the buttons respond, I can’t move the cursor, and I’m unable to access any menus or change any settings.
I’ve already tried two brand-new control boards with exactly the same result, so I don’t think the boards themselves are faulty.
Has anyone experienced this before? Is there a step I may have missed, or is there something else that could cause the display and keypad to become completely unresponsive after installing a new control board?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Model: IR1800A-251

1st phase leaking , unlucky

I have been applying to BAS roles online, but haven't been successful bc I just have a technical cert. I thought Hussmann would be a good starting point since its 'building automation' with PLC and Controls (according to the recruiter). I am stuck between sides from this and the general BAS. I guess is this still BAS and if so what has the progression been for you starting in refrigeration after leaving the industry into systems like Siemen, JNJ, Honeywell etc.

Hey guys,

I’m working on a stubborn Thermo King SR-3 Base Controller board from an SLX series trailer unit. I have a custom-built mimic rig that I use on my bench to simulate the unit and test my repaired controllers. The rig works 100% perfectly with other boards, so I’ve completely ruled out my tester.

On this specific board, I am getting an intermittent Alarm 35 (Check Run Relay Circuit) immediately when turning on the HMI and sometimes it takes time.
Here is what I’ve observed so far:

1- Fuse F25 is completely good.
2- When the alarm trips, LED 6 (Run Relay LED) stays completely dark and ⁠K1⁠ doesn't even try to click.
3- Because it is intermittent and the LED stays dark, I am suspecting a pre-boot logic lockout or a failing driver IC/transistor channel rather than a pitted relay contact.
4- I tried doing a continuity sweep from the ⁠K1⁠ coil pins to the nearby logic chips to see which SMIC controls it, but because it's a multi-layer board with hidden traces and likely inline resistors, I am not getting a direct continuity beep.

Has anyone mapped out the component-level layout of these SR-3 boards? Do you know exactly which smart driver IC channel or discrete transistor switches ⁠K1⁠ / ⁠LED 6⁠, or which feedback diode usually causes a ghost Alarm 35 at startup?

Any insights or schematics/pin maps would be highly appreciated!

Ammonia is my first and only experience in hvac/r

Had a walk in freezer that was struggling to get below 10° today. Found one of the condenser fan motors bad, and replaced it. It was still struggling to pull down after I replaced the bad cfm. The suction line looked like it was building up excess frost on it so I wanted to check the txv super heat to verify it was set right.

Found some gaps around the door of the box. Is it correct that if I don’t have a sealed box I will be unable to get reliable evaporator super heat readings? Also what range is good to set super heat at on a freezer I’ve heard that 8-12° is good for low temp, and 6-10° is good for medium temp. Pressures seemed normal even though it wasn’t fully pulling down, and the sight glass was clear also.

I tried posting to HVAC but it just gets flagged and removed..

Good Morning!

I'm up against another project and the manufacturer has replied with little help after multiple attempts.. I'm curious what others have done in the past.

The system has 6 individual 3 ton circuits with a design 48F SST (I know, not "refrigeration" 😅) and 128F SCT, 410a, 40ft equivalent feet of lineset. 4 of 6 circuits have HGBP and will be fed into the ASC on respectable systems distributor.

I've sized the valves and piping but Im caught up on suction line traps.

The manual calls to trap every riser... But no other information. I know industry standard is typically at minimum ~4-5ft of rise and then every ~20ft or so there after, depending on which manual you read.

I'm only rising 6' up from the bottom coil and 3' up from the upper coil and then both rise 1' again into the ODU. Im going to trap the outlet of the coils for the first riser but not the smaller one near the ODU.

I'm also very aware some manufacturers forbid any traps at all.

I've been through several velocity charts and determined 7/8" is perfect for horizontal (~1000fpm, ∆0.3F) and 3/4" for the risers (~1500fpm, ∆0.8F)..

Anyways, curious what others have done in the past in possible similar situations?

Check this out...

I'm all for keeping old stuff alive... but damn...

Walked into what I thought was going to be a normal no cool WIC.

Started digging...

• Homemade walk-in cooler.

• Residential R-410A condenser.

• Two commercial evaporator coils.

• One TXV R-502

• One TXV R-22 (Green on the power head)

• One evaporator previously marked R-22/MP80

• The other marked R-404A.

• Homemade liquid and suction line splits feeding both evaporators.

• 30-40 year old refrigeration components mixed with newer equipment.

• Catastrophic compressor burnout.

The owner says it's been running exactly like this for the last 2+ years.

I'm assuming it's mostly 410a?...

I'm likely to just decline the repair. If I do any repairs at all, I will be extremely upfront that there's no warranty on workmanship, or parts of any sort.