I was right, they were wrong

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Week before last, I came down with a stomach virus. It lasted for a couple of days, but I had to stay home and close to the bathroom.<br /><br />During this time I was sick, my boss had to call in outside refrigeration people to fix a kitchen HVAC unit in one of the resturants. Their diagnosis was that the #2 compressor was shorted to ground and would need a new compressor. This unit is only 2 years old starting on its 3rd year.(unlikely to be a bad compressor)<br /><br />My boss finally told me about having them out and that they were going to change the compressor. I told my boss to let me troubleshoot it to confirm what they had said.<br /><br />I arrived at the store and found the #2 stage working as it should. However the #1 stage was not working. I found that the low pressure switch was open and had some refrigerant oil on it. I replaced the LPS, evacuated the system and weighed in the freon. Fired the unit up and is working like it was advertised to do. My repair cost under $100, if they had done their repair, it would have been $2650!<br /><br />It just aggrivates the crap out of me when companies try to get as much as they can due to the ignorance of their customers.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

happens all the time here. my friend was told last year his unit was toast and 3400 for a replacement. I went and cleaned the buildup of dead fire ants from the magnetic contactor and its worked flawlessy since.

 

[Laddies]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

You will find so much of this in any service related feild, the hire the cheapest help they can hire, try to have one man run the crew, in most cases he is to busy to get to all of the jobs. So if you are lucky you may get a "Tech" that knows how to use the phone and will call his supervisior, but in most cases they just guess. That costs all of us money and is an embarisment to so many of us in the trades. It is alway suprizeing to me if you ask some of these people how some thing works, they don't have clue and how can anyone repair something that they don't unstand, how it works--Bob

 

[JB]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

It happens in any part of the service industry.<br /><br />With too many modern "wrenches' and "technicians" troubleshooting is a lost art. They throw parts at something until it miraculously begins to work again.<br /><br />Check out the engine troubles fora. Count the posts that list all the parts that have been replaced that didn't fix the trouble.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

My dad always said there is a difference between a parts changer and a mechanic.

 

[dogsdad]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

Yeah, and there's a real difference in the way things look when integrity is present and when it is absent. It is mostly ABSENT these days.<br /><br /><br />-dd-

 

[Twidget]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

I used to work with a 'shotgun' tech. He threw parts at it til it worked.<br /><br />The worst part was, if the part didnt fix the problem, he didnt put the old one back in. He kept the old one in his good stock.<br /><br />By the time he wore out his welcome with the company, his van was pretty much full of opened, used parts. For a year after he left, I would order parts and get stuff that had his tech number crossed out. It was always a crap shoot as to whether it was a good part or not.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

goes back to what my auto shop teacher at Hogan High in Vallejo CA used to say. <br />some get older and wiser and some just get older.

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

The trouble is in the training, too much muliple choice, the incentive of thinking outside of the box is crushed therefore fertile ground is readily available in support of a lack in recourceful imagination.<br />This nation is producing morons at an ever alarming rate.

 

[jimchere]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

I hear ya on this one. Troubleshooting is a true art...yes, an ART. What makes it special? A little patience and thought; two things which have been pushed to the bottom in modern society. Nowadays its "results now" no matter the cost. Keep throwing in circuit cards and parts until the gear works again...wasteful IMO.<br />Good on ya' for helping to keep an art alive.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: I was right, they were wrong

I learned my skill from hard knocks and older techs that was willing to teach me. I'm almost 50 now and have never had to look for a job. I guess my job performance is why. If I quit a job, it is only to move up to better work and pay. <br /><br />I'm hoping that maybe they troubleshot the wrong unit. There are 6 units on the roof, so it is possible maybe one of them does have a bad compressor. If that is the case, they still got it wrong because they was surpose to fix the one for the kitchen.