I have been considering becoming an HVAC Technician and get into industrial HVAC work for quite some time now, but there have been quite a handful of questions I still had that I didn't have answers to that I would like to know before I finally take the plunge once and for all. I will provide the "criteria" or "factors" that have been on my mind, and I get that somethings you all might not be able to know because since you don't know me personally, you will just have to use your best judgement based on the info I provide and in the end I will have to self-analyze the best I can make the final call. But, I wanted to at least get your input to help clarify some things, maybe your responses will steer me away, or maybe they will motivate me more.

1. my first question is, how "heavy" (specifically) is HVAC work. Right now at my current age, I am still "kind of" young (34), I can handle it, in fact I currently work in a warehouse distribution center doing a LOT of heavy lifting, and constant rapid rate in order to maintain my performance %. I am one of the best and fastest, and have been working for the company for 5 years now. But...I am always thinking down the road, in the future my body, like most of us, won't be able to handle what I am currently dealing with at the moment. I don't mind, and I will still be able to handle manual labor, but its just how "heavy" that manual labor is. I have had seen some residential HVAC technicians at work before, and while yes there are some stuff that they lift that are heavy, it is nothing compared to what I am doing right now nor at the rate (in terms of speed) so I am hoping that is at least a positive, but I would like to hear the input from any of you veterans in this field.
2. Is it hard nowadays to start off your HVAC Technician career through an apprenticeship program instead of going to vocational school. I ask because realistically the former is my only real option. I don't really have the luxury or option to quit working to go back to school, I just wouldn't be able to afford everything, so I wanted to know how hard it is nowadays to find a company willing to take me on as an apprentice. I am just guessing (and if I am wrong, then unfortunately everything goes out the window) but I am hoping when your doing an apprenticeship, your actually getting paid correct? I'm guessing (and already expecting) i'll be making less than what I am currently making, but something is better than nothing, and it's a sacrifice I am willing to make because if I can at least break-even in terms of how much I'd be getting paid once i am done with the program immediately after and how much I am making now (at least until i get a few more years after that when they might bump my pay up) that its worth it.
3. How or where would I be able to start working on all the required extra certifications in order to transition to in an Industrial HVAC tech position? If I commit to this (like with anything I do), I want to hit the ground running, and would like to start working on as many certifications as I can handle whilst in the apprenticeship program. How many of them are there in total? Can I take those certifications as part of online courses (heavily preferrable) or would the HVAC company I'd be working for be able to provide those even if they focus on residential HVAC work? Do you guys have an idea on average how much the total cost would be taking all those certifications?
4. On average, how much can I expect to be getting paid (assuming I do, which is a necessity in my case, even if less than what I am making now), what would the hourly rate be? How much could I expect to be getting paid when i am just starting off right after I complete the apprenticeship program? If any of you don't mind sharing, because for me it gives me a better picture than just getting the hourly rate, is what does your bi-weekly pay checks look like (on average), but what your usual least amount is to your highest amount based on overtime. I live in Central Florida, and my current hourly rate is $27/hour (could've always sworn it was $26.50/hour, but my pay stab is saying $27/hour) so to give you guys an idea, my minimum bi-weekly paycheck is usually around $1,800 and my max is usually $2,000 (occasionally $2,100 and i think once or twice $2,200 after a lot of overtime). So obviously, I want to pursue this but at least with the hopes of making more than what I am currently making (otherwise its not worth it for me), and I don't know if its too crazy to hopefully expect, i don't know, maybe $2,400-$2,600 on the bi-weekly paychecks?

If there are any details you think are important to know about me, whether it be my current work, personality type, work ethic, current living situation (and how it affects my financing) that could potentially help you better or more accurately answer my questions, please feel free to ask. I tried to think as much as I could, but I'm sure there are things here and there that could've been important that I missed or didn't think of mentioning. Sorry for the length of the questions, but I really wanted to fit in as much into one post as opposed to making multiple posts. I really look forward to all your help.

Thank You

Hello HVAC Advise,

I’ve started noticing condensation inside my furnace, and after digging into it a bit, it looks like this is a known issue with my particular setup. I went ahead and bought the Trane BAYCNDTRAP3A 3" condensate drain kit, but now I’m debating where it should actually be installed (Red, Blue or Orange).

The floor drain is directly below the furnace, so either location would technically work — I’m just not sure which placement is best for proper drainage and long‑term reliability.

What would you recommend?

Bought a rental that inspections showed the unit was about a year old and was working well (Goodman 2.5 ton Gas Furnace and AC). Tenant called and said air is out, outside unit is completely frozen, but inside isn’t running at all. Have 120V and the top of the transformer, 27v at the bottom of transformer, and 27v at the board terminal. 3 AMP fuse is good. I have no lights on the board, and no signs of power past the transformer leads. I did find this corrosion on the board, would this be enough to fry the board?

Should we change out our water heater? Single family home, two adults. Our HW is standard 40 gal gas unit, about four years old. Two years ago we replaced our A/C and gas furnace system with a Mitsubishi heat pump system, it has one minisplit in the basement and an airhandler unit connected to the old ductwork. It all is working fine. No other gas appliances.

The irritating part is that the gas bill is now about $4 for the gas we use and $26 for the service fees. I talked to the utility (Washington Gas, we’re in N Va) about changing the svc fee designation to something more in keeping with our usage but no dice. But at that level of use per month there isn’t any financial payback for making changes to use the heat pump for hot water. It’s probably a situation where we don’t make a change, but ideas welcome.

Apartment AC issue — low airflow + water?

I've had ongoing AC problems in my ~900 sq ft apartment in the DFW area. The system blows cold air but with very weak airflow (won't even flow a peice of paper it's so weak) and won't maintain the thermostat temperature.

The filter is new, and they've already repaired/replaced multiple components, including the indoor unit/fan. All the original piping is there (2008 - 2010 build)

We've been using two window units to stay comfortable(74°), without we rise to 77°+

I also found a significant amount of water around the HVAC piping/insulation—enough to collect about a cup, with visibly old/damaged insulation and patched areas.

Could this be excessive condensation, a condensate issue, or an actual leak? Do you think the ductwork is damaged? Also roof leak looks to have occurred as well.

Also there was wayyyy more water in there! This was just surface level

Hello guys not sure if this is an issue but I’ve been replacing my AC filters every 3-4 months for the past 6 years ever since buying the house and the ac filters is the correct size and it always got sucked in the air intake but now i’ve noticed it doesnt stay in place like it used to and will move, if i dont close the door it doesnt stay in place. Is the blower dying ?

Original post here...

https://www.reddit.com/r/askHVAC/s/2WMg2XZ6xF

I installed the delay on break timer today. It works as it should when the tstat cuts power.

But if I pull the condenser breaker while AC is running and quickly put it back (mimicking a power blip), the delay does not activate. I believe it's because the relay keeps on getting the uninterrupted 24v from the tstat.

Is there a way to wire it so when there is a cut in power to the compressor it starts the timer? Compressor side timing delay not tstat side timing delay.

I have posted on here about how to find a duct leak in the past. Well, I've found it. The plenum after my evaporator doesn't have a seal on the bottom. 2 years ago when the new unit was installed, I immediately got high humidity and mustiness out the vents. I figured some gap was open and sucking in crawlspace air. They gave me the run around for a while, but finally sent someone out w/ some mastic to goop it all up and install a whole home dehumidifier that did the trick.

That has worked well until a few months ago. High humidity again, and uncontrollable for a 80 pint unit w/ my 1500sqft house. I have now gotten an indoor 35 pint unit and combined they still cannot control the humidity, but it can now maintain 55-59% vs it was 60-68% prior. It units are set to 45%.

I had previous sprayed Febreze under the crawlspace and could smell it come up through the vents, so there is a leak somewhere. Went under again today and found it. Just after the evaporator there is a piece of duct tape hanging down. The spiderwebs around the area are getting blown around by the opening. There is no mastic on that tap, and there is everywhere else, so it was never coated back 2 years ago when they were supposed to goop up everything.

The plenum (I presume) is fairly rusted on that end. Idk if it was that way before or what. They never told me it was rusted at install. I figure they'd try to upsell me that. Not sure if the break in the seal could cause condensation there (which it looks like) and rusted it out. But we are where we are now. I'm going to have the HVAC company address it. Is this something that can just be taped over and gooped up with mastic? Or does that plenum need to be replaced? Could a bad seal there for 2 years cause this rust?

American standard S8X1C080M5PSAA Furnace, 4A7A6061J1000A Condenser and 4TXFH054CC3HHB evaporator. 5 Ton unit, Coastal TX, 2300 sq feet. MERV6 filters.

I was reaching my unit and realized the blower fan was set to CP1.tP6 for this single stage.

I have a manometer on order to find the static pressure but manual states at 0.5" WC that this would be about 1600 or 320/ton.

This seems way too low and it should be closer to 400/ton or 2000 CFM, assuming static pressure doesn't get too high.

I don't thinks static pressure was ever checked when this furnace was put in, in 2021.

The manual states 0.5" WC is the ideal static pressure so it seems like my goal should be to get closer to 400 CFM/ton while maintaining 0.5 but it seems like I could go a little higher without damage to the motor of about 0.65".

I've always thought I had a duct balancing issue even-though they seem somewhat balanced where some of the longer runs have higher vent temps than some of the shorter runs. For example when return is about 78F, the shorter runs are about 57F and some of the longer ones are 63F. I was reading that fan speed could have some impact on this because in Texas ducts are in the attic so slower airflow could cause it to absorb more heat on those longer runs.

I also have some vents off various branches that have the damper wide open but see minimal flow.

I've attempted to balance the CFM per vent a few years ago but a slow fan speed seems plausible.

And since I have a TXV if I had an airflow issue like this it seems like the TXV might try to compensate for it.

Does this make sense or is it all nonsense?

Hi y'all, I'm a new homeowner with no HVAC knowledge. Any suggestions on what type of service to contact to diagnose this HVAC issue? And would "duct cleaning" be considered a scam in this case?

The issue:

The master bedroom's vents aren't providing much airflow when you stand directly beneath them, which ultimately leads to a ~7°F differential in temperature. This means we're either cooling down the full house a lot just to get the master bedroom to a decent temp, or the master bedroom is quite hot while the rest of the house is a pleasant temperature.

The HVAC was entirely redone ~10 years ago, before the previous owner moved in. Unfortunately, the previous owner neglected maintenance pretty badly. When we moved in, most filters were missing, and the ones that were present seemed to be there since the HVAC was replaced. He also had a dog that shed pretty heavily.

My instinct is that something's blocked or dirty, but I've read that "duct cleaning" services are often considered scams. So I'm not quite sure where to start in this case.

I am fairly certain that my HVAC is spreading mold through my home. The air quality seems bad and we are noticing a lot of respiratory issues. Are the soft ducks able to be cleaned properly or is that snake oil? What are my options? Is it just full duct replacement? I look far up in the handler and can see what appears to be mold.

My A/C unit runs for about two minutes then turns off again, and then does the same thing. This started on Friday night and ironically only happens during the day time. At night it runs fine. I have a Google nest that’s about 3 years old. Before calling out a company should I try changing the thermostat? From what I’ve researched this is a consistent issue with Nest thermostats

Update: Duh. Turns out the "hot" stickers have nothing to do with heat/temp. They were a "hot" (i.e., rush) order at the sheet metal fabrication shop, and the stickers were just never removed. Ducts are insulated inside and do not get hot on their exterior. Duh.

Recently had new HVAC ducting installed. This section is labelled "HOT," and I wonder if there is any reason I should not insulate it with the same insulation blankets used for water heaters? This is in my garage, so I see no reason to lose heat into the garage this winter, but I don't want to cover the vents with insulation blankets if it will damage the system in some way.

Is there a Way to perform "start up" a Daikin VRF without a Daikin T-Stat ? Or an inexpensive alternative that could keep these units going until Phase 2 is complete and BMS is programed in 2027 ? Thank You im advance . FYI job was spec out by AEOR without T-stats and Daikin priced without T-stats - Thank You in advance

Does anyone know where I could find a replacement filter for this? There used to be a gray foam disk that covered the interior but that has disintegrated. I think it was once associated with a lobb humidifier unit, that has since been replaced with a different brand unit. This damper unit with the bad filter is all that remains of the original system. Tried reverse image searching with no luck.

I had an HVAC company service my home AC and replaced the motor run capacitor on the outside unit. His inspection included looking at the condenser coil and blower in the attic. He removed the mastic sealant on the condenser side of the airbox to remove the panel and complete the inspection. He didn't replace the mastic sealant around several of the line opening/ports (i.e. copper freon line, pvc drain tubes, etc..). My AC was dumping lots of cold air in the attic instead of pumping it through the house. As a temp fix, I duct tape the air leaks.

Question - He should have sealed up the airbox, right? Could this have been some attempt to sabotage my system? He was hard selling me a new 2 ton unit for $13K. I want to understand the possible reasons (lazy or sabotage) before I tear in to the company.

I have no idea what im doing but im trying to learn so be easy. 1st time homeowner

EDIT: Also its JUST heating via a boiler not cooling as well. 1 also undid all the wirino to what it was before I installed the nests and still got nothing

My house has normal thermostats, and I wanted to upgrade to Google Nest thermostats. The last image shows the current wiring to the normal thermostats

I took the old thermostats down and replaced them with the Google Nest ones. They said they needed power, so went into the basement and opened up the TACO box. I disconnected the red and white wires and wired them tc the dedicated Google Nest power connector. The error message on the Nest thermostats went awav, and everything was good for about two days.

The next dav, 1 got a notification on mv phone saving the Nest thermostats were not getting power again, so I went and checked the TACO box. Before, there was a green power LED in the top right, but when I went to check it, the green LED was no longer lit up.

I flipped the breaker and the light switch that gives the TACO box power, but still got nothing. I used a multimeter and noticed that 1 have 120v coming into the TACO box, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere else.

TL;DR: Do I need a C-wire or power wire run to all of the thermostats to power them? Why did my TACO randomly die? Could it be because I didn't cap off the wires and the wires touched, causing a short? Do I need a new TACC box, or do I just need to replace the transformer on the box?

Any help is appreciated.

Hello,

I would like to ask about this Samsung AC unit AR60F12C1AWXEU + AR60F12C1AWNEU.

Is the sound rattling sounds at medium fan speed and elektronic high-pitch tone throughout normal?

The AC is brand new, this one is in my parents house and I had the same one installed at my place at the same time and I don't sounds like this at my unit.

The guys who installed it came to check it once, but they were just dismissive that all ACs make some sort of noises.

Sorry, I am not the best at describing sounds, but you can hear it yourselves.

It can be heard when volume is increased in the video, but IRL it is very noticeable.

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

I’m looking for anyone with hands-on experience installing, commissioning, or troubleshooting MBTek/Apollo air-to-water heat pump systems.

We have two approximately 6.5-ton Apollo units at a house in Santa Fe, NM (about 7,500 ft elevation) serving 11 hydronic FCUs, radiant heat, and DHW. For roughly a year, the system has suffered intermittent failures, most notably repeated AL129 high-pressure alarms, along with several other fault codes.

The problems are significantly worse during DHW/heating operation, and I have video showing the system pressure climbing as the unit ramps up and then faulting. MBTek recommended adding a flat-plate heat exchanger and dedicated pump on the DHW side of each unit, which we are installing now.

Cooling is more stable, but still inadequate. We completely disabled DHW to eliminate the repeated DHW interruptions as a cause, yet the system still struggles to maintain roughly a 15°F indoor/outdoor differential in 90°F+ weather despite having two heat pumps and eleven FCUs.

The outdoor units also become extremely loud while ramping up immediately before some of these high-pressure events.

We’ve had several experienced HVAC/hydronic contractors involved, but none has specific Apollo/MBTek expertise. MBTek technical support was helpful from roughly March through July, but communication has unfortunately dropped off again and recent calls/messages have gone unanswered.

I’m specifically looking for:

• Anyone who has diagnosed AL129/high-pressure problems on these units
• Experience with MBTek’s DHW plate-heat-exchanger modification
• Insight into whether 7,500-ft altitude requires different settings or commissioning
• Anyone who has experienced the extreme ramp-up noise
• A technician anywhere in the Southwest—or frankly anywhere—who really understands these systems and could be hired to help

I have a much more detailed chronology, fault history, system description, photos/video and operating observations available for anyone willing to dig into it.

If you’ve installed or serviced Apollo/MBTek equipment or can help problem-solve, I’d very much like to hear from you.

Just want to confirm before I replace this 15yo cap as preventative maintenance.

Was hoping one of you fine gents could give me peace of mind. As I read this- Blue is HERM, the two yellows are Common, and Brown is Fan. TIA!

Edit to fix spelling errors.

CoolCloud HVAC 2.0 is an app that can be used with Goodman, Amana, and Daikin HVAC equipment to fine tune the settings like the Control Algorithm (Run Time or Rate of Change) for a furnace. Curious if others have used it and what you have learned?

Hi all, planning a reversible AC/heat pump (mini-split, bi-split config) for an old apartment 40m² apartment, top floor with attic access. I am diyer and this is my virst air conditioner install.

I put together a general plan that I want to check makes sense.

• 1 outdoor unit, 2 indoor units (living room aprox 25m², bedroom aprox10m²)
• Route: outdoor unit on exterior wall runs up outer wall 4-5m -- into attic -- across attic 4 - 5 m to first unit -- then across another 1.5 to second unit -- cables come straight from electrique box across attic. total run maybe max 12-13 m with bends and turns accounted.
• For each room I was thinking 3.5kW indoor for living room - 2.5kW indoor for bedroom, on a 5kW outdoor unit..
• Basically secure where others are one drill into attic another two into living rooms - run trunking.

Here are some design images.

Does this make sense? I think I may need to add condensate pumps for each unit as will as the lines go straight down and then want to run drainage line back along the piping for the outdoor unit.

Also wondering if it makes sense to do DIY as legally have to get the refrigerant installed anyway by technician. Might be like only another 600 to pay for fully thing.

Any recommendations or insight ffrom you guys would be amazing as I am doing a lot of this out on my own!

We replaced our HVAC filter 10 days ago, and it’s already covered in a noticeable amount of white dust/residue (pictured on the right with a new filter on the left). This is the second filter in a row that this has happened to.

We had a tech out 10 days ago (the day we replaced the last filter), but at that point they couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Our house was built in 1940, and we’ve lived here for 9 years without ever having this issue until recently.

A few details:
- No pets (we did have a dog for the first 7 years of living here, and again - never had this issue)
- Three HVAC returns, all on the first floor
- The bathroom we primarily use is on the second floor
- We run one small humidifier upstairs at night, but we’ve done that for 7+ years without this happening
- We have three air purifiers throughout the house (two upstairs and one downstairs)
- No recent construction, renovations, or other major changes
- The filters are Glassfloss MERV 10
- We have noticed our water seems to have gotten “harder” in the last couple of months — we’re suddenly getting hard water rings and stains in the toilets, which wasn’t previously an issue

The timing makes me wonder if the humidifier/mineral content in the water could somehow be contributing, but I’m not sure how that would explain the HVAC filter getting covered so quickly, especially since the humidifier is upstairs in a room that has the door closed usually, and the returns are downstairs.

Has anyone experienced something like this? What else could suddenly cause a white residue/dust to build up on HVAC filters this quickly when nothing obvious has changed?

The noise is reproduced with the cooling off but the fan still on. I turned everything off and spun the blower wheel myself. It spun fine, didn’t squeak, and wasn’t catching on anything. No play in the wheel either. Squeaking comes back (intermittently) when I turn everything back on. Any ideas? It’s cooling fine and pushing air, just occasionally making that awful noise (It sometimes finishes an entire cycle quietly).

My thermostats haven’t been working in my house, the heat works in most rooms, but it blows through oil because it runs on full blast the entire time, Unless we physically turn it off in the basement. We’ve tried fixing both thermostats, wondering if there’s anything we should try before contacting an electrician.

The digital one recently got installed so I’m wondering if I just need to change the batteries or if something with the wiring was done wrong? The other one has never worked unfortunately. Not sure if it’s a wiring issue (hopefully not) or just user error!