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RE: The Role of Controls and Safeties
in
Your HVAC Systems
Dear Website Customer:
"Why did my unit fail?" This desperate
question is asked every time a costly failure occurs. The response
from the Service Technician can be one (or more) of a thousand
believable or farfetched answers. The one true fact about costly
failures, however, is that 70% or more of these failures can be
prevented.
The first line of defense in failure prevention
is a proper program of operation, inspection, and maintenance.
Simply stated, sophisticated equipment--like an HVAC system--requires
proper operation and maintenance to obtain trouble free comfort
and equipment longevity.
The next step in failure prevention is of
equal or greater importance. All failures have preliminary indications
that appear before causing irreparable damage. Unfortunately,
a Service Technician isn't always there to see the problem appear
before the final damage occurs. This situation is where we take
advantage of the hundreds of different safety devices available
to us. Safety devices can detect problems with various system
trouble points such as unusual pressures, temperatures, voltages,
current, and countless other specialized problems. They range
in price from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. Many of these
safeties are supplied with the equipment, many are not. It is
a high priority to use the right device, adjust it properly, and
always prevent a Technician from removing or disabling these devices
casually.
To change the subject just a bit, I would
like to share the latest on refrigerant recycling and recovery
with you ...
The final rules governing Section 608 of
the Clean Air Act have now been published after being signed on
April 23, 1993, by EPA Administrator Carol Browner. While the
bulk of the rules deals with recovery equipment certification,
refrigerant sales, disposal requirements, and enforcement, there
are two portions which you as a business owner or building manager
should know:
- Technician certification is mandatory--anyone
who works on your HVAC system must be tested and certified to
reclaim refrigerant to government approved specifications. Industry
leaders have overwhelmingly supported this issue as enforcement
of the "no venting" regulation would be next to impossible
without certification.
- Systems with a charge of 50 lbs. or greater
are assigned a maximum allowable annual leak rate of 15% for
comfort cooling or 35% for industrial process and refrigeration.
These leaks must be repaired within thirty days of detection.
The owner is responsible for keeping records of the quantity
of refrigerant that is added to the equipment during servicing
and maintenance procedures.
Please call me at 631-1010 if you would
like a copy of the summary of the final rules. I will be happy
to send one to you.
Sincerely,
KAHN MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS
Ann R. Kahn
TACL A370C
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