Aboutjohn t. borgman Expertise I work days, so I can only answer early in the day or later in the evening, I live in Oregon. I have been so good at all the other area's of hvac, I am probably the only hvac guy that does not know oil. ( lol ) I am very well versed in gas, electric and heat pumps and will only answer residential applications. I have been known the past decade or so, by my employers as the guy you send when no one can figure it out. Trouble shooting is my special. I understand the physics behind air flow, refrigerants and electricity. I understand programmable t-stats, zone controls, economizers, fossil fuel kits and the engineering thought process in the wiring and construction of residential equipment
Experience I was lucky enough to start in this field over 25 years ago as an installer, for a company that installed the best duct systems I have ever seen, even to this day. The best ,as far as understanding the way air really flows through a duct system, from the return air to the very last supply register . They also had great pride and the duct work was put in, not only to last 50 years, but to look exceptional. Then as I started doing service work, I was again fortunate that I found a 3 year engineering class being put on be a man that was the educational director for the Entire united states for a society called " the Refrigeration Service Engineering Society " And for the next 3 years I schooled at night and practiced what I learned during the day, a great advantage over schooling and then trying to remember it years later.. Versed in duct design manual J heat gain/loss calculations. Also experience in wine rooms and indoor swimming pool hvac & humidity controls
Publications I have 2 inventions that have gone through the process and been recorded at the National Institute of Standards and Technology from start to finish and thus been invited to national innovation workshops by the dept. of Commerce and the dept. of Energy. They are waste heat recovery devices that N.I.S.T approved as valid and am currently looking for marketing partners to get this product into the hands of consumers and make a BIG difference in Energy savings for every Household and Eatery and take a big bite in the the peak hours power consumption that face our Utilities companies.
Education/Credentials factory training in Lennox ,Rheem, Ruud ,Trane, Tempstar ,Carrier, Day&Night, Payne, Bryant, Coleman, Intertherm, Ultra boilers, Unico, Mitsubishi,Sanyo, Taylor, Nicewonger, . Associates degree in Refrigeration Engineering. Certified with Energy Department, Check-me Program, have N.A.T.E. certifications in gas, a/c & heat pump. Teach and apprentice at every company I work at.
Question QUESTION: Hello, I recently change my fan control board for my inside AC unit. The original circuit board had a place for HIGH MED LOW speed connection but, the new board only gave option for one. The instruction tells me to secure the remaining leds also, the store were I bough the board said I would not fine the exact replacement and that this is what it call for according to the model and serial number. My question is, if it only give me one option for fan speed which one do I use. I already installed it using MED. speed is this ok or should i use a higher or lower speed. my unit is a 3.5 ton and my house is 1,800sq ft.
Thank you
Robert
ANSWER: Robert,
You need high speed for cooling and a lower speed for heating. Give me model and serial. I have never seen a board that has only one speed available and I need to know what type furnace not the A/C. My concern is that it will not be safe in the heating mode and I would like to know where you got the board also.
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QUESTION: Hello, thank you for writing back , I'm so thankful for this site I graduated from Linsey-Cooper Refrigeration School in Irving, TX. and there is so much I don't know. I'm lucky to have found this site.
I'm giving you the info you requested Evaporator unit Carrier Model# FB4ANA048 Serial# 4792A01144. I bough the control board at Brown Service Company 6340 Baker Blvd. Forth Worth TX.
I know it hard to understand exactly what im talking about without seeing it but, here is what step 5 says of the instruction
step 5- INSTALLING BLOWER LEAD TERMINAL ONTO RELAY FOR DESIRED SPEED TAP
1. Locate desired speed tap lead: black for high speed, blue for medium speed, red for low speed.
2. Insert insulated 1/4-in female terminal into spade terminal of fan relay on circuit board ( see Fig 2 ) !! on fig 2 it only shows on connection
3. Insulated remaining 2 tap lead terminal to prevent contact with any metal in area.
that the bower instruction , everything seem to be working fine but , I also though it was funny they gave me a board with only one speed connection but since I gave them the model and serial number i figured it was the right. So, do I change from med. speed to high speed since it is the middle of summer and currently using the AC.
Thank you very much
Robert
PS I can send you a picture uplink of my old board and new board if you need to see it. my e-mail is
ANSWER: Robert,
At the very least you need to change to high speed, right now with a dirty filter you will freeze the coil. Remember, the only difference in an A/C and an ice maker is air flow.
I don't know who brown is but you have a BDP product that is only17 years old and the original board is available from who ever down there carries payne, bryant, day & night.
If you like,....Once you have it on high or a new board hopefully, because high is too much for that furnace in heating. I can also walk you through set up of the system charge as far as super heat and sub cooling methods.....and why and what happens. I do not know what the school teaches and how far into physics it goes, but if you truly understand PRESSURE/TEMPERATURE/VOLUME and how they work with each other and how to make your coils fully active for maximum cooling effect you can fix anything.
Let me know. I love teaching newer techs that want to learn, I will give you much of my time. I am actually in the process of forming a company that is paid by some of the bigger suppliers for a all inclusive tech hot line for info when your on the job site and need a question asked.
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QUESTION: Hey, thank you so much. I change to high speed and I notice better air flow also, I notice a small freeze up but it ok now thank you. I am very interested in this field and I'm continuing my education, there so much to learn. The school that I when to gives the basics with hands on training.
I when back to the store where I bough this control board and they still insisted that its the one that it calls for they told me that the low speed needs to be wired through the first sequencer when it call for heat, what are your though on this. I'm looking for another control board, I will keep the one I have since it working fine and its still summer but , I"ll have it change before winter
Yes , walk me through system charge as far as super heat and sub cooling is concern.
Thanks again
Robert
Answer Robert,
If you get me the product code number off that unit I can get you the part number for the board. It is the model number, plus some zero's and 4 letters at the end, like....ABAA
On both your high and low side gauges, there is a temp. scale for the refrigerant you are using. The low gauge is the temp. at which that refrigerant boils at the pressure indicated by the needle when the system is running. The high side is the saturated temp or the point at which all gas has become a liquid.
Superheat is the amount of heat above the boiling point of the refrigerant without raising the pressure and subcooling is the amount of temperature below the saturated temp at that pressure.
The reason for these being set correctly is to make sure that your coils are ( fully active ), which means that either boiling to a gas (evaporater) or condesing to a liquid ( condensor ) is accomplished 3/4 of the way through the coil. Coils are designed for this to happen at that point, giving the refrigerant the right amount of time and area to change state, either to gas or liquid, as this is where the real work happens. 144 times more work than raising or lowering that same amount of refrigerant 1 degree without changing state of it.
The really cool part of this, is that, by knowing this, you can find out almost everything that can be wrong with a refrigeration cycle, ie, restriction, metering problem, non condensibles in the system and so on.
So,......with your gauges attached, system running and clamp on temp probes on the liquid line and the suction line and the system running long enough to be stable......The low side pressure needle will point to a temp on the scale below the psig reading and the actual temp will be read on your temp probe, this will be your super heat, rule of thumb is 12 degrees. The same on the high except the actual temp will be lower and that is your sub cooling, which is generally 13 to 17 degrees. Adding refrigerant will lower super heat and raise sub cooling and visa versa.
It is best to remove the air filter ( or have a very clean one ) and physically make sure all vents are open. Remember that almost all duct systems are not proper, usually too small and there for your numbers will be off a little. So, the next thing to take into account is.....low air flow will lower super heat and increase sub cooling.
When trying to set your sub and super, cross check with your indoor split ( temp difference between return and supply ) 20 degrees minimum.
I recommend a fluke 52 temp meter and a clamp on probe. Will set you back a few hundred, but you will have accurate measurements , because you are really needing correct temps. Most muti meters that have a temp attachment are as much as 4 or 5 degrees off.
Let me know if this makes sense to you and if you know how to test a txv valve
