WEBVTT 00:00:04.510 --> 00:00:06.250 Well, hello, everyone. Thank you for joining 00:00:06.250 --> 00:00:09.089 us once again on Did You Know, the ESCO HVAC 00:00:09.089 --> 00:00:11.369 podcast. So we're spending some time today with 00:00:11.369 --> 00:00:13.810 Rob Larson from General Plumbing Supply. How 00:00:13.810 --> 00:00:17.550 are you doing? Good. How are you? I'm doing just 00:00:17.550 --> 00:00:19.789 fine. Spending some time hanging out here at 00:00:19.789 --> 00:00:22.870 the National HVACR Education Conference. And 00:00:22.870 --> 00:00:25.149 I was going through the topic that you wanted 00:00:25.149 --> 00:00:26.870 to cover, and it's one that's like near and dear 00:00:26.870 --> 00:00:31.309 to my heart. Yeah, I figured it would be. You 00:00:31.309 --> 00:00:34.570 know, when we... For those of you that are listening 00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:36.590 that are technicians, which I'm sure there's 00:00:36.590 --> 00:00:38.829 quite a few technicians listening to this. So 00:00:38.829 --> 00:00:42.909 when you call in for tech support, we are who 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:49.070 you get. That's correct. Now, what we do is it's 00:00:49.070 --> 00:00:52.770 a combination of two things. I always tried to 00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:57.030 tell people that what we do is tech support is 00:00:57.030 --> 00:01:06.590 80 percent. personal education and 20 % technical. 00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:10.370 Yeah. Well, I don't call it tech support without 00:01:10.370 --> 00:01:13.430 adding HVAC tech therapy support. Yeah, it's 00:01:13.430 --> 00:01:15.189 therapy. It's like moral support for the job 00:01:15.189 --> 00:01:18.530 site. And these guys know, they know their stuff. 00:01:18.609 --> 00:01:20.989 They just get caught up in the moment. They really 00:01:20.989 --> 00:01:22.769 do. Yeah, it's like getting up on that ledge, 00:01:22.810 --> 00:01:25.590 right? Yeah. It's like we get stuck and then 00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:27.549 all of a sudden the only thing we see is down. 00:01:27.810 --> 00:01:30.230 That's it. Right? Instead of everything behind 00:01:30.230 --> 00:01:34.379 us that's comfortable. And how do we turn around, 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:39.079 right? How do we look back and see the things 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:42.700 that we probably already know? I think training, 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:45.540 obviously, is the biggest thing, especially with 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:48.060 all the new technology that you see out there. 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:51.239 I mean, come on. I feel bad. I've been doing 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:55.159 this a long time. The technology today, from 00:01:55.159 --> 00:02:00.450 when I started, you go back 40 years. And, you 00:02:00.450 --> 00:02:02.709 know, I don't even tell people I have 40 years 00:02:02.709 --> 00:02:05.390 anymore because the first 20 years, probably 00:02:05.390 --> 00:02:07.650 in a museum somewhere, it's meaningless. It's 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:09.889 not even existence to teach on. Yeah, guys with 00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:13.030 10 and 15 years experience have the same experience 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:15.229 as guys with 40 years. Man, that's a great point. 00:02:15.370 --> 00:02:16.810 Yeah. I hadn't really thought of it from like 00:02:16.810 --> 00:02:20.110 that. Yeah, 100 % because this last 15 or so 00:02:20.110 --> 00:02:22.930 is really, that's the critical ones. Yeah. So, 00:02:22.930 --> 00:02:26.310 I mean, this is what they're up against, right? 00:02:26.490 --> 00:02:30.580 Yeah. But I found trying to just learn a sequence 00:02:30.580 --> 00:02:34.500 of operation of anything. And we started with 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:38.860 just a simple furnace operation. The sequence 00:02:38.860 --> 00:02:42.060 of operation for a gas -fired furnace. You recite 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:44.259 it, you memorize it, and then it starts helping 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:46.879 you with other equipment that you're working 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:49.780 on. Because at the end of the day, something 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:52.780 has to happen. If you connect these two wires, 00:02:52.939 --> 00:02:55.460 something's going to happen. And to learn that 00:02:55.460 --> 00:02:58.039 sequence and I use I have a little thing in my 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:00.219 training center about it. We do our training. 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:03.759 I have a plaque up there that says, learn the 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:07.280 sequence, rule the world. Oh, you know, and it's 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:09.599 you know, I try to push that a lot to get guys 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:11.159 to understand. That's a hot one right there. 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:15.550 Yeah. Because you're right. Everyone asks, where 00:03:15.550 --> 00:03:17.650 did you go to learn all this stuff? You must 00:03:17.650 --> 00:03:19.069 have went to 10 schools. I'm like, I don't have 00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:21.889 a degree. I went to one year of college. I worked 00:03:21.889 --> 00:03:24.129 on stuff because people showed me how it actually 00:03:24.129 --> 00:03:27.810 worked. And just getting that down. I started 00:03:27.810 --> 00:03:31.810 in the oil business. I went to school for air 00:03:31.810 --> 00:03:34.409 conditioning and heat. My first job was with 00:03:34.409 --> 00:03:37.530 an oil company. i didn't know anything about 00:03:37.530 --> 00:03:40.849 oil right service manager took me out first couple 00:03:40.849 --> 00:03:44.469 days i started yeah and he literally showed me 00:03:44.469 --> 00:03:47.460 how to do a service call on an oil burner And 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:50.360 I took notes. I was that guy, right? I had to 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:51.860 take notes. I might have to come back to this 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:54.759 one day. Yeah. So I wrote down everything he 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:58.060 did. And it was like 10 or 12 items, I remember. 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:00.699 And I just, after writing them down, after doing 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:03.340 a couple of jobs, I memorized this list. And 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:06.240 every single service call I went on, I used that 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.479 list. you know i still remember today and it's 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:12.159 been a long time since i worked on oil but going 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.699 there getting the main oil filter taking that 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:16.899 apart making sure that's not clogged we always 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:19.439 dip the tank and we suspect that the oil is low 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.660 or there may be water in the tank yeah but after 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:24.839 that we're going we would find that in the water 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:26.980 filter or any in the oil filter if there was 00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:29.199 any water or anything so we just start there 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.199 and then we go to the pump strainer right through 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:35.500 the whole thing and And for the most part, you 00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:37.959 know, you find a problem, you correct it. And 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:42.759 I just remember doing that for months. And I 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:47.019 was called to do a call that a gentleman who's 00:04:47.019 --> 00:04:50.079 been doing it for 15 years just came off a call. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.579 It wound up being a callback. System failed after 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:57.300 he left. So they sent me, unknowing that they 00:04:57.300 --> 00:04:59.939 sent me until after work when they brought me 00:04:59.939 --> 00:05:01.660 in and talked to me about it. So I go to the 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:04.519 job and I went through my list. When they called 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:07.459 me into the office and said, hey, that call you 00:05:07.459 --> 00:05:10.339 were on, what'd you find? You know, first thing 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:12.699 I'm thinking is, I don't remember what I found 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:16.220 because I found my list. And then I kind of thought 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:18.699 about the job and I said, I think the strainer 00:05:18.699 --> 00:05:20.459 was a little clogged, you know, so I cleaned 00:05:20.459 --> 00:05:22.759 out the strainer. And I go, why are you asking, 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:25.240 man? Like, what happened? Was it a callback? 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:27.699 What happened? He goes, no, we sent, you know, 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:30.879 Tommy over there. He's got 15 years on you. You're 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.699 here three months. And you have the least amount 00:05:33.699 --> 00:05:35.240 of callbacks. And we were just trying to figure 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:37.160 out how you get the least amount of callbacks. 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:40.060 I said, well, I go through this list and it works. 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:43.680 So it's not, you know, it's just getting, I know 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:45.459 it can be boring for some guys that want to just 00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:48.199 find a problem, but you know, you can't just 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:50.800 stop at one thing. You have to go through everything 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.579 and create yourself a checklist and you'll get 00:05:54.579 --> 00:05:57.040 through it. Yeah. What do you think about like 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.379 in that moment? Like, do you ever get that technician 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:02.720 and you go? Hey, why don't you tell me this process 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.240 and let's walk back and let's see where you're 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:07.399 at and let's see if you missed anything. Well, 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:10.439 I'll start from the beginning. I mean, I'll get 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:12.720 a call where a guy would say, listen, I don't 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:14.639 know what's wrong with this unit. I checked this 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:17.699 and I checked everything. Yeah, we checked everything. 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:21.100 Voltage is good. Everything's good. Air flow 00:06:21.100 --> 00:06:23.100 is good. Static pressure is good. Everything's 00:06:23.100 --> 00:06:26.629 good. And after he rattles all that off. And 00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:28.509 you can tell he's frustrated because he's on 00:06:28.509 --> 00:06:30.850 the job. He's thinking about the next job already. 00:06:30.990 --> 00:06:32.709 And this is what I try to, this is where the 00:06:32.709 --> 00:06:35.089 therapy kicks in, right? Right. Because I'm thinking, 00:06:35.250 --> 00:06:38.430 hey, I got to let him talk to me. Like, I don't, 00:06:38.430 --> 00:06:40.269 I'm not going to interrupt him and tell him, 00:06:40.290 --> 00:06:41.910 hey, hey, hey, stop. Let's just start from the 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:46.769 beginning. Yep. So that's what I do. So I let 00:06:46.769 --> 00:06:49.589 him finish. And then, you know, I try to lighten 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:51.209 it up a little bit because I can tell he's stressed 00:06:51.209 --> 00:06:53.509 out. And I go, you tell me all these things that 00:06:53.509 --> 00:06:57.930 are good. I'm like, well, if the voltage is good, 00:06:58.009 --> 00:07:00.589 the pressure is good, everything's good. Why 00:07:00.589 --> 00:07:04.149 are you calling me? You don't need me. And that's 00:07:04.149 --> 00:07:06.850 right away. I called you because the problem, 00:07:06.870 --> 00:07:09.610 it won't work. And I just, you know, we get a 00:07:09.610 --> 00:07:11.769 little chuckle. I said, I'm only kidding with 00:07:11.769 --> 00:07:14.069 you. It's all right. Break the ice. Yeah. And 00:07:14.069 --> 00:07:16.350 then I start from the beginning. What's your 00:07:16.350 --> 00:07:19.629 voltage? Oh, my voltage. I checked it already. 00:07:19.750 --> 00:07:23.240 It's fine. just follow me just you know i'm taking 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.800 notes as we talk yeah i need you to just tell 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:28.459 me what the power what the voltage is and they'll 00:07:28.459 --> 00:07:31.879 say well it's 208 230 i go oh well it can't be 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:35.459 bolts why don't you pick one and that's when 00:07:35.459 --> 00:07:36.920 i know they're just you know what they're doing 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:38.920 and then they stop all right let me get my meter 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:42.920 i'll measure you know and i'll i may ask him 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:47.370 for that second oh yeah it's it's 239 .1 right 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:49.230 like give me that point number because i know 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:51.949 you used you truly measured it yeah so believe 00:07:51.949 --> 00:07:54.529 it or not we start at that point and it starts 00:07:54.529 --> 00:07:57.970 you know we follow that path down and i'm literally 00:07:57.970 --> 00:07:59.889 just showing them how to troubleshoot how to 00:07:59.889 --> 00:08:02.790 check from you know the voltage control wire 00:08:02.790 --> 00:08:05.430 and go through the steps okay what's not happening 00:08:05.430 --> 00:08:09.259 you know and then they'll trip over it You know, 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:11.939 they'll find it. Exactly. So it's like being 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:15.259 lost in a forest. And I'm just somehow, I'm like 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:23.240 that guy who's maybe, what's those little planes 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:28.829 called? Jeez, I've lost my thoughts. It's the 00:08:28.829 --> 00:08:31.470 you're just flying overhead and you're able to 00:08:31.470 --> 00:08:34.769 see this person lost in the woods. Yeah. Because 00:08:34.769 --> 00:08:36.429 you've been there. You know what it looks like. 00:08:36.429 --> 00:08:38.350 You know what they're looking at. Exactly. And 00:08:38.350 --> 00:08:40.289 you walk them through it. And sometimes they'll 00:08:40.289 --> 00:08:42.350 turn around and say, geez, you're scaring me. 00:08:42.389 --> 00:08:44.129 I said, why is that? He goes, I feel like you're 00:08:44.129 --> 00:08:46.610 over my shoulder right now looking because you 00:08:46.610 --> 00:08:49.210 know what I'm looking at. Exactly. Because I 00:08:49.210 --> 00:08:51.070 had the experience. I understand what you're 00:08:51.070 --> 00:08:53.870 looking at. So, you know, you get to that point 00:08:53.870 --> 00:08:55.769 with them and then you and then they'll find 00:08:55.769 --> 00:08:58.360 it. They'll wind up saying, oh, I found the problem. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:00.399 It was a loose wire or something, right? And 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:02.620 I go, well, congratulations. You did a good job. 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:05.379 You found the problem. And most of them will 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:07.460 say, no, no, no, no. You helped me find the problem. 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:09.759 I said, nah, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.240 You know, you're just trying to take the blinders 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:15.600 off and just focus on what they're trying to 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:18.259 do and not worry about the next job. You know, 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:19.919 it doesn't matter how long it takes you this 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:22.720 time to figure this out. But hopefully you learn 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.379 a technique that you become efficient at figuring 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:27.899 things out. Because the more you can figure out, 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.740 the more money you're going to make. Absolutely. 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:31.320 That's what it's about. That much more valuable. 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:33.940 Yeah. So that's what I try to encourage them. 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:36.360 And I say, listen, whatever you learn, you keep. 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:41.519 You own it. Your employee cannot take it away 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:45.820 from you. It's in your mind. That's so spot on, 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.879 man. When you're throwing these analogies, I'm 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:51.389 like, oh my gosh. How many times I've been in 00:09:51.389 --> 00:09:53.350 that same scenario. So those of you that are 00:09:53.350 --> 00:09:55.629 listening, you've had these conversations where 00:09:55.629 --> 00:09:58.509 you've called us for tech support and you've 00:09:58.509 --> 00:10:00.629 walked through and you found it. That's because 00:10:00.629 --> 00:10:02.950 we were there for moral support and not the technical 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:06.649 support. And they are. They're smart guys, man. 00:10:06.690 --> 00:10:08.750 There's a lot of smart guys out there. Like I 00:10:08.750 --> 00:10:11.970 said, once they realize that they're just thinking 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:14.690 too hard about it. And we're not just looking 00:10:14.690 --> 00:10:17.029 for one problem. We want to make sure it's not 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:19.360 even. It's not even trying to find the problem, 00:10:19.460 --> 00:10:21.779 is what I explained to him. I said, why don't 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:24.279 we find out what's not the problem? Yeah. Why 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:26.500 don't we do that? Let's make sure we check what's 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:29.960 working. And you could bench test any component 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:33.019 in a system. You know, the one thing I like to 00:10:33.019 --> 00:10:36.559 explain to them, the difference between a load 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:39.080 and a switch. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so you 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:41.019 look at the breakdown of the components in the 00:10:41.019 --> 00:10:42.940 equipment you're working on, and just identify, 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.039 is it a load or a switch? And then just try to... 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:48.889 isolate each component and hey you're a load 00:10:48.889 --> 00:10:51.409 so if i put power to you you should work right 00:10:51.409 --> 00:10:53.990 if you're a switch well i have a bunch of jumpers 00:10:53.990 --> 00:10:56.610 in my in my bag i'm going to jump around you 00:10:56.610 --> 00:10:58.629 and if you work then then that kind of helps 00:10:58.629 --> 00:11:02.090 me figure out where we're going with it but it's 00:11:02.090 --> 00:11:04.909 it's a lot for for guys so that's one of the 00:11:04.909 --> 00:11:07.129 things it is and but i also want to encourage 00:11:07.129 --> 00:11:09.370 you know those that are listening that like when 00:11:09.370 --> 00:11:12.389 you get to that point right it it's not that 00:11:12.389 --> 00:11:16.450 you're failing to diagnose It's just you probably 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:19.929 just need a break. You need that minute to step 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:22.850 back. And sometimes tech support is the solution 00:11:22.850 --> 00:11:27.429 for that moment. But if you think about that, 00:11:27.590 --> 00:11:30.549 what you really needed was that break to step 00:11:30.549 --> 00:11:33.590 away. And so I always try to encourage technicians, 00:11:33.769 --> 00:11:36.490 right? If you get to that point, you immediately 00:11:36.490 --> 00:11:39.960 want to call tech support. Go take a little bit 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:42.980 of a break. Take a few minutes. Step back. You 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:44.759 might even call one of your buddies. Vent for 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:46.720 a minute, right? Get rid of some of that steam 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.100 and then relook at things. Because that was most 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:54.940 of my experiences. Most of my calls, they knew 00:11:54.940 --> 00:11:58.340 what was wrong. They just hadn't found it yet 00:11:58.340 --> 00:12:00.980 or they hadn't got to that step on their own 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:02.720 yet. And they just needed that little bit of 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:07.519 assistance. It's so true. I mean, my own experience 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:10.340 of working on a rooftop unit, Clint, I could 00:12:10.340 --> 00:12:13.059 not figure out what the problem was on this rooftop 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:16.620 unit. It was frustrating me. I just got so frustrated. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:19.139 I walked away from it. I went downstairs, went 00:12:19.139 --> 00:12:23.240 to my truck, just walked away, came back up and 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:25.200 still didn't know what the problem was when I 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.639 came back up through the hatch of the roof. But 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:31.139 I did something weird. I actually walked at the 00:12:31.139 --> 00:12:33.279 unit. I went to the unit at a different angle. 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:35.889 I literally walked to the different approach, 00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:38.690 right? So I got to it from a different angle, 00:12:38.769 --> 00:12:41.409 looked at certain things, and I found the problem. 00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:43.870 I was like, all of a sudden, like, I just. It 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:46.429 was here. Yeah. Just looking at it from different 00:12:46.429 --> 00:12:50.710 angles. So it's crazy. It's crazy. I love this 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.269 because not everyone gets to see, like, what 00:12:53.269 --> 00:12:55.029 does it look like on the other side of tech support, 00:12:55.269 --> 00:12:58.570 right? What does it feel like for someone who 00:12:58.570 --> 00:13:01.950 helps people all day long? Because that's really, 00:13:02.029 --> 00:13:05.909 that's what we do. Well, you know, my experience 00:13:05.909 --> 00:13:09.629 having been both in the field calling for tech 00:13:09.629 --> 00:13:12.149 support and then being that tech support today, 00:13:12.330 --> 00:13:17.610 one of the things I could appreciate with guys 00:13:17.610 --> 00:13:19.990 that are out in the field is that the last thing 00:13:19.990 --> 00:13:22.539 they want to do is get a guy. who's book smart, 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:25.240 like, you know, you can hear it. You call certain 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.100 tech support. You'll hear the pages slipping. 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:30.240 Like, what's your problem? Like they have a script 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.659 they're reading from, you know, they have no 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:35.600 idea why the guy's frustrated. Well, he's up 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:39.159 in an attic. It's 150 degrees. Sweat's dripping 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.879 in the eyeball, burning. Like for me to have 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:44.179 that experience when I'm talking to him, I feel 00:13:44.179 --> 00:13:47.039 like I'm with him, like I'm there because I've 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:49.460 been there with him. So it is a benefit for me 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:51.960 to have the experience I have. compared to maybe 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:56.179 the school yeah tort guys that um you know that 00:13:56.179 --> 00:13:59.620 went through and could read through a diagram 00:13:59.620 --> 00:14:02.000 or book or something oh yeah it's this problem 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.159 or this or that problem where i'm i'm feeling 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:07.179 their pain i really am and and you know and and 00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:10.820 i could relate to that and and that's how i wind 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:13.360 up having a better conversation with them compared 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:15.779 to maybe guys that are just cold and just give 00:14:15.779 --> 00:14:18.379 me the pressure give me this well give me that 00:14:18.379 --> 00:14:21.440 you know it's like To your point, even when you're 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:23.179 trying to figure out what the voltage should 00:14:23.179 --> 00:14:25.860 be or what the pressure should be, when those 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:28.320 measurements come across, and I tell guys all 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:30.399 the time, all I need you to know is how to take 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:32.519 the measurements. I don't care if you don't know 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.480 what they mean. That's my job to tell you what. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.159 Get them. Learn how to get the information. There's 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:41.460 apps now. You stick that information in there. 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:44.059 You won't need me in another five years' problem. 00:14:44.299 --> 00:14:47.500 It really is AI. I know you guys talked about 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:51.679 AI a lot. uh you know prior to retirement i'm 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:54.120 gonna do what i can to help guys uh get past 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:57.360 some of the hurdles they get into and uh some 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.860 of the roadblocks and mental blocks they have 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:04.019 you know that that mental block is probably the 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:06.899 the thing that affected my career the most right 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:09.379 that mental block is when you when you think 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:12.659 about um you know when you're out there on a 00:15:12.659 --> 00:15:15.919 job a lot of us are out there on our own All 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:17.840 right. We might be we might be lucky enough to 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:19.879 have, you know, apprentice with us that we're 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:21.860 actually working with trying to teach the ropes. 00:15:22.220 --> 00:15:24.580 But then when we get that mental block, man, 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:27.159 the pressure is on now. Right. Because if you 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:28.539 got an apprentice with you, the apprentice is 00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:30.960 looking at you. You know, if you got a customer, 00:15:31.019 --> 00:15:33.019 the customer is looking at you. You got a supervisor, 00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:35.080 supervisors are looking at you. So then like 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:39.419 that pressure just builds and it builds. And 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:43.539 then once that pressure and blood pressure. elevates 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:45.919 then the whole mental calculating the whole mental 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:50.179 capacity just goes right out the ears and it's 00:15:50.179 --> 00:15:56.919 okay to call tech support and go man i don't 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:58.460 know what i'm doing i should be able to figure 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:02.580 this out can you help me out because it could 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:06.100 literally be a 20 second i got your back you 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:09.360 got this you've been on this before cool so you've 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.039 done this before let me just help you get back 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:17.279 there And that minute, few minutes to step back, 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:22.220 step away, and just be a tech with a tech. Right. 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:24.899 And that's really what it is. Just feel the pain, 00:16:25.019 --> 00:16:27.179 man. You're in an office. I mean, I'm in an office. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.480 It's cool. I'm 70 degrees. Where are you? An 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:31.700 attic? Where are you? Basement? Exactly. Crawl 00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:34.279 space? I don't know where you are. But, you know, 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:36.700 once I find out, I could sympathize with you, 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.700 like you said. And I would hope some of the technical 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:42.980 support training guys get to. do that and get 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:45.259 to understand that part of it because it really 00:16:45.259 --> 00:16:47.919 makes you appreciate what the what the technicians 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:50.679 are up against yeah really and you made a good 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:53.799 a great point about how you know things could 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:56.919 just you know with all the pressure of the customer 00:16:56.919 --> 00:16:59.000 wanting to know what's going on and you know 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.399 you find your way but i'll tell you what you 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:03.679 get over that with experience because i i've 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.500 i've been in that position where i i customers 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:09.720 following me around in my early days and I'm 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:13.279 like, I don't know what's wrong, give me a chance. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.279 There's many times I spark things and they go 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:20.119 like, that shouldn't have happened. I just eliminated 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:25.579 one thing though. I get all that too, but experience, 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:28.920 just building their confidence and getting them 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.349 up. yeah and uh that's why i have fun with it 00:17:31.349 --> 00:17:34.109 i throw that little therapy in there but i i 00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:36.529 don't mean much by it but these guys are great 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:39.109 like i said once they get past that and they 00:17:39.109 --> 00:17:42.230 do they they're very smart people are you know 00:17:42.230 --> 00:17:44.390 the techs out there today are very intelligent 00:17:44.390 --> 00:17:46.710 guys so they are they're learning with technologies 00:17:46.710 --> 00:17:49.130 and tools that you and i didn't grow up with 00:17:49.130 --> 00:17:52.700 you know there was Back in my day, your day, 00:17:52.779 --> 00:17:55.720 there wasn't digital medical gauges. I mean, 00:17:55.779 --> 00:17:58.160 my phone flipped. I mean, that's about as good 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:00.940 as it got. I started with a flip. I started with 00:18:00.940 --> 00:18:03.599 the pager. Yeah, exactly. And it didn't have 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:05.940 numbers. It just lit off. You knew you had to 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:09.180 call the office. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.200 So things have changed. Technology has helped. 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:16.140 It's going to continue to push us forward. But 00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:19.700 that moral support that we all need, all of us 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:23.700 need. Sometimes comes in the form of a technical 00:18:23.700 --> 00:18:28.059 support call. Love it. All right. So tell us 00:18:28.059 --> 00:18:30.859 a little bit more. How can we make contact and 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.140 what kind of training stuff are you doing? Well, 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.579 we do. So we're a distributor that has dealers 00:18:36.579 --> 00:18:40.200 that deal with the Luxair product. And so what 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.759 we wind up doing is supporting our dealers through 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:48.660 training. We do have a... training facility in 00:18:48.660 --> 00:18:52.460 piscataway new jersey that's built into our corporate 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:56.700 office into the branch that operates out of piscataway 00:18:56.700 --> 00:18:59.700 oh very nice our company one of the reasons why 00:18:59.700 --> 00:19:02.480 i went on board with them was because of the 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:04.859 investment they wanted to make into the training 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:07.220 and tech support because it's in hand and they're 00:19:07.220 --> 00:19:10.119 they go together i mean my the tech calls i get 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:12.799 from our dealers and when i find out what they 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:14.819 know what they don't know it's kind of like hey 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:17.630 i just could build a training program just for 00:19:17.630 --> 00:19:21.130 this particular topic i hear you yeah so we we 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:23.170 do a lot of that and then we do what we call 00:19:23.170 --> 00:19:26.529 on -demand training which is allowing our customer 00:19:26.529 --> 00:19:29.329 base to basically use this as an extension of 00:19:29.329 --> 00:19:33.250 their training so for example guys wanted to 00:19:33.250 --> 00:19:36.089 do rooftops commissioning startups so i'm like 00:19:36.089 --> 00:19:38.450 great you know we have a facility we could get 00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:42.130 the book and we do do a lot of hands -on stuff 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.059 Very cool. And the hands -on stuff we deal with 00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:47.900 is products we stick on the wall. I mean, we 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:51.579 literally will take a rooftop unit that, you 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:53.880 know, take the guts out of it and slap it on 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:56.059 the wall, wire it up and make it work. Nice. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.180 Because we want to show them what it looks like 00:19:58.180 --> 00:20:00.940 without all the metal on it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.640 Plus, you're in a training center and there's 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:05.680 only so much room you have. You betcha. Get it 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:07.000 down to the bones so you can see what's in it. 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.099 We do that with the rooftops with an 80 % furnace. 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:13.190 I mean, I have... I have an 80 % furnace on my 00:20:13.190 --> 00:20:16.509 wall that I literally screwed to the wall. It 00:20:16.509 --> 00:20:19.109 doesn't have a blow wheel. It doesn't have a 00:20:19.109 --> 00:20:22.109 heat exchanger. But everything else is there. 00:20:22.329 --> 00:20:25.230 Right through the sequence of operation. And 00:20:25.230 --> 00:20:28.190 you can do everything but fire it up because 00:20:28.190 --> 00:20:32.869 we don't allow gas in them. But we simulate. 00:20:33.150 --> 00:20:36.589 We'll simulate a flame sensor through simulation 00:20:36.589 --> 00:20:41.210 and we'll make it work. gas valve should be doing 00:20:41.210 --> 00:20:43.829 through the sequence we use we use uh nitrogen 00:20:43.829 --> 00:20:46.089 to do gas pressure testing oh yeah there you 00:20:46.089 --> 00:20:48.130 go so just you know we're being creative yeah 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:51.150 uh we use a lot of resistors and you know little 00:20:51.150 --> 00:20:53.730 uh adjustments to change things up change things 00:20:53.730 --> 00:20:56.069 up change temperatures on our probes and show 00:20:56.069 --> 00:20:58.849 them different environments so we have fun with 00:20:58.849 --> 00:21:02.990 it in fact i'll have to show you some pictures 00:21:02.990 --> 00:21:06.430 of it some afterwards but we have up the top 00:21:06.430 --> 00:21:10.009 of my training center it is a big sign we put 00:21:10.009 --> 00:21:14.869 up there it says hvac playground oh yes and that's 00:21:14.869 --> 00:21:16.970 it's funny people walk in and they're like what 00:21:16.970 --> 00:21:19.710 do you do i get paid to play diamond plate at 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:22.329 wall really yeah we yeah let me check that out 00:21:22.329 --> 00:21:26.670 so you know uh myself and another guy we we went 00:21:26.670 --> 00:21:28.730 we got together to put this together when we 00:21:28.730 --> 00:21:30.750 first moved in a building about three years ago 00:21:30.750 --> 00:21:34.690 and as we're building it you know he says well 00:21:34.690 --> 00:21:37.849 what do you expect what type of build and what 00:21:37.849 --> 00:21:39.609 do you think, what kind of reaction are you looking 00:21:39.609 --> 00:21:41.250 to have when you build this training center? 00:21:41.329 --> 00:21:43.309 I said, well, I want people to walk in and the 00:21:43.309 --> 00:21:45.269 first thing I want them to say is, wow. Yeah, 00:21:45.349 --> 00:21:47.789 right off the bat. This is where I want to be. 00:21:47.910 --> 00:21:50.289 Yeah, it was great to be able to do that. And 00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:52.250 we were just about finished with the displays. 00:21:52.930 --> 00:21:57.210 And one of our workers came in, one of the employees 00:21:57.210 --> 00:22:01.059 came in. Believe it or not, first words out of 00:22:01.059 --> 00:22:03.900 his mouth was, wow. There you go. Me and the 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:05.799 guy, Jeff, we looked at each other and we're 00:22:05.799 --> 00:22:10.299 like, we got it. We got the wow factor. What's 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:11.700 the website for that so people can check that 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:16.740 out? It's generalplumbingsupply .net. Yep. And 00:22:16.740 --> 00:22:21.140 they just look under the event tab. You'll see 00:22:21.140 --> 00:22:23.900 training. We have a whole training section in 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:27.180 there. We're also looking to put together some. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.200 youtube videos and you know we're big on on in 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:33.759 fact you've helped me uh start going in that 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.000 direction yeah i'm old timer i'm gonna you know 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:38.859 still getting used to the iphone that's right 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:41.180 yeah we're gonna do a little bit more of this 00:22:41.180 --> 00:22:43.720 because you you can reach it get more big audience 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:46.740 bigger audience get more people so we do that 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:49.640 nice it's all good well man i sure appreciate 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:51.559 you joining us today yeah well thanks for having 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:53.789 me and i'm Sure, we'll find some other topics 00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:55.890 moving forward. I know commission is your big 00:22:55.890 --> 00:22:57.470 thing. That's a big one. Yeah, I can't wait to 00:22:57.470 --> 00:23:00.009 get onto that one. Yeah, so we got a whole thing 00:23:00.009 --> 00:23:02.829 about commissioning birth certificates and creating 00:23:02.829 --> 00:23:06.470 mechanical birth, I call it, or bringing mechanical 00:23:06.470 --> 00:23:08.650 life into the world when you take a piece of 00:23:08.650 --> 00:23:10.670 equipment and you start putting power to it. 00:23:10.849 --> 00:23:15.490 You start putting electric to a furnace, gas, 00:23:15.910 --> 00:23:19.150 flue pipe. You do your refrigeration, and when 00:23:19.150 --> 00:23:22.829 you flip that switch on, you know you bring life 00:23:22.829 --> 00:23:25.109 into the world mechanical life into the world 00:23:25.109 --> 00:23:28.410 and uh i try to remind guys that's no different 00:23:28.410 --> 00:23:31.150 to me because being very passionate about this 00:23:31.150 --> 00:23:33.490 field it's no different to me than having a a 00:23:33.490 --> 00:23:37.029 child born you know you look at how a child's 00:23:37.029 --> 00:23:40.470 born and the the list that that doctor has to 00:23:40.470 --> 00:23:43.150 check off before they say hey that child's ready 00:23:43.150 --> 00:23:46.910 to go time yeah so you know even checking the 00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:49.569 debate you know when you compare it to a child 00:23:50.329 --> 00:23:51.990 You know, when you're checking the lungs and 00:23:51.990 --> 00:23:54.549 the capacity of the lungs, that's no different 00:23:54.549 --> 00:23:56.710 than static pressure. Absolutely. So there's 00:23:56.710 --> 00:24:00.509 a lot of relationship that I use or analogy between 00:24:00.509 --> 00:24:05.430 a human birth and a mechanical birth. You know, 00:24:05.450 --> 00:24:08.230 just take pride in what you do, because at the 00:24:08.230 --> 00:24:10.250 end of the day, you can't just it's not just 00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:12.730 plug it in play. Right. I heard all day at this, 00:24:12.809 --> 00:24:16.049 you know, conferences. There's no plug and play 00:24:16.049 --> 00:24:18.880 anymore, guys. You have to. Do the commissioning. 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:21.240 You have to put the work into it afterwards after 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:23.660 you put everything together, you know, through 00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:26.440 testing, combustion, analyzing, testing, gas 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:28.480 pressure and stuff like that. So we get very 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:31.680 deep in that. And most of my training is based 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:34.880 on that commissioning. Because why teach you 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:36.960 how to use a meter if it doesn't apply to anything? 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:39.539 It doesn't have a result. Yeah. We need you to 00:24:39.539 --> 00:24:41.259 apply it and then write it down, put it somewhere. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:44.359 Man. All right. Y 'all heard that, right? Yeah. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:47.490 Episode number two. Birthing HVAC. Birthing. 00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:52.650 We all became doctors. That's great stuff. Well, 00:24:52.690 --> 00:24:54.230 thank you, sir. Appreciate your time today. Thanks 00:24:54.230 --> 00:24:55.569 for having me and have a great show.