Hey guys, we are live And we're live with Rachel
she is the HVAC install her You don't know who
she is. There's a scrolling banner on the bottom
with her Instagram channel I'm glad to have you
on I really am I got to meet you in Orlando for
the first time Yep I don't know if we met at
the award ceremony but I met you at AHR. Yes.
You and your husband and what some people may
not know is you're just as nice in person as
you are on your channel and you come across as
a very nice person in it. I try. I try not to
be a jerk. Well, you are not. There were some
people I met there that were kind of pushy, but
for the vast majority of the blue collar people
I met, it's nice people, very friendly to me.
It was nice. It was when I was dealing with like
potential sponsors and stuff like that, that
was when I felt a little bit of the pushy stuff.
Oh, okay. Yeah, well for me, It was my second
HR and I don't own my own business. So like some
of like the going back and forth about different
products was like, I am really not in a position
to make any decisions like that, you know? And
so some of it wasn't for me. I was there for
that piece, the social piece, the meeting the
people that I know online and just hanging out
really. That's what I was there for. It was funny.
The AHR itself is just such a massive event that
it can be kind of taxing. It's like input overload.
You get tired by the end of the day and all you've
done is really kind of walk around, but you're
wore out. Expo centers like the the floor is
like concrete So by the end of the day like my
back is hurting my feet are hurting It's really
you really have to wear comfortable shoes If
anyone's listening that hasn't been to one and
is considering going to the next one make sure
you wear some tennis shoes Yeah, I got a little
bit frustrated walking around because More than
half of the people are looking down at their
phone and everywhere you go every 30 or 40 feet.
There's an intersection Where pathways cross
and all these people are going through there
walking looking down at their phones So it's
no different than driving a car I was like, please
look where you're going because I almost run
into you. Yeah exactly driving But I get frustrated
with people driving all the time I talked to
them I know they can't hear me but They're getting
a piece of my mind I'm sure you're speaking to
them very gently, kindly. If there was a recording
of me in the van, that would be one place where
I'm not so kind. Well, let me start off with
one of the first questions is how did you get
into the trades and maybe lead us up with what
you did before you were in the trades? I have
a degree in social work and I was a social worker
for many years. I primarily worked in healthcare
and I just got burnt out. When COVID first started,
healthcare was on fire and so many regulations
and things happening and it was like... kind
of like sense of like no control like they were
just pushing these regulations and nobody had
any choice in any of the matters and it was just
overwhelming and I was just burnt out with the
whole thing so my husband who had been in HVAC
his whole life was installing and he's like just
come work with me I'll teach you and he was after
me for a while like asking me to to join him
and I was always kind of like no I don't think
I don't know what I'm doing I don't know anything
about that I had never had like a labor kind
of job. And then I got fed up enough to say I
would rather do anything than what I'm doing
right now. So I jumped ship started and I loved
it. And I really I never considered it. And my
dad even owned a HVAC business growing up. So
I had it in the home and everything. And I just
never considered it an option. Is your dad still
around? Yeah, he's still alive, but he's not
working anymore when we moved to North Carolina
ten years ago He sold his business and then basically
retired so he knows you're working in HPAC. What
does he think? Yeah Yeah, I think he's super
proud Yeah, yeah, I mean I know he's proud But
he actually taught my husband so I met my husband
through my dad who worked my husband my now husband
was working for my dad That's how we met Okay.
I didn't know that. Are you just hearing my story
for the first time? Yes, I am. That's very interesting.
My wife and I did not meet in any kind of way
like that. I met her at a seminar. I was taking
continued education courses because I was an
emergency medical technician and she was teaching.
we just started corresponding from there. Oh,
so you know like health care in that world and
how different it is from what we do now. Emergency
medical technicians are like adrenaline junkies.
They're not like any and honestly that everybody
told me to not make that a career because it's
hard on your body. They don't pay you very much
and so I didn't make it a career. Yeah, I did.
And there was a chance when I came down here
to Albany to possibly do that. And I just remembered
what they told me. And I knew that some of those
guys were working on like. 24 on and 48 off and
on their 48 off, they were working as like a
trauma nurse in the emergency room or something
like that. So they're having to hold down two
jobs just to make it, make ends meet. So I decided
not to do that. Yeah. It's unfortunate when you
see like some of these jobs that are just so
critical to society, like EMTs and teachers and
policemen, and they just don't make what they
should make considering the risks they take and
the sacrifice they give for their community.
I feel like the pay should reflect the job and
in those cases, it doesn't. You're right. You're
right. When I did work as an EMT, because I was
a young guy on a truck and there were three people
on the truck, we would always get called to the
ones where somebody was really heavy. Like if
there was a wreck and it looked like there was
somebody 350 50 400 pounds in the wreck we would
get the call because I was on the truck which
yeah, we always had to lift somebody who was
really heavy and Yep, so I got broken in very
well Well now they have those like electronic
ones that like do all the lifting for you the
stretchers and all that They can even like do
stairs and stuff Yeah, but you gotta get them
on it That's true. That's true. And it's just
dead weight. Part of our, part of our problem
was, um, we called it all state syndrome where
somebody would get in a wreck and go, Oh, my
back hurts. Call an ambulance. Um, and we know
there's nothing wrong with them, but we would
have to do full spinal immobilization in the
vehicle and then move them out of a vehicle onto
a stretcher. They're trying to put on the show
for the insurance claim. Yeah. At your expense.
Yeah, we called it All -State Syndrome. That's
funny. But that seems like another life ago.
That was a long time ago. And the abbreviation
for that was A .S .S.? No, they just called it
All -State Syndrome. Tell the people the award
that you got at the HVAC tactical awards Tell
the people the award you got at the HVAC tactical
awards That was just a new category that they
just kind of had it on I was lucky to get it
Almost I was lucky to get it Yes, I do feel lucky
I feel like one of the first ones to get the
YouTube award so I was honored and privileged
Well, it's well deserved. I got the Lady of the
Trade award, rightfully so. I fit the criteria.
Yeah, and like I said in our talk before you
came on, I like what you're doing, putting yourself
out on social media to show women that they can
do the job and be happy doing it. Because I honestly
feel like a woman can do anything that I do in
the job. And not tapping into that resource when
we desperately need so many people in the trades,
not tapping into the women in the trades, it
just seems crazy. Well, you think about like
other career choices like the military and how
women have thrived in the military in different
ways. I don't see it any different than that.
You know, if you got it, you got it. If you don't,
if you're not Cove War, you're not. And that
goes for men or women. There's men that just
don't got it. Yeah. For me, I enjoy working with
my hands. I enjoy looking for a problem, finding
it and fixing it and doing something good for
the customer. I've described it as mowing the
grass and turning around and looking at it. And
then it looks so good after you mow it. Yeah.
I get that feeling multiple times a day when
I'm working because I feel like I've done something
good and I'm doing it with my hands. It's just
a very gratifying way to make a living. Well,
that's why I love watching your videos because
I feel like I learn something every time because
I've only ever been an installer. So a lot of
your videos are kind of like service work and
like how tos. And I'm like always really interested
watching your videos because I'm learning. Side
of it that I just I just don't touch because
it's not what I do I would like to I should I
feel like there's just such a Section of knowledge
over there on that side that I haven't tapped
into yet and and I should get you know some years
in there, too well, um it's it's different it's
different I feel like In installs You can develop
like your craft and become really good at what
you do Because there's like I heard this one
guy one time that's all he had ever done is installs
and I tried to put him put him into a Service
vehicle and send him to calls And he just wasn't
happy doing that because he was really good at
doing installs He just didn't have the mindset
to be a service tech So he went back to doing
installs. But with servers, instead of installing
them, you got to figure out how they work and
make sure all of that is appropriate. But you
have to know the install of it too, from the
duct work and air flow. And you've got to understand
all of that before you have a good idea of how
a system is going to work. Yeah, you're you're
totally right. I think what happened for me though
is I started an install and I got kind of comfortable
in like the routine in the hours and kind of
like the, you know, here's the mission for today.
You finish and leave kind of like that kind of
mentality. And it makes me nervous to go over
to service where it's like you can get a 4pm
call and then you're stuck there. All of a sudden
you've missed dinner with your family and that
scares me a little bit. Yes, that's very possible.
When I first started in service, it was rough.
They had us working. I mean, I would pull like
eight calls in a day. And then after five, you
still got to get like two or three. You got to
help out the after hours guys. And I remember
the first place I went to that actually put me
on call. And this is a company that had probably
200 employees. They put me on call for the very
first time on the July 4th weekend. And it was
crazy. It was so busy. We had a pager and we
had to call back within a certain period of time
to get the call. And my pager was going off so
much that I had to pull over on the side of the
road and just make calls calling back. I couldn't
get any work done. Yeah. It was that busy. I
ended up calling my supervisor saying, I can't
keep up. There's no way for me to do this. And
we had somebody who was like the backup on call
and this person was just MIA. He was missing
in action. He wasn't answering the phone. He
wasn't at his house. No, he was at the 4th of
July barbecue with his phone off. That's where
he was. I never spoke to him after that, but
I was pissed. I was pissed. I ended up having
to prioritize customers who had a service plan
with us and companies. There were a couple banks
that had called because they had server rooms
that were getting too hot. They seemed like they
were on the other side of the state from each
other. It was crazy. I mean, I don't know if
I got home before 11 o 'clock. It was rough.
Yeah. And I just, I worry about that because
I just don't feel like that's right to do to
a person, you know, as far as like what's a reasonable
amount of hours that you should work in a day.
And I know the job needs to get done. It's important
in these places need air conditioning, but it's
like we're human beings too. That's my boy. He's
jumping up on my desk. Well, I'm going to tell
you what I ended up doing when I got When I became
competent as a service tech and I knew I was
Performing better than the other service techs
like they might do four calls in a day and I
might do eight And I was generating more income
than any of them After five I limited how many
calls I would take Because the dispatcher goes
home If you have any more calls, you're supposed
to check in with whoever's on call and see if
they need any help. I would stop doing that.
And I did that for my own sanity, to tell you
the truth. And because I was needed in the company,
they didn't fire me. Because I made myself...
Valuable. Valuable, yes. and I kind of do that
now the way I have my business set up. I'm normally
home by five o 'clock and a lot of my business
is rental companies and they don't expect me
to go out like after six o 'clock anyway and
they ask me if I want to work on the weekends
and I only work on the weekends if there's a
reason like my Mondays are going to be busy or
something so I have a It's worked out where I
do have time for myself. So you work for somebody
else because I really was under the impression
that you had your own business. I do. Oh, I didn't
know that. I'm just saying some of my big customers
are rental companies. I see what you mean. I
thought you. All right. Now I got you. Yeah.
So they send me a lot of work and they normally
filter out the calls so that they might get the
call late at night, but they don't give it to
me until the next day. And that's just optimal
for me. That's humane. Yeah, I was thinking earlier
too, when I consider going to service, I feel
like, If I was ready to make that jump, I think
that just the community of people I have now,
not even talking really about like the social
media people, but just like over the years, you
make relationships in the trade with your coworkers
and people that come and go. And I just know
that I have this like team of people that I could
call on and say, Hey, look, this is what I got.
Like help me out here. And they can at least
send me in the right direction. It's not like
someone who's like, first starting out and you
don't know anyone at the company, you're brand
new, you're green, you don't have that like,
you know, that Rolodex of people to call on,
you know? Well, like I say, one of the first
companies I was at, it wasn't a very good culture.
So I didn't feel like I could call anybody. The
only person that I felt like I could call was
my supervisor and he was the service manager.
That's by default because that's your supervisor.
They have to answer and he did answer and he
did hell but you could you could hear it that
He was busy and he wanted to get off the phone
and felt like he was bothered by your phone call
you could hear it so um It just kind of forced
me to sit down and just figure this stuff out.
I didn't want to call in I didn't want to ask
for help I mean, I had to sometimes, but when
you hear that attitude over the phone, you don't
want to call in. No, you don't. And plus, if
you're stubborn like me, you want to like try
everything possible before you make that call.
And especially if it ends up being something
like, why didn't I think of that? I should have
known. Speaking of installers, my installers
called in today saying they needed another breaker
because the one I gave them wouldn't work. And
I get out there, they were trying to mount it.
It was only mobile home, so this is one of those
pole setups. And they're tapping into the main
power before it goes into the trailer. And they
just weren't hooking up the breaker right. And
that's just one of those things. I went out there
and I hooked it up and he said, what'd you do?
And I had to pull it out and show it where the
breaker hooks up. There's little things like
that. When I had employees, I had top five employees.
Oh yeah. And I was trying to work and cover the
job of being like a service manager at the same
time. And I found out that All day long, I was
running behind these guys and answering the phone
and talking them through scenarios. I got pretty
good at it of diagnosing over the phone if they
would just tell me what they were seeing. But
that is stressful. That's really stressful. It
is. I'm trying to read the comments over here
to see if we got something we can highlight.
I know. I've been trying to look back and forth,
but it's hard to keep up and read. About customer
maintenance. Hmm. I don't maintain my customers.
I'm not sure what he meant. Oh, do you install
mini splits? I've installed like two in my whole
career. I mean, I can, but we don't do that whole
lot in this. What about like mini -split style
systems, like a mini -split style split system?
Like the side discharge units. Yeah, we do a
lot of that. Like the regular heat pumps, but
that look like a mini -split outside. Yes. Yes.
Yeah, we do that. Okay, you doing any with flare
joints? We did like some Gre for like a little
bit. We tried out some Gre at one point and we
did quite a few of them and then our company
stopped doing it. And I don't really know the
reason why. If it was too many bad flares and
too many leaks, too many problems or what, I
don't really get privileged to know why they
stopped doing what they do. But yeah, for a little
bit we were doing those Gre flare connectors.
they can be problematic and hard to get just
right and then when you think you've got it just
right I had a video on one of mine eight months
later one of my flare fittings was leaking and
I can't blame anybody because I did the flares
it's just hard to get it just right I mean I
like to use nylog on those flares and then I
torque them down on but still they might leak
and I talked to a gre rep one time who came to
and he had like a mobile model of a gre flex
system set up and I said what about these flare
joints don't you have troubles with this moving
around all the time those flares leaking he said
no they've never leaked and I said well what
do you use nylog and he was like I don't have
to use anything I just flare them right and it
works Part of me is thinking you got to be kidding
because it's hard to get it right We had a we
actually had many split training today Because
we do a lot of Lennox and Lennox has a new Line
of many splits with Samsung and so we had a training
on that today, but I don't know how many we'll
see Time will tell I think they're gonna become
more and more prevalent It looks that way when
you're looking online and in the HVAC world In
my in the service field there's lots of guys
who don't want to work on them because they're
hard to work on they're hard to figure out the
parts in them are like communicating parts and
you can't tell like even These stepper motors
on the electronic expansion valves you can't
tell what that thing's supposed to be doing you
just know if it's working or not Yeah, as an
installer, you know what throws me about Mini
Splits? Because like we're so used to like on
a regular split system, like your drain lines,
like making sure you got good connections, your
priming, your glue and everything. And the drain
on a Mini Split is just like this tube into another
one and some tape. It just throws me. I feel
like there has to be more to it than that. Like
there should be something connecting this better.
Well, there's some of the Mini Splits. I think
Carrier had one. that came out not long ago where
that little piece that stubs out at the end of
the mini split drain would fit right into the
coupling of a half inch PVC. And that was real
convenient. So I've been trying to do that ever
since and not all of them do that. It would be
nice if they were universal like that so you
could just use PVC fittings and run you a half
-inch drain but what I end up doing is um Is
it five sixteenths no I Have forgotten I had
to Google the size of the drain fitting on the
mini splits and go pick up a hose like a flexible
hose and then on hose clamps to hook up to it
so that I could run my drains. I really wanted
to use PVC, but it just didn't work out. But
doesn't it feel like there should be more to
it? Like it feels like it's, I don't know, freaks
me out. Yeah, it does. Because that's like the
one thing, like if you get this wrong, it's gonna
be a big problem. Like everything else, if you
get the wiring wrong, you'll get the wiring wrong.
But if you get the drain wrong, you got issues.
Yes. I had a customer one time who called me
to correct her mini split because she had an
electrician install it. And I don't know what
kind of electrician this was, but it's some of
the worst work I've ever seen. And I pulled the
mini split head off the wall and the drain goes
up. Instead of going straight out the wall, it
goes up through a hole that was in the middle
instead of off to the side. And I'm like, I'm
going to have to reinstall this. I'm going to
have to cut another hole and. But she let me
do it. You want to hear a story about my first
ever mini split? Sure, tell us. So I was pretty
new, like new to the trade in general, but this
was my very first mini split and I was with this.
this new lead installer like had just started
and said that he had done a bunch and he was
experienced in it. So I went as his helper and
it became real obvious really fast that he didn't
have a lot of experience and it was also on the
third story of this house. And so we had a 40
foot ladder and we took everything out and it
was a replacement. So there was an existing mini
-splay. We were replacing it with a new one.
And he went up to the top of the line set on
the outside of the house, took everything off,
cut it or whatever. And then I went to go into
the at the indoor head and there was like a window
there. I was like, oh, cool. There's a window
here. I can open it and we can we can talk. Right.
And I opened it up and I stuck my head out and
he was like 10 feet below me. It went into the
wall, into the wall, about 10 feet lower than
where the head was. So everything else was internal
in the wall. It went up and then 90'd over and
then it was a nightmare. And then a tsunami came,
not a literal tsunami, but like this rainstorm
came and it started pouring down rain, like the
heaviest rain I've ever seen. And then it was
hailing. It was a nightmare. He was like on this
40 foot ladder in the hail, pouring rain. It
was a disaster. And then I was like, I never
want to do that again. Never. Well, how'd you
get to your flare joints behind the air handler?
We ended up having to talk to the homeowner about
having to cut all the drywall and everything.
And he wasn't very happy with us. Because that
wasn't the project that he signed up for. But
nobody really picked up on it. I guess you would,
I don't know. I didn't pick up on it until I
was out the window looking down like, wait, what?
Why are you down there? Where does the line set
go? I had a customer call me one time about the
air conditioner not working and it was out of
refrigerant. But I noticed where the line set
comes out the wall, there was oil marks, a lot
of oil on the insulation of the line set. coming
out of the wall. And I did leak searches everywhere,
and eventually I could get my leak detector to
go off when I stuck it up to the wall. And I
had to go into their laundry room, pull the washer
and dryer out, find where the line set's supposed
to be, and cut. I started at the bottom, I cut
me a trench about that wide following the line
set until I found where the... people putting
on siding had put a nail through the line set.
And I told the homeowner, I'm like, how has this
ever been working? And he said, it didn't. I
just had the siding put on. So he was upset.
And he had told them to avoid the line set and
told them not to put any nails. But I had to
cut his wall up just to find it. Yeah, that's
like, you know, like when you go to a house and
they have the the lines that's going up like
through one of those like dryer vent covers,
you know, I'm talking about and it's like right
there on the external wall there. Because we're
doing change that right. So wherever the the
liquid type of the high voltage usually comes
down right beside it. So wherever the screw holes
were for the clamps for the liquid, the liquid
tight. high voltage, I put the holes right back
where they were just for that very reason. Because
if you try to put them anywhere else, you're
risking hitting that line set and nobody wants
a day like that. No, no, no, no. I have replaced
disconnects and hit the power wire with my screws
when I've replaced disconnects. So just same
thing, but hitting the power wire. Yeah, that
hasn't happened to me yet, but I think about
that sometimes. it's a mess when it happens because
once again you might have to cut open the wall
and you pull your screw out and it's got a big
old black mark on it and you're thinking the
power wire has got to look exactly the same so
yeah that happens that's why you turn your power
off don't work on it live I work on it live frequently
There have been times when I've called electricians
because I have partial power to the system and
I can't figure out where it's going and they've
had to pull new wire where it's just burnt in
the middle. And I'm like, thank goodness I didn't
have to pull a new wire. They got some kind of
tricks these electricians do for pulling wire
through tight spaces that I haven't seen. I don't
know how they do some of the stuff that they
do. Yep. Experts in their trade. I rushed home
today and posted an hour long video. It was a
call that took me three hours. And if you know
me, I like to go into a call, diagnose it within
first 10, 15 minutes. know exactly what it needs,
fix it and get out. I want to be done in an hour.
This was one of those calls where there was just
one problem right after another, after another,
after another. Everything was wrong. And then
when I thought I was done, I turned on the power
and I touched the breaker and it started to catch
on fire. Like on fire? Well, yeah, it was sparking
and there were some blue flames back there so
I had to replace the disconnect too. We we uh
went to one this was like some time ago But we
went to go pull power when we first got there
and the whole disconnect plug that you pull out
was just melted in So obviously we had to replace
the whole thing cut power at the breaker But
that was that had been the first time I saw that
I'm like and that wasn't like in the job notes
or anything like for a reason for replacement
I'm like, I feel like this should be the obvious
answer but sometimes people doing the estimates
don't actually look at everything that they're
supposed to or it gets missed. That's something
that's easy to miss. You might not see that it's
all melted together. When I was first starting,
I had a... Do you know the Square D disconnects
with the QO breakers that fail all the time?
They melt and get hot. Are you familiar with
those? Yeah, like the disconnects that have the
Square D logo on the front. It's like a little
breaker. I have one one time that melted all
together and when I pulled tried to pull the
breaker out the two power lugs and the plastic
broke loose from the back of it and the whole
thing started to come out and I wasn't thinking
about what I was doing I put my hand up to stop
it which means my hand made a power arc between
the two legs of power on the on the breaker.
I'll never forget that. I won't do it again.
That hurt. That really hurt. That hurt. My goodness.
I haven't knocked on wood. I haven't been electrocuted
yet. Well, you must be doing something right.
Turn off the power, I guess. It is though, I
think when I train new people, that's the one
thing that I emphasize the most. Because I feel
like with a lot of the other stuff, if you mess
it up, you could do a lot of damage to the system
or different things, the environment maybe, but
the electricity is the one thing that will kill
you. It can. Do you test for electricity after
you shut it off? Yes. Sometimes. It can get you
those, and sometimes those disconnects are bypassed.
Well, I've seen a couple of times lately, I saw
it in a video online, and then I actually saw
it with a guy that we really work with, that
he pulled out the disconnect and has like those,
the ones that have those two little plates, you
know, the plates that slide in. Well, one of
them just broke off in the disconnect. So there
was still power to that one side. And you would
notice, because who like looks, you know, just
stick it up on top there. Yeah, that's real possible.
I've tried to make a habit of doing that, but
more often than not, I'm probably going to get
shocked. Somebody said one of your meters on
the wrong setting. You know, when I was first
getting started in the trades, I got shocked
all the time. When there's one thing about a
service tech, we do have to work on live electricity
a lot. Yeah, that's true. Different game. While
it's live. And I checked for power at this package
unit I was working on. I hate to speak bad about
UEI, but that meter told me there was no power
there. And I put my hand on it and it nearly
made me pee on myself. It was bad. My fingers
just latched onto it. I had to lean. I had to
lean back to get my fingers to come off of it.
And I've never bought another U .E .I. meter
after that. I just I think I think what made
me like not afraid of electricity, but like the
most cautious is that when I was actually learning,
it was like one of my first days on the job and
Igor was teaching me and we were in the panel
and he was teaching me how to change a breaker
and all that. And Was like I was in there and
I was doing and I felt like I was doing it right
But I guess he felt like my hand was a little
bit too close to the live power and he kind of
like startled me He was like, whoa, don't touch
that and like I jumped and like I had just been
electrocuted And so like ever since that like
I'm like super like where are my fingers at all
times when I'm in there? Yeah, you gotta know
what you're doing if you're working in a live
panel Yeah, yeah, that's one case where you probably
don't shut off the power do you? Well, no not
to the whole house no I Don't either I Feel like
if if somebody said that they they do they might
be lying They don't there been a couple times
when I have I couldn't identify the breaker that
Was feeding whatever I was working on it's like
I'd gone back and forth three or four different
times and still didn't have the right breaker
I'll kill power to the whole house. I will I've
done it a couple times I'll just say hey, you
might lose some power to some stuff while I figure
this out and then Somebody's talking about just
jam a screwdriver in there. Do you do you use
a cheater? At all like when you're pulling a
vacuum or something like that What do you mean?
Oh? At the disconnect to run my my vacuum pump
Yes. No, I don't do that. I've seen it done and
it freaks me out. No, I don't do that. I'll run
like a hundred foot of extension cord before
I do that. Why not? The power is right there.
I don't know. It freaks me out. I'm like, this
seems really like, I don't know, DIY sketchy.
Well, when I learned how to do installs, I was
working with some crews that were They spoke
like sailors, but they got the job done and what
they would do If they couldn't clamp on to the
power where they wanted to clamp on to it to
use the cheater They would just shove a screwdriver
into it and then clamp on to the screwdriver.
So you've got this much Power just sticking out
and you've got to be careful not to touch it.
I thought they were crazy for doing that Yeah,
it's not worth it. That's that's sketchy But,
you know, I've seen some people and I've always
maybe this is just the way I was taught and maybe
it's completely wrong. It probably is. But like
when you push in the contactor, like I just use
my finger. And then I've had other people like
jump at that and like, no, you don't use your
finger. I'm like, I've always used my finger.
Is that like, is that a rule? Like, should I
not be using my finger? Well, I mean, I don't
like I don't touch the metal. I mean, I just
tipped my finger. Well, I had I've done it too.
And I've had on. One of my commenters tell me
that he had a contactor blow up on him one time
and he fussed at me about using my finger, but
I do it, so. Technically, maybe you better use
a screwdriver or something, but. But I feel like
with my finger, I have like a more secure, like
like my fingers on there with a screwdriver.
You could very easily slip. I feel like I feel
safer with the finger. As long as I'm like, if
I've got my other fingers, like I don't, you
know, poke anything around my other fingers.
Yeah. Woodwork King says, I've always used my
finger. It must be a North Carolina thing. Yeah.
We're a different breed. Will. I'm not from North
Carolina, but my family's from South Carolina,
one of the Carolinas. I grew up in South Carolina,
lived there until... Well, I had a brief stint
in North Carolina, but I lived in South Carolina
at least until I was 21. Yeah, I was just talking
with one of our sales guys today about North
Carolina. It's a great place to live. He was
talking about the economy. I was just talking
in general because we have the beach and we have
the mountains and we have the cities. We have
the whole thing. I like it here. You know who
they're talking about? No. Ted Cook using his
fingers on capacitors. No, I wouldn't do that.
I've been shocked by them. I discharge those
things every time I try to. I know I do it so
much, I might make a mistake once in a while,
but I try to discharge those things with something
because I've been shocked by them and it hurts.
I mean, they can hold a lot of voltage. Yeah,
I've always done that too. I've never touched
one with my finger and I haven't been shocked
by one yet, but I don't do a lot of service calls.
So I mean, I could just have luck so far. Well,
my experience is if there's something wrong like
Maybe a wire is not connected on the compressor
or something in that capacitor cannot discharge
like it's supposed to That's when it holds a
charge and you don't know when that's going to
be the case unless you go to the compressor first
And normally we're going to the capacitor first
so you don't know it Yeah You gotta be careful
So are you taking apprentices because if I could
just come shadow you for a few months Maybe I'll
learn learn some good service stuff rather than
just watching your videos get my hands on it,
you know, I Would enjoy having an apprentice
but My schedule is just kind of crazy. Um, it
would be hard to do that. It would be really
hard To find someone else I do put everything
on YouTube, though. You can watch everything
I do. I record. I could be a I could be a co
-star of your your content. You know, I could
even be your cameraman. Oh, I think you would
get tired of me. Well, fair exchange for some
knowledge. It would be fun. I'll put it that
way. It would be fun. Let me see, what time are
we getting to? Have you had time to eat yet?
Yes. You have had time to eat. And shower because
my hair is still wet. Okay, well at least one
of us is clean. Well, I'm probably going to wrap
it up. I just wanted to bring you on and talk
and just talk shop and... touch on the subject
of bringing women into the trades. I think it's
a great thing that you're doing, putting your
content out there. More power to you. Thank you.
Thanks for having me. Oh, no trouble. Stick around
when this goes off. I'm going to go ahead and
sign off and tell everybody thank you for tuning
in. Find us on Instagram. There's a scroll on
the bottom if you want to find Rachel at HVAC
install her. Thanks guys. Thank you.