February Main Meeting Information

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Karine’s French Quarter

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Help Wanted 2

Award Member: Ken Simon

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ASHRAE Technology Awards for Southern

California Chapter

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January Meeting Recaps

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Chapter Schedule of Programs

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Mike’s Monthly Maintenance

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February Technical Session

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The Dreaded Intermittent Short

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The Stork Report 13

December Award Recipient: Elbert Kelly

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Sol Air Supporters 15

RFI 16

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 Theme: CTTC Night

5:30: Social Hour & Hors d’oeuvres 6:20: UVC Energy for HVAC, to light or not to light?

With Dr. Bob Scheir, PhD.,President of Steril-Aire

7:00: Dinner & Raffle

Online Reservations: www.ashrae-socal.org or call Tanee Earhardt at (310) 220-2280

Kenneth Simon Special Recognition

7:45: New Oshpd Codes with Duane Borba, P.E., Deputy Division Chief of OSHPD/FDD

Location: Taix French Restaurant, 1911 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Overview of OSHPD's responsibilities and processes, changes occurring in the organizational structure, code

interpretations, and code amendments

Duane F. Borba, P. E. is Deputy Division Chief, Facilities Development Division (FDD) of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). He oversees the Northern California Architectural and Engineering Unit and Field Compliance Unit, Program Support Services Unit, Rapid Review Unit, and the Seismic Retrofit Program. He has 21-1/2 years of experience at OSHPD, including Supervisor of Program Support Services, Regional Supervisor, Acting Regional Compliance Officer, and Senior Mechanical Engineer. Duane is a licensed Mechanical Engineer in the state of California and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

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Welcome back! The chapter has set record attendance at

our first meeting of the year on January 12th with a total of 85 paid dinners. What a great surprise it was to see so many friends when typically, the month of January is the lowest in attendance during the ASHRAE year. We recognized Mr. Dick Gilber t by presenting him the Lifetime Achievement Award. He had his whole harem with him including his “Marquis” Club old high school friends, his lovely wife, his daughter and his son. John Sun-dahl, member of the “Marquis” as well and long time friend of Dick did a great speech going through Dick’s life from College to now. Congratulations again Dick for your 50 years in engineering! Dick has not missed one meeting in 2 years, what a great member! This month is Engineering Week’s time to shine! Christine and Margaret are working very hard it. We had a great response from several schools to participate into our ASHRAE planned activities at the CTAC and Dawson Co.

Good job ladies! ☺

Don’t forget to submit your ASHRAE Technology Awards to Edwin, our CTTC chair. Please read the article regarding that topic in this issue. The Spring Seminar has been set and ready

to get anyone interested signed up. We will have 2 fantastic speakers! Make sure to check the complete information in the following pages. I will be flying to Orlando, FL for the ASHRAE Winter conference, and will be attending tons of meetings as the Region X Vice Chair of Student Activities. I will finish the event with spending couple hours at the Trade Show. More to come in the March issue…. ASHRAE Society is pushing very on the STD 189.1 which we had the chance to hear more about at the last Joint meeting. We will have a webcast in April, I will tell you more. Looking forward to see you all at our February meeting where we will honor one of the founders of ACCO Engineering, Mr. Ken Simon. We will also have 2 great topics on UVC light and OSHPD. Karine

Outside HVAC Sales Engineer Current openings for experienced HVAC outside sales engineers in the Los Angeles Area.

Requirements: Bachelor of Science degree, basic computer skills, and experience in cooling towers for central plants / light industrial heat transfer processes is desirable. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are essential. Qualified candidates will have experience calling on mechanical engineers and mechanical contractors in the Southern CA region West of Los Angeles. Compensation and Benefits Package: Our compensation package is highly competitive. Medical benefits provided. Company Description: Dynamic Engineered Systems, Inc. is a Corona based manufacturer’s representative for Marley Cooling Technologies, Recold Cooling Technologies, PEP Filtration Systems, Mitsubishi VFD’s, and EnviroTower Water Treatment Systems. Send resume to joe@des-la.com

Kenneth D. Simon was born March 25, 1918, the first of four children. He was raised in the small town of Virginia, Minnesota, 85 miles south of Canada. His father was a used material dealer born in Lithuania. Raised during the Great Depression, Kenneth worked throughout his growing up years. He graduated with an AA degree from Virginia Minnesota Junior College. He joined the Navy in 1939, and was sent to the North Atlantic in anti-submarine warfare. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy brought Kenneth back to attend midshipmen school at Northwestern University in Chicago. He then was sent to the South Pacific as an officer, eventually gaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander and the command of his own ships. Near Savo Island, part of the Solomon Islands, Kenneth was wounded. He convalesced in the care of a pretty nurse in Brisbane, Australia. War ended, and Kenneth came home. He finished undergraduate schooling at the University of Minnesota and received a bachelor’s degree in both mechanical engineering and business administration. From his Navy days in Chicago, Kenneth knew of a company named National Air. In1947, he came to California to work for National Air as an engineer. By 1949, he

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went to work for Air Conditioning Company (ACCO), in Glendale California, as a project engineer. Founded in 1934 by Ira Fulmor and Bert Stern, ACCO Engineered Systems has grown to be the largest air conditioning firm in the west, and third largest nationwide. Annual revenue now exceeds

$500 million. ACCO today is at the vanguard of “design and build, installation, and service of industrial, commercial, high-rise residential, and institutional air conditioning, heating, ventilation, plumbing, process piping, electrical and Direct Digital Control systems.*” It has over 1,600 employees today spread across 13 west coast offices, and has worked on over 250,000 jobs in its 75

year history. Ken Simon played a pivotal role in ACCO’s growth and development. As an entrepreneur, Ken led ACCO into new fields. In 1956, he started ACCO’s service department. Today, service comprises more than a third of ACCO’s revenue. Recognized for his ability to innovate, Ken became Vice-President in 1959. He served as President and CEO from 1969-1983. Under his leadership, ACCO implemented many improved business methods.

ACCO was one of the first firms to have in-house data processing for payroll, fleet management, and purchasing. In engineering, it was one of the first firms to utilize CAD/CAM. Seeming almost quaint now, in an era before cell phones, Kenneth made the decision to equip field workers with two-way radios. Further Simon innovations: creation of an ACCO Credit Union, enabling employees to get low interest loans. And it was

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while Kenneth was President that the first woman was made a corporate officer. In all the years of ACCO’s success, and his success at ACCO, Kenneth never drove fancy cars or cared about prestige or titles. He talked to everyone, ate from the lunch truck out on the yard, knew many many of the shop guys by name, and about their families. Ken was a people person, and this quality formed the bedrock of his leadership approach. Said Ken: “ .. ACCO’s real inventory walks in and out of our front door, our shop doors, and our field and service operations daily. We are a “people company,” and a leader’s success is in the people he chooses and in those who choose to remain with him.” Ken had a keen eye for talent, and doggedly pursued this “recruit and hold” philosophy. ACCO’s strength today is in large part due to Ken’s key hires. Ken Simon was also an able communicator. In the time before email and even Xerox, Ken clipped newspaper announcements of new construction, known as the “green sheet,” and marked them up with notes in red pencil on thin yellow paper. On a typical Monday morning, Ken would send out these yellow sheets to dozens of ACCO employees. Due to this thoroughness, few opportunities escaped the Company’s view, and ACCO’s business grew. The company won such large and challenging projects as Sherman Oaks Galle-ria, First Interstate Bank (the tallest building

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in California, now named US Bank Tower), San Onofre Nuclear Generating Plant, Queen Mary, Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Getty Museum, and Cedars-Sinai Hospital. As a people person and voluble communicator, the door to his office was always open. In discussions or negotiations, Kenneth could practice active listening, and enter the feelings of the other person. Yet he was able to quickly develop strong notions in regard to solutions,

and pressed hard for his own point of view. Organizationally, Kenneth embraced a flat, project management corporate structure, borrowed from the “matrix” system of double management seen in the aircraft industry. Employee ownership, autonomy, and individual risk and reward were outgrowths of this approach. “The house should not compete against its own men,” Ken would say. A project manager was his own profit center whose fortunes were made or lost based on how his project performed. With regard to employee ownership,

when a worker owning ACCO stock went into the field, he could proudly say, “this is my company,” and it was. And while ACCO’s success made it an attractive acquisition target, Ken Simon did not allow prospective corporate suitors – some quite large, some publicly held - to even come through ACCO’s doors. As a result of putting ACCO’s collective good over the enrichment of a few, ACCO is still to this day an employee owned, privately held company. Even after his presidency ended, Ken Simon remained very active in ACCO, first as Chairman of the Board, and then as Chairman Emeritus. In 2002, at age 84, Ken finally retired.

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Ken’s business involvements extended beyond ACCO too. He served on Union Bank’s Advisory Board, as an officer of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce (and received the Chamber’s Outstanding Industrialist of the Year Award in 1986), in ASHRAE, and in the Mechanical Development Corporation (MDC) too. Beyond business, Ken was also active in various charities, including Ability First (formerly Crippled Children’s Society), the Foundation of the Junior Blind, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Hillel, and Cedars-Sinai. Ken was a family man too. He married Beatrice (Bebe) Feuerstein in 1948, and had three children: Debbie, Gwynn, and Harlan. Bebe died in 2001, Debbie died in the 1990’s, and Gwynn and Harlan currently live in the Bay Area.. Gwynn works as a Kaiser physician, having attended UCSF Medical School, with a post-doctorate in infectious disease. Son Harlan works as a lawyer-turned glassmaker and jewelry designer. Ken has four grandkids: Noah and Aaron, and Ariela and Elon. What was the secret to all of Ken’s hard work, his success, these extensive business and community involvements, besides the personal characteristics Ken Simon possessed? Answer: Passion, drive, and long work days, often starting at 7:00 am, and ending at 10:00 pm. Yet it was also work that he loved. This tireless, imaginative, marketing-oriented businessman thrived on the many challenges of construction. He feels privileged to have had the career and opportunity that he had, and is honored to receive ASHRAE’s lifetime achievement award.

ASHRAE Technology Awards for Southern California

Chapter

The purpose of the ASHRAE Technology Awards program is to:

1. Recognize ASHRAE members who design and/or conceive innovative technological concepts that are proven through actual operating data;

2. Communicate innovative systems designs to other ASHRAE members;

3. Highlight technological achievements of ASH-RAE to others, including associated profession-als and societies worldwide, as well as building and facility owners.

The main criteria is that the project being submit-ted must have occupied by this last September 1st 2009 in order to qualify. At the time of submission to the Society Award competition, the project must have 1 year’s worth of occupied M&V data.

Each year each Chapter, Region and Society may present awards in seven categories: -Commercial Buildings (New and Existing); -Institutional Buildings (New and Existing); -Health Care Facilities (New and Existing); -Industrial Facilities or Processes (New and Existing); -Public Assembly (New and Existing); -Residential (New and Existing); -Alternative or Renewable Energy Use. The Chapters conduct their own competition first, sending the first place winners in the various pro-ject categories to the Regional Competition. Then the first place winners from the Regional competi-tion are eligible to submit to the Society Award competition. For each category a first, second, and honorable mention winner may be named. Also, one of the category first place winners may be selected to re-ceive the ASHRAE Award of Engineering Excel-lence. The recipient will have demonstrated the best overall compliance with the judging criteria.

-Edwin Hornquist

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Thank you all very much for making the first Chapter Meeting of 2010 a sold-out event. In January’s program, we had two respected diverse groups of the HVAC Industry give presentations on today’s technology of using computerized illustration applications in HVAC design engineering approaches and construction. Our technical speakers, Dawn MacFadyen, an electrical P.E., and Andy

Reilman, a mechanical P.E., are Consultant engineers experienced in building energy management and building modeling programs. Dawn has over 15 years of experience as a consulting electrical engineer. She has experience in the design and analysis of building systems and energy saving measures for both new and renovation projects. Dawn is a high performance integrator and works with design teams to build in approaches to reduce energy consumption through passive lighting strategies and solar modeling. Andy is a mechanical engineer experienced in modeling programs such as eQuest and EnergyPro and provides his skills training on their use and implementation. Additionally, Andy provides integrated sustainable/LEED solutions on projects along with HVAC design. The program emphasized changes in the design approach from the conventional way verses a new preferred method of modeling a building in order to reduce energy (Lighting and Air Conditioning) cost and verify maximum savings in the early design schematic phase to prevent costly design changes during the construction document and construction administration phases. See table 1 (below). *According to the EPA research, $146 billion spent annually on lighting and HVAC in the US.

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Eric’s topic was regarding the concept of turnkey packaged cooling and heating system, based fully on an integrated modulated package technology approach to meet today’s challenging construction requirements. This allows the project engineers to concentrate on building load profile modeling with less concern about equipment setup orientation and central plant system layouts.

His solutions are based on a modular hybrid or a field erected design concept, based on given engineer’s parameters, design criteria and selected equipment specifications. Integra-tion of these kinds of equipment modules will provide reliable systems and state-of-the-art control technology from A to Z under one package

unit as specified by the project engineer. The idea is to provide a mechanical system with maximum flexibility and higher efficiency while using minimum building square footage for the central plant design and to reduce utility and construction cost. The key advantages of modular package cooling technology compared to today’s traditional engineered system were pointed out:

Shortens construction schedule. Provides great flexibility. Provides

comprehen-sive risk mitigation.

After the meeting there were many justified ques-tions, discussions, and opinions and all points were well taken.

The following are recap points of the Technical Seminar:

• In Energy Modeling, the primary energy savings achieved from lighting Energy Reduction by utilizing lighting control was critical.

• Simulated daylighting control energy savings.

• Results from the energy model assisted team in selecting high performance envelope components were cost effective.

• Utilizing LEED, EA credit approach to gain additional energy savings.

Our main speaker, Eric Klimzak has over 10 years of business development, sales, marketing and project development experience. Eric leads the development of Stellar's district cooling, modular utilities for the Mission Critical, Pharmaceu-tical and Hospitality markets and waste to energy solu-tions.

Ad Placement in BOTH Sol*Air and Chapter Website Help Wanted / Business Flyers / Seminars

$110 per 1/2 page $160 per page $260 for 2 pages

Business Cards: $145 per year Contact: Chris Zabaneh: Christopher.zabaneh@ibece.net

Editor’s Office: 14130 Riverside Dr., Suite 201 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Theme: Women in Engineering Night Technical Session: How we have reached LEED

Gold! With Caecilia Gotama, P.E., Senior Mechanical Engineer, CEC

Main Speaker: California Energy Commission Updates with Martha Brook, P.E., Senior Mechanical Engineer, CEC

Location: Proud Bird Restaurant, 11022 Aviation Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 Theme: LEED Night Technical Session: New Generation Solar Power

Generation Application for LEED with Dr. George Lei, President of Fluid Dynamics Solutions, Inc.

Main Speaker: Who Sabotaged my high-performance building? with Todd L. Rindlisbaker, P.E., Vice President, Total Building Commissioning

Special Recognition: George Hayakawa, P.E., Retired

Location: Taix French Restaurant, 1911 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Theme: Student & Young Engineer in ASHRAE Night

Technical Session: Pumping Design, Sizing and Application for hydronic systems with David Hernandez of Dawson Co.

Main Speaker: ASHRAE Student Design Competition with Students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Special Recognition: Dr. Henry Lau, PhD, Southern California Edison

Location: Taix French Restaurant, 1911 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Thursday, April 22, 2010 Southern California ASHRAE

Spring Seminar 2010 Advanced Design and Operations of

HVAC Systems 8:00 am—12:00 pm Half Day Seminar

Energy Resource Center Southern California Gas Company

9240 Firestone Boulevard Downey, CA 90241

For more information, contact Matt Church: matt.church@dmghvac@com

SPEAKERS: Chris Miller, PE, CxA and;

Steve Taylor, PE, FASHRAE

May 7, 2010 Southern California Chapter ASHRAE

2010 Spring Golf Tournament Brookside Golf Club 1133 N. Rosemont Ave. Pasadena, CA 91103

SAVE the Date! More details including registration form

Coming Soon!

Big Changes in Little Equipment Three things of which you should be aware. You probably wouldn’t be surprised to find out that a large packaged unit had incorporated all kinds of involved stuff to increase efficiency, especially at part load. Variable speed, electronic expansion valves, integrated economizer…..none of that is terribly surprising in a 50 ton unit. But what about in a 2 ton unit? The last high SEER 2 ton packaged unit that I installed was a learning experience. The supply fan was multi-speed direct drive (like you would expect to find in a high efficiency furnace) but the speeds were not simply set for cooling and heating. The supply fan used two speeds for cooling; a lower one when the compressor was not running, and a higher one when the compressor was energized. The condenser fan motor used two speeds, based on head pressure/temperature. And most surprising, the little 2 ton scroll compressor had an internal unloader!! The compressor unloads during first stage cooling and then loads during second stage cooling. So, yes, you need a 2 stage thermostat for a 2 ton unit! With all of this happening, after a refrigerant leak or other failure, the only really practical way to handle re-charging the system is by weighing in the refrigerant charge. All in the name of a higher SEER rating.

The evolution of economizers has also brought on some changes. There can be an awful lot (almost unbelievable amount) of complexity in a very small unit. In the old days, a small unit that had an economizer usually used a barometric pressure relief. If that wasn’t good enough, a prop fan worked well for pressure relief in most situations because on a propeller fan curve, cfm drops off steeply as static pressure increases. Since the whole objective of a power exhaust is to maintain the building’s pressure relationship, having a fan that produces significant change in air flow as the pressure relationship changes works well. Today, of course, most small power exhausts are centrifugal fans. We developed these in the very early 90’s (I was part of that process) specifically to serve ducted return systems with significant static pressure to overcome. Today, however, many (if not most) of the power exhaust options for small units are centrifugal fans with VFD’s and pressure measurement sensors & controllers. The upside of this is that the same power exhaust package will work for virtually any application. The downside is cost and complexity, as well as the assurance that there will be regular malfunctions. The power exhaust manufacturers tend to use the cheapest and smallest VFD’s, shoehorned into the tiniest possible space, and subject to dust build up, moisture under the right (wrong) circumstances and requiring specific info to diagnose & adjust. How often do you think all this gets maintained (let alone properly commissioned) in a little AC unit? We usually get the service call when the doors of the space blow open because the power exhaust has failed. My other “favorite” small equipment change has to do with the physical size of

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water source heat pumps. If the ceiling is crowded, our biggest problem with a unit replacement used to be making sure that the supply and

return duct configurations were similar to the old unit. That has not changed, but along with the significant increases in efficiency among water source heat pumps has come a significant increase in physical size. Most notably, that larger cooling coil and more efficient fan design has to be accommodated in some manner. If space is moderately tight, you simply cannot assume that it will be possible to find a piece of equipment that will fit in place of the old unit….at least without a lot of peripheral relocating of other stuff. And remember, there are typically access requirements on at least two sides of these units. I can’t tell you how often we find a replacement unit that barely fit into the ceiling, but which was left with no way to access a high voltage electrical box, a compressor & reversing valve, or even replace an air filter. As one of my mentors told me almost 30 years ago, “Every job has to be designed at least once. And it costs a lot less if you do it before you build it”. Leroy had it right. We used to associate complexity with large equipment. That day is over; complexity is the rule for anything now….along with the associated commissioning and maintenance that goes with it. Let me know if you have any questions. mgallagher@wasocal.com

Technical Session Topic: UVC Energy for HVAC, to light or not to light? Dr. Bob Scheir, PhD. President Steril-Aire Robert Scheir, Ph.D. Dr. Scheir is President of Steril-Aire a firm that specializes in the development and application of UVC energy to clean HVAC systems and disinfect the air stream. His bachelor’s degree in Bacteriology was from the University of Maryland and he did graduate work in Immunochemistry at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. He earned his Doctorate in Medical Microbiology from UCLA. He was a Senior Scientist at McDonald-Douglas Corp specializing in biological warfare detection instrumentation and he has had extensive experience in microbial air pollution, detection and remediation. He has more than 25 years experience in the field of infectious disease detection and control in hospitals, medical laboratories and industry. He has served as a Quality Assurance Manager for Abbott Labs and as a Manufacturing Officer for Health Valley Foods. He was President of 2 medical products manufacturing Companies, Cal Labs and CalScott.

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If you’re a HVAC service technician in the field, you may have categorized your previous service calls into areas of thought. First category, are the service calls that were easy to fix, because you had seen it before. Second category is service calls that you eventually consider a learning experience. Sometimes, these are the service calls you will never forget. Inevitably, you will see a lot of unusual HVAC service calls as your travels between heating and air conditioning seasons. The following is a story of one of my most memorable learning experiences that started out as a simple “no cooling” complaint. A homeowner called my

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dispatcher with a typical no cooling complaint. It was their first summer the new house. The air conditioner seemed to work fine for them all spring. But now as the summer days were getting longer and hotter air conditioners are forced to work harder every day. My dispatcher scheduled this call for the middle of the next day. I arrived after lunch to diagnose the system. The customer explained that the air conditioning unit had been working until a few days ago, but now, wouldn’t turn on and the thermostat display is blank. The homeowner pointed me in the direction of the thermostat, so I checked it for 24-volts. There was no voltage at the thermostat. So, I explained to the homeowner the thermostat need voltage from the furnace to have a display. Then I proceeded to the furnace, and checked for 24-volts. When I pulled the door off the furnace, I found another clue. The transformer was discolored and looked overheated; at our shop we called this a “melted transformer”. I explained to the homeowner that when there is 120-volts going in to the transformer and no low voltage coming out, the transformer cannot be fixed, only changed and that it’s usually a symptom of having a

short in the low voltage system. I assured the homeowner I could solve this service call. To get there HVAC system working again all I had to do was find the problem in the low voltage wires, fix the problem wires and replace the transformer. A service call that was supposed to be easy then turned out to be very challenging. I checked all the wires with my ohm meter, from the air conditioner to the furnace and from the furnace to the thermostat. I checked them to ground; then checked them against each other. They all checked out “good”. In the past I have found low voltage wires that were cut or smashed during construction, or dogs and rodents that have eaten the wires and thus caused the short that would kill the transformer. But I could not find a short in this system. I installed a new transformer and checked the amperage draws, still not knowing what had happened to the first transformer. I don’t like changing parts without know what caused the old part to fail. I had also installed a 3-amp inline fuse in the system. If the low voltage system ever drew higher than 3-amps fuse

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should “blow” before the transformer would meltdown. When I left, the homeowner was happy to have air conditioning again, but I knew the melted transformer was a symptom, not the problem. At my shop we had a saying. “The difference between a service technician and a “parts-changer” is that the service technician fixes the problem not just the symptom.” I left this house, not knowing if the problem was really fixed. I was on my way home late that afternoon after spending the rest of day working in the hot sun on a rooftop package unit when I was contacted by my service dispatch. They said the air conditioning unit from my earlier service call had stopped working again and the thermostat was blank. I then realized this was an intermittent problem and had my service dispatch schedule me to go to this residence first thing the following morning. I don’t like the feeling of having to go back on a service calls because I was unable to fix the problem, but in this case I had a sense the problem wasn’t really fixed. The first thing I did when I arrived back at the residence the following

morning was to check the 3-amp low voltage fuse. I found it was “blown” (had electrically opened). This meant the short in the wires had come back. I wanted to solve this problem and I didn’t want to let the homeowner down. I explained the situation to the homeowner that the low voltage fuse had done its job of protecting the equipment. And a short was still out in the system. I just had to find it for them. I again checked all the wires to ground and against other wires with my ohm meter. I checked all the wires from the air conditioner to the furnace and from the furnace back to the thermostat. I followed the wires as far as I could through in the walls and in the attic looking for any hints of a problem, but they checked out good for a second time. I knew I could not go any larger on my fuses size as the average amperage draw (on residential HVAC systems) is 1.5 amps. The 3-amps fuse I was installing was is the largest fuse that should be used. Starting to lose confidence in my ability to fix a simple short, I reviewed the service call in my head. I had to be missing something. The system seemed to have an intermittent short in the low voltage wires. There was no obvious evidence of damage to the wires, but I must have

missed a clue. I started from the beginning by asking the customer about the details on the problem, explaining that any additional information could help. The homeowner said the HVAC system worked fine after I left, then at the end of the day, as the 5:00 o’clock news was coming on the television, it quit and the thermostat went blank. This was the clue I was missing. The system had been failing at a certain time and I wasn’t at the house at that time when I had originally trouble shot it. I again assured the homeowner I could solve this service call. I told the homeowner I was going to put another 3-amp low voltage fuse in for a temporarily fix and, I would return at the end of the day. I returned at 4:30PM. The homeowner explained that they had ran the HVAC System all day without any problems. So, I waited. I paced back and forth between the indoor furnace and the outdoor condensing unit. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but something was happening in the late afternoon that was causing a short. It was now almost 5:00 o’clock and nothing had happened yet. I kept asking myself, “what

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direction and the problem was fixed. As I stated in the beginning there are two categories your service calls can fall into. First category is the easy to fix, because you’ve seen it before. Second is the learning experience, one of those service calls you will never forget. Try to remember, no service technician has seen it all. You may see some difficult service calls as you go through this next summer’s air conditioning season. Some are easy… and some get chalked up to learning experiences. Tony Albers is a highly successful trainer who has taught heating and air conditioning classes designed specifically to meet the needs of today’s busy technicians and engineers. For the past 23 years he has worked to advance the field of heating and air conditioning by teaching classes for IHACI, RSES, Southern California Gas Company, San Diego Gas & Electric. In the last 14 years he has travel extensively throughout the North America for US Airconditioning Distributors and Venstar giving workshops and seminars for large HVAC distributors and manufacturers. Albers is currently on the Continuing Education Committee for the Institute of Heating and Air Conditioning Industries. Reprinted with permission from ICN.

could be happening at 5:00PM, that only oc-curred when the condensing unit was running, but didn’t occur during the wintertime or spring?” I knew something was about to happen, and I was determined to not miss it. I kneeled down next to the outdoor condensing observing a unit that was running fine. Then it happened. The lawn sprinklers came on. One of the sprinklers was aimed directly in the location of the con-densing unit and where I was kneeling. Before I could make it out of the area I was soaked from head to foot. By the time I had regrouped myself the condensing unit had stopped, due to the 3-amp fuse electrically opening back at the furnace. I was drenched (but thrilled). I had found the missing piece to the mystery. Now soaking wet and not wanting walk back into the house this way, I knock on the customer’s front door and asked them to shut off the sprinklers to the backyard. Ah-Ha! The homeowners had recently renovated there backyard landscaped the previous spring season. Upon closer investigation I found the condenser wires (at the flashing for the refrigerant lines, where they entered the house) were slightly cut with bare copper showing. This bare wire was the short I had been looking for, but it was only a short circuit when the combination of the condensing unit was running and water from the new sprinklers came “on” at 5:00PM. I patched the wires, turned the sprinkler head in the other

David and Ellen Kuo welcomed their

daughter Lainie who was born on

12/23/2009 weighing 7 lbs. 7

ounces.

Congratulations!

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Retired Professional Engineer Elbert E. Kelly began his 61 year career when he was graduated from Oregon State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He then took a position with a renowned consulting engineering firm in Portland Oregon. He remained with this firm for nine years doing design and project engineering on many projects including office buildings, hospitals, newspaper plants, schools, heating and power plants, military facilities and manufacturing facilities. Some of this work was in Alaska and he made many trips to Juneau and Anchorage to coordinate mechanical contracts. In 1956 Elbert resigned his position in Portland and moved to Los Angeles to accept a position with a large Architect-Engineering firm. He was given the job as assistant to the Chief Mechanical Engineer. In addition to some supervision of the department, he was senior and project mechanical

engineer on several large projects including large office buildings, hospitals, manufacturing and technical study facilities. On the resignation of the Chief, he served as Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1958 to 1961 when the firm abandoned engineering design. After that, Elbert was with several

consulting engineering offices in the Los Angeles area serving as senior de-sign engineer and as head of the mechani-cal depart-ment.

In 1974 Elbert joined the firm of Syska and Hennessy as assistant to the Chief Mechanical Engineer. In 1978 on the resignation of the Chief, he became the head of the department. He had joined the firm as an Associate. In 1982 he was promoted to Vice President. In 1991 he officially

retired as a full time employee, but remained as a Senior Consultant. The firm had now become The Syska Group. In these seventeen years, Elbert performed as a senior designer and project engineer as well as supervising all work of the department. This involved many projects including large office buildings, hospitals, convention centers and experimental study facilities. He continued on in this phase of working until 2008 when he really gave it up. During the 61 years Elbert was intensely interested in the Society. After joining the Society in 1947 he was active in the Oregon chapter. Acting on committees, editing the chapter publication The

Oregon Diffuser, serving on the Board and as president of the chapter. After moving to Los An-geles, he became a member of the Southern Califonia chapter where he served on many committees, edited the chapter

publication the SOL*AIR, served on the Board and as chapter president. He also did three years on the Scholarship Committee and served as a trustee of the Scholarship Fund. Elbert is a Fellow, a Life Member and a Distinguished Fifty Year Member.

*Elbert Kelly was a lifetime achievement award recipient in December of 2009.

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Sol*Air is published by the Southern California Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., Los Angeles. Statements made herein are not expressions of the Society or of the Chapter. Republication of material printed herein is expressly forbidden without Chapter authorization.

Southern California Chapter 2009-2010 Board of Directors President> Karine LeBlanc: k.leblanc@us-ac.com

President-Elect> Andy Khechoumian: andykk@dfda1.com

Secretary> Jeff Landreth: Jeffrey.Landreth@arup.com

Treasurer> Aaron Deutsch: aaron@drymaxxair.com

Board of Director> Matthew Church: matt.church@dmghvac.com

Board of Director> Edwin Hornquist: Edwin.Hornquist@sce.com

Board of Director> Scott J. Neithercut: scott.neithercut@rfmacdonald.com

Board of Director> Jim Toda: todajam@yahoo.com

Sol*Air Editor> Chris Zabaneh: SolAirEditor@gmail.com

Layout/Graphic Design> Missy Goulet: solairnewsletter@yahoo.com

P2S engineering, Long Beach received these awards below:

Los Angeles Business Journal Best Places to

Work 2009 PSMJ Circle of Excellence

Firm 2009

Clay Lampman received a business award for C.A. Lampman & Associates