The Lighter Side This month’s Lighter Side brought to you by:
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1 ALL HANDS ON DECK Alex was called out to this Warradale, SA, property, where the owners had done some renovations. “The chippy must have spent hours shaping all the planks to fit snuggly around the condenser,” says Alex. “They were gutted when I told them it has to sit on top of the deck.” Graham says: Strangely, what seems obvious to us is not obvious to other people – maybe fridgies have some form of “second sight”.
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2 DRINK UP Someone has plumbed drinking water for the fridge into the cooling tower supply water line on a package AC unit. Thanks to Paul for the photo. Graham says: There was a case locally where a plumber installed a hot water boiler in a lunchroom and tapped into a chilled water line for the supply to the boiler. It was there for about 20 years before discovery. They always thought the tea tasted odd!
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3 SEALING THE DEAL After Brendon in Toowoomba de-iced the TXV, he found this. “Obviously the owner knew it was there well before me but never said a word,” says Brendon. “Silicone will not fix leaking flares.” Graham says: It is a sad indictment on our industry. It is possible with sufficient desire, good design and pride in workmanship to build and install leakproof systems. For a while, with the phasing out of CFCs, the plan was to move away from flares, but we gave up because it was too hard. Then we had the carbon tax, which increased the price of refrigerant, the idea being to reduce leakage. Our industry didn’t change its ways, just complained to parliamentarians about how the cost was affecting business. You were supposed to fix the leaks!
Bill was called out for a service in St Kilda. Amazingly, when he got onto the roof he found this unit was still working. Graham says: It really isn’t that difficult to mount a unit properly, so it won’t fall over.
5 SPRING INTO ACTION “This unit is not skipping a beat,” says regular contributor Mick from Albury. “Only thoughts are, maybe the check valve?” Graham says: Where did that come from? There have been cases where during installation, pipes have been left uncovered and rubbish has found its way into the system.
Additional comments and observations provided by Graham Boyle, F.AIRAH, portfolio manager, heavy automotive and refrigeration at South Metropolitan TAFE. Please note that the comments are provided on the basis of the photos only and should be read with this in mind – not all issues or solutions are apparent from a 2D image.
HAVE YOU COME ACROSS SOMETHING SCARY, UGLY OR JUST PLAIN FUNNY? If your entry is deemed the monthly winner, a 700ml bottle of Jim Beam will be on its way to your door. Please include a postal address with your entry. Entrants must be 18 or over. Send your hi-res (>500KB) photos to Editor, Mark Vender at mark.vender@airah.org.au
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HVAC&R Nation
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www.airah.org.au/nation
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November 2021
