grant.margaret•1d agoProlific Poster

Hit 500 compressor replacements and finally stopped dreading them

I checked my log last night and realized I've swapped out 500 compressors over the last 4 years. That first one took me almost 3 hours and I was sweating bullets the whole time. Now I can pull one in under 45 minutes without even thinking about it. The milestone mattered because it showed me how much repetition pays off in this trade. How long did it take before you guys felt confident doing them?

2 comments

2 Comments

avery_roberts671d ago

Yeah but hold on, 500 in 4 years is wild man, that's like 10 a month almost. My question is though, are you working on the same brand or model most of the time? Because I feel like that's the real difference maker. I've only done maybe 60 or 70 over a couple years but it's always a different unit from a different company and the wiring colors and where the caps are located change every single time. Drives me nuts. Like one week it's a Carrier with the easy access panel and the next it's some off brand where you gotta practically disassemble the whole unit just to get to the damn terminal block. So does your 500 count come from the same type of equipment or are you just that fast on everything?

anna_coleman1d ago

Wait, @avery_roberts67, have you tried keeping a little notebook or a note in your phone for each brand? I've been doing this for about 15 years now and I hit around 300-400 a year some years, but it's ALL different stuff. Trust me, the wiring color thing is a PAIN. What I do is when I get a new unit that's weird, I snap a picture of the wiring diagram with my phone before I even touch anything. Then I jot down where the common cap terminal is on that model. After a while you start seeing patterns even across different brands, like Goodman and Amana are basically the same guts. It takes maybe 3 or 4 times doing the same off brand before it clicks and you're flying through it. So yeah, after 500 you're probably just fast on everything, but having a little system for the weird ones saves you a TON of headache.