Month: May 2024

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Press Releases

FIELDPIECE INSTRUMENTS AND SKILLSUSA ANNOUNCE 2024 #MASTEROFTHETRADE WINNERS, CELEBRATING THE PROGRAM’S THIRD SUCCESSFUL YEAR

Recipients Awarded $2,500 Each Toward HVACR Careers; Fieldpiece to Award Additional $10K at 2024 SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference

ORANGE, CALIF. (May 22, 2024) — Fieldpiece Instruments, a leader in test instruments and tools for HVACR professionals for over 30 years, is proud to announce the winners of the third annual #MasteroftheTrade program. This year, six deserving students have been selected to receive $2,500 each to fund their continued education in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) trade or the option of an in-kind tool donation to jumpstart their careers.

Administered through SkillsUSA, the #MasteroftheTrade program aims to bridge the talent gap in the U.S. labor market for HVACR technicians by providing financial support to individuals pursuing a future in the industry. The winners of this program demonstrate exceptional skill, passion and dedication to their craft, embodying Fieldpiece’s spirit of excellence.

“We are thrilled to give back to our industry by awarding tuition or tools to these up-and-coming HVACR professionals,” said Tony Gonzalez, director of training at Fieldpiece Instruments. “There is a common thread of curiosity, problem-solving skills, understanding of craftmanship and desire to embrace challenges among the selected recipients that ensures a bright future in HVACR. Congratulations to this year’s winners!”

The six accomplished SkillsUSA students selected to receive the 2024 #MasteroftheTrade award are:

  • Cole Kelly from Billerica, MA
  • Colton Rentschler from Sinking Spring, PA
  • Cadin Blais from Watertown, SD
  • Mohamed Deyab from Harlingen, TX
  • Peyton Hoenig from Asheboro, NC
  • John Chaney from Knoxville, TN

 

ABOUT SKILLSUSA: SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry founded in 1965 to strengthen the nation’s skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of skilled trade positions go unfilled. Through SkillsUSA’s Championships program and curricula, employers have long ensured schools are teaching relevant skills, and with SkillsUSA’s new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has nearly 400,000 members nationwide in high schools, colleges and middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations. SkillsUSA is recognized by the U.S. departments of education and labor as integral to career and technical education. It has served nearly 14.2 million members since 1965. For more information, visit: www.skillsusa.org.

 

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Blog

The Importance of Clean Oil in a Vacuum Pump

A vacuum pump is a powerhouse machine that removes air, gases, moisture, and contaminants from a system to create a clean environment for refrigerant. These efficient and powerful machines need clean oil to perform at their peak. When oil becomes cloudy or saturated, the pump won’t work as well, and pulling a deep vacuum takes longer.

Double-duty Oil

The oil in the vacuum pump acts as both a lubricant and as a sealant. It keeps the pump vanes (rotor blades) lubricated and helps keep a proper seal for an optimal vacuum. The deep vacuum that the pump creates helps push moisture and non-condensables from the system to the pump, ensuring the system is ready for refrigerant. This process contaminates the oil in your vacuum pump, which negatively impacts the pump’s performance and efficiency by compromising its internal seal. Pumps with contaminated oil will struggle to create a strong pressure differential, leading to increased evacuation time and eventual damage to the pump.

When to Change the Oil

The need to change your oil will depend on several factors. The most effective way to maximize performance and efficiency of your vacuum pump is to change the oil after each evacuation. In humid environments systems are more likely to contain moisture. Systems with more moisture and non-condensable contaminants present will contaminate your oil faster, requiring more frequent changes to maintain performance. Moisture contamination is easy to spot because the oil looks milky or cloudy. Other contaminants can sink to the bottom of your oil reservoir, so vacuum pumps with better reservoir visibility, such as the large window on the Fieldpiece vacuum pumps, allow for more accurate monitoring.

Another key indicator that it’s time for an oil change is pump efficiency. When pulling a vacuum, if the rate at which your microns are decreasing starts to level out, this could signal the need to change oil. When pump efficiency starts to wane, pulling a deep vacuum becomes more time-consuming. Note that the time to pull a vacuum will vary depending on the size of the system, atmospheric conditions such as humidity, and the efficiency of your evacuation setup.

Oil Changes on the Fly

Some pumps on the market allow the oil in the pump to be changed while it’s pulling a vacuum, like the RunQuick® oil change system on Fieldpiece vacuum pumps. Towards the end of the evacuation is when you need fresh oil the most, so oil changes on the fly are key to working faster and smarter.

Get a Vacuum Pump that Works for You

Since clean, dry oil is crucial for faster evacuations, consider vacuum pumps that make oil changes quick and hassle-free. Fieldpiece vacuum pumps are powerful, portable and offer oil changes on the fly, saving you time on every evacuation. See the entire line of pumps, oil and other HVAC tools built and designed for techs.

Categories
Blog

Three Tips for Your Next System Evacuation 

For refrigerant heating and cooling systems to work correctly and optimally, the refrigerant must be free of air, nitrogen, moisture, and contaminants. Therefore, before charging a system, it’s critical to evacuate the system with a vacuum pump to create a clean and sealed environment. Here are a few tips and best practices to make your next evacuation faster and more effective. 

 

Tip 1: Purge with Nitrogen 

Moisture in a system can drastically increase the time it takes to pull a vacuum and removing that moisture and other contaminants is a crucial step to saving time. To ensure that the system is free of excess oxygen, refrigerant, moisture, and other contaminants, purge it with nitrogen. This is different than flowing nitrogen or conducting a nitrogen pressure test. To purge, connect a nitrogen tank and flow nitrogen through the system at around 100 PSI. This allows nitrogen to flow into one side and then out the other. The movement displaces excess oxygen and air. It also removes any dangerous gases and ensures the system is dry. While performing this purge, be sure to keep the area well-ventilated. Nitrogen can displace oxygen and create a dangerous environment for techs or other occupants, so always keep this in mind. 

 

Tip 2: Triple Evacuate 

When working in humid environments or on systems with significantly more moisture, a triple evacuation is a great way to remove the moisture entirely. This is an industry requirement for some OEMs, and one of the most effective techniques for systems with high moisture content. Start by sealing the system off and pulling the system down to a vacuum of between 1000 and 2000 microns. Then, break the vacuum by introducing nitrogen for 5 minutes at 5 PSIG. Perform another evacuation to 500 microns, and then break it again with nitrogen for five minutes. Perform a third evacuation and pull the system down to between 200 and 300 microns. Let the system sit for 10 minutes, or longer for larger systems. Performing the triple evacuation purges with nitrogen helps the excess moisture and other contaminants vent out of the system. Not to mention, systems with less moisture allow for pulling a vacuum faster, saving you time on the job. 

 

Tip 3: Change Your Oil 

Within a system is not the only place where moisture can impede evacuation efficiency. High moisture content in your vacuum pump oil considerably reduces your pump’s ability to pull a deep vacuum quickly. Cloudy oil is a sign of moisture buildup, a natural occurrence in used oil. Vacuum pumps with clean, dry oil can maintain a higher pressure differential, speeding up the vacuum process and allowing for a deeper vacuum. This means more frequent oil changes directly improve your ability to evacuate systems quickly, once again saving you time on the job. With Fieldpiece vacuum pumps featuring the RunQuick® oil change system, you can change oil in seconds without losing vacuum.  

Effective tools are only part of an effective service. Staying informed and up to date on best practice is just as important, so we hope these tips help make your system evacuations easier, faster, and better!