Maintenance techs who know their way around air conditioners are always in high demand in the apartment industry. You’ll pretty much have a job for the rest of your life with HVAC knowledge and skills.
I enjoy HVAC work and continue learning it every day. Like my pal Steve Lav says, “Every day’s a school day.” I learn a lot by watching HVAC videos on YouTube and have made some great friends by joining their communities where I share my own HVAC videos on YouTube.
Good tools are important! They can make the job easier and help the A/C units on your property run more efficiently. Keep it simple though! Although I’d love the i-connect manifold that cost around $1,200 for everything, it’s just not necessary for apartment maintenance. The i-connect is terrific, don’t get me wrong! But, if I told my property manager that all the duct work is inefficient and needs to be replaced throughout the whole property, I’d get laughed out of the office. “Is it blowing cold?” That’s all the residents care about after their unit has been worked on.
I want to share with you the basic tools I use that make the job simple and keep the units running great. I enjoy buying HVAC tools with my own money and taking them with me if I decide to leave. In my opinion, tools show that I bring value to a company and they’re great for doing side jobs. But, your company should buy and provide the best tools possible for you to get the job done. No company should expect you to pay for expensive tools. You are working on their stuff!
HVAC TOOLS
A good set of refrigerant gauges are a must. I’ve used analogue Yellow Jacket gauges and they’ve always come through for me. $125 for this set is a great price for a quality gauge. It also has the 3/8 vacuum port for when you need to pull a vacuum!
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at these YELLOW JACKET gauges.
This gauge is fabulous! The TESTO 557. I recently started using the TESTO 557 and fell in love. You can see your superheat and subcooling right there in real time. If you’re new to the trade and don’t know what superheat is, click this link and watch the video. Knowing superheat and subcooling is very important! Here’s a link to a video of me using these gauges out in the field.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the TESTO 557.
It’s not if you have an electrical issue, it’s when you have an electrical issue. So, you have to have a quality meter and know how to use it. The MFD (microfarad) setting on this meter is for testing capacitors inside A/C units. I use a craftsman meter that has been discontinued but I’ve used this exact meter in the past. It was owned by a past property that I worked at so I had to leave it behind. Here’s a couple of video links of me using a multi-meter in the field if you’re unfamiliar with capacitor testing. Link 1 – Link 2
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the Fieldpiece multi-meter.
This is my favorite tool to pull out on a HVAC call. The M500 Megohmmeter. It’s great for ohming and testing compressors and fan motors. Just hook up one lead wire to the wire you want to ohm and the other wire lead to the unit’s frame, then press the red button. It’ll tell you if it’s good, caution, or bad. How easy is that! I love this tool. One red button equals easy money! Here’s a video link of me using it in the field.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the M500 Megaohmmeter.
The Short-Pro Tool! This tool is great for finding those pesky 24 volt shorts that keep popping fuses or frying transformers. Just hook this little baby up to the fuse terminal. If you see a red light while going through your 24 volt wires at the t-stat, you still have a short. If the red light goes out after you make a repair, the short is fixed! This tool saves you from wasting numerous fuses while searching for the short. Here’s a video link of me using it in the field.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the Short-Pro Tool.
Poppers will work too. They also save you from having to burn through fuses while searching for the short as well. Here’s a link to the 3 amp popper.
Here’s a link to the 5 amp popper.
The Fieldpiece ST4 is great for getting wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures. Those temperatures are important for finding your target superheat. You don’t want liquid getting back to your compressor due to overcharging with refrigerant. So a good target superheat is important. Beer can cold was cute back when you were an amateur. It’s time to get professional! Here’s a video link of me using the ST4 in the field.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the fieldpiece ST4
You’ll need the wet bulb alligator clip thermocouple to go with the ST4 as well. Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at it.
Spin swaging bits for your drill! Whoever invented these was brilliant. I wish I would’ve thought of this. The price for these are well below the expensive copper pipe swaging tools that popular HVAC companies sell. Here’s a video link of me using these in the field.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the spin swaging bits.
The Raytek MT4 Mini Temp Non- Contact Thermometer Gun with laser sighting. This I use to see if there’s cold air coming out of the vent. It’s a lot better than just sticking a hand up and trying to feel if it’s cold. This is a great tool that I use all the time. Here’s a video link of me using it out in the field. I use it towards the end if you want to fast forward.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at MT4 Mini Temp Gun.
I love this TurboTorch set for brazing A/C lines and fixing refrigerant leaks. It comes with a number 3 tip for brazing smaller 3/8 lines and a number 11 tip for larger 3/4 lines. The flame wraps around the pipe. So, when you’re in tight spaces you don’t have to move it around. Awesome! Here’s a video link of me using it.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the TurboTorch.
The C&D valve core removal tool is great for pulling out a leaking schrader valve core. You can make the repair while the unit is running and you lose very little freon while making the repair. This tool is a must because you will run across leaking schrader valves. Here’s a video link of me using it in the field.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at the C&D valve core removal tool.
Don’t forget to get hoses too! You’ll need some hoses for your sweet new gauges. They usually don’t come with the gauges unless you buy it as a bundle. I like Yellow Jacket hoses.
Click on the picture or this link for a closer look at refrigerant manifold hoses.
This Yellow Jacket ratchet wrench is great for turning king valves on and off when you need to pump a unit down or vacuum a line set. You pretty much have to have it. There’s no other way of turning king valves on and off. Here’s a video link of me using mine in the field.
Click the picture or this link for a closer look at the Yellow Jacket ratchet wrench.
NYLOG! This stuff is for HVAC use only. If you’ve got a service shut off valve leaking refrigerant on your condenser unit, you can put a little bit of this stuff on the threads and twist the cap back on. It’s like teflon for A/C units!
Click on the picture of this link for a closer look at NYLOG.
That’s it! The tools listed here is what I use to keep the units that I work on running as smooth as possible. Not to mention coil cleaner and a quarterly filter change as well. The bigger stuff like a vacuum pump and a recovery machine, the company you work for needs to provide that for you.
Like I said earlier, I buy and own all of my HVAC tools. I believe that owning great tools bring value to a company. When I list my tools on a job application, I always get hired. They see that I come to the table with lots of value. I built my tool arsenal slowly though. I’m not asking you to buy everything at one time. Slowly build yourself an arsenal. Or, tell your property manager what you need so that your job will be easier. Not providing tools or buying cheap tools equals expensive problems down the road. Pay a little now, so that you won’t have to pay a lot later.
Related Topics:
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Should The Property Management Company Buy Your Tools Link
How To Handle Working With A Hider Link
How To Get Into The Apartment Industry Link
Going On Call As A Maintenance Technician Link
How to Deal With A Goodbye Talker Link
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