Okay, there’s actually no such thing as YouTube University. That’s just what I like to call YouTube. A university because of the endless knowledge it provides for just about anything you can think of. All for free!
I have mined tons of gold out of YouTube and I took those golden nuggets of knowledge and applied them towards making me better. Whether it be guitar licks or maintenance chops, there’s something on YouTube that will help you fine tune your craft.
When I came off the road from being a full-time guitar player in 2015, I hadn’t done apartment maintenance since 2011. After our second child was born, I couldn’t leave my wife at home all alone with 2 babies while I was out traveling all the time. So, I had to dust off my maintenance chops and get back into the trade. I was rusty and I was freaking out!
I did apartment maintenance for 8 years before I left the trade in 2011 to pursue a rock star’s life. However, much had changed while I was gone for almost 5 years. There was this new refrigerant that I’d never worked with called R-410a. And, I was seeing blue and red pipes behind walls with PEX written on them when I’d been use to working with PVC for 8 years. And to top it all off, everything had a damn circuit board in it!
I was panicking. I did the best I could during my job interview. The interviewers asked me, ” So are you familiar with R-410a?” I said, “Oh yea, I sure am. You got to be careful because that stuff runs at higher pressures.” That’s all I could remember about R-410a after over hearing 2 guys talk about it at Home Depot. The interviewers looked down with no expressions and wrote something on their clipboard. I thought, ” Oh s#it was it lower pressures? I’m doomed!” Then, after they got done writing they asked when I could start. Whew!
On the drive home after the job interview I was trying to think of how I could catch up with the times and knock the rust off. Then, I wondered if there were any tutorial videos about HVAC, plumbing, and appliance repair on YouTube I could watch every day. That’s when I discovered the awesomeness of YouTube university.
I learned all I could about R-410a refrigerant. I also discovered that I’d been charging A/C units all wrong during the previous 8 years I did maintenance. Someone taught me to just charge R-22 units up to 70 psi and the unit was good to go. WRONG! Through YouTube I learned all about superheat and subcooling and how to charge units the correct way using superheat and subcool. I also learned how to find refrigerant leaks instead of just juicing them up every summer. No more call backs! What a relief!
After a whole notebook full of notes about air conditioning, I had a good grasp on the correct way of making A/C repairs. That’s when I moved on to appliance repair, plumbing, and electrical videos.
After being away from maintenance for almost 5 years, YouTube put me right back in the saddle. Not only did it knock the rust off, but I know for a fact that it doubled my knowledge within 6 months and made me a way better technician than I had been the previous 8 years. I’d spend 15 to 30 minutes every night before bed watching repair videos and then applying what I’d learned the next day out in the field. There’s no better feeling than going into a situation prepared because you’ve seen how to fix the problem while lying in bed watching YouTube.
Sure, YouTube is full of trash as well and some say it’s ruining the youth and blah, blah, blah. But, I disagree. I look at YouTube and the internet the same way I look at electricity. It all depends on how you use it. You can use electricity to light a Sunday school or you can use it to light a torture chamber. The same goes for YouTube. You can use it for personal development and making yourself better or you can use it as a mind numbing waste of time. YouTube is a tool. A tool that can build you up or tear you down.
Conclusion
There are lots of great YouTube channels out there. Far too many to mention here. I’d like to share with you a few YouTube channels that got me started and where I learn the most to this very day.
Steven Lavimoniere
If you like to laugh while learning, you’re going to like this guy. Steve is freaking hilarious and a very good tech. He’s a plumber and an HVAC technician so you’ll get the best of both worlds. His channel is great for you northern guys because he works on a lot of boilers and gas equipment.
Click here if you’d like to visit Steve Lavimoniere’s YouTube channel.
Zack Psioda
Zack’s channel is all HVAC. Zack lives in North Carolina so he works with pretty much everything. Heat Pumps, straight cool and gas systems. Zack also has an HVAC podcast where you will learn tons of HVAC theory and tricks of the trade.
Click here if you’d like to visit Zack Psioda’s YouTube channel.
Grayfurnaceman
Grayfurnaceman is an all HVAC channel as well. He breaks stuff down so that you can see the inside of things and how they work. I believe he’s retired so his videos are done in his garage and not out on real world work orders. But his channel is great because he shows and explains how things work as he has a system or part split open.
Click here if you’d like to visit Grayfurnaceman’s YouTube channel.
Steven Rardon
Steven’s channel is all HVAC. If you like seeing the newest technology and gadgets that will make your job easier, then you’re going to enjoy Steven’s channel. In his videos, he explains more of the technical side of HVAC systems and how they work.
Click here if you’d like to visit Steven Rardon’s YouTube channel.
Appliance Repair Videos
There are a few appliance channels that I like to watch. This one will get your feet wet and you’ll find more as YouTube recommends channels to you.
Click here if you’d like to visit Appliance Repair Videos.
So that’s it. The channels I mentioned above are the ones that got me back on my feet and in the game after being gone a while. They helped me tremendously and still do to this very day. I know they’ll help you get better. You’ll also find other channels that best suit your needs. If you work on a lot of Goodman units, there’s a channel out there for you. If you work on a lot of Maytag appliances, there’s a channel for you. You just need to dig a little and find it. The stream of knowledge is available to everyone. But, as the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.”
-Related Blog Post-
The Dirty Maintenance Show – link
10 Reasons Why You Can’t Find Good Maintenance Techs – Link
Good Tools For The Apartment Maintenance Trade – Link
Should The Property Management Company Buy Your Tools –link
The Maintenance Man Myth – Link
Good HVAC Tools For Apartment Maintenance Technicians – link
How To Get Into The Apartment Industry – link
Going On Call As An Apartment Maintenance Technician – link
How To Deal With A Goodbye Talker – link
How To Have A Successful Student Housing Turn Season – link
How To Handle Working With A Hider – link
Dirty Maintenance Cheat Sheet – link
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You’re sowing good seed, my friend, I’m sure the harvest will be outstanding 🤠
Thank you so much for the kind words Jim!