The Tin Man, LLC

I was called out to lookover some job which I had installed in 2003. The customer built homes. This was his own home which he did himself. He contracted me (but still had to purchase his own equipment). What can I say?

I was called in a we had been getting all kinds of lightning hits and voltage fluctuations throughout the area. It was good that they did call as there were a few things which needed attention.

I took photos as I couldn't recall even doing the work.

It's never too late to do a tune-up out a system checkup. Of some of the most important things I have learned, these occupy the top two positions.

1. Mother nature and Father Time are both undefeated.

2. Mice, bugs and any other undesirables "NEVER" take a day off.

3. Everything else is up to YOU.

I found this exposed wire today. The client went one year without a checkup. Just one stinking year and in that year mice chewed up his pipe insulation and the "sun" (yes our friend, the sun) did it's damage to the wire casing.

Everything tested okay and all (thank God) but a little gnawing at the right moment in time would have caused this nice family a bunch of grief (in this "hotter than balls" weather).

*****PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE *****

A routine checkup would have certainly eliminated the grief that this nice family just went through.

We will be happy to "look over" your ac units to eliminate future mechanical failures. Sometimes when one thing goes wrong, it creates larger and much more costly problems.

Call us for routine service. (908) 797-8815

DIRT + WATER = MUD

Just because you have gone THIS far into the cooling season without any kind of checkup on your central air conditioning system in no way means that you are out of the woods.

With the immense heat upon us, your equipment will naturally run longer (by nature). The indoor section which moves your air and keeps you nice and cool creates a byproduct called condensation; otherwise known as water. The longer that these units run, the more air is moved across the section which provides your cooling effect. If you do not have a "top of the line filter", you are more than likely bringing all kinds of dirt and dust into the equation. Some dirt will be blown back into your home and the rest will be attached to the water molecules which have been created by this beautiful cooling process. This water then becomes diverted (internally) to a plumbing system (drain). In this drain pipe there will be a trap. Dirt and dust settles at the bottom of the trap. It becomes basically "mud" (or a form of sludge). Again, the more the unit runs, the more water is created. Ultimately, molecules of this dust/dirt/sludge mixture WILL block or clog the line. Once the buildup starts, it gradually gets taller and taller (inside the line). You cannot see it. When it gets really bad, water cannot get across it as fast as it's coming in. That's when you have your overflow situation which in some cases can lead to disastrous results (like losing a ceiling in your home). This is something you certainly don't want.

Keep in mind that you have not had ANYTHING looked over. A system with an inadequate refrigerant charge or a weak motor capacitor will lead into longer running times. Longer running times will adversely affect your electric bill, create the clog sooner, and your home won't feel quite as comfortable or cool.

To reiterate, just because you have gone THIS far, it doesn't mean in any way that you are in the clear.

This is about that time in the season where we generally experience more of these service calls/issues.

Please call us to come to look everything over. We are the same family oriented friendly company as we have always been all these years. The Tin Man (908) 797-8815. Dennis

Take the time to smell the roses. Life is too short.

Best photography 😀

Sometimes these jobs become a lot more than anyone would expect. It must be done to perfection.

Sometimes mechanical failure with your air conditioning system can be created by something else. Today's adventure is brought to you by our friend "the roof" or "roofer". I am certain that this was nothing done intentionally.

Today was a warm morning here in NJ. It was probably 70⁰ when I arrived at 10am. Everything was dry. The indoor unit (Unico air handler) I had installed 15 years ago. We have had a couple of water issues due to poor venting and a poor roof condition in the past. The fan motor failed once and I couldn't break the impeller loose from the shaft. I even destroyed a wheel puller on the process.

The new motor was installed a couple years ago.

Today's complaint: Smoke emanating from the duct outlets. Luckily, the client shut the unit off immediately.

So, I'm on my way (playing out all possible scenarios in my head) as I'm only going to bring what I'll potentially need. (I've reached the point where I'm not bringing every tool imaginable up into the attic). The days of a 60 lb tool pouch have been over for years now.

For me to even check the action/play of the blower wheel on this model requires me to climb over the top of the unit (in the attic). So, I quickly check a few quick things which were easily accessible.

First, I pull the wires off the capacitor, ground it. Then check it. It reads good. Hmm.

Now I check for 240 volts. That's good!. as I read 244 volts. I'm running out of things before I have to climb over the unit.

For the hell of it, I check the secondary of the transformer (which has no bearing at all, but it was easy enough to check). I'm at 27 volts. That's good too. Crap!! This means I have to climb over the unit. Of course it couldn't be that easy, right?

I remove the door which covers the blower access. The first thing is that I notice pretty severe rust staining atop three blower housing (hint/hint/clue). I go to turn the blower wheel and it's seized. I'm puzzled as this is way too young for this. I work it by hand and broke it free. It didn't feel 100% but it did free up. I put the door back in place and "jump" out the two wires which energize the fan (blower). It turns..... doesn't sound bad.

I call down to the homeowner to set the thermostat to cooling. The ac comes on, fan is running. All is good. Unit is fine for the rest of my visit.

I took a photo of the nameplate data (model and serial number) as I can feel it in my bones that I'll be back to replace that motor.

If it smoked, it created internal damage to the motor windings. I'm sure she's crippled to some degree.

I'm not satisfied. I look at everything more critically and notice water staining on the outside of the jacket of the air handler.

What I think occurred was that there was some form of water leak from the roof. This water found its way to the 4 holes which hold the blower housing. From there, it got to the motor somehow, someway.

So, it's a wrapazoid. I believe the roof contributed to the seizing of the motor.

Spring is here! We are ready for whatever the Summer throws at us. Are you ready?

There have been many changes in all of our lives in the last several years, however,...we are STILL the family friendly business that we have always been.

Please consider us for your cooling needs. (908) 797-8815.

Dennis

You know we love turtles (tortoises) here. I'll stop my van to cross one safely on Route 519 or Route 12 , (or any other local side road really).

Baby Name please 🙏

The Winter is upon us currently. Time does fly and sooner than we expect, Spring will be upon us.

Many put off the inevitable (ac system replacement) as seemingly everything in our world has skyrocketed in price. It has; and it affects everyone.

Before you get caught needing your cooling system replaced (AFTER Spring price increases), consider getting ahead of this by planning on it now. You WILL save money (not only on the equipment, but also on labor).

We are still the small company who will treat you with kid gloves.

Contact us to discuss your options. (908) 797-8815
[email protected]

In celebration of his retirement, I will be having this small poster professionally framed. .(I still believe he is worthy of playing professional baseball).

It certainly doesn't look all too bad but what you cannot tell is that this particular ac unit is completely devoid of refrigerant charge.

A client of mine is selling their home and had me check out the ac which I had installed 14 years ago.

I found it completely empty of refrigerant. It's no one's real fault as these things don't last forever.

On average....12-15 years is all you can expect.

I do have equipment which I've installed 18-20 years ago which woulds be considered as being "on borrowed time".

Luckily, we will be installing the new equipment before the Spring price increase.

What you may not know is that equipment using the old refrigerant has been out of production for over ten years. Just like in the automotive industry, slowly, people have been converting over to the new refrigerant as needed.

If your equipment is 15 years of age (or better) do change it over (if you can) before the next price hike.

It's going to be a big one! You see what's already going on now.

With Winter grabbing us by the neck, we keep our homes tightly sealed to keep the cold out. Unfortunately, there are disadvantages.

Indoor air is generally worse for you than outside air. VOC's (volatile organic compounds) in our home are in overabundance. We cannot escape them as they are built into just about everything around us from the furniture we sit on to the counter where we prepare our food.

Good air filtration, energy recovering ventilators, and ultraviolet lights help reduce many impurities in our air.

We take for granted that all is fine (as we go about our day to day routines), but it can always be better.

We install high efficiency air filters, uv lights, energy recovery ventilators, humidifiers. All of which will promote better health.

With the outbreak of covid, many of our clients have had us recently install the uv lights as they kill airborne bacteria, germs, and viruses. They are not hard to maintain.

Please give us a call to discuss how to improve the air you breathe.

Dennis (908) 797-8815

"Volatile organic compound - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_organic_compound

Volatile organic compound - Wikipedia Volatile organic compound (VOC) are organic chemicals that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature. High v***r pressure correlates with a low boiling point, which relates to the number of the sample's molecules in the surrounding air, a trait known as volatility.[1]