One Thing Leads to Another...

As some of you may know/remember I spent 20+ years as a contractor but when the youngest graduated high school I decided to step away. Got heavy into recycling for a few years and learned a ton from folks on this forum. Eventually I started working with a HVAC guy that I picked material up from and things mushroomed from there and decided to jump in with both feet...

Got EPA Universal 608 Certification for handling Refrigerants.
Got NATE Certified so I could process rebates for customers wanting High Efficiency Equipment.
Taking Master Mechanical ICC Test in the next month for Licensing and Permitting.

The HVAC biz is losing many guys that are retiring and younger replacements are not entering the field to fill the spots. I would encourage others to look into HVAC as a career opportunity as the money is great...just be prepared to work in less than desirable environments with things that can kill you if you are careless...Scrappers know this already. Between dealing with chemicals and 3 phase 480 volts at any given time you always need to be alert and thinking several steps ahead.

I do miss the forum and the scrap biz but still get to the yard with old equipment that was replaced.

I hope all is well with old and new members alike.

Great to hear from you KZ.

Kz - Glad to see you are doing well and had a chance to stop in. I hope you can visit more often. Take care.

Great advice. There's even a training manual available here on the forum to get folks started and ready for their Universal 698 license examination. Its a great place to get started. 73, Mike

Whats up my friend. Great to hear from you again. Boulder auction is this saturday if your bored :P

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Originally Posted by KzScrapper

As some of you may know/remember I spent 20+ years as a contractor but when the youngest graduated high school I decided to step away. Got heavy into recycling for a few years and learned a ton from folks on this forum. Eventually I started working with a HVAC guy that I picked material up from and things mushroomed from there and decided to jump in with both feet...

Got EPA Universal 608 Certification for handling Refrigerants.
Got NATE Certified so I could process rebates for customers wanting High Efficiency Equipment.
Taking Master Mechanical ICC Test in the next month for Licensing and Permitting.

The HVAC biz is losing many guys that are retiring and younger replacements are not entering the field to fill the spots. I would encourage others to look into HVAC as a career opportunity as the money is great...just be prepared to work in less than desirable environments with things that can kill you if you are careless...Scrappers know this already. Between dealing with chemicals and 3 phase 480 volts at any given time you always need to be alert and thinking several steps ahead.

I do miss the forum and the scrap biz but still get to the yard with old equipment that was replaced.

I hope all is well with old and new members alike.

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I worked in a retirement home building (14 landings) in building maintenance. Elec for much was 277v. Scary darn $hit! I think the chillers was three phase 277v. I would open the doors to the breaker cabinet and it was like a friggin'magnet was pulling you in. I never got lit by it but a coworker was thrown off his ladder by it. He asked why I didn't help him while he was screaming... I told him he wasn't screaming, but the ladder was doing a jitterbug on the floor.

Welcome back.

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Originally Posted by t00nces2

I worked in a retirement home building (14 landings) in building maintenance. Elec for much was 277v. Scary darn $hit! I think the chillers was three phase 277v. I would open the doors to the breaker cabinet and it was like a friggin'magnet was pulling you in. I never got lit by it but a coworker was thrown off his ladder by it. He asked why I didn't help him while he was screaming... I told him he wasn't screaming, but the ladder was doing a jitterbug on the floor.

Welcome back.

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3 phase with 277 v is considered 480 v. It is 277 volts single line to ground and 480 between lines.

When I was in the airforce I was on a stand trying to meter a live connection of 440v out on a flap motor. Long story short I was shot off the stand about 5 feet when my hand slipped down the meter leads and grounded out on the canon plug. Oh that was a fun day.

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Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

Whats up my friend. Great to hear from you again. Boulder auction is this saturday if your bored :P

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Did get that email from the auction company and I'm tempted to check it out. Just now finally getting rid of much of the stuff I accumulated while scrapping and going to auctions...fun with Ebay and Craigslist.

CU plays at noon in Boulder so traffic could be fun.

Good to hear from you guys. Steel prices still suck but nice to see copper finally coming back.

Still flogging the Ford van...I'm committed to driving it into the ground before getting a new one but not sure it's ever going to die.

https://i.imgur.com/NS5SIdI.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4TWkaFV.jpg