Welcome to the training process for Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration. The next year or more will be the most important in your new career. It is during this year that you will have the opportunity to learn and enhance new skills and put your training to use. We start this training with basic electrical and we repeat this section of the course at the start of each quarter.
Electronics and the use of electricity will be part of your job every day. As you move forward in your career you will find that 90% of the problems that you come across are electrical. The remaining 10% can be split between mechanical and customer education. Surveys of HVAC contractors have shown that the biggest gap in vocational training is in the understanding of electronics and the trouble shooting steps to quickly and accurately find electrical problems. When we look at test results and where students struggle through the course material that will be presented to you over the next year we find that the key difference between those who achieve high academic standing and those who don’t is the understanding of electrical troubleshooting and principles.
Why this manual is needed?
The purpose of this manual is to step by step introduce you to these skills. This manual is designed to be used as a part of a classroom, or it is possible to go through these lessons and exercises on your own. It is critical that you do not rush through this, and if you are using this manual as a part of a class it is your responsibility to request help from your instructor as you need it. Having said that it is your responsibility to personally do the shop work and make time to study. Having this manual in your hands will do no good unless you absorb the skills it contains.
How this manual is organized?
The manual is split into eight sections that are designed to be covered over a four day class period. We aim to keep classes to a four hour time period with two hours of this time in the classroom and two hours of this time in the shop practicing the skills you have learned in the classroom. When you are working in the classroom you will need to have your instructor sign off on each section as you complete it. The manual also includes vocabulary words and a glossary that you will need to memorize to do well as you move forward. Take time to learn this material and consider using flashcards as a study guide.
What supplies and equipment will you need?
As a student you will need a few tools as you move through this manual. You will need a digital meter with readings for resistance, amperage and voltage. You will need a flat headed screw driver, a Phillips screw driver, a set of wire strippers/cutters. If you are working in the classroom environment the instructor will have wiring boards that you will use. These boards include two standard household light switches, a plug, a transformer, a two pole contactor, a relay with normally open and normally closed contacts and a 24volt coil, a relay with normally open and normally closed contacts with a 120volt coil, and two standard 120 volt light bulbs with sockets. You will also need some wire of different colors. We recommend using black, white, red, and orange to make it easier to understand the work that will be presented. If you are working on your own a layout of the boards is in the appendix of this manual so you can put this together before you begin.
We wish you the best of luck as you begin your training and it is our hope you succeed. The material is sometimes difficult and a lot will be expected of you both here in school and once you begin your training in the field. The rewards are worth it. Remember learning is fun. Enjoy, learn, and do not over analyze what you are presented with. Now let’s begin.