A Simple Guide To HVAC Tools
There are many types of tools needed to work on air conditioning systems and heating systems. Understand though before you are able to work on heating and cooling systems that use refrigerant, you will need to be EPA 608 certified for the type of refrigerant pressure you will be working on.
You will need a pair of gauges for testing refrigerant pressures, charging units, and recovering Freon from HVAC units. For residential units your gauges should be able to read the pressures of r-12, r-22, and r-502. Three hoses and a low pressure gauge, high pressure gauge, and the manifold will make up the gauge set.
When replacing a condensing unit you will need a place to store the old refrigerant, this is where the recovery tank comes into place. Recovery tanks are gray with a yellow top, and they are used to store refrigerant.
In order to transfer the refrigerant from old HVAC system to the recovery tank you will need a recovery machine. They are not cheap but they are needed to properly transfer the refrigerant to the recovery tank, they can also be used to move the refrigerant from the tank back into the new air conditioning system.
Now that you have the tools to remove the refrigerant from the old HVAC system you will need to make some cuts at the copper piping, get yourself a good pair of copper cutters for this, they are fairly cheap. You will also need to be able to join the copper piping to the new HVAC system, this is done by soldering.
Soldering on HVAC systems is done by using HVAC torches. A set of HVAC torches will include a gas tank along with a oxygen tank. The set will also have a couple hoses, gauges, and fittings to make the soldering easy.
Once you have the new system all soldered to the piping, we must remove all of the air from the system. This is made easy by using a vacuum pump, which will also let you know if you have any leaks in the system, you should vacuum the system out for at least 30 minutes.
You will also want to have a good voltage meter on hand, as you always need to test a unit before servicing the electrical side. Some other tools you might need are a coil fin straightener, refrigerant leak detector, and a thermometer made for HVAC systems.
There are many other HVAC tools that you will need but these are the essential ones you will be using the most especially if you are replacing entire systems. These are also the most expensive of the tools you will need so it would be best to get these first and get them out of the way, the other tools needed are cheaper and will not be used as much.
