The schedule listed below will apply for training sessions to be held at the Auburn Technical Institute for spring, summer and fall of 2011. To ensure the maximum opportunity for hands on experience, class sizes are limited to a specific number of students based on the number of working furnaces, boilers and simulator/troubleshooting boards that we have available.
Fees for 2011 are $625 per person for courses that are one week in length, $365 for three day sessions and $245 for two day classes. Because of the expense incurred with the inevitable venting of refrigerants during charging and pump down exercises, the Fundamentals of Air Conditioning class is billed at $705 per student. Fees are payable on the first day of class unless prior arrangements have been made. All courses start at 8:30am and finish at 5pm.
Accommodations are the responsibility of the student. There is a Holiday Inn and a Microtel (now known as the Inn At The Finger Lakes) within a mile of the school. For reservations, the phone numbers are 315-253-5000 for the Inn At The Finger Lakes and the Holiday Inn is 315-253-4531. There is a negotiated rate code for those staying at the Holiday Inn and we will be happy to supply phone numbers for other area motels on request.
All materials necessary for the completion of course work are provided. We encourage students to bring their personal electrical meters and combustion kits (for oil heat related schools) so the individual may become familiar with the specific features of his particular test equipment. Most classes are hands - on working sessions so appropriate work clothing should be worn.
The following classes will be hosted at the Auburn Technical Institute for the 2011 calendar year:
The fundamentals course is for beginners, either delivery people intending to upgrade to service technician or for those who are brand new and have no practical experience with oil heating equipment. Components of the burner - from the old 1725 rpm units to modern 3450 retention head burners will be examined. Heat exchangers for both boilers and furnaces will be shown with the locations of cleanout ports discussed. A step-by-step tune-up procedure (written) will be supplied to each student as well as viewing the NORA videotape that covers this topic. Combustion testing instruments will be explained and used. On the second day of the course, students will be assigned to small teams (three to four students per group) and in the company of an instructor, will travel to local customer homes to perform tune-ups on oil fired boilers and furnaces.
This course is listed with NORA (National Oilheat Research Alliance) as Roo-01 and earns 24 CEU's (continuing education units).
The material covered in this session is of sufficient scope to equip a technician with the knowledge needed to properly service most domestic oil fired heating units. Subjects include fuel pumps, booster pumps for high lift applications, oil de-aerators, motors, transformers / igniters, combustion chambers, nozzles electrodes, draft regulators, chimneys and drafts and domestic controls used to regulate air, water and steam systems. Use of meters and gauges to correctly diagnose problems is integral to the discussion of how all these burner components work together. Combustion testing and its relation to clean, efficient reliable oil heat operation is stressed. Understanding wiring and operational processes of controls is a major part of this week with students practicing on wiring and primary control simulator boards. All the known "real world bugs" that can happen to a primary control are included in these simulators, allowing the students to get a thorough workout on the problems they will encounter when they are out on their own in the field. Additionally, the ten oil fired furnaces and boilers are "bugged" with real world problems and teams of students are required to diagnose the trouble. These exercises with both simulator board and operating equipment give the student the widest possible experience.
This course is listed with NORA (National Oilheat Research Alliance) as Roo-02 and earns 32 CEU's (continuing education units).
1 Includes NORA Oilheat Technicians Manual - for which NORA charges $48.
Subjects in this course are for those experienced servicemen and service department managers who wish to go beyond the intermediate level into more advanced domestic and light commercial systems. It is assumed that the student is familiar with the concepts presented in the Fundamentals and Intermediate courses. Coverage of steam heating systems and the potential problems associated with them due to technician unfamiliarity is a major part of this session. The next level of burner management control systems (Fireye UVM / TFM and Honeywell RA 890 and R4795) are taught with students diagnosing real world field problems on simulator boards utilizing these controls. We expand beyond the system schematics covered in the Intermediate Oil course into more complicated applications. Venting issues such as diagnosing building vacuums, chimney venting with liners and deciding when and when not to use power venters are discussed.
This course is listed with NORA (National Oilheat Research Alliance) as Roo-03 and earns 24 CEU's (continuing education units).
Based on student surveys we have condensed the information presented in what was formerly a four day course so that we can concentrate on equipment failure issues - i.e. "no-heats" the biggest concern by far of companies and students. Data in this course is applicable to both methane and propane. Subjects covered are standing pilots with thermocouples and powerpile generators and how to use a meter to determine proper millivoltage output for these devices, both "open circuit" and "closed circuit" and trouble shooting of spark ignited pilots and direct spark or hot surface igniters, with attention paid to understanding how to read the appropriate dc micro amp signal for the specific device. Our simulator boards for these systems have fourteen real world problems that will allow a technician a rigorous work out with the comparatively advanced control systems used on all gas fired heating equipment today. We also examine the operational problems caused by improper venting and combustion air piping mistakes. Since we have slimmed down from four days, the student should already be knowledgeable about the properties of both gaseous fuels, especially the characteristics related to combustion and explosion, BTU content, carbon monoxide concerns, the use of manometers to test gas pressures and how to "clock" a meter to confirm firing rate. Hands on problems on "bugged" equipment are also given to students, but not as many as in the past due to the reduction of the days available to us.
Material covered is intended to take a student with little or no knowledge of the principals of air conditioning and prepare him for servicing domestic equipment. The basic refrigeration cycle is explained along with emphasis on proper pump down and charging methods, evacuation by micron gauge, troubleshooting refrigerant pressures with manifold gauges and electrical testing of compressors, controls and components. Reclaiming of refrigerant is demonstrated. Use of the superheat / sub-cooling method of assuring a proper charge is fully explained. Simulator boards are utilized for training in the controls section of the course. There are four operating cooling systems that will be worked on and "bugged" during the course but due to the fewer number of working systems, attendance is limited. We offer this course fairly early in the summer with the intent that a student will get a chance to use his skills before the cooling season is over.
For those contemplating this course ...
We are approved to teach and proctor the Refrigeration, Transition And Recovery certification procedure required by the Environmental Protection Agency. To be legally able to purchase, transport or in any other way work with refrigerants you must pass this test. If you are interested in earning your certification please notify us at least two weeks in advance of the course and we will send you a study manual so that you can become familiar with the material in advance.
The cost of this guide is $20.
The certification program will take a half of one day. There is a videotape that you will view, a question / answer period is conducted and the test is administered. Everyone must pass the core questions and at least one level of certification in order to qualify. The core segment and each level has 25 questions. The minimum grade to pass is set at 70%. You have the option of completing the tests for other levels as desired during this exam. If you are not able to pass any given level, you may take these tests again, as many times as required. The test itself, assuming all three levels are taken, would require approximately 2.5 to 3 hours. The charge for the certification exam is $100. The certification program and test will commence about noon at the completion of the regular air conditioning school and is only available to those students who have completed the Fundamentals of Air Conditioning class.
Intended for techs that have at least two years field experience, this course is designed to explain and demonstrate the differences between the old electro-mechanical controls and the current generation of "digital" devices that have become the standard of the HVAC industry. Reliability and simplicity were a given with the old controls though the level of sophistication was not great. Now we routinely use advanced devices that are capable of doing much more than before but at the same time are affected by external influences that would never have bothered the old controls! Issues of proper grounding, flame signals measured in millionths of an amp, voltage spikes, electronic "noise", non linear loads and their "gremlins", why point to point voltage checks are vital - these and other concerns will be explored and demonstrated. These sessions are conducted by Ed Conklin, the inventor and producer of the innovative simulator boards and "bugged" controls used in our schools so any technician that has a few years field experience should benefit greatly from this session.
Radiant floor tubing was "rediscovered" in the early 1990's in the U.S. though its use had actually begun as early as the 1930's and it became quite popular in the post WWII era. The introduction of plastic pex pipe from Europe, with integrated supply components like tubing manifolds, mixing valve and injection pump technologies, indoor - outdoor reset controls - all generated intense interest and soon virtually everyone was "doing radiant". Often however, the lessons already learned about the limitations of heat transfer in relation to heat loss loads, why radiant may not be the answer against convective heat depending on the quantity of windows in a given room, the maximum temp allowable in or under a particular floor construction, pump over sizing with noise and internal erosion of pipe materials, the infamous "oxygen barrier versus non oxygen barrier controversy" and the "plate staple up versus non-plate staple up" war were ignored. The result was (and is) unhappy customers, potential or actual lawsuits, and contractors refusing to do radiant since they hear of the problems, etc.
This two day session will set the record straight. Utilizing studies like the 2003 Kansas State University examination of plate versus non plate installation methods, data from the Radiant Panel Association and others on sludge formation from oxygen attacking ferrous metals in the heating system along with specific values for all methods of below the floor attachment methods gathered by John Siegenthaler, P.E. of Mohawk Valley Community College, students will leave with material that will allow them to install a system that works, and works the first time!
Rood Utilities, Division of VP Supply
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