I’m looking for advice. This may be kind of a long winded explanation so my apologies in advance.

I’ve been doing TAB for about 6 years now. Last May, I got my Nebb tech cert and was promised an over-scale (I’m union) raise for it—you can probably see where this is going—the raise never came. I had a meeting with my bosses a few months ago where they promised to send me to training so that I could qualify to go take the CP test. About two weeks ago I was informed that they didn’t want to spend the money.

It’s important to me to get the CP and I wanted to do that this year. The team I’m on is small ~5 TAB guys -1 CP -2 CTs -2 JM(one is working on his CT, the other is really just an apprentice—workhorse though) Then there’s a group of about the same with Cx/service techs under the same umbrella. It’s a big company ~300 employees or so.

Working in this team I get to see a lot of big picture stuff when it comes to jobs. Which helps me learn a lot. I’m not sure if moving to another company is a good move. But I know I could get a raise by going somewhere else, just not sure if the training will be the same/be included. Should I jump ship for more money? I know not all the info required is here… BUT I’m sure people have been in similar situations.

TLDR: denied verbally promised raises, offers from other companies, need advice about negotiating and/or quitting.

I will take the CP practical exam in March 2025 in Tampa, Florida. I have 5 years of TAB experience but limited experience in water balancing. Someone mentioned that the first step is to set the PRV and expansion tank. Do you have any suggestions for the water balancing procedure during the practical exam?

Has any one of your companies purchased new fleets or even a few vehicles for technicians?

With the discontinuation of all the smaller sized vans our companies fleet is beginning to be outdated and issues arising with them. I'm unsure what direction they will go next? Looking for options to share with them.

I am looking for 1-2 experience TAB technicians in Calgary, AB. Message me. Thanks

What would you do in this situation? I first saw these boxes about 2 1/2 years ago on several jobs and the connections to the VMA controller were not very good causing a erroneous reading on the DPO (Differential pressure offset) Peps from the JCI branch went to the factory with this issue and they finally put a box on the bench and admitted they had a issue with this connection. Older VMA controllers had more than 1 barb on this connection now they just have 1.

We have been working on 4 projects at Camp Lejeune, 1st building did not have the correct hose connection, I told them they needed to fix these before we did the 300 VAV boxes, took a while but they finally did. 2nd and 3rd building had the fix from the factory.

Now the last building came from the factory with no controllers and were installed in the field for some reason. Now the branch does not feel it is their responsibility to go thru all 80 boxes. I am concerned that if left alone and something changes from now till TAB verification things will not be the same. While some of the connections seem tight now that may change with temperature and time.

Just curious as to what people are charging for the basic (Not full ASHRAE 110) so face velocity, crossflow and local smoke vis. I've seen quotes for up to $1k per unit which seems excessive.

I love my job I love my job I love my job

Please private message me if you are interested...

Working with electric strips. Design is 30kw at 240 volt 3 phase. Voltage is only 217. My amp draw is low. Average of 68. Designed at 90.

I verified the right strips are installed. What am I missing.

My employer gave me the AABC Technician Training Manual Third Edition, The fundamentals of Testing, Adjusting & Balancing HVAC Systems. Each of the 30 chapters has questions at the end of it for me to answer. I do not know if my answers are always correct and want to know if there are answers to all the questions in this textbook somewhere.

Anything helps,

Thank you.

Saw that post a couple of months ago about some guys being frustrated with a "manager" who's never worked in the field and wont ever qualify for certs.

That seems pretty fucking wild to me. How common is that in TAB? I've worked for 3 companies and all of them required you go through the apprenticeship plus another 4-5 years as journeymen before you would even be considered for management - even the family owned one.

Just dont see how its sustainable

Not my photo but a buddys. Said the airflow looked good according to his dP plotted on the flowchart but his piece of paper on the return plenum inlet was being pulled in strongly and his discharge air temp was a lot higher than expected based on heater kW and assuming 72 deg RA and 55 degree SA. Tubes all looked good. His kfactor was out of whack for what was typical. He suspected it may have been too much flex on the inlet. He opened up the PIU and found this.

I figured Id share this because stuff like it is the most valuable kind of learning experience. Notice that even though his dP looked good according to the chart, he had 3 other things saying something was wrong: 1) physically tracing the airflow, 2) temps, 3) typical kfactor for this PIU hes seen.

I like this example in particular because it demonstrates perfectly the idea that we have use all the data we gather holistically to evaluate system performance

Hello Anyone has sn experience in testing Adjusting and Balancing TAB and planning to start business (TAB) as partner in Torono, CA?

Thanks

Does anyone use cameras or other equipment to help trace ductwork? I’m surveying existing ductwork of a building with one air handler serving 4 floors. We were hired to trace out everything. It’s mostly hard-lid ceilings and minimal space to crawl. Looking for ways to make this survey efficient and accurate as possible.

Does anyone have a reference to balancing auto flow water valves? Im working on a building with 170 auto flow valves and am unable to achieve my pressure drop with all valves calling for heating. From what I was taught we should put all valves into heating demand and check the system throughout for our corrected drop. Any help is greatly appreciated.

What would they mean by this?

“The reported airflow readings for grilles and diffusers shall be backpressure compensated by the airflow measuring hood. Manual flow compensation independent of the hood calculation capabilities is unacceptable.”

Anyone else having trouble getting in for the practical test portion for the CP? I was supposedly put on the waitlist for capitamarva. Applied for the one in Georgia for next may. Haven’t heard a thing back.

How do you detect and diagnose "System Effect" in HVAC systems? Share your stories. Would help other professionals in the field.

Anyone use the Evergreen water meter? Do you like it? We have the air stuff which I like for the most part. Trying to decide between the Evergreen & Alnor.

Fellow balancers, anyone in the Toronto area looking for work?

Hopefully they don’t stack any boxes on the top shelf.

Hello every body , I heard about videos related to someone Called joe balancer , they are very usefull , can anyone know how to have these videos .

(UPDATED: Links below)

I have some documents I wanted to upload for the benefit of the community

• NEBB TAB CT Homework and Practice exams (from the recent seminar, I found these far more helpful than the home study course practice test)

Can someone let me know how I can upload these to the One Drive?

Edit: I have updated access so hopefully anyone can view the links.

2024 NEBB TAB CT Seminar Practice Exams (These test questions most closely mirror those on the final exam and the resource I found most helpful in my test prep) https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11saMvZwB3Rq_W8Ch9xQu3huP6r7jsIPJ

2024 NEBB TAB CT Homework https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SM4iPzA6jpl1Y8VQUKFuXJ1tDHonUBAN

Hey guys, has anyone made a excel sheet for these yet? Just handle postion tables with the CV formula? I'm about to but I figured I'd check here before. Sick of using the wheel.