Make Trades Great Again
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Make Trades Great Again
You installed it. You NEED to service it!
Ever been left in the lurch because you didn't have the right part at hand? Don’t let missing parts throw a wrench in your day. We explore the importance of a well-stocked parts kit, and how it can save both time and money when it comes to equipment installation and repairs. Drawing from my own experiences, we delve not only into the practical benefits of having the right part at hand, but also the potential cost implications. After all, having the right tools can be the difference between gaining a new customer and losing an old one.
We've all experienced the frustration of not having the right tool for the job at hand. This episode also discusses a real-life boiler incident where the lack of a parts kit led to some smoky consequences. For those of you new to shop ownership or hesitant about investing in a parts kit, we also talk about the importance of proper equipment installation and service. Remember, if you install it, you should be able to service it 100%. So, tune in, let's help you get your toolkit in order!
Send us your feedback or topic ideas over on our social channels!
Eric Aune @mechanicalhub
Andy Mickelson @mick_plumb
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I wouldn't call it a loyalty thing as much as, although some people are just simply loyal, I Would say people are just, they don't want to be inconvenienced, right, and so that parts kid it can be so worth the that initial upfront cost. Hey dude, how you doing. Good hurry, good, good bonus episode yeah, all right, I got one. I got a topic that's on my top of mind right now as we we talked about recently just the change in seasons, right as we're kind of getting everything ready to go.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And moving from heat, you know, cooling service just summertime season to heating season and how that relates to things on your van and stock. You name it right. If you haven't listened to that episode, shame on you. You should get on that. But it got me thinking we were.
Speaker 1:We were talking recently about, you know, ordering parts for equipment right, and I gotta tell you I used to install a boiler line. Quite regularly I Still use their tankless water heaters. All time that I had from that company, like this big chest, this big Foot locker kind of Box of parts, basically everything inside the box more or less, that could be unbolted and rebolted on to the unit, okay, minus like a heat exchanger or something right, you know that was so. That has proven to me so valuable over the years. Call comes in, cold call, from a company you didn't do the install even, or it doesn't matter, I guess it just call comes in, hey, we're getting this error code. Quickly look up that error code if you don't have it memorized and I never memorized these things, by the way and they're like oh, that's, that's a, that's a flow switch.
Speaker 1:You know, go in my shop, dig out a flow switch out of that box of parts for that model. Yeah and boom I'm. I'm gonna be in business when I go out to the job, I'm gonna have what I need and Then some. I'll be able to get the customer back up and running. If it's under warranty, I'll have the company send me a new part to replace the one I pull out of my kit, like that's such a. That's the way to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I wish I need to. Having this conversation makes me think that I need to be calling my, my visman rep, and being like hey, chris, yeah, I'm the old pal Visman's not on board yet with having a parts kit for the new 100.
Speaker 2:I know there's been talk of it, I just don't there wasn't even a parts kit for the old one, right, and I think that, and especially now with this new 100. It's the same as the 200, so, like gas valves and fans and ignitors and flame rods and, you know, burners, they're the same model to model, like the one hundred size for size.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the 85 and the 120 in the 100 have the same burner fan and Gas valve as the 85 and the 120 and the 200 series. Sure, those, they're interchangeable part to part, I think the gas valve. The control board is definitely different because, yes, the upgraded controls, but and then I don't know about the BCU, but it'd be nice to have that I think actually the BCU might be the same between all of the boilers, but no, don't quote me on that. I could be wrong?
Speaker 1:No, no, there's terminals and stuff that are and aren't available, installed and not installed, all kinds of stuff like that. That's what you're talking about. No, on the the BCU.
Speaker 2:Is that both? A little black box, little black?
Speaker 1:box on the left, yeah, yeah. But the voice recorder, black box recorder yeah, the crash, yeah, the crash recorder, yep, Yep. No, I, uh, I Get frustrated. Now I'm going on a number of years installing that equipment. I Started before you and I, you know, I was kind of trying to talk you into it along the way because I'm so impressed by it. Right, I still am.
Speaker 1:But yeah, this, this whole, this whole not having a parts kit is bugging me. There are other companies that are like this as well. There are some companies, though that also not just the one I was talking about, that was Navian, but not just the one I was talking about. There are others, like IBC has a parts kit. Maybe isn't just complete, but it's there. You're gonna have, like a gas valve inducer.
Speaker 1:The stuff isn't cheap either. Look, I'm not looking to have you give it to me, although if you want to, man, I'd take it. I just want to be prepared when there's a problem, and I guess the whole reason I brought this up for the younger people out there starting out on their own you know, younger is in like you're newer to this being, you know you don't have a boss doing this for you. Sure, I'm telling you my experience with the parts kit. Do it, do not look at it and go oh my God, that's $800. I can't believe it. Oh, it's $1,200. Oh man, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1:In certain situations, if money is that, if you're looking at that and you simply think that that's the major hurdle in the way, like you don't think it's worth it. I'm gonna tell you otherwise, because I have had jobs where having the part meant that I got paid for that service call in one trip, got my customer back up and running and now I have gained a customer. Yeah, this is a scenario where you can hardly put a immediate price tag on that. You can maybe say okay, what does it cost you to get a customer? Like, between this amount of money and this amount of money I'm holding my hands up for anybody just listening it's either gonna be at least as much it could. You could spend as much as that to acquire a new customer, right? But if you're doing that organically and you know they called you, you had the part, you solved their problem.
Speaker 1:In this day and age, people are just I wouldn't call it a loyalty thing as much as although some people are just simply loyal, I would say people are just, they don't wanna be inconvenienced, right, and so that part's kidded. It can be so worth the initial upfront cost it might be. So anybody listening that's on the fence, you don't think you can afford it. You think it's expensive. I'm gonna tell you it's probably a lot more expensive not having it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it is. We did a bunch of Navians and that's the other one that I've been thinking on, cause we've got a bunch of the NPE series stuff out there and I was thinking about that too, going you know, I don't know why I don't have one of those, cause they do make one. Hey wait, you don't have one. I don't have a Navian Parks kit sitting on the shelf.
Speaker 1:I'm not picking on you, but I will tell you. I have one for each model of Navian that I have personally installed and that have since. I have not installed but there's since now prevalent in my market because I go to the training like they're famous for offering the hey, come to the level two or three, whatever they call it training and we'll give you a Parks kit. And it's like okay, I gotta do it anyway.
Speaker 2:So yeah, we were signed up. Rob and I, we're gonna go to the NSS training. Yeah, year two yeah, something like that, and I don't even remember what happened. They canceled the class and we'll go through with it and there we are.
Speaker 1:Gotta do it. In my opinion it pays off, not just for I mean, they might not even be giving the Parks kit at them anymore. That might be a special thing Like maybe it's the rep that I don't have any idea but I got most of my kits that way. I did buy one more recently because I know there's a. Their new combi is different than the old one.
Speaker 1:Oh okay and I know I see it out on jobs already and so I know it's being installed a lot around me and I am a service contractor listed on their site. So I do get calls referred to me from people out in the homeowners and I wanna be prepared. Look, I put the money up for it, not because this isn't a commercial, they didn't give it to me Like I paid damn good money for that kit, but, like I said, it pays for itself. It just does, and I can't think of anything that annoys me more. Well, I can. Probably that's a stupid statement, but for emphasis, some little few things are more annoying put it that way than going out being able to diagnose a piece of equipment Like a common thing that I know I should know better because I see them all the time and then not having the part to fix it.
Speaker 2:And and no way to get the part.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know like why? Yeah, it's not like I can make. Like a lot of times we've talked about this in the past I do my plumbing uber all the time like I have good in courier, one-hour courier me parts. You know, I need a universal gas valve because I'm out apparently didn't realize I needed it, you know, didn't realize I didn't have one. I can get one delivered me within an hour, which is pretty spectacular, yeah. But when you're talking about the, you know an obscure part inside of this piece of equipment that like you could have had in a box and your shop or on your van, right, that to me is like super annoying because I've been on both sides of fence and I just I hate telling people all I got to order the part I'll be back. I'm not sure how long it, you know. Just stuff like that is just annoying to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I we had a case here the other day and this is this is a little bit weird was a weird one that we, rob went out and service the boiler. Got done servicing the boiler, fires the boiler up, makes a tank of hot water, whatever. Dsw satisfied, right up, cleans up, he's checking out the heat, he goes, I think he goes in, turns a thermostat on in the basement, boiler fires up and he walks back into the boiler room and there's like a little wolf of smoke coming off the top of the boiler. He's like what the heck? Oh, and something happened to the control board and I don't think it's right. But I'm gonna say I I'm not, I'm gonna say I shouldn't, I shouldn't say it this way. There isn't anything Rob could have done that could have caused this. Right, like it's sure, it's one of those kinds of things. There's two little diodes on the top of the main control board, right underneath the ignition transformer, that are Just blown out, roached out, just toast. Yeah, 16 year old boiler. I'm like god, dang it. Oh, wow, yeah. So there we are. You know, just got done servicing a 16 year old boiler, put some new so drain valves and did a flush on it and I mean, you know, kind of getting her up and going for the winter. You know, boilers still got some life left in it.
Speaker 2:And so I call around town. He calls me and we walk through it and he's like I, I see these two bad little diodes here and they're, they're toast. And I'm like, all right, well, that sucks, but Okay, let me see if I can find a control board. So I look one of the supply local supply houses has one on the shelf. I'm like perfect, jacob was wrapping up a job early. I'm like, hey, run out to this supply house, grab that, take it to Rob. You know, because he's all the way across town. It's a 40 minute round trip, 45 minute round trip. If Rob's got leaves to go, do it. So anyway, jacob drops this part of board off to him. Rob puts it in and calls me after you know, half hour, 45 minutes later and goes I can't get the dang thing to run. He goes at lights but it won't run. I'm like, huh. So we, you know, muscled through a few things here and there. You know, tech support was already closed for the day and I was like, all right, well, I don't know what. I don't know, I don't know, man, something's, we're missing something or it doesn't, it's something's wrong with the board. And and I replacement board, yeah, with a replacement board, then brand new one and I'm like, okay, so I go out and I'm looking and I Go back out, go out on Friday morning the next morning and I'm looking at it and I'm screwing around with this boiler and I pull the burner out and I wash the burner and I reground the burner and I, you know, go through all the steps and he's a heat already put a new flame rod and a flame, a spark igniter and ignition wire and a spark ignition Mark electric wire.
Speaker 2:I mean, he's already been down the steps, you know, and I'm like what the heck? I stick my meter in between the Between. Was that, yeah, to check the read flame signal. And I got flame signal. Like what the heck? But the boiler doesn't. When I scroll over on this lock-in bar boiler, it doesn't show flame signal and I'm like see the flame rod.
Speaker 1:That was like the flame rod was like Shorted.
Speaker 2:No, I mean, that's, that's kind of what I thought. So I got a hold of the tech support and I actually got somebody at tech support that was super helpful and and it you know, she kind of walked through it with me back and forth and was like, hey, you know all this, that and the other and and we get done. And I'm like I think I got a bad board. And she's like, well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk to my Guys and see what they see the thing that was throwing me off and I don't know if I'm I was just a total goose chase or not. The boiler never recorded any cycles, no ignition attempts. And I'm like, well, that's super weird, you know, yeah, happens.
Speaker 2:And then so when I so, I was like, all right, well, so I call back to the supply house and I'm like, hey, you guys had two of these boards yesterday. And they're like, yeah, yeah, we got another one here. I'm like sweet, so I drive the 45 minutes across town and I go walk in in the door and they're like, oh, we can't find that board. I'm like, are you freaking, kidding me? And they can't find it. Yeah, so I'm like all right, so call the other supply house that had one three hours away.
Speaker 2:And so it's Friday holiday weekend. This was Labor Day for weekend Friday and I'm like I need you to red label UPS this Saturday delivery. Okay, yeah, we think we can do that anyway. So board shows up, I go up on Saturday and Pop the board in and boiler fires right up. But this this kind of goes back to my Instagram story that there was a couple people that were like oh, post an update, let us know what you did, what you found, and I will do that. But what was interesting is the boy, those lock and bar Boilers and I don't know about the newer ones, the older one, 16 year old, vintage KBN 105, if it's a failed ignition, it doesn't count it as an ignition cycle. How weird is that?
Speaker 1:yeah, it's just dumb. Yeah, cuz being useful to see that it had like a thousand ignition cycles, but right, 990 of them were good and 10 of them weren't right. Yeah, it doesn't, doesn't count. The I don't know that company. I'm telling you sometimes I None of them are perfect. That's all there is to it, not even the one that we currently and are pretty well established with. Yeah, the V's miss, I'd like. Yeah, whatever, whatever parts kits, though, anybody listening, we're gonna wrap this up. Get a parts kit If you don't already have one. I mean, this should be basic. A lot of people would like totally understand that, right, but uh, you got a plane going overhead, it's sounds like it's landing in the driveway.
Speaker 1:It's your luggage.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it could be my luggage. Yeah, you're right here, drop it.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Now it. A lot of people listen to this and think like this is super basic stuff and like, well, it is, except for, I will say just by I bring it up and I emphasize it for the new Owners out there, freshly out, on your own. Maybe you start your shop during cobit, something like that. Maybe you just haven't got around to it or you your hesitant because of the cost. I'm telling you there's a huge value here. Everybody's gonna start someplace and if you are in this place where you have not done this yet, but you're out there servicing equipment and you're installing it, I I'm a huge, huge believer and I'm really not gonna argue this. I Don't think I'll change my mind on it. If you install it, you should be able to service it 100%. I Believe that. But that's a that's my own, you know, was it my own? A credo is that should, should, should call it a credo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know it's. It's on the awney crest of arms, on a pin crest of, if you install it, you service it, that's right, no problem.
Speaker 1:Then there's like a lion is like. I don't know absolutely feel like there's an eagle on my crest eagle with a pipe wrench. Yeah, probably does have a pipe wrench, and I don't know what else is on my. I'll think about that. All right, I'm off track. We had you know, it's squirrel. Yeah, I did All right, yeah, yeah.
