HVACTA

HACTA: Celebration Time

Danny — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 16:13:33 +0000

Achievements are always a great opportunity to bring family, friends, and peers nearby for recognition and celebration… each step forward is a success.

Many gathered to celebrate the completion of our six-week HVAC workshop and beginning of new and exciting journeys. If you followed our posts and progress over the past six weeks, no doubt you recognize the hard work and dedication everyone put in.

HACTA: Celebration Time

We experienced another standing room only event. And don’t forget the refreshments purchased from Publix (which reminds me, let me know if you know somebody who knows somebody from Publix desiring to partner with an awesome life-changing nonprofit).

Without doubt, one great Friday evening and awesome way to celebrate each person’s personal and professional progression.

On this note, we owe a great deal of respect and gratitude for the following organizations who help make our mission to change lives and communities possible:

* ARS
* Resideo
* TruTech Tools
* ESCO Institute
* Visual 3D Academy
* Tropical Air of Central Florida
* CareerSource of Central Florida

For those who attended, thank you for showing support and simply being there. Your presence means a great deal!

Danny
407-878-0474

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HVACTA: Universal 608 EPA Certification Exam Time

Danny — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 17:52:45 +0000

After six weeks of hard work, dedication, and commitment, yesterday we completed the Universal 608 Certification Exam. I believe all did super well… will have official results upcoming week.

HVACTA: Universal 608 EPA Certification Exam Time

For those no quite in the loop, here’s what the EPA Universal 608 covers:

Requirement: It is mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act for anyone handling refrigerants.
Comprehensive coverage: Unlike the Type I, II, or III certifications, the Universal certification allows a technician to work on all types of appliances, from small appliances like window units to high-pressure commercial and industrial systems.
Scope: It covers service, repair, maintenance, and disposal of equipment with refrigerants, ensuring proper handling to protect the environment.

The level of dedication to HVAC was quite impressive as most participants had perfect attendance and was always into the process. With confidence, each possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required… no doubt success will follow each along their personal and professional path.

Tonight we celebrate!

Danny

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HVACTA: Stop Dreaming. Start Becoming.

Danny — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:02:54 +0000

With two days to go before our six-week conclusion, all are still active, taking care of business, putting hands-on knowledge, skills, and abilities to the test, and preparing for the 608 EPA Universal exam coming up tomorrow.

HVACTA: KSA to the Test

Knowing is just not enough, unless one is simply looking to do a subpar job. Subpar is NOT something we take kindly with around here.

Truth is, we continue developing hands-on KSA to the last day, last afternoon. Think about it, in less than two months, you develop what it takes to find success in the HVAC industry. From customer service, to diagnostics, to troubleshooting, to wiring, to complete system swaps, to plenum, to recover, to brazing, and so much in between… YOU WILL do it all!

HVACTA is dedicated to building YOUR HVAC knowledge, skills, and abilities, all in six weeks. For those looking for a new career, HVAC Technical Academy is the right choice. Our next term begins September 8^th, it is not too late to get a ride on this life-changing career express.

Stop Dreaming. Start Becoming.

Danny

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HVAC Scrapping is part of the job

Danny — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 11:59:13 +0000

Our assignment yesterday was to break down and rebuild an air handler as well as a condenser. Not only did this project test HVAC hands-on skill level, but it also allowed future technicians practice explaining in plain English to “Mrs. Smith” what the parts do.

We push hard on how the “Customer Service” aspect in HVAC must be in the forefront. After all, HVAC is customer service all the way.

HVAC Scrapping is part of the job

At the conclusion of yesterday’s assignment, all were tasked to scrapping.

Scrapping HVAC and AC units involve safely draining refrigerants, stripping outer panels, and separating valuable copper tubing, aluminum-copper coils, and electric motors to maximize profit at local metal recycling yards.

Like always, safety is an important habit to form. When it comes to scrapping, it is suggested to wear heavy-duty gloves and safety glasses when handling sharp sheet metal or using power tools, in this case we used a reciprocating saw (often referred to as a Sawzall).

From system birth (new system swap), to diagnostics and troubleshooting, to component testing and replacement, to the end (scrapping), you will do it all.

Dreaming of a career in the HVAC Industry? Give me a call or visit our website, schedule a chat and/or submit an enrollment form. Next term begins September 8^th so you best get on it today.

Check out the photos, like, comment, and share.

Danny
407-878-0474

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HVAC Action Every Day

Danny — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 19:45:04 +0000

Truth is, either you love HVAC or you don’t. For those who enjoy working outside (oftentimes in the most challenging weather conditions), doing something different every day, identifying problems and then resolving problems, HVAC may be your career choice.

This week all are focusing on strengthening their HVAC knowledge, skills, and abilities.

HVAC Action Every Day

From performing preventive maintenances, recovery, vacuums, and basic troubleshooting… the final two weeks puts it all on the line. In addition, getting hands on experience with leak detection cannot go ignored… oh, we also gained experience in performing split system coil cleanings.

Stop dreaming and start DOING! Interested in becoming HVAC certified under in under two months, give me a call as our next term begins September 8^th… be here.

Danny
407-878-0474

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Joshua Boone – What Is HVAC Duct Board and How Do You Build and Construct It?

Thomas Vaughn — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:43:09 +0000

Workshop Status:

In Progress

EPA Certification:

Not Tested

Employment Status:

Not Provided

Joshua Boone at HVAC Technical Academy – Central Florida

Joshua Boone shares How to build and construct a duct board (video)

Joshua Boone shares How to build and construct a duct board (video transcript)

HVAC Technical Academy
Sanford, Florida
July–August 2026 Session

00:00:01
Hello, my name is Josh from the HVAC Technical Academy. Today I’m going to be showing you how to build and construct a duct board and what it’s used for. It is used for insulating and conditioning flow of air. duct boards can go bad from discoloration and moisture. And I am building a duct board from an inch and a half duct board. My measurements are going to be 10 in by 10 in. The first cut, we do 10 inches and three-quarters for the first cut to account for our cutting device. So far, I’m

00:00:34
gonna be on my third cut here. So, we’re going to measure from the middle of our second cut, 10 in. Go from there. Take our tool facing this way. Going to evenly apply pressure just like so. And then it should come off. So, like this. And then for our last cuts, we are going to be using the three cut tool. You’re going to take it same as you did from the other ones, and you’re going to be just pushing like so evenly. And then it should come off something like this. And there we go. And then you can take

00:01:24
your duct knife, kind of like filleting a fish, can take off the remnants off of the paper. You can get as perfect as possible. It works better. There we go. And after that’s done and start folding it till about there, there. And then once you fold it all the way and you staple it and tape it, it should end up like this. This is the one I created earlier. And you want to always make sure you wear gloves and personal eye protection. Thank you so much for watching. Catch you on the next video. Oh, and also the

00:02:24
duct board will be located up here and it’ll come in the air through duct work. Thank you so much for watching the video. and see you next video.

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Christopher Gonzalez – How to Perform an HVAC Pump Down

Thomas Vaughn — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 21:03:13 +0000

Workshop Status:

In Progress

EPA Certification:

Not Tested

Employment Status:

Not Provided

Christopher Gonzalez at HVAC Technical Academy – Central Florida

Christopher Gonzalez shares How to Perform an HVAC Pump Down (video)

Christopher Gonzalez shares How to Perform an HVAC Pump Down (video transcript)

HVAC Technical Academy
Sanford, Florida
July–August 2026 Session

Good morning, everybody. I’m Chris. I’m here with HVAC Technical Academy. I’m going to show you how to do a pump down. This right here is going to be your best friend when you do a pump down because you’re going to need your service your your service wrench. So, first thing I would do is go to set up my gauges over here if you want to bring it over here. I would set up my gauges. I would turn it on. I would make sure I take my liquid line first because you want to make sure you get the liquid line before the suction

line because you don’t want you don’t want refrigerant entering through the suction line after you pump it down. Now, once you set up your gauges on your liquid line, which will be your red your red hose, I would take my suction line, my blue hose, put it on. And then I would check my pressures. I would take my my wrench like I said would be your best friend. And I would start cranking it closed. All right, I would go clockwise and do it like this. It is already closed cuz I closed it. But I would

close it like this. I would check my pressures. And you don’t want it to get below five because five would be too low. You want it precisely maybe at 25 PSI and then you’re good. Once you get it to that, you’ll hear a specific sound. After you will hear a specific sound that sound like it’s starving or the refrigerant is emptying the system. Then you would go to your suction line and you would you would turn it also clockwise to open it to close it, sorry. To close it. Once it’s closed,

then you check your pressures and make sure it’s all closed and that’s how you would do a pump down. And then the reason for a pump down is so that you restore the refrigerant inside your condenser because let’s say you’re working on like your inside air handler, you want to make sure no refrigerant is going through there. So, you now you want to make sure that your condenser is stacked up with refrigerant so that it does not enter your air handler. I’m here with HVAC Technical

Academy. It’s been nice talking to you.

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Darvin Pierre Louis – How the HVAC Refrigerant Recovery Process Works

Thomas Vaughn — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 20:45:01 +0000

Workshop Status:

In Progress

EPA Certification:

Not Tested

Employment Status:

Not Provided

Darvin Pierre Louis at HVAC Technical Academy – Central Florida

Darvin Pierre Louis Shares Refrigerant Recovery Process (video)

Darvin Pierre Louis Shares Refrigerant Recovery Process (video transcript)

HVAC Technical Academy
Sanford, Florida
July–August 2026 Session

Guys, my name is Darwin Pierre Louis, and I’m here today at HVAC Academy. So, basically, I’m going over the recovery process. So, the whole purpose of the whole recovery process is to take the refrigerant out the condenser and put it in the recovery machine, and it goes towards the tank. So, basically, the first step to do this, you want to get your hoses hooked up. Obviously, you’re going to want your refrigeration hose hooked up to the in port. The in port will be located down here cuz we’re

taking refrigerant from condenser and putting in the recovery machine. So, this is going to be the in port. And then, right here we have our out port where the refrigerant is coming out the recovery machine and going inside of the tank. To our recovery tank. Remember, our recovery tank will always be a gray body with a yellow with a yellow top. So, and make sure your all your hoses are open. And then, most importantly, you want to come over here to your manifold, and then you want to open up your

your high side and your low side and make sure there’s, you know, all the pressure’s going through it. And then, most importantly, you want to open up your refrigerant side because without that being open, there’s no refrigerant flowing through your hoses. So, basically, yeah, that’s everything that comes into a recovery process. Once again, thank you guys for watching. Catch you guys soon.

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David Ruddy – How to Check an HVAC Condenser Fan Motor

Thomas Vaughn — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 20:30:13 +0000

Workshop Status:

In Progress

EPA Certification:

Not Tested

Employment Status:

Not Provided

David Ruddy at HVAC Technical Academy – Central Florida

David Ruddy shares how to check an HVAC condenser fan motor (video)

David Ruddy Shares how to check an HVAC condenser fan motor (video transcript)

HVAC Technical Academy
Sanford, Florida
July–August 2026 Session

Hi, my name is Dave. I’m with HVAC Technical Academy. Today we have a call for a condenser fan motor not operating. This is where the condenser fan motor is located in the top of the outdoor condenser unit. It’s a very important part of an AC system because it moves the air through the condensing coil up out of the outdoor unit. Which is necessary for our refrigerant to condense in the coils. To take it out, we unscrew the bolts. We flip it over and it looks something like this.

If it’s not working, we check our Y signal coming from our thermostat, which goes through the air handler, comes out to the outdoor unit and enters the contactor. So we would check the contactor. Then we would check the capacitor. If both those are good, then we would check the fan itself. That’s a quick test using your multimeter. Test the three wires, common, run, and start. This is run to start. It’s our highest reading. We would do the same thing with the other wires, and those would add up to

equal the ohms reading for the run to start, and we would know the fan itself is good. Thank you for your time today, and take care.

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Eliel Torres – What Is an HVAC Defrost Board and What Does It Do?

Thomas Vaughn — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 19:58:41 +0000

Workshop Status:

In Progress

EPA Certification:

Not Tested

Employment Status:

Not Provided

Eliel Torres at HVAC Technical Academy – Central Florida

Eliel Torres Shares What is dual run capacitor (video)

Eliel Torres Shares What is dual run capacitor (video transcript)

HVAC Technical Academy
Sanford, Florida
July–August 2026 Session

Hi, I’m EJ from HVAC Technical Academy and today we’ll be talking about the defrost board. So, what the defrost board does is it’ll have a defrost sensor connected to the condenser coils and it’ll monitor the temperature of the coils. And if it freezes up, the sensor will send a signal to the defrost board to start the defrost cycle. Now, you’ll usually find the defrost board right here in the cabinet of your capacitor and your contactor. You know, as you can see, it looks definitely corroded. So,

that will 100% have to be replaced. There’s no way on repairing a a defrost board. You know, that’s why you call us to go out there and fix it or I switch it out. And you know, they could go for a very long time. The reason why they will go bad was because maybe ants, you know, or maybe it’s just how long you had it for. It might just, you know, wear out, you know. But, yeah, thank you so much for watching. I’m EJ and thank you for watching this

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