Cool News for AUGUST
COOL NEWS Official newsletter of the central Arizona chapter (rses) August, 2008
LARGE TURNOUT AT JULY CHAPTER MEETING
MEETING MINUTES
By Richard Langill CM, Secretary
It was like counting moths under a porch light as about 60 members and guests filled Room E3 at Arizona Automotive Institute on Thursday evening, July 10th. Unfortunately, some chapter officers were unable to attend. President Perry Anderson and Sergeant at Arms, Carl Gentry, were among the missing. At 6:10 PM, the meeting was called to order by Vice President Shawn Masterson CM. Following the roll call of officers, Richard Langill CM, Secretary, as acting Sergeant at Arms, led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Vice President Masterson took a few minutes to inform us about his progress concerning the International Conference our chapter hopes to host in the not to distant future. There are many details to investigate such as location (rooms/ conference space) and other logistics. We will inform you in these pages [COOL NEWS] as we progress toward finalization of plans. Many volunteers will be needed to host such an event. It is hoped that many local members will step forward to offer assistance. Mr. Masterson also discussed LEED again and informed the attendees that in order to work at a LEED facility, one must be certified. It was interesting to learn that Scottsdale, Arizona became the first “green” town in the country. We have a chance, Mr. Masterson remarked, to be on the front of the wave. He advised members to contact CAZRSES.org (our own site) for developing information….and, of course, this issue of COOL NEWS. It was mentioned that the “Green Summit” is coming to Phoenix on September 5, and 6, 2008. Hours are 10AM to 5PM. Mr. Masterson then turned the meeting over to our guest speaker, Mr. Al Bianco, of Danfos International for the educational portion of the meeting. Mr. Bianco’s topic was “Expansion Valves vs. Fixed Orifices”. Obviously, his discussion included lots of information about superheat and sub-cooling. The presentation included an interesting Power Point Presentation as well as several “props” that included his own company’s products as well as some from their competition. Shown below is Mr. Bianco discussing the correct installation procedures of thermostatic expansion valves.
Mr. Bianco also discussed the deleterious results when we try to mismatch systems, referring to the “sometime” practice of replacing a defective or inefficient condenser with a new 13 SEER unit without also replacing the evaporator and possibly the line-set. If you are a member, you received the August 2007 issue of the RSES Journal, our own RSES national publication [possibly one of the most valuable assets of membership] which had an article by Mr. Brian Byrom entitled, “When 13 + 10 = 8”. No, it’s not a math test error! If you attended the meeting, Mr. Bianco passed out copies of the article. He was pointing out that replacing half the system, say a 10 SEER condenser with a 13 SEER upgrade, but leaving connected to it the original 10 SEER evaporator, the result might be an efficiency of around 8 SEER. He (the author) stated that the above scenario isn’t clear-cut. The results are not always the same. Could be better….could be worse. He high-lighted a comment in his article that read, “IN THE EVER-EVOLVING HVACR INDUSTRY, THE ABILITY TO DO THE RIGHT THING FOR THE CONSUMER MUST ALWAYS BE THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR ACTIONS.” So, it’s sometimes tempting to do the job “half-way” because there’s not enough room for a larger air handler, or the customer doesn’t want to change the entire system. But, is it right? In the final paragraph, with the heading, “The Results Are In“, Mr. Byrom states, “The results show that mismatching 13 and 10 SEER units could result in up to a 40% reduction in efficiency and cooling capacity, along with the [possible] need to adjust the refrigerant charge at least twice a year.” Read it for yourself! You can email the author at bbyrom@bellsouth.net. The meeting was a success. We all learned something. Vice President Masterson presented a certificate of appreciation to Mr. Bianco for his educational offering to the Central Arizona Chapter RSES.
SECRETARY’S NOTES
I wish to remind the membership that (as of 10 July), 16 of us have yet to pay our dues. It is hoped that this was/is an oversight that will be corrected and not the result of a loss of valuable members. In this day and age, as you can see from the above meeting notes, it’s imperative that we keep up with the rapidly changing technology in our field. Dropping out should not be an option!
Last month, I sent a hard copy of the COOL NEWS to every member that does not have access to e-mail, or at least that’s what the membership list indicates. I did this, even though only six members indicated an interest in receiving the e-mail version of COOL NEWS. It’s possible that only 6 of the 32 members who apparently don’t have e-mail even care about receiving, or even reading, COOL NEWS. I’m not a mind reader, so I can’t tell how important, or even interesting, COOL NEWS is to the membership. My address is on the copy you received. So is my e-mail address. Please let me know your feeling. If you don’t care to receive the newsletter, it’ll save the chapter paper and postage.
You may know that I’ve written a few articles that were included in HVACR TODAY, our trade newspaper for this area of the country. Last month’s title was, “Could it be that some of us are frogs?” I remarked that, if you dropped a frog in hot water, he’d leap right out. However, if you dropped the frog into a container of cool water, then turned on the heat, he’d stay in the water till it was too late. Then, he couldn’t get out. It was my attempt to stir you fellow tradesmen who are content with the “status-quo”, satisfied with your “niche’, that if you don’t continually upgrade that wondrous computer that’s sitting on your shoulders, you just might someday find yourself completely obsolete. Why am I mentioning this? It’s to try to encourage you to continue studying HVACR technology, so you can “stay in the game”. One way is to take courses. Another is to attend meetings at the RSES Chapter level. We almost always have worthwhile training sessions by competent speakers. Yet, of the 93 members of our local chapter, usually only 8 to 10, and often less, care to show up.
It might help bolster attendance if some of our members would tell us what they would like in the way of trade education. I think that we could do a pretty good job of finding experts in whatever area of HVACR expertise is needed. We may have “tunnel vision” and be completely overlooking areas in our trade that need our attention. TELL US! Let us know what would get you off the couch and into our educational meeting! Bring your spouse as a guest. He/she might learn how important it is to keep informed.
Mr. Bianco Accepting Certificate of Appreciation From all of us at CAZRSES

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
The Central Arizona Chapter (RSES) Board of Directors met on July 24, 2008. Present were Perry Anderson, Chapter President, Shawn Masterson CM, Vice President and Acting Treasurer, and Richard Langill CM, Chapter Secretary and Newsletter Editor.
As stated in the July Meeting Minutes, the up-coming International Conference is a major chapter concern, so, was discussed further at the Board Meeting. When hundreds of people converge on a city to attend a conference such as the aforementioned, first consideration is, “Where will they stay?”. Fortunately, for us, Headquarters handles the hotel problem, lifting a huge burden off of our backs. Next, although the conference will consume hours of their time, there are occasions when large groups will have time “on their hands” to visit nearby places of interest. For instance, the Ice Plant, amongst others, was mentioned as an interesting site Obviously, tours entail tour guides, contact with site personnel, travel arrangements in some cases; in short, there’s a lot of work to do to make the conference a memorable event for attendees. To our great benefit, our President and Vice President are actively involved. Mr. Masterson CM, has been communicating with Headquarters concerning an attempt to secure a date in 2010. The National Board had already approved holding the 2009 conference in Minneapolis, MN. They (MN Chapter) had requested this date (2009) a full year in advance. So, although we hope for a 2010 date, and it seems so far away, realistically it is fast approaching and we have much to do to prepare. A letter to Mr. Masterson from HQ reminds us that we must look for exhibitors, industry tours, sponsors and advertisers for the Conference Book, speakers, and details too numerous to list here.
Tentatively, President Perry Anderson has been recruited to attend a CARSES Conference in Tucson. More information will follow.
Richard Langill CM brought to the Board’s attention that, although only six members that do not have e-mail access asked for paper copies to be sent via U.S Postal Service, he (the editor) mailed copies to all members in that category. Surprisingly, about one third of the members have not informed headquarters that they, in fact, do have e-mail access. So, it was determined at the latest board Meeting that we would mail copies to that group of members. We don’t want anyone to miss getting the COOL NEWS. Although this method of communications cuts our postage costs by the aforementioned one third, it’s still a costly venture. So, if you, in fact, do have e-mail access and would accept that method of receiving COOL NEWS rather than a “hard copy”, we’d appreciate your acknowledgement. Either by notifying headquarters, or the COOL NEWS EDITOR (rlangill2@yahoo.com) , your cooperation will help reduce postal and printing expenses.
The Board Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:30 PM.
AUGUST 14 2008 CHAPTER MEETING TO BE HELD AT SIGLER’S IN TOLLESON, AZ 6 PM (See directions below)
As usual, our meetings are packed with information and education. The August meeting will not be an exception. Although planning for the educational portion of the meeting has not been finalized at this writing, we hope to enlist Messrs. Jim Dalton, or Mike Kelley, both very competent providers of Technical Support and qualified instructors at Sigler’s.
Join us for refreshments and cranial enrichment! It’s easy to find Sigler’s Wholesale House. Exit S101 at 99th Street. Proceed South on 99th Street to West Tonto Street (which will be a left turn off 99th). You’ll see their flag flying and their modern facility at 9702 W. Tonto St. If you get lost and need directions, call 602-316-0156, 602-818-6365. We’ll guide you in to the meeting.
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