How to be a better engineer

[tommo12]

Hi i have been in the trade for about 18 months now , I have a good working knowledge of refrigeration and ac , and can diagnose most faults I come across and repair them , the trouble is I have ended up working on ac splits mainly mitsi and daikin and although i enjoy my job I cannot help feel I should be working more on my refrigeration knowledge , are there any good training courses out there that are hands on

[sedgy]

hi tommo 12,
on your contract of employment
what dost it say you are employed to work on ? may be your employers might think you are best suited to a-c
or do you think you know best ?
sedgy

[Magoo]

Ask your employer for something a little bit more challenging. Plus read up on anything and everything on your own time.
Once you think you know everything about anything A/C and refrigeration is time for a career change. After 40 plus years I am still learning daily.
I think it was Churchill that said "I am open to learning but do not lecture me " . Don't know the relevence, but thought it was a kool saying.

[Tesla]

Hi tommo12
I have a different perspective on things - this is my experience anyway. Once you think you know it all, you (like me) will realise how much you don't know and how much more there is to learn. I was told that once I had my trade cert, then I had a license to start learning. If you want to learn about refrigeration you will need to work on refrigeration equipment no so much a/c. A/c there is a lot more air and controls also the product you are cooling is people where refrigeration the product doesn't talk back. There are many good books to learn from and ebooks. Perhaps there is an industry organisation where you live - in Ausi and NZ we have AIRAH and IRACE, there will also be local technical traning centers where you could talk to one of the tutors for advise on courses. Best of luck with your career and just keep learning. Just you asking the question shows you have a good attitude and an interest in the trade.

[Paul J]

BE PATIENT, it takes almost 4 years in NZ before you have your trade cert. If your boss is good he will see you improving and move you up, until then keep learning cause noboby knows it all, especially the guys who think they do, cheers Paul

[Bones]

best way to learn is hands on, where i used to work when i started my apprenticeship we worked on commercial and domestic a/c and refrigeration and by the time i got to end of my 4th year we were entirely a/c domestic splits (h/walls and ducted units) because the boss thought he made more money out of installing 5 splits a day then refrigeration breakdowns which was true.

but for your skills its not helping with the big picture as apprentices that started after me were good at putting holes in walls flaring pipes and vac'ing units but had no idea about anything else... if they couldnt get an error code from unit to say HP fault or LP fault they'd have no idea to see if cond fan isnt going or filters blocked or unit lost gas etc...

you never stop learning, push yourself if your current employer isnt into anything other then splits, see if you can land a job with a company that does larger commercial stuff then you will see some larger equipement and sometimes large headaches too lol

[charlie patt]

do you have fellow members of staff that are on call? offer to tag along when they are on call it may cost you a few hrs but its a good learning curve if you like it then speak to your employer