Design youre own tool

[Latte]

Hi all,

There used to be interviews in one the the trade magazines (Might have been Service engineer or RAC) where they asked the interviewe if they could design a tool to make the job easier what would it be. So to start the ball rolling (Having just got in from a call on a motorway service area roof mine would be a Rechargable Vac pump. Everything else can be done without power (Pressure test with ofn, fix, recharge etc) but you need power to vac out.

So there's my tool i would like someone to build, what else would you like

[Magoo]

Hi Latte.
A good point, running an extension lead miles, and all the greif with the site rules etc.. electricity, RCD's and similar stuff, no moblile phones , no welding, no whatever crap. Safe site licence, what ever.
Out of left feild, what about a bunch of pre-vacuumed service bottles. Or a power pack with invertor that powers regular vac pump.
magoo

[Spencer.Guy]

Rechargable Vac pump.

Solar powered do you?

.

[thebigcheese]

purge...................
i didnt really mean it before i get shouted at

[eggs]

Why dont you carry one of these on a bit of flex



naughty but nice.

I have now started fitting them as a matter of course inside our VRV/F systems.

Eggs

[chemi-cool]

Like Eggs,
This is my solution. There is always electric board, use it.

[monkey spanners]

There was a small diesel engined recovery machine on ebay the other week that i so nearly bid on, i had in the past thought of making one but i'd just get silly with it and before long it would weigh about 2 tons and need a hiab to move it about

[Voyager]

Vac down in akward places? Not a problem.

I do a mobile service for Vehicle A/C, and use an 850w DC inverter. I can use the battery on the customers car in places like factory car parks, or use my car and an extension lead. I also have one of those car emergency starter/booster packs.

That 850w inverter runs my 350w vac pump for upto 40 minutes.

One thing I would like to see/buy, is a battery pack with built in DC inverter. I've see them with lights, 12v DC power outlets, compressors, you name it - but none with an inverter.

[chemi-cool]

Vac down in akward places? Not a problem.

I do a mobile service for Vehicle A/C, and use an 850w DC inverter. I can use the battery on the customers car in places like factory car parks, or use my car and an extension lead. I also have one of those car emergency starter/booster packs.

That 850w inverter runs my 350w vac pump for upto 40 minutes.

One thing I would like to see/buy, is a battery pack with built in DC inverter. I've see them with lights, 12v DC power outlets, compressors, you name it - but none with an inverter.

Thats only good in car parks.
If you are on a roof, its a different story.

[Brian_UK]

As long as the sparky isn't watching, take the power from the unit itself.

[Latte]

As long as the sparky isn't watching, take the power from the unit itself.

Yeah, thats what i would normally do. My Reclaim and vac pump seem to have the plug off every time i go to use them cos i havnt bothered putting it back on after doing that. Trouble is it was 10pm last night on a pitch black roof and couldnt be arsed to mess about wiring in. Eventually decided it was easier with a 50m extension lead

[chemi-cool]

I use a air pressure 8 mm flex tube 25M long to fill up high units, such tube can be helpful on such cases.

[Voyager]

Thats only good in car parks.
If you are on a roof, its a different story.

That's what the battery booster pack is for.
The one I have is in a plastic case with carry handle, and weighs about the same as a 30lb gas bottle.

[bill1983]

how about an apprentice that's interested enough, doesn't stand around with his hands in his pants, can make a decent brew and who will also do standby with you, can drive sing and hold a decent enough conversation and doesn't fall asleep when you have to drive more than 30 miles...............or am i asking for the impossible?

[Latte]

how about an apprentice that's interested enough, doesn't stand around with his hands in his pants, can make a decent brew and who will also do standby with you, can drive sing and hold a decent enough conversation and doesn't fall asleep when you have to drive more than 30 miles...............or am i asking for the impossible?

apprentice, havnt seen one of them for years

[yorkshire]

apprentice, havnt seen one of them for years

Last one i saw on service was about 10 years ago, seen a few on installs but they never seem to arrive on the service side.

[djbe]

Don't know about design your own tool? BUT..........the one tool (or several) is the Carters engineers that clog up my wholesalers at certain times in the week when they are obviously trying to avoid work while I want to get served and get on!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Paul J]

A thread started earlier about acid testing via gas release has made me think of an invention that the oil manufacturers could look into. If they put a test liquid in the oil and it changed the oil colour to red if acid was present then all you would need to do was look in the oil sight glass, this would mean the engineer would not have to open the system to check for acid. I know alot of compressors don't have sightglasses but the liquid line does and we all know that the oil in any refrig system travels around the entire system, or maybe the acid test could be incorporated into the sightglass like the moisture indicator. just a thought

[kevmass]

I think some wireless guages, i mean no hoses would be good i find that the hoses cuase a trip hazard when working on a pack in the middle of a night. how many packs do you know have the lights working in them or roofs with decent lighting ?

[dannycool]

how about an apprentice that's interested enough, doesn't stand around with his hands in his pants, can make a decent brew and who will also do standby with you, can drive sing and hold a decent enough conversation and doesn't fall asleep when you have to drive more than 30 miles...............or am i asking for the impossible?

A 12 inch cable tie jammed up the nose soon sorts that out