How did you get into this?

[Tycho]

For me... My uncle works as an electrical engineer on supply ships for the oilindustry, and he just happened to be home from work at the time I finished my school year of machining and mechanical work.

I was fresh out of ideas of what I wanted to do with my life, I had read the pamplet of what I could continue my education to, and excavator operator didnt quite catch my fancy.

My uncle kept talking about these refrigeration guys, making money out of their arses doing little or no work so I checked it out and got the papers sent to me at school (had to special order them as people normaly didnt apply for this "Highly specialized trade")

I applied for "Basic class refrigeration" and got accepted... I spent 1 year calculating Q=m*c*AT and all that, soldered up a small copper plant and got the basic knowledge of electrics. midway through the school year we spent one week at a company in a sort of "get to know the trade" kinda thing, a company specialicing in supermarkets took me in, and after the third day of having old ladies rolling their carts over my legs as I was working on cooling displays I knew that I wanted to go bigger (I reasoned that these ladies had gone this way since 1945 and wouldnt let a pair of legs stop them from doing ther shopping), but still I wanted more... so they took me to a longliner where the old man of the company had to change a piece of pipe, he had me insulate a plate heat exchanger... he was brazing close to the floor while I was insulating close to the roof. the smoke from the brazing wasnt all that bad to breath in at the time, I managed to finish the insulating job before I had to go land side... I was walking back and forth on the quay coughing my lungs out... had to move around to get fresh air. at the time I thought it was from the oily smoke (one time deal I thought) I went back onboard, and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, my eyes were silver colored...

Still I think nothing of it and go help him finish.

When I finish my one week at this company I find that I want more, and for my apprentice ship I apply for a position in Kvaerner (big in industrial refrigeration) and get the job, after less than one week there I am taught he dangers of fosgen.

I guess the companies working on larger systems where soldering and fosgen is not really an issue teach more safety on it than the smaller ones who can get exposed to it every day.

Anyways... I have stayed in the same company for over 11 years now, come hell or high water...

there have been downtimes when I have looked for other jobs... Being a refrigeration techician/engineer (or Senior Supervisor as I am called now) I have qualifications withing most fields of mechanical work, I can program PLC's, I can program HMI's (human machine interfaces or touch displays), I can fault seek most electrical circuits... but my only paper of education says I'm a refrigeration engineer... so all my other accumulated knowledge doesnt matter

Dontcha just love this job

The last three years I have been looking for something else, something where I can maintain the pay level but work less, but everytime I find something, my "work experience" doesnt matter, only my education and what papers I can show... but also every time I find something appealing I think to myself "What other job has the same challenging work day, what other job gives you the variety of problems, what other job gives you the opportunity to run your own workday like this one"

I usualy come half way through my resume before I bin it and remember that there is no job in the world that can give yoyu this kind of diversity...

Monday from morning to lunch I can be programming a PLC and after lunch me and a co-worker are working on three - four pulleys/tackles to take out a compressor what kind of job gives you that?



I love my Job

[US Iceman]

I think you summed up the job duties quite well Tycho. This is one business that is never boring. Frustrating at times maybe, but never boring.

I got started with my grandfather when I was fairly young. Worked on things from ammonia, to supermarkets, to just about everything else.

I continued to do service and installations up to about 34 or so and then moved into design and application related work for ammonia, ***** stuff, propane, and all sorts of weird applications from chillers to chemical plant cooling.

I would not trade this experience for anything (except maybe money).

Have done some teaching for almost 20 years now in addition to other things, so I can always find something to do in my spare time (like being a mod for RE).

It's not a bad life, if you don't cave in when things get scary.

[The MG Pony]

Me grew up in a logging camp and all ways had a fasination with electrical machanical systems. Fridges all ways interested me, liked seeing how they could make things cold And started growing and became a hobby and now hope fully turning it into a carreer.

[alpha]

How did I get into refrigeration, well, I think it's been in the blood for a very,very long time. My fathers been a transport fridge guy since before I was born. When I was young, maybe around 10year old, I used to go out to work with him and help. I remember going to transport yards and watching him repair transport fridges, then after I while I was checking oil and water on the donkey engines, Back in those days there was bugger all health and safety so i guess I was allowed to learn young.

[The MG Pony]

Back in those days there was bugger all health and safety so i guess I was allowed to learn young.

Indeed long dead are the days of passing on ones knowledge to their children out in the field, and people wonder why there is a shortage of true 3rd Generation engineers!

[Abe]

I got into refrigeration because I needed a job, i got tested at the interview, the guy took the leads off a compressor and asked me to put it back......

I didnt have a clue, but the " boss" must have had one pint too many during lunch, so off he sauntered off to empty his sack.

I saw a guy working on a bench nearby, I asked him to sort it, he did.......and I got the job!!

Within 12 months I was made a " foreman" and then the "boss" retired, so I was made the Boss. Within 18 months of joining up.

I was in charge of 20 blokes and ran the whole department for another four years.

Then I left that fair land and came to the UK. Things were very differant here, not so easy to climb to the top that easily, so I started up on my own.

Fridge has been good to me, it enabled me to go to University and pick up three degrees, ( A fourth nearly there) This doesnt include my fridge qualifications ( City and Guilds and the like)

So thank you fridge for being so kind. I still have the bug, although I now work in law, I cannot resist helping out on an installation every now and then. All our work is now 70% air conditioning.

Its clean, quick and we walk away without any hassles.

[PaulZ]

I started off as a fitter and turner and decided after about 2 years there must be a better way of making a quid. I applied for a job at a chicken abbatoir as a fitter to look after the fridge and help out with the process equipment. Went back to college and did refrigeration and air conditioning.
That was 30 years ago and it was the best thing I could have done.
Have worked in the domestic commercial field for a couple oy years but ended up back in the industrial field where I still am.
Worked my way from general fridgie to trouble shooter/ commissioning tech to supervisor to service manager.
Even though there is a lot of stress, long hours, callouts, nasty clients and bitchy co workers I would do it all over again.
The number and variety of people I have met and the different plants I have worked on have made for a very interesting working career.
Have learnt lots and am still learning, wouldn't want to change jobs even if the money was better.
What other job offers the same challenges and satisfaction as this one.

[taz24]

Fridge has been good to me, it enabled me to go to University and pick up three degrees, ( A fourth nearly there) This doesnt include my fridge qualifications ( City and Guilds and the like)

So thank you fridge for being so kind. I still have the bug, although I now work in law, I cannot resist helping out on an installation every now and then. All our work is now 70% air conditioning.

Its clean, quick and we walk away without any hassles.

By gum Abe how old are you?
You've packed a lot into your years.

What type of Law do you do?
I it proper legal stuff like Rumpole or do you do buisness law?

Cheers taz.

[paul_h]

Completely by accident, if I had my time again maybe I wouldn't be a fridgey. Still I've tried other things, like doing computer science at uni, but got out of that after two years.

[Abe]

By gum Abe how old are you?
You've packed a lot into your years.

What type of Law do you do?
I it proper legal stuff like Rumpole or do you do buisness law?

Cheers taz.

Unfortunately Im a workaholic. can never sit still
I do employment law and a little business/ commercial law
Im in my late 40's

[Sinke]

I love my Job

....Good...
...and fine beer,also...