I have been a registered user for 5 years and find the content to be most useful. I get reminders from the moderator to stop lurking and introduce myself, but could never find the 'Introduction' forum. Personally, I recently retired from over 40 years as a semiconductor industry exec, have an engineering background, and have always had too many hobbies, including refrigeration.

I know you professionals will say that this is a serious business, not for amatuers. I fully agree. While self taught, (I think I own every significant refrigeration book written) I am pretty competant and well equipped including proper recovery equipment and tanks. I observe all safety and legal requirements. I have both general refrigeration and automobile certs in the USA. I live in northern California, east of San Francisco. I think I fit into the category of Renaissance tinker.

Collect and ride motorcycles (if you Brits want to see an interesting version of a Triumph Bonneville, send me an email and I'll send you a JPEG).

I have an interesting garage (shed to you blokes), about 250 sq meters, filled with machine tools, welding equipment, a 10,000 lb hydraulic car lift, diesel forklift (to move the stuff around) and a lot of sheet metal gear. It's where I spend all the time I can working on cars and my motorcycles. Just finishing the restoration of a 1965 Ford Mustang, including new engine and a lot of suspension work. My next venture is into CNC gear.

Again, thanks to the entire group and moderator for providing one of the most useful sites on the web. I'll certainly respond to any question I feel competant to address, but most of you are beyond my level of knowledge when it comes to HVAC.

Rick Marz