Mike PleziaInside service technician, Clark Associates · Commercial Equipment, HVAC, and Refrigeration professional

Electricity Wants to Complete the Circuit | HVACR Mentor

28 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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1:05

In this instructional monologue, the speaker addresses newcomers to the HVAC/R trades, explaining that electricity’s sole purpose is to complete a circuit. By internalizing this principle, troubleshooting becomes more systematic: instead of memorizing symptoms, technicians should trace the circuit from its source to its destination, using wiring diagrams as a roadmap, and identify what is preventing completion. Typical obstacles include an open switch, a blown fuse, a faulty contactor, or a broken wire. The speaker emphasizes reading diagrams, following the electrical path, and asking "what is stopping the circuit?" as the core of effective electrical troubleshooting.

Chapters

Hey, are you new to the trades? Let's talk about how electricity actually thinks. It wants one thing: to complete the circuit. That's it. Electricity isn't looking for a fight, it's not trying to shock you, it just wants to find a path from one side to the other and complete that loop. When you understand that, troubleshooting gets a lot cleaner. Instead of memorizing symptoms, start following the path. Where does the circuit start? Where does it need to end up? What's in between? Something is stopping the circuit from completing. Your job is to find what. Open switch? Blown fuse? Bad contactor? Broken wire? Follow the path. That's why wiring diagrams matter. They're not just maps, they're the story of how the electricity is supposed to travel. Learn to read the diagram. Follow the path. Ask what's stopping it from completing. That's electrical troubleshooting in a nutshell. Now that you know, you can help someone else know.