Five tools every new HVAC technician should have with them at all times

What's going on, guys? It's Mike here to bring you a little bit more content for you new aspiring HVAC techs, or maybe those of you who are considering a career in the trades, uh, whether it be HVAC or otherwise. Just bringing you some helpful tips and, uh, advice, uh, stuff that I wished I'd known earlier on along the way. Uh, just enjoying a nice beautiful afternoon. Uh, got called off today because there's not much going on. We're in that slow season between Fall and spring. Excuse me, fall and winter. And it's just about 53 degrees outside, so I guess nobody's furnace has broken down today. Good news, I've fixed them all, so that's all right. The agenda for today is just to create some videos, and I just kind of wanted to reach out to you. I've seen several of my compadres out there creating videos on, you know, what's in my tool bag, what do I carry in my bucket, what's in What's in my truck? And you know, one thing as a technician, and especially as a new guy, you want to make sure that you're very aware of what you have on your person at all times. Especially if you're starting out as a helper, you're probably going to be in a situation where your lead tech is asking you, hey, you got a screwdriver? Hey, you got a flashlight? Hey, write something down for me real quick. That's why there are 5 things that I think every new technician should keep in their pocket. And I'm, I'm in my 40s now, so I'm old enough to be able to use my shirt pocket, which, you know, that's an old dude thing to do, right? New guys don't use their shirt pockets, or at least I didn't. But you know what? There are 5 things that I think that you should start out carrying at all times in your pocket, no matter where you go. Even if you're just in the gas station grabbing a pop between work orders, having these 5 things will help you to always stay conscious, stay aware, and to stay prepared in case of any type of a need. The first one is a notebook. I know it doesn't seem very exciting, but this is one of the most important tools, especially early on. And honestly, as you go on, you'll see that you'll never outgrow this because your brain is going to fill up with so much information so quickly, and there's going to be an increase in the amount of information coming at you. That it's going to be impossible to retain it all. You know, did I, did I need to get a can— did I need to get, you know, how many of which size couplings, um, elbows, or, or street 90s did I need for, for this job? I'm going down to the supply house. Oh man, I better write that down so that I remember. Um, you know, tomorrow I've got to be at the shop a little early for, uh, for a, uh, for a service call. Oh, I better write that down because I guarantee you when I get a mile down the road, that, that may as well be out the window. Um, whatever it is, even if it's something that's kind of monotonous, um, you know, one thing that, that has helped me that others have, have kind of coached me on is writing down your steps. You know, especially if you're in a job that's getting a little more complex, getting a little bit over your head, it can be very helpful to stop a minute And take out your pen and paper and think, okay, what did I do when I first got here? That's step one. Then what did I do? Step two. Did I pop a stick of gum in my mouth? Okay, that's step three. Everything, even if it doesn't seem like it's relevant or it might be you know silly, include it because to be perfectly honest, that may be the clue to clue you into where maybe you went wrong or missed a step. Or maybe there's something else that you need to try that you normally wouldn't have thought to do in that given situation. Write down your steps. And if you do that enough, eventually it becomes so ingrained in your head that you can recite your steps without even thinking about it. One thing I hate is if my boss asks me, you know, well, what did you do when you got to this, to this job? What were your steps? I hate drawing a blank. So if I write down my steps, I can't draw a blank because I know exactly what I've done. The other thing is pretty obvious, goes right along with it. Just plain old pen. Always keep a pen in your pocket. Cool thing is there's umpteen million boxes, packages, and little scraps of paper. If you lose your notebook or set it down or leave it at home, there's probably something to write on. The other thing is we should be in the habit of when we replace filters, we should always write our date on the filter. Now some people might want to do their initials, their company name, their birth, you know, their lottery numbers, whatever, but at the very least you should always write the date that that filter was changed. It's always nice when you go in on a maintenance or a service call and you see a date on the filter. That'll clue you in right there. If that filter date is 3 years old, Then you know, oh God, you know, this, you know, this is— there, this furnace is a mess. If you see that filter was just changed a month ago, then that tells you like, okay, this— somebody has looked at this at least. Uh, so that, that can just kind of help you. The other thing that I like to keep, and actually it's honestly I use this more for my filters, is a Sharpie. Um, especially with labeling parts or what in your work truck too. And, and again Writing dates on filters. Sometimes you need something a little more bold than a than a marker or something more permanent, or rather than a pen, something a little more permanent. I always carry both a Sharpie and a and a pen. Black, you could. I mean, sometimes people use red, blue. What I just like black ink on everything. The other thing is my thermostat screwdriver. Now this is the Klein. They are not a sponsor, but you know. Hey Klein, if you're listening, I'm open. This is a Klein 4-in-1. Actually, I think it's a 6-in-1 because you could use these little slots as nut drivers, but I don't think I've ever really encountered any nuts or any screws that size on any systems. But yeah, it's got basically a small Phillips, large Phillips, small standard screwdriver, large screwdriver. Nice thing with this too is that the knob on the end of the handle actually rotates. So you can, uh, kind of makes it a little easier when you're in a tight space. You don't need to turn your hand, you can just, you know, rotate the screwdriver. But keeping that with you, and not just with thermostats, but you'll find all kinds of uses for this. And, and, you know, sometimes honestly, you know, I've used it to open a box. I've, you know, I, I've, I've found all kinds of needs for it. Um, I, uh, I definitely recommend keeping your little thermostat screwdriver in your pocket at all times. There is nothing more frustrating than going to a job. Where's the first place you go when you show up at a service call? You're going to go to the thermostat, but you don't have a thermostat screwdriver with you. Maybe you want to jump out, you know, R to Y to get, you know, to override the thermostat to get the AC to come on. Well, you're not going to have much luck with that if the screwdriver isn't in your pocket. The other thing is a little pen light. Um, I carry anywhere from— oh God, probably 3, 4, 5 different types of flashlights in my truck, but this guy stays in my pocket at all times. You know, when you're first getting to a job, and especially, you know, on maintenances, it's really good to be able to shine the light and kind of just look around at stuff. You also— sometimes homeowners, you know, they might send you down to the basement to go work on their furnace and you don't know where the light switches are. Well, turn your light on. It's right there. You can find stuff. Um, I've, uh, you know, it just makes life a whole lot easier when you can see where you're going. I've certainly tried to creep my way through dark basements or attics trying to poke around to find a light switch, and you know, it's just so much quicker if I just take this out of my pocket and shine it at the walls and find the switch. Um, the other thing is like on maintenances, again, this is really easy to stick down into the heat exchanger tubes and just kind of really, really look as far as you can to see If there's any rust or pitting, any signs of cracking down in the heat exchanger. You know, just there's 1,001 different good reasons that you can cite for carrying a flashlight with you. But these are the top 5 things. You know, I always used to say that every tech should be able to go through 90% of their day with a crescent wrench, an 11-in-1, and their multimeter and not need to touch any other tools. But to be perfectly honest, these five tools are probably the most important members of my arsenal that I have. They get me through the start of each day, each service call, and before I even know what each service call is going to bring, I have probably pulled these out and used them in in just getting the situation assessed so I know how to proceed. Hey, this is Mike once again. I thank you guys for watching. If you made it this long, definitely send give me a like. And share with any friends that might be interested in the trade, especially if you know of anybody who's just getting started. And, you know, if you're a, if you're a more seasoned guy or a business owner and, you know, you've just thought, man, I wish that new guy had known this or that before I hired him, let me know. I'd love to maybe do a video on that. So if you have suggestions for other topics, don't hesitate to reach out, or even just reach out and say hi. Have a great day, guys. Be safe out there, and we'll talk soon. Bye-bye. Bye.