Teaching Apprentices

Jackmartin

This is a pet peeve of mine, because in my eyes ,we are failing the youngsters we are supposed to be teaching. The latest episode came up last month. My neighbour asked me to look at his hot water heating system circa 1923. I told him to call his plumbing and heating guy because, I take a piece of advise Dan gave many years ago—- do not under any circumstances do a job for a neighbour or your church it can only come out badly. So, my neighbour phones the youngster to have a look at his solarium because in the years he has lived in the house ,the radiator was colder than my mother in laws heart. The kid tells my neighbour in good conscience he thinks the piping should be changed? That did not seem right to our victim so he asked me once more or what I should really say ,talked to my wife who ordered me to fix this poor mans problem. We have lived next to this house for thirty plus years so I have some history with it. I of course ,went next door ,I didn’t want to eat salad all week. He showed me the system and the rads that remained as cold as charity and said should he go ahead with the repipe? This system was installed in 1923 so it must of worked at some point, don’t you think. I looked at the rads shook my head asked for a pair of pliers and vented the rads, Oh My God they worked, so now he thinks I sit at Gods right hand as his HVAC guy. The point is ,the youngster is an honest man ,he genuinely thought the only way to get the problem solved was a repipe. This leads to my question ;what kind of useless idiots did he have as an apprentice, they couldn’t show the boy how to vent a rad and more importantly they never told him why. The future generations will be only as good as we teach them unless they like to read, which unfortunately most don’t. Anyway Stay Well-and Be Blessed Jack

EdTheHeaterMan

I like your writing style, Reminds me of some guy that pops in here now and then (over 12,000 times). Also agree with your beef! I wish I could Like, LOL, Agree, and Awesome your post

motoguy128

A lot of bosses are better at running a business and selling new HVAC equipment rather than training and teaching help.  It’s a very different skill set.  

EBEBRATT-Ed

One of Dan's comments always sticks with me, "If you vent it and you don't get air it's not an air problem"

I piped a new boiler and for a 1" zone I put in a Honeywell 1" zone valve which had a 3.5Cv. When I started the system up the water didn't seem to be moving

I bled and bled and didn't get any air but I kept bleeding even though Dan's comment was ringing in my ears

That night I sat down with my B & G wheel and realized the 3.5 Cv valve had too much resistance. I swapped it for a 1" Taco with a 7Cv and all is well. Never too old to learn, but I should have caught it before I installed the Honeywell

Erin Holohan Haskell

I've attached article called "Solving the Apprenticeship Problem" from Sanitary and Heating Engineering Magazine's May 18, 1923 issue. Even then, as you're pointing out Jack, it came down to education.

I got to pop in on one of @Dan Foley's classes for AACP apprentices last night. He's taking time out of his hectic schedule to give back and those are some very lucky students to have him as a teacher.

Thank you to Dan and to all who are willing to pay it forward and share their time and knowledge, whether on the job, in the classroom, or in forums like this. We're all better for it.

retiredguy

In my 35+ years of servicing low and high pressure steam and hot water boilers fired with any type fuel in the commercial and industrial setting I was only able to find 1 person who actually desired and wanted to learn about our trade. He would tackle any problem as long as he was given the guidence needed to solve a problem. I always stressed safety first. He never asked how much he would be paid since he knew it would be satisfing. He also never asked about lunch time or breaks during the day. We took both when time allowed. I could tell you some stories about the apprentices that came to the company looking for work. Most did not know how to use the basic wrenches.