Scott Brown

[Scott Brown]

Hi Jim,

Sorry about the problems with the videos. The videos you’re having problems viewing are streamed from Amazon S3. All the others are streamed from Youtube. I’ve moved the videos in the supplemental section to Youtube as well so they should play correctly for you.

To replay any of the videos in the Youtube player, click the looped arrow symbol in the lower left-hand corner of the player.

Let me know if you have any other problems or questions!

Scott

[Scott Brown]

Hi Chance, this is a great question, thanks for posting it! (although I will move it to the Orientation forum).

First, I just want to point out that these forums are not a public area. Only students can access them. Not even search engines are allowed in here. If casual surfers or un-enrolled site members try to access these forums, they are re-directed to the Enrollment page.

Second, because this is a real school and learning environment, we encourage using real names and real head shot photos for your avatar. I do this myself– you’ll see my real name and photo in each of my posts here.

However, using real names and photos is not a requirement here in the Boot Camp and we understand and respect each student’s choice for privacy.

Please let me know if have any other questions.

Scott

[Scott Brown]

Hi Billy,

I’ll recreate questions 13 and 14 from the quiz for Unit 5 in the Basic Electricity module.

Question 13: In which circuit will the heating element be getting power and heating?

Answers:
1. A
2. B
3. Both
4. Neither

The correct answer is A. The heating element will not heat in circuit B because the switch is bypassing, or shunting, the heater. Current will follow the path of least resistance and flow through the switch. Only circuit A will provide power to the heating element.

Question 14: In which circuit will the light bulb glow brighter?
Answers:
1. A
2. B
3. Both
4. Neither

The correct answer is B. Remember that in a series circuit, the voltage drop across each load is proportional to the resistance of that load. In circuit A, the current must flow through the heating element and will drop some voltage across the element, leaving less voltage available to light up the light bulb. In circuit B, the light bulb gets all the voltage since the heating element is being bypassed.

Please let me know if this doesn’t help explain it. Understanding the concepts of voltage, voltage drops, and loads are crucial for effective troubleshooting and are covered in more detail in Unit 8 of the Basic Electricity module: http://appliancetechbootcamp.com/module-3/basic-electricity-voltage-drop-and-load/

[Scott Brown]

Hi Sam,

Great question! I think you may have been trained with what’s called conventional current flow. Conventional current flow says that current flows from positive to negative. This was based on a early misconception about how electricity works. It’s also what electrical engineers still use today so that convention is still very much alive.

We have since learned that current actually flows from negative to positive. This is the motion of the negatively charged electrons. This understanding is called actual current flow or electron current flow.

Turns out that either system works as long as you’re consistent.

Almost all technicians are taught actual current flow and this is what the Kleinert text uses as well. Please review pages 151 and 152 in the Kleinert text and let me know if you have any other questions on this. In particular, have a look at Figs. 7-18 and 7-19.

I would be happy to continue discussing this with you.

[Scott Brown]

Hi Bill,

Warranty work can be a real mixed bag depending on the manufacturer. Also, for best profitability, you want the bulk of your service company revenue to be from COD customers because warranty work pays so little.

To my first point about it being a mixed bag… Some manufacturers are such a PITA to work for that it’s just not worth jumping through all their hoops only to get paid a pittance. Whirpool and LG probably have the worst reputation in this regard.

The quid pro quo with warranty work is that you get the manufacturer’s COD referral. This is nice but if the manufacturer also sends you a lot of in-warranty work it neutralizes any benefit from the COD referral.

My strategy for warranty work, and one that has worked out well for me, is to only do warranty work for high-end manufactures. This has several advantages:
1. Because their products are better, you tend not to get very many in-warranty calls and most of your referrals from the manufacturer are COD.
2. This gets you in the kind of homes you want to be in– homes of people who can afford and are more than willing to pay for high quality service.

Currently, I only do warranty work for Dacor and AGA/Marvel and I would recommend these two companies– very easy to work for, they pay well for warranty work and you don’t actually do much warranty work for them. But I would also recommend Bosch, Sub-Zero/Wolf, and Viking.

Scott

[Scott Brown]

Hi Marty,

I accept checks, all credit cards, cash, gold, and winning lottery tickets and we actually say this in the FAQ section of our service website: http://applianceguru.com/faq.html

We have a carefully-worded standard spiel that we say to every customer on the phone explaining exactly how our service works so they know what to expect. Part of that spiel is that payment is expected at the time the service is complete, that we do not bill or invoice, and we explain how they can pay. So there’s no ambiguity. You have to be very clear when it comes to explaining money and payment to people so there is no confusion in their mind.

Writing bad checks is a felony New Hampshire so in the 20 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve only had one bad check and the town police chief got my money for me the next day.

We also give a $25 discount of the repair ticket if the entire ticket is paid in full with cash.

If you have a smart phone, Square is the best way to go for credit card processing: http://squareup.com

Low, flat rate processing fees, no monthly charges, uses a (free) card reader that you plug into the earbud jack of your phone, and you have your money the next day. Been using them for two years now with zero problems.

[Scott Brown]

Hi Chris,

I’ll start off by saying that each area is different and has unique quirks that make some advertising mediums surprisingly effective. An example is in our area, we have this advertising rag called The Kearsarge Shopper. In any other area, this would be a nothing ad rag that no one would bother reading. But in the Kearsarge-Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire, it’s an advertising juggernaut! Any business that wants to be seen in this area runs a weekly ad in the The Shopper. We get several calls a week from the The Shopper alone that pay for the $200/month we spend in advertising fees many times over.

The Shopper is an example of a regional phenomenon. You may have something similar in your area. If so, identify it and use.

The Shopper is also an exception to the general rule in advertising to day: print advertising is a waste of money. This includes the Yellow Pages. If you have a business phone number, you’ll get a free line listing in the Yellow Pages and that’s enough.

For us, Google Adwords have been extremely effective. Once you dial it in with your keywords and zip codes, the cost is very reasonable. During the busy season, we’ll typically spend about $150/month on Google Adwords and it’s ROI (Return on Investment) exceeds that of The Shopper by 2 to 3 times.

You should also get into Social Media– Mrs. Samurai will have more to say about that.

Scott

[Scott Brown]

The electrons are TOTALLY reusable! In fact, they are reused 60 times per second in an AC circuit.

That’s what makes copper (and other conductors) so special: each of the molecules that make up the metal have an electron that they’re willing to let go of easily.

What actually happens is that an electron from a neighboring molecule is knocked loose and hits it, knocking one of its own electrons out of place. The electron then goes to the next molecule down the line and knocks another electron out of place.

These electrons are all the same so they’re what’s called “fungible.” In other words, one electron will suffice for any other electron. Petroleum is another example of a fungible commodity: petroleum pumped up from anywhere in the world can substitute for any other sourced petroleum.

But I digress… The electrons in the metal conductor (usually copper) are never used up. They simply shuffle back and forth between molecules, doing work as they travel.

Did that help clear things up?

[Scott Brown]

Hi Allen,

Good question! I’m sure lots of people have a hard time wrapping their heads around this. Let’s see if I can make this clearer for you.

First, understand that when electrons flow through a filament or heating element, the copper wire is not actually giving off electrons. The electrons stay in the wire. If this were not the case, then the wire would quickly deteriorate into a pitted pile of ash.

The electrons flowing through the filament or heating element are doing work, but are never consumed in the process.

When the electrons flow through a filament, for example, they heat the filament and cause the metal in the filament to give off photons. This is a special property of the filament metal. And, in this case, the filament does eventually break for this very reason.

It may help to think of water flowing in a pipe that does work by making a turbine wheel spin. The water is not consumed in this process.

Does this help clear it for you?

[Scott Brown]

Hi Chris,

Triacs are solid-state devices whereas relays are electromechanical devices. Triacs are often called solid state relays because the serve similar functions: use a small control source to switch a larger working source.

Triacs are actually current-controlled devices where a little milliamp gate current can be used to control a much larger working current, like for a heating element, which can have 10 amps or more flowing through. This is also why a common failure display of a triac is to burn out or “explode” (in a very miniature way).

A relays supplying the same load wouldn’t explode as a failure mode– it’s contacts would simply arc either preventing a connection or getting fused (stuck) together.

Triacs are interesting devices, like most of the solid state devices are and there’s a lot to know about them from an engineering standpoint. As techs, we just need to understand what they do and how they can affect a circuit we’re working on. But if you’d like to know more, start with this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIAC

[Scott Brown]

Thanks, Chris!

I just wanted add one more thing about the term “potential difference.” This term is sometimes used because it is descriptive of how voltage is measured. Voltage is always measured relative to some reference point. In other words, there is no absolute voltage of, say 0 volts, that exists somewhere in the universe. Voltage at some point is always relative to some other point. The term “potential difference” makes this clearer because it implies two points and the question, “difference between what?”

The term “Electromotive Force” is used more in academic settings because it is a more precise term for what voltage is and does: a strange force that pushes electrons and makes them move (if there’s a complete circuit, of course).

[Scott Brown]

Hi Chris,

Good questions! Thanks for asking.

Electromotive Force (EMF) is another word for voltage. Funny thing about voltage or EMF– no one really knows what it is. They know how it MANIFESTS (charge, coulombs, etc) but they don’t know where these originate. It’s a god-particle kind of quest. But we don’t need to know that to know how it acts and what it does. We can even describe it with equations.

Potential difference is the same thing as voltage difference, for example the voltage difference you may measure at a wall outlet. Not to be confused with a voltage DROP, which is something that happens across a load as a result of current flowing through it. Potential difference is the “E” in E=I*R.

Chris, I see you’ve completed the Basic Electricity module but we’ve not gotten any feedback from you on any of the units in that module. Ideally, we’d like the feedback as soon as the unit is completed so it’s fresh on your mind. Could you please send those into us before you start the next module?

Thanks!

Scott

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