Feature
TOOLS AND TOOLING:
FOLLOWING TRENDS, BLUETOOTH
CONNECTIVITY AND BEYOND
By Benjamin Brits
No matter what the area of specialisation of your business, the HVACR
sector requires a substantial toolbox for technicians as products are
continually improved to cater to changing market needs.
The topic of tooling is so vast it could essentially fill an
entire publication. In this article we aim to highlight
some new tooling and trends that could assist in how you
consider your tooling setup in the current environment. As
you would know, the better efficiency you can work towards,
the more this translates into savings, and savings into a
competitive advantage.
The tools and tooling required for ventilation, new
installations or maintenance jobs will no doubt be very different,
and most technicians will favour a particular or preferred set of
tools to perform their jobs, some preferring traditional tools and
some embracing the advancements that technology offers.
There are naturally basic tools and tooling that will be
applicable to all technicians such as hammers, pipe cutters, plier
sets and screwdrivers, but technicians require a much broader set
of tooling as they are often required to do various overlapping
tasks that may include sheet work, pipe work, working with
refrigerants and electrical work. Generally, this type of tooling is
available in kits or tool-bags from reputable suppliers.
As much as I’m sure you are tired of hearing about Covid-19,
it has turned things upside-down all over the world, from
manufacturing plants to simple things like the way we have to
interact with others. It has also highlighted awareness around
building-health where the HVACR sector plays a significant
role, and where building designers now have a special focus on
airflows and social distancing for the future.
SOME NEW ESSENTIALS, SOME
ESSENTIALS TO REVISIT
Cleaning and disinfection
The inside of an air-conditioner or ventilation system is arguably
a perfect spot for many kinds of pathogens, being moist and
warm – and not just limited to the latest coronavirus because
that is what is part of almost every discussion at the moment.
Rothenberger South Africa now offers a new product
for the sector – a portable spraying backpack holding a
15l capacity, where
you mix in the required
amount of detergent/
disinfectant/antiseptic
liquid for cleaning and
disinfecting of HVAC
systems. The backpack
works with the cordless
alliance system (CAS)
rechargeable battery, so
the battery is also multipurpose
and compatible
with other CAS tools and
the statistics indicate
at least 100l of spraytime,
while maintaining
a particular pressure
via the electronicallycontrolled
pump.
It has three different
types of nozzles, a direct strong spray for harder surfaces, an
intermediate spray, and a very fine mist spray. The direct hard
nozzle is used on the external side of the building to clean out the
outside parts of an air-conditioning (AC) unit. The intermediate
nozzle is used predominantly for inside of buildings, inside AC
units and vents. The mist nozzle is for smaller units and cleaning
of the sensitive condenser fins.
Probe sets
Testo South Africa has introduced a new refrigeration
smart-probe-set that allows measurement of superheat and
subcooling via your phone at distances of up to 100m. If you
have a very large system you are able to, for example, put one
probe 50m from another probe while you stand in the middle
with your smartphone and select the probe you want to access
the data from.
Rothenberger
The Rosani
Clean 15
supplied by
Rothenberger
has stainless
steel
components
suitable for use
with various
disinfectants.
www.hvacronline.co.za RACA Journal I September 2020 29