Refrigeration, Air Conditioning & Heating Technologies
600 Contact Hour / 34 Semester Credits
HVACR Career Opportunities
The career opportunities in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) are nearly limitless, and a career in this field means that a person will be participating in an industry revolution as equipment becomes more efficient and the industry adopts more energy saving devices. This means we need more technicians with better training.
Air Conditioning deals with heating and cooling for personal comfort. It is used in hospitals, skyscrapers, shopping centers, restaurants, homes - the list goes on. There are many different types of machines used to do the job of "conditioning the air," and whether it's a gas furnace, a chilled water system, or a heat pump, the equipment needs to be serviced by a trained technician.
Refrigeration is similar to air conditioning, but as air conditioning is heating and cooling for people, refrigeration is used to make something cold. Most of us think of this as our home refrigerator, a grocery store meat counter, or a soda machine. However, refrigeration is used in every step of the food processing channel, in medicine production and storage, and of course, it is critical to the National Hockey League. In fact, it is safe to say that 90% of all the process industries must use controlled temperature and humidity in their everyday functions!
The success of our graduates gives us pride in our program quality, and confidence of continued acceptance. These graduates are found in positions as high as vice president of maintenance, general manager, service manager, and owners of air conditioning and refrigeration corporations.
Educational Objective
The objective of the Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Heating Technologies Course is to train and prepare students for entry level positions as service and maintenance technicians in the fields of air conditioning (both heating and cooling), and refrigeration. A student is required to complete each phase of training with a proven degree of competency and, upon successful completion of the course, the student should have the necessary skills to enter these fields. It is understood that to become an expert in any field requires dedication, hard work, and continued schooling, and most certainly having or acquiring the proper attitude, drive and motivation.
NOTE: First academic year concluded upon successful completion of (24) semester credits and 30 weeks of training.
Jim Watson of Magic Touch Mechanical
Before coming to RSI, Jim Watson had already had a diverse background. His early beginnings were in farming and carpentry on a family owned grain farm in North Dakota. Once he completed his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Airway Science at the University of North Dakota, he worked as an Aviation Maintenance Technician for several years. In 2005, looking for a career change, Jim attended the Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Technologies course at RSI. Now he is an Operations Manager for Magic Touch Mechanical in Mesa, Arizona and is very happy with his career change and the opportunities he has had as a result.
Method of Training
The Refrigeration School, Inc. has become recognized internationally as a training center dedicated to providing affordable, high quality training. This is accomplished through a combination of lecture and shop classes with a major emphasis on "hands-on" training. The mix of lecture to hands-on varies from class to class as a student progresses.
The early classes of training emphasizes more lecture, utilizing many audio and visual media from major equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, with a small amount of hands-on training to help the student understand lectures. As a student progresses, this mixture changes, with the majority of the training focused on working with new and older models of equipment, with enough lecture to help a student master the more complex problems and review principles already learned. In the sixth and final phase of training, students will review nearly all of the material they have learned, and concentrate on electrical troubleshooting using the E-STAR System. This system has been developed over the years using the E-STAR troubleshooting trainer, invented at The Refrigeration School, Inc.
The E-STAR System for Employable Skills
The E-STAR System was developed by the staff at The Refrigeration School, Inc., who realized the importance of hands-on troubleshooting experience in the classroom environment. To get this experience before the E-STAR was created, all training units had to be "pre-bugged" by instructors. Now things are different!
Your instructor can now program problems into a E-STAR Trainer in a few seconds. You'll use actual test equipment, such as meters, to troubleshoot the systems and isolate the problems following proven troubleshooting procedures. Once you decide what the problem is, you can program in your solutions, and the unit will operate properly. If you make a wrong choice, E-STAR will simply sit and stare back at you.
The outcome is, that once comfortable with the process, the troubleshooting repair cycle will take most students less than three minutes, and you can experience many problem combinations in a short time on the E-STAR. The repetition you go through should cause your troubleshooting skills to become a mental reflex.
This is just one of the methods we use to make sure that you get the quality of hands-on training you need in a short period of time, and enter this career field as quickly as possible.
Classes
- Refrigeration Installer
- Refrigeration Technician
- Refrigeration Maintenance
- Electronics Technician
- HVAC Service Technician
- HVAC Instaler
- Commercial Refrigeration
- Refrigeration Sales
Prepare for a career at the Refrigeration School Inc in Phoenix, AZ.
In this class students are introduced to the refrigeration cycle through class lecture and observing operating equipment. The material in this class is mechanical in nature and is limited to the mechanical and physical properties of refrigerants and the refrigeration cycle. The equipment in this class is used to safely demonstrate the varied states of refrigerant as it cycles through the system. Students will be introduced to many of the tools associated with the refrigeration industry such as: manifold gauge set, vacuum pumps, service wrenches, charging, and recovery equipment. The safety programs in this class will provide students with details on being in close proximity to rotating machinery and refrigerant handling. The class is also designed to familiarize students with details on the mechanical trouble shooting process.
Students will learn by using training stations designed by RSI for application of electrical techniques. These include low voltage control circuits as well as line voltage circuits for air conditioning and heat pump systems. Also in this phase students will learn about single and three phase motors along with single and multi-speed motors; students will also do motor testing using electrical meters. The student will test for voltage, amperage, and resistance. This phase also covers basic transformers and power sources.
This class offers experience with residential split systems, packaged heat pump systems, air conditioners, gas furnaces, and evaporative coolers. Students are tasked with building schematics for air conditioning/heating systems and wiring the same systems having only the components of the system as reference. A further study of mechanical and electrical troubleshooting turns more hands-on in this class as students see the equipment come to life by their own hand. Gas piping, sizing, and installation are studied as it applies to furnace operation.
Advanced Air Conditioning Techniques
Students will work with residential and commercial air conditioning units. Students will have electrical and mechanical projects assigned to them, such as drawing schematics and testing the electrical and mechanical operation, changing out fan motors and rewiring electrical components on assigned units. Students will also be exposed to solid state electronics as it applies to heat pumps, electric furnaces and air conditioning units. Students will do compressor change outs, recover and charge refrigerant, be introduced to commercial compressors and charging charts. Brazing is another technique learned in this phase using oxy/acetylene equipment The opportunity to study and test on R410a and automotive air conditioning is provided in this class; Successful students will achieve a R410a safety certification
Students will work on refrigerators and freezers like those found in restaurants, supermarkets and in your home. As you progress further, you will work on a commercial flaker, cubers, and nugget type ice making equipment. You will change out compressors, service and repair the equipment as necessary, and discover why this area of low and medium temperature requires concentration and attention to detail as you perform precision refrigerant charging. Again, you will be using specialty tools required for electronic and mechanical troubleshooting.
Advanced Trouble-Shooting Techniques
In Advanced Trouble-Shooting Techniques we will review what has been covered previously in your other phases, primarily Mechanical and Electrical Principles. Students will be introduced to the E-STAR system. Students will do a great deal of electrical troubleshooting on the E-STAR Trainer as well as mechanical troubleshooting along with reviewing schematics. There will be some new material to learn such as the introduction to Reciprocating Liquid Chillers as to their basic operation and general maintenance. Students will also have the opportunity to test for EPA section 609 certification. The amount of troubleshooting serves three purposes: First, we hope it will create new questions for you to ask and learn from; Second, this will sharpen your skills and add to the practical knowledge you have in this area; Finally, it will give you the confidence you need to become successful in the new and exciting career you have chosen for yourself.
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