Fluke 902 Application Note

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Application Note

From the Fluke Digital Library @ www.fluke.com/library

Tester:

Eric Sundby is a service

foreman, MacDonald-Miller Facility

Solutions

Tools: Fluke 902 True-rms HVAC

Clamp Meter

Tests:

Voltage and current tests,

phase imbalances in both voltage

and current, and surface temperature

Testing

Functions

Case

Study

Standardizing on clamp

meters for HVAC service

MacDonald-Miller Facility

Solutions is a leading construc-

tion, engineering, control sys-

tems and building services firm

headquartered in Seattle, WA.

The company’s Building Services

group is the largest commercial

HVAC service company in the

Northwest, with offices located

throughout Western Washington

and into Oregon. They provide

maintenance, repair, overhaul,

and installation of everything

from centrifugal and reciprocat-

ing refrigeration systems to elec-

tronic building control systems.

They also perform air balancing,

chemical treatment of water

systems, plumbing, and electri-

cal services and have extensive

experience with specialized

applications such as clean rooms,

computer rooms, research labs,

and medical and testing facilities.

Eric Sundby is a service fore-

man in the Everett, WA office;

he supervises ten field techni-

cians who work on all aspects

of HVAC, doing heating, cooling

and associated measurements,

electrical test on motors pumps,

compressors, electric boilers, fur-

naces and flame signals and the

list goes on.

The facilities cover “pretty

much everything commercial,”

says Sundby, from retail strip

malls to light commercial struc-

tures to high-rises to biotech

facilities, including hospitals,

medical facilities and clean

rooms used in research and

development. They also work

on cell sites, cell towers, switch

stations and telecommunication

hubs.

MacDonald-Miller has stan-

dardized on the Fluke 902 Clamp

Meter for daily maintenance

work, using 80 of the instru-

ments for the day-in, day-out

voltage, current and temperature

readings. “For the day-to-day

stuff the Fluke 902 is pretty much

our workhorse,” says Sundby.

In addition to a 902, each

technician carries his or her

choice of personal instruments;

Sundby carries Fluke Model 77

and 23 Digital Multimeters, and a

52 temperature probe “for doing

other things, when I need to get

a little more technical.” Several

technicians also have calibra-

tors that make it possible to test

4 mA to 20 mA and low voltage

0 V to 10 V dc, 2 V dc to 10 V dc

signals. The company also has

some Fluke 789 meters in ser-

vice for control work and trouble

shooting.

Checking temperature differences

across the exchanger, very verify

chiller barrel performance.

2 Fluke Corporation Standardizing on clamp meters for HVAC service

Picking a meter

MacDonald-Miller didn’t choose

the 902 on a whim. They did

their research, looking for a utili-

tarian meter that would make

the measurements needed, that

would be reliable (“these guys

trust the meters with their lives,”

says Sundby), that would handle

the day-to-day banging around

common to field maintenance,

and that would handle the envi-

ronment. While not the deciding

factor, cost was important as

well, considering the number of

meters involved.

All in a day’s work

While it would be difficult to

define a typical day for Sundby’s

crew—“Nothing is ever really

typical, because we’re so well

versed,” he explains—a typi-

cal job with rotating equipment

involves using the 902 to do

voltage and current tests, and

phase imbalances in both volt-

age and current. Measurements

on the rest of an HVAC system

include temperatures on pres-

sure, suction, discharge and

liquid refrigerant lines. “We do

delta Ts across the evaporator

coils and across the condenser

coils, and we check suction tem-

perature, discharge and liquid

temperatures,” Sundby explains.

“We use the 902 for that, too,

because it’s our all-in one; they

just switch a lead and they can

change to their temperature and

they got surface probes they use

and off they go.”

Knowledge is power

The regularity of maintenance

work is the source of much of

its effectiveness. As technicians

work on motors, says Sundby,

they make records of the reading

they take and enter them into a

database for predictive mainte-

nance purposes. “We try to trend

it, we try to keep a running log

on what equipment looks like,

and if we start seeing failures

we’re trying to predict failures,”

he explains.

They would like to implement

a full asset management system

that would collect equipment

history and also connect to the

accounting software and con-

struction departments, and have

been working at it for several

years. There’s still a ways to go

to gaining that edge, but predic-

tive maintenance goes on all the

same. “For the most part the guys

are consistent on their work-

load,” he explains. “They kind of

remember and they know what’s

been going on; they start watch-

ing for that trend of motors going

downhill and that type of thing.”

Good work takes training

Maintenance work on com-

mercial and industrial HVAC

equipment is not a trivial task,

and making sure the people

who do it are up to the task

involves more than just provid-

ing them with the proper test

instruments. Most newly-hired

technicians are graduates of

a two-year associate’s degree

program at a community college

or tech school, Sundby explains.

When they’re hired by Mac-

Donald-Miller or another union

contractor they enter a union

apprenticeship program that lasts

for four years—or five, for those

who don’t have that associate’s

degree. And even after six years

the training doesn’t stop. The

company maintains a large train-

ing facility in Seattle. “We put

on three-hour classes twice a

week.” says Sundby. “The guys

come in at night and get fed and

get to learn about new products

and testing and programming,

whatever it happens to be,” from

refrigeration to safety. In addi-

tion, suppliers conduct classes on

everything from meters to vari-

able frequency drives.

You’d think that union wages,

a solid company and a job that

can’t be outsourced overseas

would attract lots of applicants,

but Sundby reports that it’s get-

ting more and more difficult to

find qualified people. He’d like

to see more encouragement for

young people to consider alter-

natives to a four-year college

program. As he says, “not every-

body’s going to be happy with a

desk job.”

After all, Sundby says, part of

what’s made this country great

“is manpower, and labor, and

quality work.”

Liquid line temperature measurements for subcooling.

3 Fluke Corporation Standardizing on clamp meters for HVAC service

Growing green facilities

MacDonald-Miller has another, greener arm

of the business. Led by Perry England, the

sustainable, eco-friendly Building Performance

group helps customers plan, build, retrofit,

and maintain building environmental systems

for maximum efficiency and reliability.

Following LEED, Green Globes, Lean

Design, and other practices, the group has

built a uniquely integrated understanding of

green building automation technologies. Some

classic reliability practices transfer over, such

as preventive maintenance and equipment

modernization. What’s different is the layer of

documentation and highly networked tools for

data analysis and trending. England says the

change makes good business sense.

Customers are demanding green building

efficiency and changes in financial lending

models increasingly support it.

Safety first

Safety is an area of increasing

concern for everyone involved

in electrical work. Sundby cites

increasing emphasis on the

requirements of the NFPA 70E

Standard for Electrical Safety

in the Workplace. The standard

covers electrical safety require-

ments for employees involved

in the installation of electric

conductors, electric equipment,

signaling and communications

conductors and equipment, and

raceways. A big part of it is con-

cerned with protection against

Arc-Flash. While the standard

has been around since 1996,

Sundby says, it has moved to

the forefront, starting with a

change in clothing. Polyester is

out, and flame retardant cotton is

in, along with the proper gloves.

Lockout/Tagout is getting more

attention as well, but the work

that the MacDonald-Miller field

techs do involves live equipment:

“You can’t do too much testing on

equipment that’s sitting there,”

he says.

Summary

MacDonald-Miller’s servicing

operation must handle a wide

variety of tasks on different types

of equipment. By standardizing

on just a few Fluke instruments

and by providing its people

with strong training and support

the company has been able to

increase the effectiveness of its

operations and cut costs at the

same time. All in all, it’s a win-

win situation.

Taking current measurements at a 480 V chiller control, looking for

phase imbalances.

Fluke Corporation

PO Box 9090, Everett, WA 98206 U.S.A.

Fluke Europe B.V.

PO Box 1186, 5602 BD

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

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Web access: http://www.fluke.com

©2008 Fluke Corporation.

Specifications subject to change without notice.

Printed in U.S.A. 7/2008 3358336 AW-EN-N Rev A

Modification of this document is not permitted

without written permission from Fluke Corporation.

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