The Tin Man, LLC

06/24/2025

Now that we have just gone thru the warmest weather of the year, I want to share a short story.

I had installed central air for a neighbor's home. Everything turned out fine. No problems. This guy just loves his "whole house fan". After we get those wild thunderstorms (where it is followed with a mild/cool breeze), this guy would open all the windows in his home and run the whole house fan to bring in cool fresh air.

The next morning we are back in the mid 90's and he calls me to say that there is a problem. "It's taking forever to cool his home".

There was no problem. In that time that he aired out his home he also brought in all kinds of humidity which now has found it's way to the furniture, floors, carpet, etc...

My suggestion is that once you get the air up and going, leave the windows closed.

Have you ever bought a brand new refrigerator? Then buy all kinds of food and load it up? It takes forever. Right? It's the same basic principle.

Good luck and stay cool!

06/18/2025

With a forecast of very hot weather coming early next week, change your air filters. Replace thermostat batteries. You could be waiting for days to be serviced. If it were something as small as fresh batteries, your home can be made highly uncomfortable in short order.

06/04/2025

I was just reading an article which didn't recommend a specific product but rather a very negatively crafted piece bashing certain companies instead.

Sure, some companies may choose to "cut corners" in order to sweeten up their "bottom line". There are differences in units. I would find small differences within the area of "installer friendliness". After you have installed or worked on a good number of units, the installation process becomes more of an intuitive process where digging thru the installation manual becomes less of an exercise (as time marches on).

What is really overlooked is the quality of the installation crew. Sharp tools, fresh batteries, maintained power tools/test equipment all fall under this. Your better installers care about their work, follow manufacturer's procedures, and will treat your home, family, and property with great respect.

When manufacturers choose to allow access of their equipment to individuals who aren't qualified to install (in the name of "making a buck"); you are going to find the internet full of complaints relating to equipment failure. HVAC equipment WILL fail prematurely when not installed correctly or installed where it was never meant to be used (misapplication).

The equipment gets the "bad rap" no matter what. It's unfair for many reasons.

I always recommend using the smaller contractor as this person will ALWAYS care more. It's more personable, their name is associated with the installation, and if something fails they have to go out themselves to remedy the issue.

Just our feeling on it.

08/06/2024

I was called out to lookover some job which I had installed in 2003. The customer built homes. This was his own home which he did himself. He contracted me (but still had to purchase his own equipment). What can I say?

I was called in a we had been getting all kinds of lightning hits and voltage fluctuations throughout the area. It was good that they did call as there were a few things which needed attention.

I took photos as I couldn't recall even doing the work.

08/06/2024

It's never too late to do a tune-up out a system checkup. Of some of the most important things I have learned, these occupy the top two positions.

1. Mother nature and Father Time are both undefeated.

2. Mice, bugs and any other undesirables "NEVER" take a day off.

3. Everything else is up to YOU.

I found this exposed wire today. The client went one year without a checkup. Just one stinking year and in that year mice chewed up his pipe insulation and the "sun" (yes our friend, the sun) did it's damage to the wire casing.

Everything tested okay and all (thank God) but a little gnawing at the right moment in time would have caused this nice family a bunch of grief (in this "hotter than balls" weather).

07/19/2024

*****PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE *****

A routine checkup would have certainly eliminated the grief that this nice family just went through.

We will be happy to "look over" your ac units to eliminate future mechanical failures. Sometimes when one thing goes wrong, it creates larger and much more costly problems.

Call us for routine service. (908) 797-8815

07/17/2024

DIRT + WATER = MUD

Just because you have gone THIS far into the cooling season without any kind of checkup on your central air conditioning system in no way means that you are out of the woods.

With the immense heat upon us, your equipment will naturally run longer (by nature). The indoor section which moves your air and keeps you nice and cool creates a byproduct called condensation; otherwise known as water. The longer that these units run, the more air is moved across the section which provides your cooling effect. If you do not have a "top of the line filter", you are more than likely bringing all kinds of dirt and dust into the equation. Some dirt will be blown back into your home and the rest will be attached to the water molecules which have been created by this beautiful cooling process. This water then becomes diverted (internally) to a plumbing system (drain). In this drain pipe there will be a trap. Dirt and dust settles at the bottom of the trap. It becomes basically "mud" (or a form of sludge). Again, the more the unit runs, the more water is created. Ultimately, molecules of this dust/dirt/sludge mixture WILL block or clog the line. Once the buildup starts, it gradually gets taller and taller (inside the line). You cannot see it. When it gets really bad, water cannot get across it as fast as it's coming in. That's when you have your overflow situation which in some cases can lead to disastrous results (like losing a ceiling in your home). This is something you certainly don't want.

Keep in mind that you have not had ANYTHING looked over. A system with an inadequate refrigerant charge or a weak motor capacitor will lead into longer running times. Longer running times will adversely affect your electric bill, create the clog sooner, and your home won't feel quite as comfortable or cool.

To reiterate, just because you have gone THIS far, it doesn't mean in any way that you are in the clear.

This is about that time in the season where we generally experience more of these service calls/issues.

Please call us to come to look everything over. We are the same family oriented friendly company as we have always been all these years. The Tin Man (908) 797-8815. Dennis

05/06/2024

Take the time to smell the roses. Life is too short.

Best photography 😀

05/06/2024

Sometimes these jobs become a lot more than anyone would expect. It must be done to perfection.

05/01/2024

Sometimes mechanical failure with your air conditioning system can be created by something else. Today's adventure is brought to you by our friend "the roof" or "roofer". I am certain that this was nothing done intentionally.

Today was a warm morning here in NJ. It was probably 70⁰ when I arrived at 10am. Everything was dry. The indoor unit (Unico air handler) I had installed 15 years ago. We have had a couple of water issues due to poor venting and a poor roof condition in the past. The fan motor failed once and I couldn't break the impeller loose from the shaft. I even destroyed a wheel puller on the process.

The new motor was installed a couple years ago.

Today's complaint: Smoke emanating from the duct outlets. Luckily, the client shut the unit off immediately.

So, I'm on my way (playing out all possible scenarios in my head) as I'm only going to bring what I'll potentially need. (I've reached the point where I'm not bringing every tool imaginable up into the attic). The days of a 60 lb tool pouch have been over for years now.

For me to even check the action/play of the blower wheel on this model requires me to climb over the top of the unit (in the attic). So, I quickly check a few quick things which were easily accessible.

First, I pull the wires off the capacitor, ground it. Then check it. It reads good. Hmm.

Now I check for 240 volts. That's good!. as I read 244 volts. I'm running out of things before I have to climb over the unit.

For the hell of it, I check the secondary of the transformer (which has no bearing at all, but it was easy enough to check). I'm at 27 volts. That's good too. Crap!! This means I have to climb over the unit. Of course it couldn't be that easy, right?

I remove the door which covers the blower access. The first thing is that I notice pretty severe rust staining atop three blower housing (hint/hint/clue). I go to turn the blower wheel and it's seized. I'm puzzled as this is way too young for this. I work it by hand and broke it free. It didn't feel 100% but it did free up. I put the door back in place and "jump" out the two wires which energize the fan (blower). It turns..... doesn't sound bad.

I call down to the homeowner to set the thermostat to cooling. The ac comes on, fan is running. All is good. Unit is fine for the rest of my visit.

I took a photo of the nameplate data (model and serial number) as I can feel it in my bones that I'll be back to replace that motor.

If it smoked, it created internal damage to the motor windings. I'm sure she's crippled to some degree.

I'm not satisfied. I look at everything more critically and notice water staining on the outside of the jacket of the air handler.

What I think occurred was that there was some form of water leak from the roof. This water found its way to the 4 holes which hold the blower housing. From there, it got to the motor somehow, someway.

So, it's a wrapazoid. I believe the roof contributed to the seizing of the motor.