Using ZoomLock Every Day w/ Brent Ridley

HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

Bryan Orr

Training, Careers, Airconditioning, Self-improvement, Hvac, Business, Education, Refrigeration, Heating, Ac, Apprenticeship

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2017

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Brent Ridley talks about the flame-free ZoomLock fittings and why he is using them for almost everything to replace brazing. These are tools from Parker, and they can give you leak-free fittings within seconds.

ZoomLock works in residential and commercial applications. The fittings come in a wide range of sizes for the large piping of VRF systems and the smaller copper tubing of residential A/C suction lines. Brent measures the tubing to make sure there's enough room. Then, he cuts the bell end off, deburrs the copper, sands the copper down, and applies the fitting. You do NOT have to apply a lubricant or anything before you add the fitting. The fittings have two grooves to match the grooves on the jaw; that is how the fitting can crimp properly.

Brent likes ZoomLock for its time-saving potential. You don't have to get your oxyacetylene (or air-acetylene) rig prepared and spend time brazing. There is also the potential to save money on the fuel and nitrogen you would use while brazing. As technology improves and the price goes down with increased production, it's possible that we can see ZoomLock-type fittings in more applications.

Brazing is a key skill, but it also comes with a lot of risk to our bodies and customer property, so ZoomLock is a promising replacement for brazing. Will ZoomLock replace brazing altogether? Probably not; it would be quite difficult to use those fittings on a reversing valve, for example. But is ZoomLock a nice tool to consider for some applications? I think so.

Brent and Bryan also discuss:

How Brent was introduced to ZoomLock
Stub lengths
Oil compatibility (POE vs. mineral oil vs. refrigerant)
Lateral strain on fittings
Filter-driers

If you have an iPhone, subscribe to the podcast HERE, and if you have an Android phone, subscribe HERE.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode of the HVAC School Podcast is made possible by dinner support from Testo,
0:10.5	Carrier, Rector Seal, and Zumlock from Parker-Sborlin.
0:15.0	Meet Zumlock, the 10 second flame-free refrigerant fitting from Parker.
0:20.0	Reduce labor costs by 60% with no braising, no flame, and no fire spotter.
0:25.0	Discover how Zoomlock can help you be more efficient and productive.
0:28.8	Visit zoomlock.com for more information. I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want, but I will find you.
0:40.0	And I'll brow beat you to death if you don't flow nitrogen while breathing.
0:45.0	Now this is a special episode. This is an episode where I talk to Brent Ridley and
0:49.2	Brent is a soul of the Earth guy, really good guy and I reached out to Brent because he's sort of the Earth guy, really good guy.
0:52.7	And I reached out to Brent because he's sort of the internet,
0:56.0	one of the internet experts on Zumlock.
0:58.6	He's used it for a while now.
1:00.2	He's done a lot of testing on it. And so I wanted to have him on just to talk about
1:04.0	Zoomlock is a sponsor of the podcast and just for complete disclosure I have not had the
1:08.8	opportunity to use it yet but I think we're probably going to be able to use it pretty
1:12.2	soon and I've looked at the product.
1:14.6	I have seen it demonstrated and I've held it in my hands and I kind of have the same stance that
1:19.7	Jim Bergman has on this which is that these types of fittings have been around for a while, this type of mechanical
1:25.2	connection.
1:26.8	And the fact that Parker-Sporland is building it and backing it and developing it makes me pause and have a lot of confidence in it because they're a great company and they're going to make a good quality product and like anything you have to use it in the proper way and you have to use it in applications that it makes sense and some people are never
1:45.0	going to embrace using it in the residential arena.
1:48.0	I say never at least not in the near future.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Bryan Orr, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Bryan Orr and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.