Testo® 550 Digital Gauge Manifold

    I was a wee lad when my dad first showed me how to use a refrigeration gauge manifold. Of course he explained the instrument and the inner workings of the refrigeration system in detail many times, I had no idea what he was talking about. Working mainly during the hot summers in Southern California gauges and a good meter became the go-to for every no-cooling service call and in time I learned the science, and art, of refrigeration systems. The problem with gauges has always been the same, they're delicate testing instruments that are thrown in that back of a service truck, expected to last years, and be accurate. I tried to hang them from something, installed protective covers around them, adjusted them frequently and in the back of my mind often wondered if their reading was accurate. I didn't realize how limited this experience was until I ordered our first Testo® 550 Digital Gauge Manifold.

    Before I even set eyes on the gauge manifold I was impressed by the substantial plastic case the system is housed in. I always say every good instrument needs a case, and the case needs to be big enough to include all the parts and pieces, and a few things you didn't think of, Testo® seems to agree. Opening the case reveals the Testo 550 3 port- 2 valve digital manifold with integrated hanger-hook, two clamp-on temperature probes for pipes from 1/4" to 2-3/8" and batteries. I purchased a new set of refrigerant hoses to complete the setup.

    After installing the 4 AA batteries I started up the unit and checked out the interface. The on-board programming includes 34 refrigerant profiles for automatic pressure-temperature calculations and settings for superheat and subcooling using the included temperature probes. You can easily change the display to read suction and discharge pressures along with pressure/temp conversion for a given refrigerant (no temp probe), or measured temperature, or superheat/ subcooling. Optional accessories include a pipe wrap probe (for lines up to 3"), air probe and a waterproof surface probe.
    Using the Testo 550 in the field is a game changer. Once you look at a set of digital gauges your old analog set will seem like a fragile toy. From charging units to pulling a vacuum, the functionality of the Testo® 550 makes refrigeration testing and troubleshooting easier and more important, precise.
 

Honeywell® Redlink® Wireless Zoning

    Residential zoning systems have been around for a number of years. The idea is to have a thermostat in each zone that has the ability to initiate heating or cooling as well as open or close a damper to adjust airflow to the zone. Taking this idea a step further Honeywell® introduced the Redlink Wireless Zoning System®. Thermostats can be located anywhere in the controlled zones and communicate wirelessly back to the TrueZONE® control panel. This can save hours of labor as the thermostats both communicate wirelessly and are powered by batteries which makes them completely wire-free.    
    We started to use Honeywell's Wifi and Redlink® thermostats in stand-alone applications with success so we planned a larger zoned install using the TrueZONE system. Our application used two TrueZONE panels covering 7 zones for two rooftop heatpump units on a small commercial building. The property manager was constantly having temperature complaints and asking for a solution to the problems. We submitted our proposal to the property manager and a few weeks later received approval. Now it had to work! Working on the bleeding edge is always fun!  

    After ordering all the materials for the job I set up the zoning panels in my office to make sure everything worked as designed and the job would go smoothly as we would be installing the systems under a large skylight where temperatures would make late afternoon work impossible. I labeled all the thermostats with individual zone numbers and paired them with their corresponding TrueZONE panel. For AC-3 I used 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 for AC-2 I used 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4. This way when looking at each thermostat we can tell which unit it corresponds to later. I paired a wireless Outside Air Sensor for each panel as well as 2 Redlink Gateways to get the thermostats online for remote access!    
    Once everything was set up we scheduled the install and arrived onsite. We mounted the TrueZONE panels on the face of each units return air duct and installed Honeywell ML6161A2009 actuators on each of the existing 7 dampers. The actuators and an included Discharge Air Temp Sensor on each unit were wired to the TrueZONE panel and the wireless Outside Air Temp Sensor was mounted under the outside air intake hood of each unit. We also installed a CPR14 TrueZone Bypass Damper and Wireless Adapters to talk to the wireless thermostats. The TrueZONE panels were supplied with 24 volts AC and the 7 thermostats were mounted in their corresponding zones. It was much easier to complete the install having already paired the thermostats and other devices offsite as we were both hot and tired at the end of the day.     
    After a full day of work the system was running good, maintaining temperatures in all seven zones and available online though the 2 Redlink Internet Gateways with access from both PCs and Smartphones to Honeywell's Total Connect Comfort® interface. We labeled each zone in the interface, set up users for the tenants and property management and handed over control of their new system. Honeywell TrueZONE® has exceeded expectations and everyone involved is happy with the outcome. For anything from a house to a small commercial building Honeywell has built arguably the best zoning system on the market.