best

Dec

2012

New Product Cover Free To Save Energy Money And Time Heating Pools And Spas

There is a new product on the market called Cover Free. It is an engineered patented formula that creates a thin layer on the surface of the water that lowers your heating and chemical costs by minimizing evaporation and water loss due to evaporation. It is easily added to the pool or spa by pouring it directly in the water or adding it to the skimmer. The manufacturer recommends adding 4 oz per week for every 675 square feet of surface area.

Cover Free creates an invisible cover that may be even more effective than traditional covers without all the hassles. Traditional covers pose a number of problems. First they must be rated to support a certain amount of weight. Second they must be removed in order to enjoy the pool or spa. Third they lose their benefits when removed. And fourth they create the possibility of someone or their pets becoming entrapped underneath them.

Cover Free creates a nearly imperceptible cover on the surface of the water. It presses out of the way when someone jumps in the water and springs back into place to maintain the integrity of the shield. Usually about ninety five percent of heat energy is lost. Most heat lost (about one half) occurs through evaporation from the surface of the water. All of that water lost must be replaced and water retreated so there should be significant savings in water, heat, and chemicals needed to keep water balanced, heated, and disinfected.

Jun

2011

How to Land a Maintenance Job : Getting Hired

Jackson Five Photo by J.H.K.

The Links to Getting Hired

1) ~ ~ Be sober. Almost all companies these days require candidates to pass a drug and alcohol test. Many companies use a hair follicle test that shows substances used in the past ninety days.

2)~ ~ Be knowledgeable. Gaining good job knowledge will help boost your confidence during interviews. Job knowledge will help to increase your earning potential. You can gain job knowledge in many different ways: reading books (Kung Fu Maintenance will give you a good head start), experience, classes, schooling, training, the internet (youtube, google etc….) Job knowledge will also help you to pass tests that most companies give candidates.

3)~ ~ Learn a bit about each company you are applying for. What are their core values? mission statement? Etc… Most of this info can be found thru a simple google search of the company. When you find common ground with the companies that you truly want to work for you will be happier working towards the same goals of your companions.

4)~ ~ Use a simple one page resume that highlights your job knowledge and experience. Using a cover letter that utilizes the information you learned about the company in the previous step can help open a door of opportunity.

5)~ ~ Be easily contactable. Using a cell number on your resume and carrying your cell phone with you is much better than a land line so that you don’t miss any calls and so you are available faster. Return calls promptly if you do miss one. Also put an email address that sounds professional and that you check regularly. If your email name is not professional sounding make a new one. there are multiple free email services such as gmail, rocketmail, hotmail etc…

6)~ ~ Network. Check with friends and relatives about available jobs. Another good way is to talk to maintenance techs or office personnel at apartments, hotels, and such. Often they get referral bonuses for referring people to their companies that get hired on. They often have front line access to job postings within their companies and can often coach you a bit on the requirements and particulars of their company, also should you get hired on you will both have a friend in the business. It’s good to know people.

7)~ ~ Dress nicely for interviews. You don’t have to be in suit and tie (unless that is appropriate to the job you are applying for) but you don’t want to show up in flip flops and a tank top either. Put your best foot forward. Understand that maintenance is a service job and people choose whether to live, rent, shop, at places based on many factors one of them being staff appearance and impression. Employers want to hire people that their customers will be comfortable with.

8)~ ~ Ask at least one good question during an interview. It may seem silly but asking a well placed question can be even better than a well placed answer. It shows a strong sense of engagement and facilitates teamwork.

Please bookmark this page (Ctrl-D) so you can find it easily in the future. It is always good to have a go to list of links for jobs. Also please send it to anyone you know that is searching for employment. I intend to continually update this list and see it grow little by little so please come back to experience further improvements and successes. Also if you know of any job sites or sources you think should be on this list please submit them as a comment or response or email them to me for consideration at feedback@ kungfumaintenance.com

The Following is a list of top notch job sites for maintenance as well as other jobs.

ApartmentJobs.com formerly known as PMJobs.com

Government-ish Type Jobs

America’s Job Bank

Top Notch Apartment, Hotel, and Hospital Companies Job Posts

ConAm

The Lewis Company

Less Excellent but Still Sometimes Leads to Jobs Sites

Craigslist

The Penny Saver

One more thing, When they ask who referred you, just tell them James H. Klovach sent you.

~~~~ Get Hired ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~ Kung Fu Maintenance ~~~~~~~~~~~

May

2011

KFM Reasonings to Choose Dupont ISCEON R-438A Over R-410A

While R410A air conditioning puts out more cooling BTU’s it often uses more electrical energy in the short and/or long run.

R410A equipment often has a higher amp draw requiring wiring upgrades, larger breakers, larger wires, larger electrical whips, and fuses etc…

Often evaporator coils and line sets need to be replaced to accommodate the higher pressures that R410a uses.

ISCEON® MO99™ (alternatively called R-438A) retrofit has far less of an environmental impact.

R-22 system does not need to be flushed when retro fitting to ISCEON MO99. For R-410A retrofit, system must be flushed and oil changed.

For ISCEON MO99 retrofit, oil does not need to be replaced. R-410A uses a different oil type (poe (polyester) oil) that will not mix right with R-22’s oil type (mineral oil) and so oil must be changed.

ISCEON MO99 can be used with existing R-22 condensors and evaporators as long as Schrader valves and or seals are replaced. (ISCEON MO99 refrigerant causes seals that have been using R-22 to shrink.) R-410A uses higher pressures and should not be used with R-22 compressors so whole condensers are usually replaced, seals and all.

ISCEON M099 has a lower operating temperature at the compressor and is slightly easier on the compressor the heart of the air condition system.
Both R410A and ISCEON MO99 are not going to be phased out thru the Montreal Protocol like R-22 in 2020.

ISCEON M099 does not damage the ozone layer. (At least not like cows do! Or R-22)

Of course all of this is debatable and that should be interesting so let’s get at it. If you have some ideas why you think R-410A (or another refrigerant) is the way to go I would love to hear them. Alternatively, if you have any more points about the benefits of ISCEON MO99 (R438A) that would be cool. Share your experiences here on The KFM Blog as a response. If I think they are worthy I will post them as long as things are kept clean. Fair Enough?

~~~ Keep it Cool ~ Keep It Real ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~ Kung Fu Maintenance ~~~~~

May

2011

Increasing Your Balance ~ Weighting out a Ceiling Fan Wobble

This is my eleventh video. It was the first Kung Fu Maintenance video I used my voice on. To my surprise it has gotten far more hits than any of my others. This is true even though (among my vids) it is one of the most disliked uploaded videos. Perhaps for the noise (voice) (music) but I think more than anything for the fact that this repair takes so much patience. It is a tried and true method and I have done it many times. It is not my favorite repair either but it normally works, unless the fan is beyond balancing. I have had many dislikes over the brand of this particular fan. Also I think it gets many dislikes because there are some who think it is not worth it to balance a fan (or believe it impossible) and would rather buy a new one. This is fine. (You can make pizza, if you have the dough( and sauce, and cheese etc. . ). What follows is for the savers.

First clean the fan. Then tighten up all the screws. Tighten the fan blade screws and especially the down rod set screws where the down rod goes into the fan top. Often times this is enough to fix the wobble. Sometimes you can adjust the position of the light kit or the position of the down rod socket by pushing the whole fan up and turning a little bit (with power off of course). Try several different positions to see if you can rid the wobble.

If those attempts don’t rid your wobble than you will need a fan balancing kit. They are sold at most hardware stores or you can order one from my store Kung Fu Maintenance Supply and Appliance. They usually have instructions to follow which normally involve the following.

Clip the fan blade weight clip to the back edge of a fan blade either on the very end center or in the middle at the back of the blade. Turn the fan on and note if it wobbles more or less. Note the blade you started with than do the same on each of the other fan blades to determine which one gives you the least amount of wobble. This takes a lot of patience as you have to let the fan blades stop each time so no one gets hurt.

Next clip the fan weight in the center at the back of the fan blade with the least wobble. Slide the clip two inches toward the fan center and check the wobble. Than slide the clip four inch away from the center of the fan blade. Whichever direction towards the center or further away gives you the least wobble continue checking for the least wobble in two inch increments until you determine the best spot for least wobble. This is where you will stick one of the fan weights clean the spot on the center top of the fan blade really well. This way the weight doesn’t go flying off later (It’s all fun and games till someone gets hurt). Remove the plastic covering the adhesive and press it down top center of the fan blade directly in line with your fan weight clip.

Now you can remove the fan weight clip and check for wobbling. All set you’re all done but if there is still some wobble sometimes it takes more than one weight. This is why the weight kit usually comes with two or three weights. Repeat the entire process again with the second and if necessary the third weight. Yes it is understandable that this video gets some dislikes. I could even sometimes dislike it myself. It puts a real tester on ADD and caffeinated people .

~~~Increasing your Balance~~~

~~~~~~~~~~Kung Fu Maintenance~~~~~~~~~~~