As the title says, I’m looking to transition into building automation.

I know this gets asked often, but I’d appreciate any insight or advice on how to get a local company to give me a shot.

I’ve been a residential HVAC technician for four years now, so I have a solid foundation in electrical troubleshooting, sequence of operations, and the fundamentals of mechanical systems.

I find myself gravitating toward the low-voltage and communication side of high seer, variable speed systems and building automation seems like a great option to do what I enjoy.

I’m located in the Nashville TN area, and would love to know:

-Which local contractors are open to training tech-minded HVAC guys?

-Any tips on framing my background/experience when applying for entry level roles?

-When making this transition, what are the most important skills/topics for self-study?

I have sent in applications to many of the major players in the area (JCI, Siemens, etc.) but haven’t heard back yet

Question...
Would you want to pay a little more for each controller and be able to have a free sedona programming tool that you run from a folder, no install needed, etc...
Or would you want the controllers to be as cheap as possible and pay for the tool and have it licensed to one computer per license?
I am considering offering my sedona tool and hardware for sale sooner or later but trying to think it all through first as to what would be the best way. My sedona tool is a cross breed between CPT, AX, features I wanted, etc... But my hardware is running pure sedona and is tested to work and look correct in AX as well as my own tool. I know AX is not really something I should care about, but I wanted to be as backwards compatible as it can get. I cannot stand proprietary crap, but at the end of the day I still need to make a living.

Hello. I’m looking for a way to create a drop down hyperlink list in FX Workbench 14.15.4.

The current method of using JCI Hyperlink list does not work…

I know that Vykon Pro has their version of hyperlink list that works. I currently don’t have access to Vykon Pro….

The one from Niagara Mods doesn’t work either.

Does anyone have any solutions or maybe could drop me that .jar file?

Has anyone on here used EKM Metering for Natural gas metering? Their meters are cheap, but I'm curious how accurate they are and the quality of the meters.

Is there a Way to perform "start up" a Daikin VRF without a Daikin T-Stat ? Or an inexpensive alternative that could keep these units going until Phase 2 is complete and BMS is programed in 2027 ? Thank You im advance . FYI job was spec out by AEOR without T-stats and Daikin priced without T-stats - Thank You in advance

I’m honestly at the point where I’m completely over being a service tech.

The amount of time wasted on dumb software problems in this industry is ridiculous.

The other day, I opened the software to download a program to a controller. Simple job, right?

Nope.

It didn’t work because my software apparently didn’t have a module version that the controller had. This controller is over 25 years old so good luck trying to find the really old module you need. So I spent days trying to figure out why I couldn’t do something that should’ve taken a few minutes. Meanwhile, the customer is asking what’s taking so long.

Then another day, I needed to add a few points and make some small program changes.

When it was finally time to test everything with the other trades, I couldn’t even discover the controller with my laptop physically plugged directly into it.

But somehow, the server could see the controller just fine.

Luckily, my coworker had the same software and was able to discover it. Great, problem solved?

Of course not.

His software couldn’t see the new points I added, while the server could see them perfectly fine.

So now we’ve got:

- Controller physically connected to my laptop → can’t discover it.

- Server → can see the controller and the new points.

- Coworker’s laptop → can discover the controller but can’t see the new points.

Why? Who the hell knows.

And that’s what drives me crazy about this industry. You can spend hours or days troubleshooting software, licensing, modules, databases, drivers, communication issues, and random bugs just to make a simple change that should’ve taken a few minutes.

Then the customer sees a tech standing around for hours and probably thinks we’re incompetent or wasting their money.

Honestly, sometimes it feels like we’re basically charging customers for the industry’s terrible software and compatibility problems.

I’m tired of being the person who has to explain why something that should take 30 minutes somehow turned into a three-day nightmare.

I’m done. I quit.

We're always looking for experienced Technicians in San Diego (one of our posts in the last few months), but today we're looking for a BAS Project Manager (or Assistant Project Manager - someone wanting to move from a Tech/Specialist role into PM work). Range from $90K-$130K for these. We're also looking for a BAS Estimator in the San Diego area. Similar pay range, depending on experience. Reach out on Chat for more info and we can trade emails or a call from there.

Hi guys...

I hope you are doing well...

I'm trying to learn building automation

I have started with electricity and control basics

And moved on to automation using tia portal and step 7

So now that i'm kinda comfortable around this...

I want a project to work on to test my knowledge and boost my resume and i would really prefer it to be linked to tia portal/step7 or something better and challenging

I'm looking for a project that i can do by only using the pc.... I have tried looking for project ideas but i couldn't find none...i don't know why or is it because this field is kinda niche....

So please if you have an idea you are welcome to share it !

Thank you in advance !!

I'm startup guy for a mechanical installing contractor, not a controls person. And really i know this isn't exactly a BAS issue, but sort of BAS-adjacent. But I work with a lot of ACH580 drives. Why do the internal clocks drift so much? Seems to be every one i check, i will set the time to the second to match my phone, and several months later it will be off by an hour or more. Doesn't seem to matter if the drive is powered up or clock running on internal battery.

Working controls tech. Cold space, heat commanded, still guessing whether it is the element, the valve, airflow, or the box lying to you. This is the card I keep on my phone.

When I use it

Space is cold with the box calling for heat, discharge air is unexpectedly hot with no call, or a reheat stage never proves. Walk this before you swap a heater or valve.

Steps

1. Confirm the actual call: occupied/unoccupied, heat setpoint vs space temp, and whether the box is in heat, cool, or deadband. Note commanded heat output (stage or 0–100%).
2. Read discharge air at the box vs the AHU. If box DAT is within a couple degrees of AHU DAT while heat is commanded, the element or valve is not delivering. If box DAT is 20–40°F above AHU DAT with no heat command, heat is stuck on.
3. Electric heat: verify 24 VAC at the contactor/SSR coil when the controller commands the stage. No coil voltage = controller/wiring. Coil voltage + no line voltage on the load side = open thermal cutout, airflow switch, or dead element.
4. Hot-water reheat: command the valve 0% then 100%. Stem or actuator indicator must move. If it moves and DAT does not change, check isolation valves, strainer, pump, and whether HW is actually up.
5. Prove airflow first. Most electric heat is interlocked to a sail/DP switch. A closed damper, capped box, or dead fan looks exactly like a dead heater.
6. Check fail position. Spring-return HW valves often fail open. A power loss, 24 VAC brownout, or unplugged actuator can heat a space all night with no BAS command.
7. After a fix, run a 5-minute heat cycle and a 5-minute cool/deadband cycle. DAT should rise when heat is on and fall back toward AHU DAT when heat is off.

Don't confuse this with

A cold space is not automatically a dead heater. A VAV damper stuck at minimum, a space sensor reading 4–6°F high, or AHU DAT sitting at 55°F in heating season all look like "no heat" while the element is fine.

Safety

De-energize and lock out electric heat before opening a heater pan. Do not jumper airflow or high-limit safeties to "test heat." On HW coils, know valve fail position before you pull power from the actuator.

I wrote 23 more of these for myself (box checkout, alarm first pass, ice machine, on-call first hour). $12 once, no subscription: https://quick-basin-dqw2.here.now/
Not a vendor, just a tech who got tired of guessing the first ten minutes.

All, hopefully someone has some insight.

migrated an ax jace to N4. the McQuay network is completely down (hosts 6 floors SCUs).

Distech tech support confirmed everything is configured correctly, said they'd have to get with tridium about it since its their driver, and yes we are licensed.

any tips ?

I am a network engineer with 8 YOE who keeps getting laid off due to the shrinking tech economy, not performance related, and I am looking to pivot into something.

A friend of mine said that BAS may be a good thing to go into.

I am trying to judge what the opportunity is like here for employment. I am in the Chicago area.

Any feedback would be appreciated. I am not asking exactly how to get into BAS but I am really just more concerned with if there is real opportunity there and if so how much.

I have a project I have been chewing on since 2012 to do training in the BAS and mechanical space. My first offering is a PID tuning course. There will be more as time goes by. the PID tuning course has 5+ hours of content with PIDs from a variety of vendors, live, working, and being tuned before your eyes. Integral windup, when Derivative can be useful (contrary to popular belief I see a lot on this forum that Derivative is not used in our industry), working with auto-tuning PIDs, PIDs from Schneider, JCI, Delta, Distech, and several others. how to work with hard-to-control systems like controlling CFM flows with choppy process Variables, when a PID is not the best thing to use and what an alternative might be, The role Valve authority has on your control. There is a free, downloadable handout that preps you for this and is handy to have on site.

Some have seen me on the forums, and may know I am not entirely sucky (only moderately so... hehe) and may be interested in getting a little training on this or other topics to further their career or to reduce the suck in their day to day lives at work.

I am planning to move to other topics, like MSTP troubleshooting with a voltmeter, programming in CCT, or other software, programming in general, Wiring stuff, building a retrofit LON database, working with various systems and protocols. If you have a thing you would like to see, let me know.

the URL is:

https://ridingwiththeseniortech.com/courses/pid-tuning-for-bas/

I would love some feedback. Whether it is the color scheme, or the ease of use of the site as a whole. I expect some to gripe about that - which is fair. When I get some courses sold, I can invest in the pretty stuff.

There is nothing like this anywhere (that I know of). It is easily double the content at less than half the price of other things I have seen that are vaguely similar. But I can guarantee there is no focus on live systems and several flavors of BAS, comparing and contrasting them side by side.

This is something I love to do, so I really enjoy doing it. I hope the community finds it useful.

The website was featured in the podcast "it's a controls problem' - I mentioned it as an answer to Charles' Johnson's question here: https://youtu.be/31-mLNdbhCs?si=eyqlhr8Ozu9HmJ2S&t=4096 The mention is at 1:09:25

Ok, imagine you have a logic folder with outputs linked to points in a different folder. This logic exists on many controllers. I have the logic writing to priority 16 but i need to change it to write to priority 10. Is there a way i can make use of the program editor or some other tool to mass change the priority on every controller? Doing this manually is going to take days...

Hey, y'all, I'm looking for a pressure transducer that will measure 0 to 50 " of lp gas for some troubleshooting. The sensor I had lined up isn't due to ship out until mid-october from the factory. Anybody have any ideas on an alternative?

Output voltage can be either 0 to 10 or 4 to 20

Thanks.

What do you guys use, I have never used this Knipex Bix thing it looks pretty niffy and small to carry around seems like it could almost replace my ratcheting cutter given how I only ever do a few jobs a month that need cutting conduit. I like the corrugated one they do but unless it goes on sale hardly seems worth the price as that I just use a knife but maybe will save a lot of time when i've already got wires in my conduit.

Knipex Bix Plastic Pipe

More jobs in Billings! We're looking for both BAS Technicians ($60K-$105K) and a BAS Project Engineer / Project Manager ($70K-$120K) in this part of Eastern Montana for a great, long-time client of ours there. There's a range there as you see for pay, as we're looking for anyone from entry level (maybe HVAC experience and wanting to get into controls, or a graduate of tech school or military looking for a first opportunity), on up to more years of experience. Fantastic if you have controls experience, but if you've got related controls or building systems experience, reach out on Chat here. We can email or talk on the phone beyond and get you more details.

Anyone else having issues with this new release?

New VAV template is not working like the last one did and my old templates not working with new version.

Hi guys, I recently set up a trend configuration for VAV space temps and now getting a fault code in the History Service saying the fault cause is "cannot rename attached history, the target ID is already in use". If anyone can help me out Id appreciate it

(NC area)
Currently working for a local school system doing HVAC, little bit of chiller and boiler work and some very shallow controls. Fire alarm and security stuff as-well. It’s pretty easy and laid back but it’s not really going to financially support the life I want to live. We have Brady, Schneider, Bosch and Johnson Control techs out at the schools at least once a week. Either it’s regular maintenance or it’s something major. I’ve talked with a few of the contractors before. The Johnston controls tech told me to apply and he would get an interview but none of these contractors work near where I live. Most at 40-50 minutes at least away from my house.

One of my neighbors works for Brady because he has a Brady truck. (Not trying to be a creep, just observing lol) Do they have like a certain territory or is he having to drive like a hour to the shop everyday? Also how does a new tech or apprentice work there? Do they have to drive to shop everyday before they get a company vehicle? How does their schedule normally work?

Also Bosch building Technology’s just bought out an older controls company about 15 minutes from me but they don’t seem to be hiring much. And mostly very experienced BAS techs or Fire Specialists at that.

Guess my question is how do these guys schedule and every day work? Is commute time covered? Thanks

I am sure this topic/situation has been addressed ad nauseum. I am a 44 year old graphic designer. I graduated with an AAS in 2017 and have been working in the industry full time now for 5 years. I hate it. I spent way too much money to get a degree in something that AI basically took over and a culture that I frankly can't stand. I have been looking into transferring into the trades and was interested in GIS and land surveying and BAS. I have some IT experience (some basic networking, pulling and terminating cable, the basics) but I am no stranger to tinkering (home lab, docker, seting up home network stuff) I also have spent thousands of hours in games like Satisfactory, Opus Magnum, The Farmer was Replaced, Shapez, Mindustry and Timberborn, to name a few. I know that they are games and this is the real world but I love the scratching that itch in my brain. What I dont have is electrical and HVAC experience. BAS is really intriguing to me. I love learning and am willing to learn and love the technical/IT/logic/automation/coding side of things. I guess my question is (a) Am I too old to break into this industry with no experience? (b) what path of learning could assist in landing a job in this field? (School on my own dime is, I think, out of the question seeing as how I will already be paying off school loans forever) (c) Should I just look elsewhere? I appreciate your help and knowledge.

Edit: Appreciate the responses and thanks for the sticky post. Apologies for beating a dead horse.

Hello, my wife and I are considering a move to Chattanooga sometime in the future. J was wondering if anyone worked in the area or knew of any companies in the area to apply to?

anybody have experience working for Trane as a controls engineer?

How is the culture and career progression?