School Is Back in Session

CETA’s Regional Meeting in Reno, NV

By Michael Hamline / Published August 2019

Editor’s Note: On June 26, CETA held its third annual regional meeting. This took place at the Peppermill Resort Hotel in Reno, NV. It was a full day of education, motivational speaking, relationship building, and roundtable discussions. Below are a few of the many highlights from the day’s events.

Though Jim O’Connell, president of CETA, welcomed all the attendees to the event after two educational sessions had been held—Electrical 101 and Fuel Oil Burners 101—it is his welcome that we will start with. O’Connell announced, “We are going to revive CETA University! CETA University helps educate the members, which gets CETA back to its core.” He announced that a committee of 12–14 people had been formed, with Mike Tonies of Hydra-Flex being the committee chair. At the June 26th meeting, attendees were told CETA University would launch in the next 30 days. It is exciting to see CETA putting education and training front and center.

The first educational sessions that were offered as part of the revived CETA University were Electrical 101 led by Delany Johnson of Wayne Combustion and Fuel Oil Burners 101 with Jay Hallaway of Alkota Cleaning Systems.

Electrical 101 Takeaways, Delany Johnson

Make sure your techs have a voltmeter, so they can do their job. They can’t do a good job if they don’t have one.

Measure voltage at the source, which is the burner.

Motors that overheat or overload happen more during the summer due to higher ambient temperature.

Fuel Oil Burners 101 Takeaways, Jay Hallaway

The fuel needs to burn within the combustion chamber, or you get impingement, and the fuel burns dirty.

Some burners use fuel solenoids, which can shut off fuel to the burner. The air and the spark are still there.

A nozzle gauge sets the nozzle height, and it is important to have the gauge at the right position.

John Purswell with Alklean Industries shared, “Don’t check an igniter with a wooden-handled screwdriver.”

Humorous, motivational speaker Charles Marshall spoke about the importance of excellent customer service. He said, “One factor makes and breaks more businesses than any other factor. If a company pays attention to customer service, they will thrive; but if they ignore customer service, they’ll go out of  business and not even have a clue why.” To improve a company’s  customer service, he talks about  The SERVE Method™:

• S—Surprise your customer with excellence.
• E—Evaluate people’s needs and hear what they have to say.
• R—Respond in a way that lets people know they are important.
• V—Validate their response to you.
• E—Exceed Expectations.

Mr. Marshall was both humorous and informative; if you make plans now to attend PowerClean 2019 in Charleston, SC, October 17–20, you’ll have an opportunity to hear from him.

Jimmy Welch, CETA Technical Chairman, provided an industry update on the information one can find at www.ceta.org as a CETA member on the CPC-100 Performance Standard, CPC-100 Certified Machines, Hazmat information, and the impact of California’s Proposition 65 for those trying to sell into the state. He also put out a call to have input from the distributors since they’re working with the end users.

It was a great regional meeting, and it promises to be a wonderful PowerClean 2019. About the latter event, Jim O’Connell says, “Come see us in Charleston for new equipment, continuing education for CETA University, and networking.”