As mentioned in previous articles, I have been to many in-person seminars. Most of these were back in the 1980’s and 1990’s when I was new to the heating industry. My father was my boss, and he believed that if you learned the theory, you could master the subject after getting hands on experience. I mostly agree with this, but it only works with a certain kind of person.

I did not realize the value of my father’s approach until I began using it myself with our new employees and even my own kids. It could be as simple as, “this is why we tie our shoes this way” or as complicated as “this is why they use transformers on overhead power lines.” For the way my brain works, knowing how something is supposed to work makes it easier to diagnose when there is a problem. Obviously, there are many things I do not understand and probably never will (calculus for example).

On one occasion, Dad was teaching three younger guys how to use a cutting torch. There was a large steel boiler that needed to be removed, and it was our job to remove the old beast before delivering the new one to the site. The first thing he told them was if they did not pay attention, they would be fired. I was surprised, but I later learned that he did not want anyone to get hurt, and safety came first. Dad gave them the theory, including oxygen mixed with acetylene in just the right amount produces an extremely hot flame. Hot enough to melt steel. Then he explained how to warm up the metal first, then add extra oxygen and “blow” the melting metal away. Next, he covered how to set up the regulators and the valves on the torch handle to get a good mixture. Then he covered the safety aspects, including ear and eye protection, steel toe boots, long pants, long sleeves, fire extinguishers, etc. He wrote most of this down on a pad as he explained things for them to see.

Immediately after the instruction, he brought them into the boiler room, one person at a time. The first two guys passed with flying colors. The third guy failed on three attempts to get the torch to light, did not wear the special sunglasses or the tinted face shield, forgot to put the fireproof shirt over his tee shirt and left the fire extinguisher outside. In other words, this kid was not paying attention to anything my father was saying (or writing). I still see this “kid” that is now almost fifty years old. He works for a large utility company as a residential boiler installer. I suspect he learned a lot in the last thirty years.

Recently, I visited the Heating Help website. A member I have a lot of respect for was asked to do a teaching seminar. He asked us for some advice on the topics, and I immediately thought back to the seminars I attended. There was Dan Holohan, John Siegenthaler, Bob (Hot-Rod) Rohr and many others. There were also seminars that the manufacturers held; these might cover circulator pumps, oil pumps, boilers, condensate tanks, chimney liners, press fittings, oil burners, gas burners, controls, combustion analysis, water testing and treatment, etc. I always learned something at these seminars. Sometimes it was about a new product they were launching, or they would be training us on the products that contractors struggled with the most.

As I mentioned on “The Wall,” some seminar speakers liked to listen to themselves talk (I also had a few college professors that did this). Others, like Dan Holohan would bring up a simple concept like, “what goes into a tee must come out of a tee.” Then he would say, “think about that for a minute,” and pause. I think he was trying to get us to visualize what he was saying, and it worked. Dan did this many times in his seminars, for me it allowed my brain to grab the concept, visualize it and mostly remember it. Dan would often ask if we were following what he was trying to explain. Most of us got it, but some struggled. Many times, during a break or lunch, I would see Dan explaining things in another way to those that did not understand. I can remember eating lunch with Dan and quizzing him about the whole seminar gig. He explained how his wife (The Lovely Marianne) would organize the entire event, from picking a place that was the right size for the audience to getting the best food available in the area. He also asked us for some feedback on what we thought, too fast or too slow, enough detail, etc. I think Dan not only was a fantastic speaker, but perhaps an even better listener.

I went to two seminars that John Siegenthaler did. They were geared towards engineers and commercial heating system designers. I was barely able to keep up at times, but I did learn a lot. While John was not as animated as Holohan was, he certainly knew his stuff. John introduced us to things that were coming our way; condensing boilers, water source heat pumps, PEX, variable speed residential circulators, geothermal, etc.

I always wanted to meet Bob Rohr. I gathered, he is a wizard with wet heat, and very talented with all things metal. The local supply house called me out of the blue about five years ago and mentioned Bob and the local Caleffi Rep (John Salerno from Rathe Associates) were coming to do a seminar at their place tomorrow. I asked for the details and jotted them down (this is how old people do it). The next day, my son and I arrived as planned and walked up the stairs to the meeting room. It was Bob, John, my son and myself. Apparently, the roughly 1,000 other customers that frequented this supply house were too busy, did not get the message or did not realize what they were missing. For about one hour Bob gave us personal instructions on installing, specifying, designing, troubleshooting, etc. Anything we had questions on, he had answers. It was like having a tutor for anything related to heating.

I do miss the in-person seminars…