Author Archives: Carlos De Sordi

Employee Spotlight: Pat Conlin

This issue’s Midwest Division employee spotlight shines on Pat Conlin.

Pat moved to Duluth, MN from Texas when he was 8 years old. Growing up in Duluth, he attended Duluth East High School, graduating in 1989. Pat moved on to St. Paul Technical College (St. Paul, MN), specializing in HVAC and Commercial Refrigeration, graduating in 1993.

Upon graduation, Pat was hired by
Grandma’s Restaurants in Minneapolis working on their Commercial Refrigeration. He was able to transfer to the Duluth restaurant location in 2001, moving him closer to home. In 2006 Pat moved on to Carlson Refrigeration, where he met Kraig Kunkle. Pat worked
as an HVAC Technician for five years with Carlson before Kraig encouraged him to interview with PetroChoice. In October of 2011 Pat was hired as the Midwest Service Director for PetroChoice, which soon became PetroChoice. After having worked for smaller companies, he has enjoyed the differences and challenges of working for a larger corporation.

Pat has excelled in his positions within the industry because of his easy personality and enjoyment in interacting with customers. He enjoys the hands-on aspect of his position, and has developed strong relationships with his coworkers, who he learns from every day. Pat has been instrumental in the Mesabi Nugget lubrication program, taking the lead on the project. Over the past 2 years, he has been able to recommend solutions for greasing the whole plant, as well as equipment that will support their processes. The on-site team had started with one and has now expanded to 5 supporting lubrication technicians.

Pat currently lives in Duluth, MN with his wife Wendy and two children, daughter Payton (13) and son Cole (10). They enjoy every aspect of hockey- watching, playing and coaching. In fact, Pat is always on the go coaching his kids throughout the year. If he’s not at work, you can find him on the rink!

PetroChoice Ultrasonic Cleaning

A Notch Above the Rest With Ultrasonic Cleaning

Ultrasonic CleansingWith the winter season coming to a close, it’s a good time to be thinking ahead to next fall and winter, and to properly shut your waste oil heater down for the summer. Your furnace was put to the test this year, due to the long cold winter, and will need service. With proper maintenance you can expect a longer life span and much better performance from your furnace. PetroChoice is offering our “2014 Maintenance Program.”We would like to express how important this maintenance is so please act now, and schedule yours today. The earlier you schedule, the cheaper the cost.

Every 700-1000 hours of run time is the correct interval to clean your furnace or boiler. The best time to do this is immediately after the heating season ends. It is important to remove the ash and soot from your equipment. Ash and soot will hold moisture, and cause rust. Time is of the essence.

As a furnace owner there are some things you can do on your own, and should do as soon as
you stop using your equipment. At this time you should shut the power off to your furnace. Simply turning down the thermostat will not work. The burner pre-heater needs to be turned off. When you leave the power turned on, the burner pre-heater will cook the oil into carbon and clog the burner. You can do this several ways. You can simply unplug the yellow power cord to the burner, turn the circuit breaker to the off position, or shut off the power switch. Petrochoice has invested in Ultrasonic Cleaning Technology that ensures the very best quality of cleaning of your burners components. The aluminum pre- heating block is the heart of your furnace and where all the magic happens.

Oil and air enter the block and are heated, regulated, and controlled via a series of solenoids, switches, thermostats and regulators which provide an atomized oil and air mixture. This mixture is required for used oil combustion. These aluminum blocks have been machined with numerous ports for the passage and control of oil and air. We use a special heated degreasing solution in our ultrasonic cleaners, and through micro vibrations it removes all of the carbon deposits throughout these ports and passage ways. Through years of experience we’ve determined the absolute best way to clean your pre heater is with this ultrasonic technology. Petrochoice has invested in this technology so you get the absolute best result and have the most reliable burner possible.

So reach out to your local territory manager for pricing and details or email service@ petrochoice.com. Feel free to call us at 1-800-451-LUBE as well! Our spring/summer program will not last forever so take advantage of the savings and reserve today.