Cool Profit$
Heat Transfer Technicians

Bob Merrill
The Radiator Works, Bow, NH. Bio and photo to follow soon.

Lenny Passwater
Cowchasers,  Cherokee, OK. Bio and photo to follow soon.

Dale “Mac” McGonagill
Dale, who grew up in the radiator business, owns Mac's Radiator Company, Mt. Pleasant, TX. 
What Dale enjoyed most from studying the Heat Transfer Lessons was gaining additional knowledge about subjects so very important to him. He'd like to learn more about anything “radiators,” but will pass on air conditioning. (We hear from a lot of a/c guys who feel the same about radiators.)

Irby V. “Mac” McCarley, Jr.
Mac is the owner, manager, technician, welder, radiator man and bookkeeper of Longhorn Welding, Karnes City TX. He's been in the business for 18 years.
Mac, who has been a subscriber to Cool Profit$ for almost 18 months, spent 5 days taking the test. The work was done in short spurts, 30 minutes and then stop to do something else. Later on he'd get back to it for another 45 minutes. He's glad he kept all of the back issues, they were needed as reference. While he didn't really like the math requirements of the test (no one has so far), he enjoyed the in-depth explanation of the mechanics of heat transfer. Passing the test made him feel like a million dollars!

John V. Reig, Sr.
John is the owner of Bay Radiator Repair Inc. of Staten Island, NY. He has been in this business since 1983 and performs the jobs of radiator man, technician, manager and mechanic.
While spending an hour and a half on the test, John admits to researching many of the questions in the Heat Transfer Lessons. Two things that he learned from the lessons and the test: 1) Most important were the theories (of heat transfer); 2) His lack of knowledge! (Former lack, now.) He still questions the exact meaning and usage of the abbreviations H, V and S as shown in the QC Btu Curve portion of the test. (John wasn't alone in his concerns about these terms. Consequently, look for a future supplement articles that will further define the terms.)
When notified that he was a new HTTI, John said that he felt as if a customer had just come by and told him how cool his race car ran with the custom radiator that John had built. He knew the test had been difficult and there was a sense of pride in passing it. As a further description, “It's also a good reason to take everyone to dinner and crack a bottle of bubbly—but then what isn't?” He added, “Keep up the great work and keep Cool Profit$ top dog on my mag. rack.”

Bruce Balfour
Besides being the owner, Bruce Balfour is also a working technician and manager of Mac's Radiator, Air Conditioning and Gas Tank Renu of Bellflower, CA. His test took 3:43:30, just about the travel time between LAX (Los Angeles International) and DTW (Detroit Metro). Yes, Bruce with trusty HTTI Study Guide in hand, took his test while en route to Dearborn, MI to attend the NARSA '99 Trade Show and Convention! Wife Holly and friends Glen and Caroline Kanos, of Imperial Radiator, Torrance, CA were quick to report that Bruce was definitely no fun to be with throughout that flight! Whata guy!(??)
Bruce has been involved in both the radiator and air conditioning business for 22 years. He states that I'm the only person who works harder than he does. Kind thoughts Bruce, but I'll bet there's a lot of folks reading this out there right now who would quickly disagree. (Besides, sucking up to me is still not going to get you a break on the next Heat Transfer Test...you're going to have to take that one on your own as well!)

Steve Dettle (a.k.a. Mr. Cool)
Steve owns and operates A-1 Radiator of Santa Cruz, CA. As such, his job titles are Manager, Shop Forman, Head Mechanic, Torchman, Delivery Driver, Secretary, Salesman…well, you know. August marks his fourteenth year in the business. When I called and told him he had passed, well, the shout of joy nearly blew out my ear drum.
To study for and complete the HTTI test, Steve spent about 4 hours over a 2-day period. It was basically study, pray, study, pray and study some more. He learned that “this radiator stuff is a lot more complicated than I thought”. However, he also found that when he put his mind to it, it could be done! The first half of the questions weren't too bad, but that back half…!!
What other subjects would Steve like to learn about through Cool Profit$? He would like to hear more from other “smaller” shops, and even more personal things about how they live their lives. He also would like to see more article about the basics: repair of Cu/Br radiators and heater cores.
Steve first gave thanks to his Lord, Jesus for guidance in all his endeavors. However, in the same paragraph he also recognized a couple of mere mortals, Cool Profit$ and Ralph McDarmont of the Radiator Reporter, for some business help along the way. Steve, I am, as Ralph probably is as well, deeply honored to have been mentioned in the same paragraph with such a great inspirer.

David Mirigian
Dave, a partner in Ed's Radiator Service, Oakland, CA has been a radiator repair man for 20 years. The test took him 3 hours to complete. But for that effort, Dave distinguished being the only applicant to score 100% on the test. Reaction: “Honored to be in the first class of Heat Transfer University (HTU)!”
And now, after going through all five lessons and the test, Dave believes he has a better understanding by scientific means of how and why radiators are able to cool engines. He particularly enjoyed learning how different types of radiators compare in cooling ability.
What types of articles would Dave like to see in future issues of Cool Profit$? The overheating effects and symptoms of engine performance problems such as timing, exhaust, etc. Do we have any professional instructors wishing to co-produce these articles for Cool Profit$ and the industry?

David J. Larson
Dave, a radiator specialist for 6 years, is employed at Evergreen Collision Centers, Port Angeles, WA. He was surprised to learn that not only was he in the first group to make the grade, but that he was in fact the first technician to earn the certificate! He spent at least 8 hours in actually taking the test, which was stretched out over several days. Because it was an open-book test, Dave was glad he had kept all of the magazines. He lined them all up on the desk and referred to them for each question as listed in the reference chart.
What did he like most about the original lessons? Mostly that there was so much knowledge to be had. The downside: question 25 (analyzing the QC-Btu Curve) gave him the most trouble.