First Co
The multi-family air handler house, Dallas-built: soffit and ceiling-suspended units (the above-the-closet apartment classic), closet uprights, vertical stacks and hydronic fan coils. Tight cabinets, straightforward controls — and condensate management is half of every call.
What they make
Soffit / closet air handler
Covered in the simulatorThe apartment classic: a horizontal air handler tucked into a soffit, above a closet, or over the water heater — serving one unit, reached from a ladder in the hallway.
Electrically it IS the sim’s air handler: transformer, fan relay, float switch, blower. The soffit part of the job is access and condensate discipline — that drain pan sits above somebody’s ceiling, and the float switch tickets on the board are exactly why.
Start a guided call →Practice: whole system dead →Practice: no air inside →Practice: runs but won’t cool →Practice: acting possessed →Practice: blows fuses →Practice: gauges on →
Air handler / fan coil
Covered in the simulatorThe all-electric indoor cabinet: blower, coil, and controls. In multi-family it hides in closets and mechanical rooms; hydronic fan-coil versions swap the coil’s refrigerant for water.
Modeled as the sim’s indoor unit: control power, blower circuits, condensate float, coil airflow. Hydronic (water-coil) versions add loop diagnosis the sim doesn’t model yet.
Start a guided call →Practice: whole system dead →Practice: no air inside →Practice: runs but won’t cool →Practice: acting possessed →Practice: blows fuses →Practice: gauges on →A2L start-up guide →
Vertical stack fan coil
Lessons carry overThe hi-rise closet unit: a vertical chassis on shared risers, floor after floor of the same machine. Hydronic two/four-pipe, or water-source heat pump versions.
Blower, float-switch and control failures echo the board’s indoor wing. Hydronic diagnosis is its own trade — and the risers are SHARED: isolate and know the building’s valves before opening anything wet.
Open in the Copilot (reference) →Practice: no air inside →Practice: acting possessed →
Tech support
Tech support here is the guided Copilot with your First Co info already loaded — one question at a time, evidence before parts, and everything you enter rides into the service report.
Model-number decoding here covers residential and multi-family split systems and package units, 5 tons and under — First Co equipment lives outside that scope, so the manufacturer’s literature leads on model specifics. The Copilot still loads the brand for a guided session.
Start tech support — First Co loaded →