Cyprain Chinje

12/10/2026

My CV is almost ready.

Six months ago I started learning automotive air conditioning, mainly to have something solid on it before applying to workshops.

Now I'm getting ready to send it out, looking for a workshop with better equipment than what I've worked with so far.

Part of me wonders if I should have started applying earlier, while I was still learning.

No point dwelling on it now, so I'm moving forward.

If you're about to send out your own applications, what's helped you feel ready?

09/10/2026

I built my own formula to figure out what size AC unit a room needs.

I tested it on a friend's room, one with a 9,000 BTU unit already installed that cools it just fine, and my formula said it needed 18,000. Double.

I knew the formula was wrong, but I had no idea where. I decided to drop HVAC because of it.

I showed it to my boss. He can size a room just by walking into it, but explaining how wasn't something he could easily put into words.

Then his friend came by the workshop with a pipe that needed welding.

While I worked on it, I asked him the same question. He laughed at how complicated my formula was and showed me a simpler way: measure the room, count the people in it, work it out from there.

My first try was still off, because I counted how many people the room could fit, not how many are usually in it. Fixed that one number, and it matched exactly: 9,000 BTU, the same unit already there.

Has a small mistake like that ever nearly made you give up on something?

08/10/2026

Six months ago, I started this apprenticeship to learn automotive A/C.

Along the way, I also got to assist with HVAC servicing and aluminum welding, two skills I wasn't originally there to learn.

HVAC especially I've had to study on my own, since we don't handle it often at the workshop.

Both are going on my CV now. My boss is reviewing my progress this week to see where I stand.

What's one skill you picked up that you weren't originally looking for?

06/10/2026

Just another day doing what I love 😁

06/10/2026

It's easy to appreciate the right tool when you've had to work without it.

When I trained at a modern school garage, we almost always had the right tool for the job. A stubborn bolt meant an impact gun, a power tool that spins bolts loose fast. A bolt in a tight spot meant a socket or key shaped exactly to reach it.

Working in local garages here in Yaoundé, that's often not the case. I've had to loosen bolts in tight engine spaces with nothing but an ordinary spanner, which takes longer and needs more care so the bolt head doesn't get damaged.

Parts aren't always laid out in order either, so keeping track of what goes where takes extra attention.

I'm learning that being a good technician isn't only about knowing how a car works. It's also about getting the job done properly with whatever you have.

Have you ever had to finish a job with the wrong tool for it?

05/10/2026

22/09/2026

I didn't burn through the pipe this time.

Recently, when there wasn't a vehicle to work on, I spent some time practicing on scrap aluminium pipe.

I focused on flame control. My boss had advised me to reduce the flame to a heat level I could actually control.

In my earlier attempts, I had burned through the pipe. With aluminium, too much heat can quickly melt through thinner material, so controlling the heat is important.

This time, I controlled the heat better.

The weld isn't perfect yet. There was a fairly large gap between the two pieces, and because I was working alone, I couldn't hold both in position while concentrating on the weld. But it was still better than my previous attempts.

Next time, I'll work on positioning to get a cleaner result.

21/09/2026

I understood something differently after working on a Range Rover/Land Cruiser I had never worked on before.

We had to replace the A/C compressor and condenser.

The compressor had a failed clutch. The pulley was still spinning, but the compressor wasn't engaging.

But the bigger lesson for me came from working on the vehicle itself.

The engine bay was so compact that getting the compressor out meant working around several systems. And to access the condenser, we had to remove the entire front bumper.

It made me realize that I can't depend only on the vehicles that happen to come into the workshop.

There are too many vehicles, systems and designs I haven't worked on yet.

So I need to research more. Study vehicles I've never touched.

Understand their systems before I'm standing in front of them for the first time.

The workshop can give me experience, but I also have to go looking for knowledge.