About Madison Innovations
(it's me).
I've always loved making things and solving problems, so I decided to try turning it into a side business. Madison Innovations is a one-man shop creating specialized tools to help HVAC Technicians, particularly in the VRF/Ductless world.
Tyler Madison. I've been in the HVAC industry for fifteen years now. I started in controls then went to mechanical startup/service (I did it backwards). Now my day job is as an instructor and technical support for guys in the field.
The VRF Pipe Thing started as the "Refrigerant Pipe Gauge" and had "Refrigerant Pipe O.D." printed on it. That's a pretty crappy name for a product.
When I was brainstorming names, VRF Pipe Thing had a nice ring to it and was memorable. I decided to lean into that naming structure, and thus the "Things" were born.
A storage shed on my property that I converted into a workshop and makerspace. Dug a trench, ran wiring from the house, insulated it, and installed a mini-split. All the 3d printing and soldering takes place out there.
Small batches and constant tweaks. The VRF Pipe Thing is on its ninth revision. Injection molding wouldn't allow me to make improvements as design issues pop up and would end up costing significantly more.
I had recently designed my first PCB and the idea to make a "Decade Box" specifically for ReliaTel controllers popped into my head as something I could make that would help out the techs who work on them. This PCB was the first one that I used surface mount components on and the dial mechanism was quite the challenge to design.
I ordered ten boards for the first round and found multiple design issues that I needed to fix by hand. The eight "Founder's Edition" units are from this first batch of boards and they are going to fund me ordering a larger batch of boards so I can produce them in a higher volume and at a lower price.
Please do! I love having new Things to work on.
From the shed in Renton, WA. Every package is packed and labeled by me. If your order shows up wrong, you'll be emailing the guy who packed it.
Thanks for reading.
Tools that work.
Or I make it right.
Tools need to work right every time. If one of mine breaks, send me a picture and tell me how — I'll replace it, and I'll use what went wrong to make the next batch better.
