Furnace blows but does not heat (intermittent problem)

[blueman]

Thanks -- you seem to be one of the few gentlemen on the alt.hvac newsgroup...

[Steve B]

"blueman" wrote

My programmable thermostat had a display on it to call a 800 number. It wouldn't blow hot air from the gas roof unit.

I called the 800#. A nice tekkie came out. We went out on the roof, and he pulled a panel. He wiggled a wire, and the thing came on. He said, "There's your problem. I can't fix it, but all you need to do is stick a toothpick in there to make it move over for a tighter contact."

He also said it would be a good idea to put in a "smart valve" assembly, and showed me how to do it. A simple job of about an hour. He told me he has seen countless toothpick fixes with the homeowner paying $100 for a service call.

I inserted said toothpick after he left. Well, long story short, the toothpick is still working.

A smart valve is $100, and $400 installed. I think I will install it myself when the weather warms up a bit. Until then, it's fine.

There ARE some good hvac guys out there. Just not a lot. I think a lot of guys who flunk out of used car school become hvacs.

Steve

[Bubba]

Yeah, right. Screw on a new gas valve and plug the wires back in. All will be well??? Good thing you know about gas pressures, temp rise and CO levels. No problem there. You're a genius. Bubba

>

[CJT]

Speaking of gas, the "professional" who installed our gas range had to do it three times before he got it right. I think there are a lot of DIYers who could do better.

[Steve Scott]

[Steve Scott]

We just serviced a system yesterday and found the air free CO over

800ppm. Went on a no heat call a week ago. Tripped flame roll out. Air free CO over 2000ppm - couldn't get the meter out quick enough.

99 times out of 100 chang>>

[Bob_Loblaw]

CJT wrote

Let me guess...you got your phone book and called around for the cheapest quote....serves you right....you'll respond and deny this, of course, but we've seen it all before...

[CJT]

This guy was an independent -- not associated with any of the big retailers.

[CJT]

Denied.

[Dimitrios Paskoudniakis]

Glad to hear it!

[Tekkie®]

blueman posted for all of us...

Well Jeffy, I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Tekkie®]

posted for all of us...

Oh he KNOWS but he's got a lot more problems than that....

[Tekkie®]

blueman posted for all of us...

And you seem to be a fundy idiot.

[Steve B]

Smart enough to change a smart valve. It ain't rocket surgery. Even a hvac man could do it.

Steve

[Pinko Flaggo]

blueman wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Congratulations. I, too, fixed my problem myself by replacing my stack over temp switch, which several of the highly experienced HVAC professionals here claimed they had never heard of.

[CJT]

I think I remember those exchanges.

Good for you for fixing without the need for "professional" help.

[Pinko Flaggo]

"Bob_Loblaw" wrote in news:P_yrh.10540$ [e-mail]:

Okay, I'm starting to get it now. Not only are we supposed to call in a highly experienced HVAC professional, we're supposed to shop around for the highest bidder.

[blueman]

Pinko Flaggo writes: > "Bob_Loblaw" wrote in

No wonder the "pros" here have so much time on their hands -- they fail to understand that the combination of incompetence, rudeness, and high pricing doesn't really make for a thriving business.

It amazes me how pathetic it is that these so-called professionals feel so threatened by a couple of homeowners that they waste there supposedly rare free time ranting and raving like a bunch of elementary school kids. But then again most of them probably don't have much more than an elementary school level education...

[Justin]

What was wrong with it? and why did it fail?

[Anonymous]

bubba, even if he water heater had a 3" draft hood, he could still adapt it to

4" bvent. His question was if he could vent the single appliance up an interior 4" bvent. Simple.

You still havn't amswered by telling us how you would vent his appliance? Would you replace all the bvent with 3", run a 3" liner down the bvent? What would bubba do? Maybe get the customer to replace the thermostat HAHA

bubba I would run circles around you in the service dept! ;)

-Canadian Heat

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