furnace relays

[LesU]

We have a 2 year old furnace, with every bell and whistle. We have 12 year old duct work with some special features. We have two thermostats, one upstairs, one downstairs. When the upstairs draws, the bottom does not, and vica versa. When both draw, the upstairs is shut off. This is all done with "relays" and is a pain for the installer, technication, etc. This controls 3 "big valves" that control upstairs/downstairs.

The salesman did not tell us about a "module" that would do all the work of the "relays" simpler and cleaner. I feel the furnace company should put the "module" in for free labor, with me paying for the "module". If the salesman had told me about the "module", I of course would have said put it in. It has cost about 50 hours in non-billed work so far, over the past 2 years.

What do you experts think?

[jim]

yes, get it done for free???? dont think that the salesman is gonna say, "yes sir you are right i should have told you that, so now its free>"

[CBhvac]

If its 2 years old, it sure does not have every bell and whistle...

Honestly, I dont have a damn idea what you are talking about. Relays? valves? Are you talking about a modulated damper system? 3 dampers controled by relays with only two thermostats? No..I dont think so...not even with a Honeywell $900 multi zone controller stat.

If you are talking about a zone controller, they cost quite a bit, and NO, I dont think the company should put it in free. It sounds like you went with a cheap company to start with...perhaps not in price, but in workmanship, and now you have problems. Professional opinion....get someone familiar with zoning in, expect to pay for his time to look the system over and make a suggestion, and pay whatever it takes to get your unit in order.

You havent explained what the real problem is, havent really given any information at all, other than you want something for free 2 years after the original install. IF the techs you have now dont understand what is going on, then you have either: The wrong techs, or the wrong system installed. Either way, the fix is to find new ones. IF and ONLY IF you had complained to the company during the first...say...90 days, then sure...they would be almost obligated to put the unit in for no cost, other than full retail or even a slight savings on the controller, but its not their problem now. You waited 2 years. You accepted, and paid for what they put in TWO FRIGGIN YEARS ago.

No...they dont owe you a thing.

[RB]

About 12 years ago I specified a system for my home that is now sold by Trol-A-Temp, a component of Honeywell, to do what you are describing. I have 4 zones implemented and 2 spare expansion zones. My system is forced hot air but that doesn't preclude using it for hot water. Go to Honeywell's web site and search for "MABS 2". Trol-A-Temp used to call it MABS II (Mastertrol Automatic Balancing System II). The whole package fits in an enclosure about 8 x 10 x 2 inches for the first 4 zones and another similar, but smaller enclosure for the expansion relays.

RB

LesU wrote:

[indago]

It sounds like you have a non-standard system, and the service men that are attempting to service have to analyze the circuitry of the add-on before they attempt to make any decisions concerning servicing. You would be well served to get a schematic of this add-on, with the locations of the electric dampers in the duct system, and how it interacts with the actual furnace system. Then, when someone comes to service it, they can just go over the schematic and the damper locations and then corelate this to the furnace. It will be a time saver, and thus, a cost saver.