Posted: 11/15/2009 2:41:33 PM EDT
Man, this year has sucked for me as a homeowner. Basement flooded, AC went out, fixed, went out again 2 days later. And, now today I wake up to a 55 degree house. 
Pilot light won't stay lit. So I swap out the thermocoupler with a 'universal' on that has been hanging on the wall next to the furnace since I moved in 6+ years ago. Wrong universe, apparently. So, a trip to the hardware store to buy another one. (Never mind that I have $15 in the bank, and this cost me $10.  )
Get home, wrestle around to get everything put back together, and yeah. Pilot still won't stay lit. Read up on it a bit, sounds like you have to hold that switch in for a few minutes to get the whole thing up to operating temp. So I sit out there, hand cramping, for 6 minutes. Still no go. I let it sit for about an hour, and I put a friggin C-Clamp on it to hold it down for 20 minutes. And, it shut right off. So, looks like electric blanket, space heater, and labrador will have to keep me warm. (I owe $98K on this house, anyone want to buy it? Oh, and how about my '06 Mustang V6, I'll let it go for $9K.) |
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Quoted: And, now today I wake up to a 55 degree house. Sorry to hear about your bad luck... I know the feeling, I've been going though a string like that.... Back up in the basement, washer broke, sink leaked, now my truck is not running right and is going to cost me some $$$$.... I don't have the time, sense or money to fix it... BTW, I can't beleive its that cold there... I don't think we've had the heat on all weekend... I mean its on, but it hasn't ran much... My luck, damn things broke and thats why it hasn't been running... |
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You are in good company!
Basement has flooded (for various reasons) 5 times in 11 years! I need to replace BOTH furnaces AND BOTH AC units (1979 vintage) Probably has a SEER rating of - 70 Carpet needs replaced throughout the house, 11 years of two kids! AND, I could use some decent replacement windows. Now all I need is say an extra $100,000 laying around. Home ownership, gotta love it. PursuitSS |
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Seriously guys, If ya have any furnace problems(or need an install) let me know. This happens to be my lousy career path(of 15 years) I will work for trades, or little out of pocket( i really like trades)
I Do this full time, but will help out any like minded individual, as I'm a firm believer in "pay it forward, or Karma will kick your ASS) |
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They aren't too difficult to work on... I had a Thermocouple go on my water heater couple weeks back. Cost a whole $8 at westlake to get one.
Give the Ruger Dog Guy a call, I am sure he can help you out, That is one of the nice things about a close knit group like this. You can usually find someone to help you out.... 
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AFSOC is right to an extent. The newer ones are computer controlled, and they all have different input/outputs. All the S.O.P's are the same, but are defintiley getting more difficult/expensive to repair.
AR's furnace is still easy enough to diagnose. It sounds like his pilot valve is weak, or the t-couple connection is weak. Either way it sucks(especially when cash flow is slow) I blew a water line in my shower stack, really not looking forward to that repair. |
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Quoted:
Seriously guys, If ya have any furnace problems(or need an install) let me know. This happens to be my lousy career path(of 15 years) I will work for trades, or little out of pocket( i really like trades) I Do this full time, but will help out any like minded individual, as I'm a firm believer in "pay it forward, or Karma will kick your ASS) Someday (hopefully SOON!) You and I will see what we can work out. Everything is currently working, it's just my utilities are OUTRAGEOUS! PursuitSS |
As a bonus, Uncle Sugar doesn't get paid since no "sale" was made! 
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Interesting Update:
Get home, 52 degrees in the house. Figure I'll go out in the garage and pointlessly fiddle with the TC and pilot light stuff, see if I get lucky. Now, while I'm out there, I figure hey...is the water heater going? Sure enough, no it's out as well. Hmmm...curiouser and curiouser. Grab a flashlight and go out in the yard, and yup...gas meter is silent, dials ain't spinning. (Oh, but the stove still works, which is gas....?) So, apparently the gas got shut off, with no warning, and the bill is paid up. Guess who is going to get one hell of a GD worthy phone call in the morning? 
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Not to rain on your parade, if your stove is working, and is still gas, then I doubt your meter is shut off. I guess it's possible, but not probable(?). I hope your right tho, as that is the easiest fix of all.
Main dial to watch is the one with the smallest incriments(cu/ft /hr) Some have different nomenclature. That is the dial you can time your pilot light against. If it moves at all, likely you have gas flow. |
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The house definitly drains you of money...all of us. I just had to put in new energy efficient windows, new french doors, new sliding glass door, new front door, new garage door (didnt like the old ones color) all this in the last yr. I also put in new carpet downstairs, new wood floors upstairs, and the indoor painting.....wife had a hell of a list for me to get done.
As for the heater i have a electric furnace but never use it, i have a wood stove that is real nice, my elec bill is $60 a month during winter, just gotta keep the wood comin. I hate house work! |
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So...there is no lock on the meter. I'm waiting on a call back from the gas company. It looked to me like the valve was on. Hrm....well, guess I'll find out more when they call back. Why would both the water heater and furnace get their pilots shut off? Just more freaky bad luck?
Damn, it is cold this morning! Update: MGE has not been out to shut anything off. And yeah, it sure looks like the meter is on, I went out to look at it again, and it's definitely looks to be on.... I'll try having the pilots running and go out to look at it and see if dials are spinning.... Edit: Okay, water heater is back in business, it fired right up. Fiddling with the furnace now, again, for the first time, like I've never fiddled with it before, like a viiiiirrrrriiiigin! |
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Do you have a quality CO detector? If not I would make sure you get one soon with the diy furnace repair. I'll have to pick one up. Hey, I should probably get new batteries for the smoke alarms while I'm at it. Actually, I was going to squeeze a couple sheets of drywall out of the paycheck this weekend anyway to get a start on putting the basement back together, so I'll add a CO detector on the list.
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It's really sounding like a gas valve to me. We had a windy weekend, and a good down draft can kill both pilots, since they share a common flue.
PTK makes a good point. I will go one further and say, ANYONE that burns a fossil fuel, needs to have a working CO detector on Every floor, as well as a GOOD smoke detector. I highly recommend using Nighthawk brand CO detectors, with digital readout. |
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I am up, waiting on the repair man to arrive. Hoping this is fast and cheap.... If it is something major I have a friend that lives in Belton and can get you wholesale on equipment and install it for allot less than most people. Just stay away from ABMay. If you need it I have a couple space heaters you can borrow. |
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Quoted:
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I am up, waiting on the repair man to arrive. Hoping this is fast and cheap.... If it is something major I have a friend that lives in Belton and can get you wholesale on equipment and install it for allot less than most people. Just stay away from ABMay. If you need it I have a couple space heaters you can borrow. Yeah, they came to fix the AC. $400 bucks, and it went out again 2 days later, and I got the run around on them coming back out. They did clear my backed up drains though. Well, it's after 9am, and no call from repairman yet. I hate sitting around and waiting. *Scene from Ronin* Guy: Man, I wish we were doing something! Ronin: We are doing something. We are Sitting and Waiting. |
| 90 bucks, not too bad. He was able to get it running, but it went out again, so he tweaked the gas pressure, and it has stayed on. No carbon monoxide, and it passed the water check on the heat exchanger. So, hopefully I'm good for another year or two before I need to replace it. |
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You on Propane?
My AC was shot. Put in a heat pump. I just replaced the entire system and have a Carrier Highefficency furnace I had to pull out for the Rebates/Wife etc. It is setup for Propane. I'm in Kearney. Some one here may be able to convert to Utility gas. |
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We, in the Northern part of the state, are at the effective edge of a heat pump's capability. They work well here, and of the thousands I have put in, I have never disabled one, due to disatisfaction of heat produced. A heat pump will efficiently heat air, down to 20-25 degrees. With that said, HP must have an auxillary source of heat, whether it's fossil fuel, or electric(my personnal and professional choice). The biggest problem with HP's here, seem to be improper installation. Things need to be sized right, for them to work right.
On a side note, the tax credit is a joke. You'll spend MUCH more than you normally would, for a system that will rarely(if ever) reach the SEER that it's rated for. 18-21 SEERs are more marketing, than anything. The way they reach this numbers, is achieved in improbable applications. |
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On a side note, the tax credit is a joke. You'll spend MUCH more than you normally would, for a system that will rarely(if ever) reach the SEER that it's rated for. 18-21 SEERs are more marketing, than anything. The way they reach this numbers, is achieved in improbable applications. Ahh, like the gas mileage figures on new car window stickers. Sure it got 39mpg. Going downhill with a tail wind. 
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Quoted:
We, in the Northern part of the state, are at the effective edge of a heat pump's capability. They work well here, and of the thousands I have put in, I have never disabled one, due to disatisfaction of heat produced. A heat pump will efficiently heat air, down to 20-25 degrees. With that said, HP must have an auxiliary source of heat, whether it's fossil fuel, or electric(my personal and professional choice). The biggest problem with HP's here, seem to be improper installation. Things need to be sized right, for them to work right. On a side note, the tax credit is a joke. You'll spend MUCH more than you normally would, for a system that will rarely(if ever) reach the SEER that it's rated for. 18-21 SEERs are more marketing, than anything. The way they reach this numbers, is achieved in improbable applications. Had a heat pump on a rental in this area a few years back. Worked great. Had to do something AC was completely out and undersized to begin with. Had to re size for expansion to the house. And get the flexibility if propane spikes to $4- a gallon. Use the propane if obama makes electricity (all coal here) as expensive as his promise. Looked at ground source, but....... Anyway it was small step to replace the furnace (everything else was) and pickup the larger exchange and AC motor for the constant exchange of the air in the Trane system. Already like it. Way better humidity control, and damn we needed it. Helps when we don't need the AC nor the heat this fall too. Way more comfortable to have that constant exchange and humidity control. Also nice on those days where we needed AC in the day and heat at night. Remided me of SW Kansas with that shit. And while we waited for the propane conversion kit we only had the HP. It did provide the heat needed in those early cold snaps. So far I'm happy. Now if I keep being able to buy propane at 1.19 for the next several years I might think I'm crazy. I SHIT when they called and I bought 600 gall @ 1.19. Cripes. I did have a moment of second guess. |
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Quoted:
We, in the Northern part of the state, are at the effective edge of a heat pump's capability. They work well here, and of the thousands I have put in, I have never disabled one, due to disatisfaction of heat produced. A heat pump will efficiently heat air, down to 20-25 degrees. With that said, HP must have an auxillary source of heat, whether it's fossil fuel, or electric(my personnal and professional choice). The biggest problem with HP's here, seem to be improper installation. Things need to be sized right, for them to work right. On a side note, the tax credit is a joke. You'll spend MUCH more than you normally would, for a system that will rarely(if ever) reach the SEER that it's rated for. 18-21 SEERs are more marketing, than anything. The way they reach this numbers, is achieved in improbable applications. My heat pump sucks, the only thing it does well is cool the house down enough so the gas will kick on. I dont know if that is how they normaly work or not but i hate mine. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
We, in the Northern part of the state, are at the effective edge of a heat pump's capability. They work well here, and of the thousands I have put in, I have never disabled one, due to disatisfaction of heat produced. A heat pump will efficiently heat air, down to 20-25 degrees. With that said, HP must have an auxillary source of heat, whether it's fossil fuel, or electric(my personnal and professional choice). The biggest problem with HP's here, seem to be improper installation. Things need to be sized right, for them to work right. On a side note, the tax credit is a joke. You'll spend MUCH more than you normally would, for a system that will rarely(if ever) reach the SEER that it's rated for. 18-21 SEERs are more marketing, than anything. The way they reach this numbers, is achieved in improbable applications. My heat pump sucks, the only thing it does well is cool the house down enough so the gas will kick on. I dont know if that is how they normaly work or not but i hate mine. It's either installed wrong, or low on freon. I'd get it looked at. I heat my house down to 25 degrees or so, with mine. |
