Thought I seen everything!

[HVACRoger]

Elderly Lady (80) calls me yesterday in a panic because her old furnace as she described it had stopped working. Stated husband installed system in 83 when they built the house, he passed so time ago. First guy that worked on it for years, passed. Second guy will not return her calls. I'm slammed with work, but I just cannot turn away older folks. Go over open furnace room and .......... damn, what is that thing!!! Never seen a monster like that before, especially in a house in North Carolina!! They moved from Minnesota, husband had it shipped here, built the house around it. Sure, some of you folks are laughing saying that's a common furnace around here!! Asked if she possible had any paperwork. BAM lays out binder with everything. Start troubleshooting, find blower wheel pulley shattered, gas valve winding bad, and wires melted (from poor connections) in limit switch. Gathered parts, everything easy except pulley, it was aluminum. Found a steel pulley that matched, BAM she got heat. She is now my customer, got to go back and clean up the rat's nest of wires. Don't like the limit switch cut into the access door of the cooling coil either. When it fires, on LP gas now husband used coal and firewood, it runs 15 minutes before it gets limit switch hot enough to energize blower. Probably why asbestos liner missing at corner of heat exchanger, not good! Think I will wire blower from limit switch to a time delay that will bring it on sooner but still be protected by the limit switch.

 

[NCL4701]

I don’t do HVAC work but have inspected thousands of houses in most parts of NC and I’ve NEVER seen anything like that. Impressed you got it figured out and fixed that fast.

 

[Crash277]

Amazing. I used to heat with a wood oil combo. It’s 3-4x larger than my propane only one. I do not miss that furnace.

 

[D2Cat]

Roger, you had the heart to go help a woman that was stranded, then evaluated and solved her problem. That's a service that's very seldom seen. And in these times of no one wanting to work it's accentuated even more!!

 

[L35]

I’ve seen a few octopus furnaces in person, I figured that’s what this would be about. That looks more like a walk in refrigerator than a furnace that’s for sure!

 

[HVACRoger]

I don’t do HVAC work but have inspected thousands of houses in most parts of NC and I’ve NEVER seen anything like that. Impressed you got it figured out and fixed that fast.

Thanks, boiled down to be pretty basic furnace plus wood burning option. Guess you are preparing for round two of winter mix. For now they are saying around 6” here. Hell, 1” shuts everything down! LOL

 

[HVACRoger]

Amazing. I used to heat with a wood oil combo. It’s 3-4x larger than my propane only one. I do not miss that furnace.

It is differently large!!

 

[HVACRoger]

Roger, you had the heart to go help a woman that was stranded, then evaluated and solved her problem. That's a service that's very seldom seen. And in these times of no one wanting to work it's accentuated even more!!

Thanks for the compliment D2CAT!!

 

[HVACRoger]

I’ve seen a few octopus furnaces in person, I figured that’s what this would be about. That looks more like a walk in refrigerator than a furnace that’s for sure!

That’s funny!! I can’t imagine what that thing weighs!

 

[dlsmith]

Kudos to you for helping the lady out!
People like you are becoming a rare breed.

 

[HVACRoger]

Kudos to you for helping the lady out!
People like you are becoming a rare breed.

Thanks!!

 

[PaulR]

Nominating you for Sainthood Roger.

Sometimes us self-employeds have to say "yea, I'm losing money on this one, but, I feel really good inside"

 

[Crash277]

It is differently large!!

i know when they took mine out. They had to take it almost completely apart. The firebox part was taken out on a Dolly. I planned on using in my garage but it would have taken up way too much floor space. Sold it online for a few hundred bucks.

 

[HVACRoger]

Nominating you for Sainthood Roger.

Sometimes us self-employeds have to say "yea, I'm losing money on this one, but, I feel really good inside"

Thanks, PaulR, I don't think I quit rise to that honor, but thanks!! Over the years I have found that situations like that will pay back far more than monetary value down the road. I was doing this when I started my business, you know the first several years are tough on new business, and my wife (she is an accountant you know how tight on money they are) would give me hell for not charging customers and I understood because we had 3 small kids, mortage, car payments, business expenses, etc... Some people took advantage of us along the way but the blessings we received from others is uplifting and humbling. My wife is now more generous than myself! Example: She told me this morning not to get mad with her, she billed the lady for parts at our cost since I marked service ticket as no labor charge. I said we are on the same page then we went to eat breakfast. Great start to the day!!

 

[HVACRoger]

i know when they took mine out. They had to take it almost completely apart. The firebox part was taken out on a Dolly. I planned on using in my garage but it would have taken up way too much floor space. Sold it online for a few hundred bucks.

Yep, it would bring some bucks in scrap metal now.

 

[PaulR]

Both my wife and I are accountants.

 

[HVACRoger]

Both my wife and I are accountants.

Well, there you go, you guys either resemble my comment or I have stuck my foot in my mouth. I must now go see my wife and find out how many Hail Mary's I must say!!

 

[HVACRoger]

UPDATE: I called the number on the literature of the monster furnace and dog gone if the company is still in business. They are going to e-mail a wiring diagram once I send them a picture of the name spec. plate, hopefully find out how old it is. Guy stated they still sell them but because of Obama's energy rating increases and carbon emission crap they can't be built in USA. Built in Canada, shipped to US to dealers. Another thing Trump didn't have time to fix!! Like HVAC manufactures being forced, by Biden standard request, to change freons again by 2025. I have seen where it will have a mixture of propane in it. Mmmm.... fire, from my torch to braze, and propane. Wonder how much money I have to spend now for equipment to properly evacuate a leaking system for repair. Also, Carrier switching to all aluminum coils for condensers, bye, bye copper.

 

[Crash277]

UPDATE: I called the number on the literature of the monster furnace and dog gone if the company is still in business. They are going to e-mail a wiring diagram once I send them a picture of the name spec. plate, hopefully find out how old it is. Guy stated they still sell them but because of Obama's energy rating increases and carbon emission crap they can't be built in USA. Built in Canada, shipped to US to dealers. Another thing Trump didn't have time to fix!! Like HVAC manufactures being forced, by Biden standard request, to change freons again by 2025. I have seen where it will have a mixture of propane in it. Mmmm.... fire, from my torch to braze, and propane. Wonder how much money I have to spend now for equipment to properly evacuate a leaking system for repair. Also, Carrier switching to all aluminum coils for condensers, bye, bye copper.

not being an hvac guy, is it going to be an issue using aluminum? I know for plumbing. I have switched to using the pex lines instead of copper on renovations and it seems to be pretty go at what it is supposed to do.

 

[HVACRoger]

not being an hvac guy, is it going to be an issue using aluminum? I know for plumbing. I have switched to using the pex lines instead of copper on renovations and it seems to be pretty go at what it is supposed to do.

They have had it in their evaporator coils for years now with no issues. There was a time when copper coils were having a tremendous problem with leaks. They found out that the was some microbe created from formaldehyde reaction to copper found in carpet, flooring, countertops etc. that were eating holes in it. They started wrapping the copper coils in aluminum, that stopped it, so they proceeded to making the tubing all aluminum. I like the weight reductions, but time will tell how well it holds up environmentally or to lawnmowers throwing debris into them. For now, all our connections will be copper, they will manufacture the welding of the two in house. We had some issues with thin copper manufactures were using in condensers and the R410A refrigerate. The run pressures on R410A compared to R22 in a hot environment, like the South, are very high. On a 90-degree day with clean, properly matched equipment, R22 head pressure would run 250 - 280psi. R410A will be 400 or more, that's my experience. Thinking it will change the type of chemicals we us to clean them also. Thick enough tubing should be as good as copper, I guess?