Don't I feel like "the man" - warning...fix it story inside _LONG

[TAftonomos]

So tonight in a small town just south of Atlanta, there is still snow on the ground.  Being from FL, I've never really messed with snow, nor had 6" of it to play with.  Made me a snowman...well first it looked like a giant penis + balls, but I changed that as I'm a grown mature man now.  Some bastage kids decaffinated him last night as I slept.  pregnant doges.


Anyway, fast forward to tonight.  It's cold out, around 27.  I come upstairs after finishing the break down on the 999 I'm parting out.  Take a shower, and get ready for bed.  Weird....it's cold up here... Well, warmer than the garage, but shit it's cold....62 to be exact.  WTF over.  I check the thermostat...says the heat is on (ummm no it ain't).

I climb into the attic.  We have 2 furnaces up there, one is running with blinking lights, the other just has blinking lights.  "Well, there is the problem" I say as I remove the cover.  There is no flame on this one, that one is burning like a mo-fo (downstairs).  Hmm....how does this thing work?  Shit if I know, but if high-school dropouts can figure this shit out, I damn well better be able to.  make the beast with two backs, I work airplanes in the busiest airspace in the world....how make the beast with two backsing hard can a furnace be?

Ok, start to trouble shoot.  Apparently there is a fan, and an exhaust.  There is a pressure sensor on the exhaust fan (round black thing with 2 wires going to it...same color.  Has a diagram on it...yup thats a pressure switch.  This switch senses that the fan is running by the vaccumm that it's creating.  It also double checks that the exhaust is free and clear (if it wasn't....no vaccuum).  Ok, so to check the easy thing first, I remove the outside vent....nothing is happeneing.  Fan is running, but no fire.  So I "jump" the pressure sensor with a piece of wire that the builders just left laying around up in the attic.  FIRE!!!!!

I can't just leave it like this, as the unit will check to see the switch is off when it comes on....otherwise if the switch gets stuck on, how does it know there is no blockage/fan working.  I test my theory...yup, no worky if jumped.  I wouldn't leave it like this unattended, but I was prepared to camp out all night so my 2 kids and wife could sleep with the heat on (parrots too....those things don't know what winter is...)

I pull off the pressure sensor and suck on it.  It switches (you can hear it) and the meter says CONT.  Good, well I can suck hard enough to set the switch off.  I holler down to my wife and ask her to suck on this thing, she isn't amused.  Anyway, when I pulled it off I noticed that the vac tubing on the unit was torn off on the nipple!  AHH HAA!  Shit...I don't have any vac tubing.  Oh hell yess I do.

Down stairs I go, and dive into the garage.  SOMEWHERE is the evap/emmisions cannister on the 999.  I steal 2 hose clamps and a 6" piece of vac hose.


THATS RIGHT.  ITALIAN PARTS MEND A USA MADE LENNOX HEATER.  Holy shit, will we make it through the night with a lennox furnace patched up with duc parts? 

[1KDS]

but if high-school dropouts can figure this shit out

I'm glad you were able to fix your problem, but I am and maybe other board members are HVAC/R techs that may not appreciate this.  Just because some laborers installed the shit doesn't mean techs aren't skilled or educated.   

[TAftonomos]

I'm glad you were able to fix your problem, but I am and maybe other members are HVAC/R techs that may not appreciate shit like this.  Just because some laborers installed the shit doesn't mean techs aren't skilled or educated.

Please don't take offense to that.  I'm a dumb air traffic controller, who fails at playing connect the dots!    My experiance with techs has been that they are neither skilled nor educated, and they are just floating around collecting an hourly wage.  HOWEVER, I treat each new one I meet as though they ARE educated and ARE skilled until they prove to me otherwise.   

[Raux]

should HVAC repairmen be added to the list of no-go topics like Cops?

[NoisyDante]

Please don't take offense to that.  I'm a dumb air traffic controller, who fails at playing connect the dots!   

It's true, he sent my bracket to the wrong place!  j/k

Nice job on the heater, my Dad just had a similar issue in New Jersey, he called the local experts.