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Judy G. Russell
December 18th, 2009, 10:12 PM
I figured it would take some thinking. :)Sigh... I can't wait until I can retire...

ktinkel
December 19th, 2009, 10:11 AM
Sigh... I can't wait until I can retire...Down to 7 years now? Time does fly . . .

Judy G. Russell
December 19th, 2009, 11:29 PM
Down to 7 years now? Time does fly . . .As of today, it may be longer than that. The furnace finally died. Yep, that's right: the coldest day of the year, blizzard conditions, and I'm left with a single space heater and an electric blanket. Ain't life grand?

Mike
December 20th, 2009, 02:09 AM
Aw, sheesh.

Maybe you can chop up some furniture and throw it in the fireplace?

I'd suggest the furballs could help keep you warm, but I'm sure they're thinking exactly the opposite!

Dan in Saint Louis
December 20th, 2009, 08:49 AM
As of today, it may be longer than that. The furnace finally died. Yep, that's right: the coldest day of the year, blizzard conditions, and I'm left with a single space heater and an electric blanket. Ain't life grand?
My experience with "dead" furnaces is that it was usually some small part, most often the thermocouple that detects that the pilot is lit. If it uses an electronic pilot instead of flame, those modules fail more often than mechanical parts.

ktinkel
December 20th, 2009, 10:52 AM
As of today, it may be longer than that. The furnace finally died. Yep, that's right: the coldest day of the year, blizzard conditions, and I'm left with a single space heater and an electric blanket. Ain't life grand?Maybe it will be a cheap fix, some little part. When can you get the repairman to come?

Furnaces are hard to kill. They fall behind the efficiency curve (which is why we have replaced furnaces, never real failure).

I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Jeff
December 20th, 2009, 12:13 PM
My experience with "dead" furnaces is that it was usually some small part, most often the thermocouple that detects that the pilot is lit. If it uses an electronic pilot instead of flame, those modules fail more often than mechanical parts.

Exactly the same experience, with both thermocouples and electronic ignition. And the former is a whole lot cheaper to replace. I will never have another of the latter, even if it does save a buck a month in pilot light gas cost.

- Jeff

ktinkel
December 20th, 2009, 03:22 PM
My experience with "dead" furnaces is that it was usually some small part, most often the thermocouple that detects that the pilot is lit. If it uses an electronic pilot instead of flame, those modules fail more often than mechanical parts.We have had to replace two thermocouples here (in 7 years!).

Now we have an extra on hand. Seems to work its magic very well!

Judy G. Russell
December 20th, 2009, 09:47 PM
Aw, sheesh. Maybe you can chop up some furniture and throw it in the fireplace? I'd suggest the furballs could help keep you warm, but I'm sure they're thinking exactly the opposite!The furballs LOVE the electric blanket. Can't blame 'em.

Judy G. Russell
December 20th, 2009, 09:50 PM
Furnaces are hard to kill. They fall behind the efficiency curve (which is why we have replaced furnaces, never real failure).If this one hadn't been failing, piece by piece, over the last five years, I might have had some hope that this would be the same thing. But it's clear that there's a crack in the boiler itself, and the only option at that point is replacement.

Judy G. Russell
December 20th, 2009, 09:52 PM
My experience with "dead" furnaces is that it was usually some small part, most often the thermocouple that detects that the pilot is lit. If it uses an electronic pilot instead of flame, those modules fail more often than mechanical parts.Woulda been nice, Dan, but this is an older unit that has been steadily failing for the last 2-3 years with parts issues for a couple years before that. What was clear today is that there's a major crack in the boiler itself. Time to replace.

ktinkel
December 21st, 2009, 09:20 AM
If this one hadn't been failing, piece by piece, over the last five years, I might have had some hope that this would be the same thing. But it's clear that there's a crack in the boiler itself, and the only option at that point is replacement.Ugh. Let’s at least hope they are prompt and good at the job.

Judy G. Russell
December 21st, 2009, 11:38 PM
Ugh. Let’s at least hope they are prompt and good at the job.We'll see starting at 8:30 tomorrow morning, which is when they promised to be here to start the job.

ktinkel
December 22nd, 2009, 10:50 AM
I was empathizing with you already, but now I really do — yesterday the roof in my office (where a greenhouse-like addition meets the old house) leaked for hours while we were out doing errands, and I came home to a minor flood, wet papers, some soggy books, and a big mess.

Now I need to get a roofer in. If I am lucky, it might be a flashing repair. If not, who knows? And then we will need to expose the beam, as there are signs of water damage for about 9 feet along it. So I am packing up books and other stuff when I should be making potato and leek soup for our company on Christmas Eve, and other homely — and generally more pleasant — tasks.

Ick.

Mike
December 24th, 2009, 01:39 AM
We'll see starting at 8:30 tomorrow morning, which is when they promised to be here to start the job.
Any progress?

Mike
December 24th, 2009, 01:41 AM
If I am lucky, it might be a flashing repair.
Uh-oh. Water leaks are not fun. One of our condos in Sacramento had quite a few of them, and we had to keep complaining until they were fixed.

ktinkel
December 24th, 2009, 11:40 AM
Uh-oh. Water leaks are not fun. One of our condos in Sacramento had quite a few of them, and we had to keep complaining until they were fixed.I wish I had a landlord, so I could complain too.

Fortunately, Jack’s heroics on the roof were effective, and we haven’t had more snow since, so we have a little time. Sigh.

Mike
December 25th, 2009, 01:30 AM
I wish I had a landlord, so I could complain too.
We ARE the landlords of the condo, and since it's in an HOA, we had to keep pushing until the HOA finally made the repairs. Had it been a house, we could have hired someone to deal with it immediately (and we would have had a complete roof inspection before finalizing the purchase).

ktinkel
December 25th, 2009, 10:36 AM
We ARE the landlords of the condo, and since it's in an HOA, we had to keep pushing until the HOA finally made the repairs. Had it been a house, we could have hired someone to deal with it immediately (and we would have had a complete roof inspection before finalizing the purchase).Oh, gee. I hear a lot of condo stories like that.

Best of luck with it.

Judy G. Russell
December 25th, 2009, 12:10 PM
Any progress?I am pleased to report that while they promised to have it all done by noon on Wednesday, they actually had it done at 11:55 a.m. on Wednesday. I was able to head out yesterday morning without any concern.

Whew...

Mike
December 26th, 2009, 02:25 AM
Best of luck with it.
Thanks, but we actually got that resolved a bit over a year ago. We just don't relish the thought of running into it again.

One of the condo complexes we recently saw during our search for a new home has very obvious roof problems. I'm not enthusiastic about the place.

Mike
December 26th, 2009, 02:27 AM
...done at 11:55 a.m. on Wednesday.
Whew...
Whew, indeed! Glad to hear it's running again. Now, let's hope it's more efficient than the older boiler!

ktinkel
December 26th, 2009, 10:43 AM
One of the condo complexes we recently saw during our search for a new home has very obvious roof problems. I'm not enthusiastic about the place.Good thought. Water problems in general and roofs in particular are always seriously annoying and often expensive to fix.

On the other hand, doubt you will have much of a snow load problem. :D

ndebord
December 26th, 2009, 11:58 AM
I am pleased to report that while they promised to have it all done by noon on Wednesday, they actually had it done at 11:55 a.m. on Wednesday. I was able to head out yesterday morning without any concern.

Whew...

Judy,

Congrats and just in time for your trip to VA. Nice.

Mike
December 27th, 2009, 01:48 AM
On the other hand, doubt you will have much of a snow load problem.
Small consolation. ;-)