Back at the old house I was told the same thing about cracks in the heat exchanger. But those guys were clever. They had a camera that they could poke around and record what they saw. They showed me the crack live but I could hardly see it. I wasn't sure it actually was a crack, but at least they had some evidence, valid or not, to support their claim. I did replace that furnace with a high efficiency model that got me some kind of tax rebate. I bought it from some other company than the guys with the furnace cam. My heating bills seemed to be less after the replacement, but I only used it a couple years before we sold the house.
I rarely call the boss to complain about the service. That's like sending your restaurant food back to the chef. They will spit on it before bringing it out a second time. LOL I simply don't go back to a place that does me wrong. Now and days many shops have a web page on Facebook where you can complain and broadcast it to all the trolls. That's pretty effective actually. Most companies don't want bad PR on Facebook.
Adobe Time Bomb
Re: Adobe Time Bomb
I guess most heat exchangers back in the day were actually then casted iron panels with welded seams that looked like pressed steel sheets.
I know of those made of pressed steel, in the majority of houses I bought over the years, they would get rust pit holes in them and have to be replaced. Heck, I've seen heavy cast iron vent stacks filled with pin holes many times.
I think in 40 years of dealing with houses and heating plants, I've only seen two that actually had a hairline crack and it was more than evident by the black area around them. Even so, enough carbon monoxide to cause a problem for the inhabitants of the home would be nearly impossible to reach a level high enough to even read.
After all, the furnaces in question are fueled by natural gas, the exact same gas used by their oven, stove and/or cook-top with no vents in the kitchen.
I was raised in an oil heated home, no cracks in anything, yet we would still get soot around the register outlets. Which is usually an indication of a cracked heat exchanger, but not always. It could be blow-back or a temporary downdraft on the chimney on a windy day. Many reasons other than a cracked heat exchanger can cause soot in the house.
Don't want to pick on the furnace guys though, for most of them, it is a dirty job and usually during an emergency to the family who are already disgruntled their house in now freezing inside, hi hi.
I had a furnace man run out to one of my rental properties years ago. He called and said the blower motor was out, and it was cheaper just to replace the whole slide-in unit than replace just the motor. I said OK, but leave me the unit you take out, I have a use for some of the parts. Back then there was a small five buck core charge which I said I would pay him so he wasn't out.
I picked up the unit and it was exactly what I needed to use as a floor dryer. I had some old motors around the place, but before I replaced the motor, I checked the start-capacitor. That's all it needed was a new capacitor. I think cost all of 8 bucks is all. But it was one of those that you had to take the motor housing apart to get to. I used that blower off and on for well over 20 years, and not just for drying floors. Used it to keep fumes and dust out of houses I was working in, even used it to help keep us cool before a house was buttoned up in the summer.
And I'm rambling again, hi h.
I know of those made of pressed steel, in the majority of houses I bought over the years, they would get rust pit holes in them and have to be replaced. Heck, I've seen heavy cast iron vent stacks filled with pin holes many times.
I think in 40 years of dealing with houses and heating plants, I've only seen two that actually had a hairline crack and it was more than evident by the black area around them. Even so, enough carbon monoxide to cause a problem for the inhabitants of the home would be nearly impossible to reach a level high enough to even read.
After all, the furnaces in question are fueled by natural gas, the exact same gas used by their oven, stove and/or cook-top with no vents in the kitchen.
I was raised in an oil heated home, no cracks in anything, yet we would still get soot around the register outlets. Which is usually an indication of a cracked heat exchanger, but not always. It could be blow-back or a temporary downdraft on the chimney on a windy day. Many reasons other than a cracked heat exchanger can cause soot in the house.
Don't want to pick on the furnace guys though, for most of them, it is a dirty job and usually during an emergency to the family who are already disgruntled their house in now freezing inside, hi hi.
I had a furnace man run out to one of my rental properties years ago. He called and said the blower motor was out, and it was cheaper just to replace the whole slide-in unit than replace just the motor. I said OK, but leave me the unit you take out, I have a use for some of the parts. Back then there was a small five buck core charge which I said I would pay him so he wasn't out.
I picked up the unit and it was exactly what I needed to use as a floor dryer. I had some old motors around the place, but before I replaced the motor, I checked the start-capacitor. That's all it needed was a new capacitor. I think cost all of 8 bucks is all. But it was one of those that you had to take the motor housing apart to get to. I used that blower off and on for well over 20 years, and not just for drying floors. Used it to keep fumes and dust out of houses I was working in, even used it to help keep us cool before a house was buttoned up in the summer.
And I'm rambling again, hi h.