Gas issue? Not sure what's happening.


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Old 11-20-06, 09:13 AM
J
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Gas issue? Not sure what's happening.

Every so often when I'm watching TV in the basement I hear the furnace start up, and a little bit into it (after I hear the spark igniter go off) I'm pretty sure I hear a pretty big FOOM! as though a ton of gas is igniting.

Here's the thing, though... I've never been able to catch the furnace doing it. Countless times I've run in there as I hear the spark igniter go, and watch the pilot light the burners perfectly. I've even turned the power off and on several times to try to replicate it... and nothing.

I have a natural gas detector in the adjoining room (there's no door between, it's probably 15 feet away) and the peak level still reads 0, so it's not igniting that much gas (though, if it were, my house would probably be burned down anyway, so it's kind of a moot point).

I can't figure out what's going on... and I'm not sure how dangerous it might be. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Is there any way that such a problem could "backlight" into the gas line and cause an explosion? It seems unlikely, but I just don't know.

Thanks!
 
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Old 11-20-06, 10:01 AM
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Wink

Is there any way that such a problem could "backlight" into the gas line and cause an explosion? It seems unlikely, but I just don't know.
NO

When was the last time the unit was cleaned and serviced. Id check and clean the burmers here first is the ignitor strip clean and the burners venturi clean. Gas to air set right on the burners.


ED
 
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Old 11-20-06, 10:42 AM
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Actually, it was cleaned by the gas company back in July. That's not to say, of course, that he did a good job.
 
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Old 11-20-06, 11:58 AM
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I'd call the gas company back and have them double check to make sure something isn't in wrong or overlooked.
 
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Old 11-30-06, 07:47 AM
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So I thought for sheer amusement factor I'd update this thread. Last night was..... interesting.

I called the energy company (who did the cleaning for $114 in July) and told them my problem and that I thought that either something was put back wrong, or that maybe the gas/air mixture was off. I said it wasn't a big deal, but I'd like to have someone come back and make sure it was done correctly.

The guy on the phone went into panic mode. The conversation went something like this:

"Do you smell gas?"

"Nope. I just have two burners that light a little late."

"Do you hear any hissing"

"Nope."

"We're going to send someone out tonight. Turn off your furnace right away. You will need to be there. If you are not home when the technician arrives, we'll have to call a locksmith and have them let him in."

"Ummmm... okay."

"Please turn off the power to the furnace, and turn off the thermostat."

"Okay. I'm not going to get charged some kind of emergency fee for this, right?"

"No, no. This is free."

"Okay."

So the technician shows up a couple of hours later. Even though I wasn't too worried, I shut off the furnace so that the parts wouldn't be hot. By the time he got there, my house was in the low 50's.

It turns out the dispatcher reported this as a gas leak. I explained that it wasn't a gas leak, and really wasn't an emergency, but was probably just a misaligned part or something. So he went down and took the furnace apart and discovered that the burners hadn't been cleaned in ages. I would have thought that cleaning the burners would be an obvious part of a furnace tune up and cleaning, but he said that the burners are cleaned "if needed" and that the last guy probably just glanced at them and decided they didn't need it, rather than bothering to take them out and look. The spreader bar was full of gunk.

He cleaned the burners, and it seems to be lighting better now.

As he left, he commented on how I got "free service" tonight (not in a mean way... he was really nice). I'm not sure how I feel about that. I wouldn't have needed "free service" if the first guy had really cleaned the furnace.

Ah well. So much for the big emergency!
 
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Old 11-30-06, 10:34 AM
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The gas company guy shouldn't complain too much........he probably got a really nice overtime payment for the afterhours callout! I know our local gas company guys get a minimum of three hours pay for any callout, and that's at time-and-a-half rate on weekdays, double time weekends and holidays.
 
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Old 12-11-06, 08:25 AM
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Well, it's a few weeks after the furnace guy came out and cleaned my burners, and the problem is still happening intermittently. It would appear that the left burner is too gunked up.

I called my local appliance parts store and they said that my model (a goodman GUP 100-4A) is an obselete model, and they can't get a replacement burner.

Can anyone suggest a place where I might be able to find such a part? It seems that replacing a whole furnace just because that part is dirty is overkill. Especially since the furnace works fine other than that.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
 
 

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