Carl Garrett & Son Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning

In response to Complaint ID [redacted] , filed on 02/25/15:1) The $is the minimum night service charge.2) The repair call was phoned in to us at 4:AM on 02/20/15, and the Service Tech, ***, diagnosed the exhaust inducer was probably in need of repair or replacement.3) We handle a large inventory of parts for most brands, but for a - year old furnace most parts are obsolete and may not be available.4) As per previous letter by Mr [redacted] , to repair equipment, he by-passed a fusible linkThe link is a one-time break high temperature flame roll out/fume roll out device installed by the manufacturer to disable furnace if temperature exceeds fuse link ratingReplacing or by-passing fuse link does not safely repair equipment without determining what caused the failure.5) At 8:AM on 02/20/15, the tenant was called to come back up to repair equipment after locating probable repair part needs, we were told that the furnace was taken care of.6) Carl Garrett & Son, Incdoes not permit our techs to by-pass safety on any furnace.7) I fear the potential of a possible major safety issue still exists, the phrase "Knowing just enough to be dangerous" may apply.Sincerely, [redacted] Service Manager/Vice President [redacted] President

Rejection to the response by Carl Garrett and Son, Inc., sent on March 3, regarding Complaint ID ***, filed on 02/25/15: Perhaps I wasn’t clear on the trouble shooting technique used by me to determine the cause for the furnace malfunction on 2/20/15, so let me explainSince the Service Tech, ***, determined the exhaust inducer was in need of repair or replacement, I removed the inducer, checked it’s condition then applied VAC to it and found It to function perfectly, therefore, the inducer was NOT IN NEED OF REPAIR OR REPLACEMENTIt was then reinstalled in the furnace and didn’t run due to the design of the safety controls built into the furnaceTo locate the problem, safeties were bypassed individually, only to determine their conditionAs safeties were jumped and found functioning properly, the jumper was removed so their function was restoredWhen I touched the fusible link to check it, the spade connection fell offThe furnace is years old and it appeared that due to age, that component had reached it’s useful lifeWhen the jumper was in place, the furnace again functioned perfectly, the supply fan didn’t operate till the heat exchanger was heatedThe fusible link was replaced with a new one, then the furnace was completely checked and was found to be totally safe and serviceable, EVEN the inducer functioned and continues to functionThere are NO safety issues whatsoever with this furnace and the safeties functioned as designedsequence of operation is: 1) Call for heat by the thermostat.? 2) Inducer fan comes on to clear any residual gas from the furnace3) After a delay and signal indicating positive flow of air through the hot side of the heat exchanger, the igniter is energized and verified, the gas valve opens.4) If the flame is verified, the heat exchanger is allowed to heatIf the flame is not verified, the gas valve will close and the furnace shuts downIt may attempt several starts before locking out or continue this cycle5) After the heat exchanger warms up for a certain time or to a certain temperature, the supply fan is energized and allowed to run supplying warm air to the structure till the thermostat is satisfied6) When the thermostat Is satisfied, the gas valve is closed and shortly thereafter the Inducer is shut offThe supply fan runs for a specified time or till the heat exchanger is sufficiently cooledThe furnace is dormant till the next call for heat from the thermostat and as the structure cools the cycle repeatsThe fact that the supply fan operated whether or not there was a call for heat indicates the safety controls determined the heat exchanger was in an over temperature state and the controls locked out all functions of the furnace except the supply fan to reduce the temperature of the heat exchangerThe supply fan, in heat mode, is switched on only when the heat exchanger is hot enough to supply heatIf the inducer fan were bad, the supply fan would NOT have been on, as the safeties would not have permitted the igniter to fire or the gas valve to open thereby NOT heating the heat exchanger to the point where the supply fan would operateI absolutely agree with Carl Garrett & Son, Inc.’s policy not to operate a furnace with safeties by-passed, but, by-passing safeties to trouble shoot a unit is one to the techniques employed to locate faulty components only, and I'm willing to bet even Carl Garrett & Son, Inctechs use this methodIt appears to me that Service Tech, ***, ignored the fact that the supply fan was on when it shouldn’t have beenHe then called the first component, the exhaust inducer, that didn’t operate during a operation cycle “faulty”, even though the supply fan was on, whether or not there was a call for heat and the heat exchanger was coldNOT A CONDITIONHe wanted to change parts in hopes that would remedy the no heat condition without thoroughly diagnosing the problemI do NOT believe the proper method to repair anything is to replace components till the faulty one is finally replaced

In response to Complaint ID [redacted], filed on 02/25/15:1) The $148.50 is the minimum night service charge.2) The repair call was phoned in to us at 4:00 AM on 02/20/15, and the Service Tech, [redacted], diagnosed the exhaust inducer was probably in need of repair or replacement.3) We handle a large...

inventory of parts for most brands, but for a 25 - 30 year old furnace most parts are obsolete and may not be available.4) As per previous letter by Mr. [redacted], to repair equipment, he by-passed a fusible link. The link is a one-time break high temperature flame roll out/fume roll out device installed by the manufacturer to disable furnace if temperature exceeds fuse link rating. Replacing or by-passing fuse link does not safely repair equipment without determining what caused the failure.5) At 8:00 AM on 02/20/15, the tenant was called to come back up to repair equipment after locating probable repair part needs, we were told that the furnace was taken care of.6) Carl Garrett & Son, Inc. does not permit our techs to by-pass safety on any furnace.7) I fear the potential of a possible major safety issue still exists, the phrase "Knowing just enough to be dangerous" may apply.Sincerely, [redacted]Service Manager/Vice President[redacted]President

Review: On 2/20/15 about 4 AM I received a call from my tenant, [redacted], at [redacted], that the furnace was blowing cold air and the OAT was below zero. He informed me that he had called Carl Garrett & Son, Inc. to repair the problem. Shortly thereafter [redacted] called back and told me the service tech had determined that the inducer fan motor was inoperable.I then spoke with [redacted] and he told me the motor had to be replaced but they were not [redacted] dealers, didn't have a replacement motor and they were unable to restore the furnace to an operable condition till sometime the following week. I told him that was unacceptable as the pipes would freeze, I couldn't have my tenants without heat for that period of time and I would take care of the repair. I gathered some supplemental heat sources and went to [redacted] I then removed the inducer and found it was fully functional and again only the supply fan would operate no mater where the thermostat was set. After methodically jumping out the safeties no difference was observed till the fusible link was jumped and immediately the furnace returned to normal functionality. The less than $10 fusible link was the problem and the furnace has functioned perfectly ever since.Desired Settlement: The inducer and supply fan running indicates an open in the over temperature safety circuit but the furnace was cold, therefore, either the limit switch or the fusible link in the heat exchanger was open. The limit switch resets when the exchanger cools off, but the fusible link is one shot. Simply metering or jumping those two safeties would have determined if one or both of the safeties in series would have pinpointed the problem.

Business

Response:

In response to Complaint ID [redacted], filed on 02/25/15:1) The $148.50 is the minimum night service charge.2) The repair call was phoned in to us at 4:00 AM on 02/20/15, and the Service Tech, [redacted], diagnosed the exhaust inducer was probably in need of repair or replacement.3) We handle a large inventory of parts for most brands, but for a 25 - 30 year old furnace most parts are obsolete and may not be available.4) As per previous letter by Mr. [redacted], to repair equipment, he by-passed a fusible link. The link is a one-time break high temperature flame roll out/fume roll out device installed by the manufacturer to disable furnace if temperature exceeds fuse link rating. Replacing or by-passing fuse link does not safely repair equipment without determining what caused the failure.5) At 8:00 AM on 02/20/15, the tenant was called to come back up to repair equipment after locating probable repair part needs, we were told that the furnace was taken care of.6) Carl Garrett & Son, Inc. does not permit our techs to by-pass safety on any furnace.7) I fear the potential of a possible major safety issue still exists, the phrase "Knowing just enough to be dangerous" may apply.Sincerely, [redacted]Service Manager/Vice President[redacted]President