Toontown Heating & Cooling

. As far as misdiagnoses were concerned, we had initially misdiagnosed a gas valve fault on Dec.27/17, but we told them about that and said that none of that would be charged to them. But that same time we did discover that there was a problem with the condensate trap on the furnace was plugged and would not allow the condensate created by the combustion to be removed fast enough from the furnace and would end up in the combustion blower which slowed the combustion blower down and would not allow the pressure switch to close. This pressure switch has to close in order to allow the ignition system to engage. So up to that point the furnace would not go into ignition. Once we removed the debris from the condensate trap and the condensate lines and the combustion blower and re-assembled everything we were able to achieve ignition and start warming up the house. They were billed initially 3 hours for 1 tech for that repair. We thought at that time we were finished, but as we were packing up, the furnace shut down and the thermostat hadn't reached temperature yet so the furnace should have kept going. We discovered that the high limit switch was opening causing the gas valve to close. Normally the high limit opens because of lack of air flow caused by dirty filters, faulty main blower, not enough return air, dirty evaporator coil anything that could cause low air flow. We had to check the obvious causes to eliminate them. The coil was clean, the main blower was okay, the filter was clean, so with those items checked off I had assumed it was a weak high limit switch, which we have come across many times. We didn't have the right one in the van and it was late in the day so we picked one up from our supplier for that type of furnace the next day and came back to install it. With the new switch installed the furnace ran for about 10 minutes when the new switch opened and shut down the ignition system. Now when the high limit switch opens the ignition system stops but the main furnace fan keeps going so the plenum can be cooled and allow the switch to close and the ignition system will start again. The high limit switch is a self resetting switch. So the furnace ignition will keep stopping and starting until the thermostat is satisfied. It will take longer to get to that point and on really cold days may never get to temperature and it was very cold at that time. With this new switch installed the first cycle was about 10 minutes but after that each cycle got shorter. So now we know at this time the furnace is running hot but not why. Had to check gas pressures on the gas valve to make sure they didn't get out of set point. If the gas pressures are too high then that means a lot hotter flame. Which could be the problem, but in this case it wasn't the reason, the gas pressures were actually lower than what the manufacturer wants. I also checked the temperature inside the plenum to determine of there was any obstruction in the duct system. If there was any obstruction it would slow the air flow down and cause the temperature to go up. But the temperature wasn't too high at the spot where I took the temperature reading from. So now I don't know why the furnace is running hot and that I would have to talk to the furnace tech support to see if they have any idea as to why the furnace is running hot. In order to do that I need to be in front of the furnace when talking to them and it was late in the day and would have to be done the next day. At this point I told Mrs. Customer that because I don't know what the reason why it's running hot there was no charge for part of yesterday and today. So as of this time they have only been charged for 51/2 hours labour,3 for the blocked condensate system and 1 hour for checking why the limit was opening on the first day and 11/2 hours on the second day and a new limit switch.
The next day before calling tech support we took a temperature reading at the high limit switch location through on of the two mounting screw openings into the heat chamber. The temperature was at 250 degrees F and still climbing. The limit switch is rated to open at 210 deg. F plus or minus a few degrees. The flue gases that are created from combustion have temperatures around that before they pass through the secondary heat exchanger. We suspected a faulty or cracked heat exchanger and because of that we took carbon monoxide readings in the air stream inside the plenum and found it to be at 19 PPM when it should be 0 PPM. Mr.Customer was not in town at this time so we showed these readings to Mrs. Customer. 35 PPM is the level at which humans would start to feel the effects of carbon monoxide, some might feel the effects earlier. She asked what could be done and we told her either a new furnace or replace the heat exchanger. There is still warranty left on the heat exchanger only and that it would be cheaper. Talking to the supplier of that furnace in Saskatoon I was told that the heat exchanger would be covered if it is cracked. I told the Cusomers that it usually takes about 7 hours to replace a heat exchanger and they would be responsible for the labour to replace it. I did end up talking to Mr. Customer on the phone and explained what we done and about the heat exchanger that it would be about $750.00 for labour to replace the heat exchanger plus some administration fees. Even though we suspected a faulty heat exchanger, in order to get full warranty on the heat exchanger we had to confirm that there is a crack caused naturally and not man made. To do this we needed to use an instrument called a See Snake Camera to look inside the heat exchanger and on the outside of the heat exchanger inside the furnace plenum. To look inside the heat exchanger the burners and gas manifold had to be removed. I took us 3 hours for 2 of us to find the crack and reconnect every thing in which we billed them for. When we confirmed the crack we ordered the new one but it wouldn't be here for about a week. With the C.O. getting into the air stream we told the Customer that the furnace should be shut off, but being winter everything would freeze, so in order to leave the furnace on at a lower temperature, the house would have to be vacant. There son and grandson plus a room mate were living there at the time. The son and grandson would stay at the Customer's and the room mate was away for the festive season, so the house would be empty for that time, so the furnace was left on. According to the Customers complaint is that we put a jumper on the safety switches for over a week and didn't let them know. As I stated above they were well aware of the C.O. levels. The furnace didn't have jumpers on any safety switches, it ran by getting the call for heat from the thermostat and if it went out on high limit so be it, it was just to keep the house warm and not freeze up. We did jumper the limit switch on the first and second day so the house would get up to temperature with people living in it, but that was before we discovered the C.O. levels.
We installed the heat exchanger when it arrived on Thursday Jan.05/18 and that is when I first met Mr. Customer. When stripping the parts off the furnace to gain access to the heat exchanger, I found the Condensate transition pan was damaged and needed to be replaced, I showed Mr. Customer the pan and said the pan costs about $80.00, he said to go ahead and that he had no choice it needed to be replaced. In order to get the new pan and for me to get the heat exchanger and the heat back on I needed the pan delivered by courier or to get it quicker I needed someone from my shop to go pick it up from the wholesaler and deliver it to me, they were billed one hour labour for that and initially I forgot to bill them for the pan. Once everything was back together my assistant was finished service calls so I had him stop by to see what was done and while I was cleaning up I had him check the C.O. levels inside the plenum air stream, we were showing 2PPM and that was due to the smoke that comes off all new heat exchangers. They were billed an extra 1/2 hour for that. The furnace went our on high limit again, but after 20 minutes or so but did not go out after that.
We was there until 5:30PM, normally I pick up my wife at 5:00 but I called her to let her know I was going to be at the jobsite until about 5:30, her boss would drive her home. I know this because I received a text from a customer that they had no heat so at 5:30 I called them to tell them I was on my way and I went there from the customers house. This is where they say I'm billing for false hours 11/2 hours above the cost of the heat exchanger replacement.
***. Bottom line is this customer doesn't mention all the hours that they know I was there and they were not billed for at all. If no crack how can there be 19PPM in air stream.