With the recent sub-zero weather I now have a frozen heat pipe on the 2nd floor of my home. I don't know it was frozen until I tried to run the oil FHW while burning down coals and tried places it could be frozen without cutting holes in the walls. While researching what to try I ran into mentions of Thermguard and one of the hits lead me back to here to an old closed pay it forward thread. AMC343 offered a Thermguard he bought but never used .. I thought it must be gone but PM'd him anyways. Well Roy still had it and was happy to send it to me! Just want to acknowledge Roy's generosity in paying it forward! Hopefully the pipe will thaw without bursting (this has happened here once before) as I thought I was done with this problem but obviously not.. Thinking that it might be a good idea to unlock this thread because of what it did for me and what it might do for others. Once again thank you AMC343 (Roy)! Ray
Good luck Ray. Hopefully it works out for you. Don't do what this guy did. http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/01/03/crews-battle-fire-in-marion-township/ Today will be warmer, take advantage of that. Let us know how it works out.
Unfortunately I don't have time to mess with heat as I have to move my son from his apartment to college housing in Boston today.. I am praying the pipe did not burst as this makes for a real mess!
You're welcome Ray. I'm glad you'll be able to use it and it will prevent frozen pipes in the future.
Just got back from moving my son in Boston and tried the heat upstairs and good news it thawed without bursting!! Now to install the Thermguard to prevent this in the future.. It took sub-zero temps for this to happen so I think I can leave it off until temps approach 10 degrees or less to conserve oil.. I figure run the upstairs zone for 5 minutes every 2-3 hours should work fine.. Ray
All, I just installed the ThermGuard and programmed it so the heat runs for 5 mins. every 4 hours which should do the trick and keep the oil usage down. I did have relay chatter so I tried power setting# 2 which seems to work OK so I am good to go if we see another major cold snap.. Turned it off for now as it's 48 degrees here now.. Crazy weather! Once again thank you 343AMC (Roy) your Thermguard has a new home Install can't be any simpler too.. Just parallel the wires at your T-stat and your done! Decided to add at the T-stat rather than down the cellar so anyone can turn it on when needed easily. Ray
Anybody wishing to post a "Pay It Forward" or Karma thread is welcome to do so. The concept isn't limited to just one thread. The FHC Classifieds is probably the best place to do it.
List in as "Karma" and a mod will Sticky it until the giveaway date. I am due for a Karma thread myself. I have a few thing to give away.
Congrats and ut-oh! all at the same time. Great school! He might actually make enough to pay the tuition.. or help you. What I don't get is when Ipaid my kids tuitions and they got the tax deductions!
343amc the Thermgard is still working well! Been pretty cold for past couple weeks and it's been cycling the upstairs zone every four hours for five minutes. So far so good!
Good deal. Glad it's still working out for you. It seemed like a pretty slick little device, it just didn't want to play well with the fan relay on my oil furnace. Unfrozen pipes are the best pipes....
Yes had chattering relay on furnace on default power setting but problem eliminated on different setting. Thanks for the peace of mind Roy!
