Fehrenheit endurance

Just got off the phone with the dealer. They emailed me the other day to ask how the furnace is working and if we would send a check for the balance due.
My reply was a very lengthy email telling them all the things they did wrong and an exact amount that their mistakes cost us. (Tank of propane, missed days of work etc)
The phone call went really well, the owner apologized repeatedly and offered us a 750 dollar discount on the balance remaining. While it doesn't totally cover all our losses, it does show that the owner wants to make it right and that he is genuinely sorry for what happened. I wouldn't recommend the place to anybody but I am happy with what they did to make it right.

After all the help you guys gave to us I thought you would like to know the outcome. 750 dollars should go a long way towards next years pellets...I may be on my way to becoming a pellet pig

 

Oink! Hope everything is behind you now, I'll have a drink on that!

 

Me too,

 

Cheers guys!

 

Ok guys, I've been told I need to clean my furnace. I'm not really sure what I'm doing, I got a little advice from my sister and Dex but any tips or advice you guys have would be great. I'm not a dumb girl, just a rookie who could use a little help

 

Best cleaning advice ever.......

 

Well chit...I should clean it every day!

 

Read the manual.

 

Smoke, you left the "F" out.

 

Like I didn't do that...

 

You sent a very good PM, I just need lots of guidance! The manual isn't written in "___ for dummies" style

 

The manual in mine didn't say much about cleaning at all. This is my rough cleaning plan:

Yank the cleaning rod a couple times.
Remove the top baffle plates.
Remove the top of the burn pot assembly (remember mine is the older model with a two piece pot, the top pops right off).

Run a paintbrush around the inside to get the ash off the side walls and heat exchangers.
Use my patented heat exchanger ash loosening tool to clean around the heat exchanger tubes. AKA a wooden paint stick. It works for me. Loosens up what might be on the side of the heat exchanger tubes.
Pull the ash pan. Pull out the burn pot clean out assembly from the bottom of the burn pot assembly.
Vacuum ash from bottom of furnace.
Run the cleaning brush up the back wall and over the heat exchanger tubes.
Scrape the crap out of the bottom of the burn pot.
Wipe the glass.

To paraphrase the Chiltons auto repair manuals, assemble in reverse order.

I do all that with the exhaust blower running. Keeps the dust out of the basement. Only time I shut off the blower is when hitting it with the leaf blower, which I do once a ton or so. I'll run the soot eater down the vent pipes before doing the leaf blower trick.

 

Thanks for your help! (I think I have a couple of those patented tools laying around somewhere!)

 

Won't be able to get pics until later this week. I'm up in northern MI for work through Wednesday.

I got the brush at a home brew supply store. It's for cleaning wine bottles. The brush is about an inch in diameter and has approximately a 15 inch flexible steel handle. I can bend the handle to work around the top of the heat exchangers and also snake it up the back wall. The handle could stand to be 6 inches or so longer for the back wall. But it works.

The other tools are a 1 inch paintbrush, wooden paint sticks and my personal favorite, a 2 foot piece of 1/2" copper pipe with one end flattened out. I use that to scrape the inside exhaust manifold (via the clean out port on the left side of the furnace under the control panel). Only do that once a season. Couldn't find anything else to get in there with and I had the pipe left over from a remodel project. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say.

And of course, a soot eater and cordless drill. And beer.

 

I love northern Michigan, we have a cabin right on the border of Wi and Mi and spend a lot of time fishing near watersmeet (not sure of spelling). I hope you enjoy your time there this week.