HVAC Woes

  On Saturday (05/22) - almost precisely at 5:15 PM - I was sitting at my desk on the second floor when the thunderstorms in progress sent down a lightning strike that I thought surely hit the house. It was one of those simultaneous flash/booms. And the snap was so loud I thought surely we had taken a direct hit.

 And yet the lights didn't flicker, my PC didn't reset. I quickly went downstairs and began checking things. Refrigerator: OK. Lights: OK. I even switched the HVAC to "fan" to make sure it worked. I then walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa and decided to take a quick round of the house to make sure the roof wasn't on fire. Nothing was obviously wrong so I decided to wait a few minutes until the rain subsided a bit.

 As I sat there I realized I smell smoke. It was not the scent of a wood fire but of an electrical one. The smell was strongest in the living room.

 When the rain lessened enough I made a wide tour of the house, getting far enough away to have a good view of the roof. All was well as near as I could tell. While out there I checked the garage and barn, too. Everything seemed fine.

  Sitting back down on the sofa - the smoky smell just as strong - I realized something was clicking in the basement. A relay? My first thought was of the water heater. I went down the steps and looked at it. All seemed well. The pressure gauge on the holding tank was normal, too.

 Then the click. But where was it coming from? I walked to several spots, stopped and listened. I soon realized it was coming from the top of the furnace. The thermostat was turned off for several days - but it would have been set to A/C had I needed it. I felt the top of the furnace. It was hot.

 I sent a text message to Dave, our local repairman and asked if he'd check it out the first of the week (Sunday rates were not an option unless necessary). He said he's stop by on Monday.

Monday, 05/23: Late in the day Dave stopped by and saw that the "Emergency Heat" on the heat pump was being turned on. It may have been erratic but we were using heat on days when we might have used the air conditioning.

 Dave said the main circuit board was probably damaged by the close lightning strike. The two occurred at the same time. He ordered another.

Tuesday, 05/24: Dave called. The circuit board wasn't in but it was expected in the morning.

Wednesday, 05/25: Mid afternoon Dave called. He had the circuit board. Would I be home in 30 minutes? I would. He came and replaced it.

Bottom line: the HVAC still doesn't work. The Emergency Heat is still on. By the way, Dave checked the thermostat on Monday and found it was not calling for heat (white wire). He's stumped but figures it might be a relay. Thus another part is being ordered and he'll try again tomorrow.

 The replaced circuit board is in the upper right and is mounted upside down. This is a Westinghouse electric furnace.

 And here's a wider view of where he's working.

Westinghouse model number of furnace

for future reference

Wednesday, May 26: Dave said he ordered more parts and that they'd be here "in three business days". This is a holiday weekend so I doubt he'll have anything in hand until next week.

 But he came by and disabled the heater which will allow me to run the air conditioning portion. It's supposed to be 90° by Memorial Day so that was a welcome  work-around.

 At first the compressor didn't kick on so Dave went out and pulled the fuses and plugged them back in, The unit began normally this time. That certainly must have been due to the lightning strike and probably serves as evidence that it followed the HVAC power line into the basement unit.

Tuesday, June 1: Dave was back at noon with the ordered part but it didn't fit. He said he ordered it by part number stamped on the original but the small black relay he received had four pins on it where the one in my furnace has seven.

 I asked whether the relay simply plugs in. "No," he said, "there's a wire that connect to each of the contacts."

 He wasn't happy. "They charged me for shipping, too"

Sunday, June 5: Dave contacted me and told me he has been in the hospital since last Thursday with pneumonia. I told him to get well. His health is a priority, not my HVAC. In the meantime he said he'll run down the correct part.

Wednesday June 15: Dave contacted me today noting how long the delay has been and explained that during this heat wave there have been lots of people with no a/c at  all. Of course I agree. We can cool and winter's a long way off. So he's taking the tack I would have taken. Maybe Friday, he said.

Tuesday, June 21: Yesterday I tried to change the furnace filter and found it thoroughly "stuck". It's a 14x20x1 and the slot it drops down into cannot be much more than an inch wide. I've had trouble before but was always able to wiggle it out. This time the more I pulled, the tighter it stuck. So I sent Dave a quick text to advise him. He said he'd stop by today and would text first.
 He came by about 9 AM and the two of us extricated the filter in pieces.

 Dave said he'd have a metalworker make a new holder for the filter. The filter will slide in horizontally behind an actual door. No idea what that will cost but it's certainly needed.

 As for the relay, he said he still has not located one. He took pictures of more numbers and will try again. I told him I'd be on vacation in three weeks. He's going on vacation next week. So further service will probably wait until mid-July.

 In the meantime the furnace has no filter so I covered the open slot with duct tape. We want air drawn through the cold air ducts, not directly into the furnace, So for now I'm  OK.

Thursday: June 30: Dave called. Tomorrow? Nope, I won't be home till 2 PM. Too late for him. How about one day next week? Fine with me.

Tuesday: July 5: Dave sent a message early this morning. Will 2 PM work? Yep, fine.

    About 1 PM: "Having fits with the job I'm working on. Going to be late of course. I'll call"

 It's fixed! Dave replaced the entire emergency heater assembly and that was the culprit. This one is going out for the trash:

 So what began on 05/22 is finally fixed on 07/05. It's been a long process but at least we had a/c while the analysis was being done. And though I won't post the price I paid for the repair, I'm very happy with it. One project is finished.