Furnance out 14 hours, send help and a blower motor

I haven't ever dealt with a blower motor dying but I did experience an induction motor (or exhaust blower) crap out. I was visiting my folks for Christmas about 10 years ago. The induction motor had been making noise for a while and my dad had removed it and shot some WD40 in the bearings as a band-aid. Well, one late night at about 2AM, I was in the basement on the family computer and I heard the furnace trying to start. It was trying to light but it kept going out. After a few failed attempts, I heard a loud "phwoof". I looked over and the furnace had flames shooting out of the front! I ran over and pulled the front panel off and blew the flames out. The flames were coming out of the burner tubes. It caught the label on the inside of the access panel on fire. It also toasted most of the wires in the burner part. I killed the power and shut the gas valve off. By this time both the downstairs and upstairs smoke detectors were sounding. My dad comes downstairs all freaked out.

Long story short(ish). The inductor motor had failed. The HVAC technician also found the gas regulator was flowing twice the rated CFM. The result was a back-flash ignition out of the burner tubes. At that time, the furnace was about 18 years old and had all original parts. Scary stuff! Later that year, they replaced it with a new, high efficiency furnace with a multi-speed blower.

It amazes me how much some of the replacements parts cost. Recently bought an inducer fan for a gas furnace and it cost me $210 with my professional discount. Exact entire furnace brand new was only $860 and could have been swapped out in about the same time that it took to pull and reinstall the inducer.

In reply to mndsm:

So the thermostat in your house is set at 40? Yeah. That's what I berkeleying thought.

I replaced the blower motor a couple of years ago. I went on Grainer's website and found a motor that was close enough. Pulled the old one out and drilled one or two extra holes to mount the new one and slid everything back into it. I think I paid $90 or something for the motor. I had a drill bit and reused the wire nuts too. Of course the furnace is 30+ years old and there is a ton of room in it. It's literally twice the size, if not more, than a new furnace.

I had a V belt pulley in an old air handler come apart once, the furnace manufacturer did not sell it separately even though it was held on the shaft by a set screw. I measured the shaft diameter and the pulley OD, made a few phone calls and found one about a half inch smaller for something like $10. I pulled the old squirrel cage, swapped the pulleys, used a shorter belt and all was well.

BIL works for carrier, high up.

Spare parts are only made by the OEM for a few years, mostly for warranty replacements alongside the new parts. Models change quickly so production runs are shortish. Once those dry up, parts are sourced on a short run basis from the supplier. That's when the price goes through the roof. Also profit margins.

RossD wrote: I replaced the blower motor a couple of years ago. I went on Grainer's website and found a motor that was close enough. Pulled the old one out and drilled one or two extra holes to mount the new one and slid everything back into it. I think I paid $90 or something for the motor. I had a drill bit and reused the wire nuts too. Of course the furnace is 30+ years old and there is a ton of room in it. It's literally twice the size, if not more, than a new furnace.

Grainger FTW. Our pump died on our big vacuum press at the shop. Manufacturer wanted something like $1800 for a new one. Got a BETTER pump from Grainger for around $200.

Same piece of equipment has struts that hold the lid open. Manufacturer wanted a HUNDRED AND FIFTY berkeleyING DOLLARS for them. Googled the part number on the side. Strong Arm liftgate supports. $11 shipped on ebay.

poopshovel wrote: I just went out for a smoke

cut that E36 M3 out, poopie.

poopshovel wrote: In reply to mndsm: So the thermostat in your house is set at 40? Yeah. That's what I berkeleying thought.

You know as well as I do- the wife controls those things.

mndsm wrote:

poopshovel wrote: In reply to mndsm: So the thermostat in your house is set at 40? Yeah. That's what I berkeleying thought.

You know as well as I do- the wife controls those things.

Somehow I knew that would be the response. Riiiiiiight.

Good news is, my frozen furnace that the landlord claimed "There was nothing we could do about" thawed right the berkeley out with 3,000 watts worth of halogens and a little chiseling. Sorry ass motherberkeleyer.