39.8F and wet here @ 06:30 ... high today is supposed to hit 50F and Christmas Eve day will approach 60F.
Doesn't seem like there is much chance of a white Christmas which is fine by me.
The younger HVAC dude showed up yesterday afternoon while I was up at the shop changing out some quick couplers on the Kubota. He pulls up in his truck, opens up the door and stands up in the door well, with the engine running, and wants to start a conversation ...
I told him to shut off the engine and just come on over to where I was working as I ain't gonna try to have a conversation over the noise of the engine. So we had a little heart to heart that lasted about 15 - 20 minutes.
By the end of it he was pretty uncomfortable and was really squirmin' ...
After that we went on down to the house so he could have a look. Diagnosis was another bad gas valve ... which I think I tend to agree with. He ran it through a couple of start cycles ... first he had only a small flame at the burner with the igniter and then no gas at all.
It doesn't seem likely that one could get two bad ones in a row ...
but ...
If this model gas valve is peculiar to a specific model of furnace (and no others), and this model of gas valve has been out of production for some time, that would might mean that what we've been getting is
old new stock that has been lying around for who knows how long, and has been stored in who knows what conditions ...
Could be that these valves were produced ten years ago or something ... and it could be that the storage conditions that they were kept in were questionable ... could also be something like maybe the lube that was used on the units when they were produced was good for 5 years ...
and after that it turns into gum ...
These were my thoughts as far as what might be a reasonable explanation for two bad ones in a row.
So we're back at trying to source a new gas valve ... and however long that might take. With the holidays it might end up being a bit. Fortunately the temps over the next few days are supposed to be relatively warm.
There was some talk of trying to get the local Rheem or Honeywell reps involved ... I see the Rheem rep as more of a possibility than the Honeywell guy ...
I'll be giving them a call today ...
to make sure the new valve has at least been ordered ...
