HVAC problem this morning.

[gsganzer]

Ugh! My wife woke up this morning and she said the house was cold (57 degrees). We have a Nest thermostat so she went over to it to try to bump the temp, but it has an error saying the stage 2 has an issue. We have a gas Goodman forced hot air/cooling. I just had the daughter open the closet it's in and she had a faint odor of gas too.

Of course, I'm out of town, so she needs to deal with this one on her own and will have to call a repairman. I told her to first check the batteries (if it has any) and then she'll need to get someone out.

So, she can avoid getting taken as a babe in the woods, what are we likely looking at being the issue?

 

[Halftrack]

If it is a high efficiency furnace and vents through the wall and not up a chimney, check to see if those outside vents are not obstructed by frost, snow or debris.

 

[gsganzer]

Just had my daughter do some checking. The propane tank is empty. Neither the water heater or other furnace are working either.

I did have her pull the crawl space vents off to see if she smells gas in crawlspace (leak), but the gas company will also leak check when they come out.

They filled up our neighbor yesterday, but must have forgot us.

 

[ponytug]

Just had my daughter do some checking. The propane tank is empty. Neither the water heater or other furnace are working either.

I did have her pull the crawl space vents off to see if she smells gas in crawlspace (leak), but the gas company will also leak check when they come out.

They filled up our neighbor yesterday, but must have forgot us.

We just went through the same thing, though the odor was so pronounced that I thought we had a dead animal in the crawlspace below.

The propane tank had a leak at the fuel gauge (the tank had to be replaced as it is not an in service repair; the tank belongs to the propane company) and ended up needing a new regulator. (Perhaps due to the gunk that evaporated off the sludge in the bottom of tank??). We ended up having a cold weekend without heat because of some mistakes made by the second set of technicians.

The service technicians for the propane company all said that the propane company would pay for the lost propane, but I will believe that when I see it.

Generally, our propane company has been very good at the keep filled propane, and the two times they fluffed it up, have been leaks on their equipment; once on a regulator, and then the fuel gauge on the tank.

All the best,

Peter

 

[grsthegreat]

Ya, they will stink when run empty. I have a buried propane tank so I got a wifi level monitor that I set at 25% and tank will alert me. Its a 1000 gal tank so pretty much lasts a year between fillings.

make sure they bleed system and run a pressure test after running it dry.

 

[ultrarunner]

When the local supplier was bought out service dropped.

They even said our tank was theirs but I had the original bill of sale 40 years back proving otherwise.

They then offered a $200 credit to place their tank.

I stopped auto fill and our usage dropped drastically and my guess is propane we were paying for was being diverted.

Natural gas is now in the area but the cost to hook up last I checked was 2500 and that was a long time ago.

Hopefully you are not going to have to pay for safety check and inspection if the company dropped the ball?

 

[gsganzer]

They came out to fill it and found a leak at the tank guage. So they just put 50 gallons in and will be back Monday to replace the gauge.

 

[geteh]

We just went through the same thing, though the odor was so pronounced that I thought we had a dead animal in the crawlspace below.

The propane tank had a leak at the fuel gauge (the tank had to be replaced as it is not an in service repair; the tank belongs to the propane company) and ended up needing a new regulator. (Perhaps due to the gunk that evaporated off the sludge in the bottom of tank??). We ended up having a cold weekend without heat because of some mistakes made by the second set of technicians.

The service technicians for the propane company all said that the propane company would pay for the lost propane, but I will believe that when I see it.

Generally, our propane company has been very good at keeping filled propane, and the two times they fluffed it up, there have been leaks on their equipment; once on a regulator, and then the fuel gauge on the tank. If you're considering a reliable propane service, it's essential to buy from a company with a track record of meticulous equipment maintenance.

All the best,

Peter

Woke up this morning and the furnace was not working anymore. It turned on for a few minutes early in the morning ran for a few minutes (maybe 5) and then turned off. When I turn power off to the furnace and it turn it back on the fans all go and I get a red glow on the ignitor but it doesn't ignite and it turns off after a few minutes. I have taken the flame sensor out and cleaned it. I have also tried bypassing the pressure switch as recommended on another forum. For bypassing the pressure switch I turned off the power to the furnace, disconnected the two wires to the pressure switch. Turn it back on and then connect those two wires together. When I do that the fans are running but I no longer get a red glow on the ignitor.

 

[5030]

Never figured out what is the infatuation with a 'Nest' thermostat, To me it's just another offshore made whizz bang electronic gizmo to fail and very expensive to boot. Only nest here are the starlings in the gutter out back.

 

[5030]

I never screw with heat plants. I call my local furnace company that installed our HF condensing furnace last spring and have them deal with it. Been told by a few knowledgeable folks that Goodman furnaces are second rate furnaces. We have a Bryant plus 95. Could have got a Goodman for quite a bit less but didn't.