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You remember the blizzard that wreaked havoc on the airlines last week? If you lived in my neck of the woods, you were probably waiting it out inside with a nice cup of hot chocolate. Maybe you popped some popcorn and watched a movie with the family. A few logs crackling in the fireplace? For ambiance of course, because we all know that the average fireplace isn't really going to heat much more than the three teenagers vying for marshmallow-roasting space in front of it. So the thermostat was still set to keep you comfortable, right?
Of course, the furnace has to actually work for the thermostat to do any good. Aye, there's the rub.
Mine didn't, and it didn't LOUDLY. Imagine every time the blower started up, you heard 100,000 angry bees buzzing simultaneously in your basement. Actually, make them wasps, because being a little more worried than usual is part of the experience I'm recreating for you here. So are you imagining that? Pretty loud buzzing noise you have there, eh?
Now imagine those wasps are roaring around a monstrous A380 jet engine and you'll get a better picture. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. A commuter jet then. You get the point though: it
It seems the problem may be a teeny little capacitor no larger than a flip phone.
The good news: A replacement capacitor runs about 20 bucks. It could be worse.
The bad news: it's worse.
While I was the down there, I noticed the water lines leading to my condenser furnace had been turned off. I sat down to ponder how that happened and realized the answer when a dream woke me from my nap (did you know your body starts to shut down at 37 degrees? Seriously not cool.).
I really did dream about earlier this year, when my refrigerator was being delivered and "installed" (seriously? Installed?!). That dream reminded me that the Sears guys couldn't figure out which of the tiny little copper pipes in the basement supplied water to the ice maker. So they turned them all off while installing it. I don't really blame them, it's my house and my responsibility to check that everything was right, but I just assumed they had turned them all back on. Since all the faucets worked and everything seemed to be operating like it did before they got here, I never even thought about checking.
So anyway, I'm not sure what happens when you run a condenser furnace without water, but I don't think it helped anything. Hmm, maybe what happens is that the system over heats, the capacitor blows, and 6 million angry Africanized killer bees colonize the basement. But before they do, maybe the heat exchage area rusts out. Not that I'd know...
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....The story goes on, of course. It involves an argument with my ex at 6:00 am, frozen pipes, an improperly installed dishwasher, and rotting floors. But I'm cold, have a jet engine to remove from the basement, and need to go dig the space heaters out of the attic, so I'll tell you more about the saga another day. Hopefully, it'll have a happy ending.
Oh my gosh, girl. NOT good at all. I had that capacitor thingie go out on my furnace a couple years ago. The rest is Greek to me, but i understand being COLD (i'm a mail lady) and I understand LOUD plane engines and their ilk. They don't belong nested in a gal's basement. Add an ex and you've got one hot mess. Er, cold mess?
ReplyDeleteGood luck!!!!
Oh, now I feel guilty whining about the cold! I always want to leave my mail carrier hot chocolate or coffee these months, but the few times I've caught him and offered, he's turned me down.
ReplyDeleteWith a little bit of time to give me some perspective, things don't look so bleak. The parts should be here by Friday, so until then, we avoid going downstairs without tons of layers and plugging in electric blankets.
The rest of the problems I'm just ignoring until Saturday. One thing at a time, ya know? The problem with the ex is easy enough to eliminate if I just don't engage, which is easier said than done at when I'm cold, tired, and grumpy at 6 am! Ignoring it is the best option since disagreeing with each other is an ongoing thing (which makes sense if you think about it. If we got along famously, we wouldn't be exes!).
Thanks for the sympathy! Sometimes just that is all we need. :)
Nice site, nice and easy on the eyes and great content too.
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