Stinky Furnace

[Les]

Chalk one up for the good guys!

Martin,

Sounds like you learned a whole bunch and are coming out of this with a safe home.

Don't forget the baby pictures!

[randynavarro]

Has Martin now created a new standard for how we're supposed to inspect furnaces??!![]

BTW, so is it safe to assume the stink was derived from the leaking exhaust in combination with the filthy blower?

[Les]

I would not assume the smell was leaking exhaust gasses. If I were to assume, I would guess the blower operation had more to do with it than a crack in that particular model. Could be either or both in combination. There are lots of reasons the "hot spot" is not to be relied upon even tho' it seems to have caused Martin to lay down and look up!

I'm glad he took the time to address the issue. I am NOT one of the inspectors that poo-poo cracked exchangers.

[Terence McCann]

Glad you got it fixed Martin. Carbon Monoxide is bad stuff.

BTW, did you have a Carbon Monoxide detector installed in your home?

[Martin Lehman]

Well, the HVAC tech could not pin point the cause for the terrible smell, he just said it was an old unit, the heatx is rusted, old and in bad shape. He just wanted to replace it.

As for CO detectors, no I do not own any, although I am going to get a couple along with new smoke detectors. Also so caulking for the joint between the furnace and return plenum. Oh and weather strip for the closet door (the return is directly under the closet door - gotta make sure it's sealed tight!)

As for pulling the blower, and inspecting the heatx, that would take at least a good 30-45 min. for me if not more. I would not do it on a home inspection, its too hard to inspect the heatx, beacuse its not fully visible - at all. And especially the furnaces that are located in the attic...and in the summer time - no way.

[Brian G]

I wouldn't consider pulling a blower for a second, but I always try to get a look into the burn chambers. Sometimes I can see that everything looks pretty good, sometimes I can see rust flakes plied so high they cover parts of the burners; I think I owe it to the client to at least look.

Martin, if you're about to have a baby in the house you can't settle for a cheapo CO detector. They typically alarm much too high to protect children, elderly, or those with respiratory problems. Get a CO Experts or something equvalent (starts beeping at 10 PPM and gets louder & more frequent as the level rises). And congradulations! [:-propell

Brian G.

CO Crusader-in-Residence [:-batman]