Neanderpundit

Wednesday 29 Oct 2014

Do you have

21 comments Og | Uncategorized

21 Responses to “Do you have”

1. on 29 Oct 2014 at 9:52 am   B
   
   

   Yes, of course….several, in fact.

2. on 29 Oct 2014 at 10:04 am   Paul B
   
   

   Never really thought about it. Probably would be a good idea as if that fails we would be pretty cold.

3. on 29 Oct 2014 at 12:21 pm   Sigivald
   
   

   No, because that’s outside of my general competence*.

   And I live in a place with a moderate climate, such that a failure is not life-threatening or even more than moderately annoying.

   (* And I’m pretty competent with a wide variety of electrics, electronics, and tools.

   But I’m not touching gas appliances; leave that stuff to the professionals.)

4. on 29 Oct 2014 at 12:49 pm   B
   
   

   Sigvald:

   While it is good that you recognize your limitations, there is no gas involved. THe thermocouple merely pushes on a release to allow the gas valve to open. It (generally) only requires a small open end wrench to change, and you don’t even have to shut off the gas supply.

   I know 16 year old ladies who can change on competently and safely.

   If you can’t do so yourself, then you aren’t “pretty competent” with tools.

5. on 29 Oct 2014 at 1:19 pm   og
   
   

   Additionally, some thermocouples require special fittings. If you have one of those, and it fails, its better to have the correct spare on hand.

6. on 29 Oct 2014 at 1:27 pm   Paul B
   
   

   Dang…And here I wanted a once size fits all.

   Oh well. Have to check the units this evening and see what I can figure out.

   I mean, if a 16 year old girl can do it…..

7. on 29 Oct 2014 at 4:39 pm   jdunmyer
   
   

   My furnace doesn’t use a thermocouple, so no spare.

   It does use an ignitor, however, and I do have one of those on hand, along with a custom-lengthened 1/4″ nutdriver. Five-minute job to change it, and I’m all too-practiced because the condensate tends to leak onto the darn thing.

8. on 29 Oct 2014 at 7:43 pm   Old NFO
   
   

   Nope, in an apartment and NO access… gotta call maintenance. At least they respond within an hour or two…

9. on 29 Oct 2014 at 8:57 pm   Ed Bonderenka
   
   

   I’m with jdunmeyer, igniter, flame sensor, exhaust blower.

10. on 29 Oct 2014 at 9:05 pm   Nathan
    
    

    Special fittings…heh.

    http://fuzzycurmudgeon.com/2010/12/success.shtml

11. on 30 Oct 2014 at 5:40 am   blindshooter
    
    

    I have placed a beer can shim under one that was failing until I could get the correct replacement. Not recommending that but it beat freezing and I was alone at the time with no one to kill but myself.

12. on 30 Oct 2014 at 6:02 am   og
    
    

    Nathan: remembering your unique situation was the original inspiration for this blogpost, and reminding me to get another spare.

13. on 30 Oct 2014 at 7:07 am   Professor Hale
    
    

    Very small chance of it failing + wide availability at local stores = no need for me to spend my money to stock up.

14. on 30 Oct 2014 at 7:43 am   og
    
    

    So youre sure its a standard and that there will be an open store with stock when you need it. To save $7.

    How much ammo do you have?

15. on 30 Oct 2014 at 8:19 am   Professor Hale
    
    

    I have about 6K rounds of ammo, not counting components to make more.

    But ammo is a comsumable resource. Thermocouples have a predictable reliability curve. Everything in my house is under 2 years old. I’d rather just buy one if needed, then buy one now, forget that I have it, or forget where I put it and then buy a new one anyway.

    And I live near civilisation so I’m not worried about getting any spare parts I may need on short notice.

    I’m not going to start stocking all the possible replacement parts I might need for every appliance in my home.

16. on 30 Oct 2014 at 8:38 am   Nathan
    
    

    Well, we cheat, here; I still have a potload of HVAC and electrical parts (not the garageload we used to have but still quite a few things that might surprise one). Which is how I had a spare handy when the one in the water heater went out, except that it wasn’t a spare because the water heater manufacturer decided to throw me a curve ball.

    But it never hurts to have a spare thermocouple hanging in the utility room. You’d be surprised how many service calls I’ve been on in my life where the customer had a spare somewhere nearby.

    FWIW, the one in my water heater went out about five minutes after the warranty ran out, so don’t talk to me about thermocouple reliability curves :) I’ve seen them go bad in brand new furnaces, too.

17. on 30 Oct 2014 at 8:44 am   og
    
    

    A thermocouple is a consumable resource. Thars why they make them replaceable and dont solder them in.

    Hardware stores usually stock five. Which is awesome when you are the fourth person to show up looking for one. Assuming yours is a stamdard type.

    I have replaced thermocouples after years of operation, and months. Predictable. Sure.

    Sane people buy a spare and usr a piece of tape to attach it to the appliance in question.

    I wait with heady anticipation the post where you describe your wifes incessant bitching that you stock $2k worth of ammo but couldnt be bothered to spend $7 to keep her warm and all the stores are sold out and you had to give some extortionist $300 to fix it because he was the only choice.

18. on 30 Oct 2014 at 8:45 am   Paul B
    
    

    I dunno, but having one fail on the furnace at 0 dark thirty on a day we are getting a massive snow storm and the temp is heading south faster than your wife can drop her drawers, one on the wall near the furnace might be a good idea.

    Just saying.

19. on 30 Oct 2014 at 9:47 am   Professor Hale
    
    

    I also stock about $15 worth of keroseen to keep her warm in an emergency.

    If I had a spare thermocouple, I would need to stock an extra $120 of ammo to defend it from my neighbors who didn’t prepare. Though I could probably just assume some risk in this by having a spare but never talking about it… not even on the internet.

    I won’t demean you by explaining what a predictable reliability curve looks like and how it works. I know you know better.

20. on 30 Oct 2014 at 3:29 pm   Paul B
    
    

    Prof Hale,

    Oh, I know the odds. But if it happens, and I have the part, life is better. I’ve also had occasion where the odds break bad, hence my desire to be ready for it.

    15$ of kerosene is good, but you need something to burn it in safely, which makes it more than the part.

    I’ve used Kerosene to heat with as well as Coal, Wood, Fuel Oil, and Propane. They are all PITA’s. The best method of heating ones abode is City Gas.

    Now should the city gas go down, I would hazard my troubles will be larger than staying warm. But I still put my odds of needing a part before that event.

    Not to demean you.

21. on 30 Oct 2014 at 7:54 pm   og
    
    

    “I won’t demean you by explaining what a predictable reliability curve looks like and how it works. I know you know better.”

    And I won’t demean you by pointing out how useless and invariably wrong they are in real life, outside the perfect laboratory conditions in which they were created.

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