Furnace Concern/Question

[JTimmons]

I bought a house almost a year ago and we are about at the end of the warranty.

This summer when it started getting hot the furnace on some days would stop blowing air, the AC unit would run on and on but the blower in the furnace wouldn't kick on. It would at first, but then shut down after 5 minutes, then back on, the whole time the AC unit is delivering freon to the blower. Ultimately after an hour of this the copper lines would freeze and the blower wouldn't work at all.

Called the warranty people several times and they sent the AC sub out and he kept adjusting the freon levels in the AC.

On the last visit he heard the AC unit running and the blower not running and said that was the problem, he swapped out the circuit board on the furnace and even gave me a brand new digital thermostat, which did NOT correct the problem.

As it turns out, it appears to have been an air flow problem as the blower motor wasn't getting enough air across it and it was heating up, shutting down until it cooled off, then would kick back on.

Opened up the area to the blower and it works like a charm.

My question/concern:

For almost a year it's been doing this and I want them to replace the motor because in my mind that can't be good to run it like that, which it was doing the exact same thing during the winter when running the heater. I don't want to be replacing the motor next year on my dime on something that was their fault.

Is there anything else I should be concerned with, that I should have them look at or replace? I'd ask them, but I doubt I'd get a straight answer, they are already fighting me on the motor, which the warranty guy agrees with me on.

Thanks in advance!

[LCHIEN]

one way of looking at it is that the blower motor has thermal protection and would always cut itself off before it got damaged.

if the motor was damaged by the heat then it the thermal protection was useless. So you have to assume it did its job and the thermal trip temperature by design was set lower than the damage threshold of the motor.

If the A/C repairman kep monkeying with the freon levels after you told him the blower wasn't running then he's a pretty worthless repairman and I wouldn't want him changing out any parts on my system anyway.

[JTimmons]

Talking to one of the neighbors after I posted this on here he also mentioned the thermal protection relay that you did, his AC is having the same issues and he is dealing with the same repairman. Tomorrow they are sending out someone else, that handles nothing but furnaces and the tin guys are coming too for some duct work.

It makes feel a little better knowing I don't have to fight them on the motor as it should be okay.

Thanks Loring!

[Slik Geek]

If the A/C repairman kep monkeying with the freon levels after you told him the blower wasn't running then he's a pretty worthless repairman and I wouldn't want him changing out any parts on my system anyway.

Don't know about your experience, but I've found that the A/C and furnace repair folks are almost universally unqualified / poorly trained. I don't know how they get away with it.

[JTimmons]

Don't know about your experience, but I've found that the A/C and furnace repair folks are almost universally unqualified / poorly trained. I don't know how they get away with it.

I'm no expert in the field myself, obviously, but the guy that came out said he only works on ACs not furnaces. To me, not sure how you can do one and not the other, of course now the "furnace" guy is coming out today.

None the less, I am finding out now a days it's better to DIY, then hire some of these guys.

[Slik Geek]

None the less, I am finding out now a days it's better to DIY, then hire some of these guys.

Agree - but charging your A/C is a bit tough for DIY.

After watching a furnace repairman attempt to repair my furnace some years ago, I realized that, while he had a basic understanding of how the furnace worked, he was clueless at troubleshooting. Having gained some knowledge of the inner workings from watching him, I sent him away (before the labor charges got too high and he started replacing the wrong parts at my expense).

Then I fixed it myself (the bearings were worn in the blower that vents the burner such that the fan couldn't reliably attain the required airflow). It didn't take a genius to diagnose the problem, but he kept addressing symptoms instead of determining the cause.