home repair bullshit. i am a nut magnet. furnace trouble.

[mopinko]

i have a 20 year old hot water boiler that is on the fritz.
the thermostat is working- it has an electronic ignition pilot, and it lights up on command. the wire to the sparkplug is frayed, but like i said, appears to be working fine. thermocouple glows.
but after the pilot comes on, there is a click and no fire. i sort of assume that is a bad gas valve.
it has been off and on, conking out when some electrical work was shutting it off and firing it up repeatedly. after a rest it came back to life briefly. it was out most of the day, but it is running now.
so, i don't have a regular guy for this, and the place that installed it for me is gone. so, the search engine i usually use for "yellow pages" now has a whole thingo of recommended, investigated, rated contractors. i didn't realize that the phone numbers listed were going through this company. the one that i started to call, a nearby guy, was "not available" (read- not paying for this bs?), so they hooked me up with another one. they said they would have someone out in 3 hours. (i had no heat at the time.) 6 hours later, i get a guy who knows nothing. he gets a thermocouple out of the truck, and tries that. when that doesn't work, he makes a phone call! he scratches his head, says he has to get the parts. what is wrong, i ask. both the pilot assembly and the gas valve need to be replaced. doesn't know how long it will take to get parts, says maybe tomorrow, and scurries away without even hitting me up for the call ($90)
now i ask you. have you ever seen both of these things fail at the same time? i haven't, but i have only fixed 10's of stoves, dryers, etc with the same components. but even then, the thing is going right now. it is an intermittent thing. both "moving" parts are faulty, but it is working right now?
the icing on the cake, i call my local really great old fashioned hardware store to see if they have the parts. they tell me, well, we only carry one gas valve, because that fits almost all boilers/furnaces. but this guy doesn't have one on his truck?

i am a nut magnet.

i think i am gonna warm up a little, and take a stab at this tomorrow. sigh. this is how i learned to do so many things myself.

[NMDemDist2]

1. how frustrating

:hug:

I found a guy around here who know that horrible gray polybutyl (sp?) pipe this mobile has in it.

I put his number in 4 different places so as not to use it. when you find a good guy you gotta hang on the them

good luck :hug:

[mopinko]

2. the go-between was so obnoxious, too.

you sure you don't need any other referrals? do you need any work done on your house? (no, i said without a hint of irony in my voice) we can get you cleaning ladies, gardeners, even doctors!
oy.

[NMDemDist2]

3. you know, with as much as you're doing it might be worth a subscription to Angie's List

I think that's what it's called anyway....

:pals:

[mopinko]

4. i wonder.

i have thought about it. my neighbors had it for a while. i think they didn't use it too much. but ...

[Digit]

5. polybutylene

Lovely stuff....has cost me thousands in the past few years.
http://www.polybutylene.com/poly.html

Luckily, my home predates when this crap was used, but when the heating system was changed in the early 90's, guess what they used?

Yes, I know there are lawsuits involving this stuff, but the bureaucracy you have to go through is hardly worth it. My other neighbors have the same issue, are totally anal about paperwork, and could not get the replacement paid for. Knowing them as I do, I am not even going to bother.

Hey, I have it better than my OTHER neighbors who have copper piping which is always developing pinhole leaks..