Gas heater problem/question

[bozonoz]

Gas furnace question/problem

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my son has G.E. gas furnace in his attic. he has recently had work on his home which stirred up tons of dust, etc. and clogged the filters. as a result when they went to use the heater, it did not work and the blower motor overheated and is kaput....must be replaced. when the tech went to replace the blower he told my son the heat exchanger had cracks in it. my son and i went to look and there are exterior burn marks on the outside of the unit, appearing to be coming from underneath the furnace. my son said the heater was overheated from the blower not working to the point he could barely touch the thing when he went to see why it was not working. do we just assume the furnace has to be replaced...cost of $1500. the blower is already here ($300) and is to be installed today. our concern, naturally, is we don't want the place to catch on fire, or spit out the toxic fumes. could the burn marks just be from when the unit overheated? we really don't have a clue as to what to do. the tech initially said to replace it, and then backed off that saying it has probably been like that and is ok to use as long as it isn't running on, say, 80 degrees for long periods of time.
i would sure appreciate any expertise that could be offered as we don't know what to do. thank you very much for your time and advice.
william
metairie, louisiana

[INTECHBILL]

It would probably be feasible to just replace the unit ..
:couchhide:

[Airmechanical]

if the heat exchanger was in fact breached/cracked

the unit should have been red tagged and shut down

because carbon monoxide spewing in your house can/will lead to you not waking up ever again

this is a serious matter

and remember, inexpensive/cheap carbon monoxide detectors sometimes don't work properly

the question now is, to trust or not trust the tech.

ask him where the hole/s were

ask him when you replace the system can he show you the holes, you willl either get a, "hell yes" answer, or an uhhhhhhhhhhhh

if you get an uhhhhhhhhhh, it may or may not have a bad Heat Exchanger



.

[kontrolsfreek]

I would get a second opinion. There is a reason that there a burn marks on the furnace, not "that it's been like that and it will be ok as long as you don't run the heat at 80 for a long time". ????????

[the dangling wrangler]

I'm guessing this is a very old unit. How long has it been since GE made a gas furnace? It's time to replace either way. if they're replacing the blower today, there shouldn't be any problem showing you the holes/cracks. If they can't show you, don't let them replace the motor.
They are giving you a super price on the new unit though.

[woodsman]

If that furnace is too hot to touch you have a serious problem. Your safeties may not be functioning properly. I suggest getting that health hazard replaced.:eek2:

[phbsales]

I'm guessing this is a very old unit. How long has it been since GE made a gas furnace?
I think sometime in the 80's...........

Were Trane furnaces anyway.........

[t527ed]

remmove your prices, not allowed.:rules:

GE furnace has to be at least 30 yrs old, dump it and put in a new one.

[the dangling wrangler]

I think sometime in the 80's...........



I was thinkin' mid to late 70's.
No matter, it's replacement time.

[doc havoc]

The average life expectancy of a gas furnace is 15-20 years, with 20 being the extreme. I'm not saying they don't last longer, just an average. Like the others have stated, it's time to replace. Don't forget to check into the possibility of energy rebates with your new furnace.
BTW, there's no reason you couldn't run your furnace at 80 degrees.