SMITH boiler wont fire up for me 1st light of season

[slackeyed]

I bought my house in August, and I'm trying to fire up my furnace. It's a Smith with an automatically igniting pilot.

The gas supply is on, the power to the unit is on, the thermostat is on, but it just wont fire up.

There is a red LED in the control panel that is supposed to burn steady when the unit is functioning properly.
Once the power is turned on, the light burns steady. After a few minutes (during the ignition process I assume),
the light begins to blink, signalling that there is an error (no pilot).

Anybody know a quick fix to this? Or am I gonna have to call in for service?

[beenthere]

Gonna have to call.

[Black Adder]

Sounds like air in the gasline, gonna have to purge it. Need a gasfitter to do it and check it over. You could also try turning it off and on a couple of times to see if the pilot will bleed the air off when it trys to light.

[slackeyed]

Thanks for the responses..

We cycled it 3 or 4 times, I'll try it a few more times before I call for service.

Thankfully, we have a pellet stove on the 2nd floor to get us by until it gets really frosty outside.

[Mr HVAC41]

time to call 1800hvacman. pick up the phone and the call is free, play it safe LOL!

(dont call that number, i made it up LOL!

you do need to call cause that 'flash' IS a fault. obviously, Mr Smith doesnt like something!

[slackeyed]

Thanks for the response. My gas supplier tells me that they can come out and look at it for me..

Is $1.89/gal for LP a good deal? I'm upstate NY southwest of Albany (if it helps at all) LOL!

[beenthere]

Beats the crap out of the oil bill I just got.

[eagle1154]

You have to count the flashes as they happen,usually a series of short flashes followed by a series of longer flashes,kinda like morse code.Then somewhere on the unit there will be a paper that tells you what each code means.

[Mr HVAC41]

if you can, record the flashes it usually forms a number such as 12 or 22 etc. if you can record this code, do it. then cut the power of about 30 seconds and put it back online. this might get mr smith running but he will become unhappy again. i'm trying to help you out with this because you DO need it fixed but i also know frozen water pipes are no fun! count the code and kill power for 30 seconds.

cant really tell you much more but you do need to stay warm

[slackeyed]

OK, here's what happened. I called the gas company who has two 100 gal tanks at my house. I checked the meters on each of them. One has 75, the other 25. I worked out a deal with them for $1.94/gal and told them to come out and top me off, and while they were there, could they look at my furnace?

I waited for 3 hours past the appointment time, then called the office. The manager had to call a tech to find out where he was. He apparently didnt have the order to come out to my house. So he shows up about a half hour later with a 1/2 ton pickup truck. He looks at my furnace, fixes it quickly (the motor was stuck) with some WD-40 and a flat head screwdriver.

Lets me know it'll be a $XX service call. Tells me that my one tank is "probably full" since the meter is broken on it?!? Now how would he know that the meter is broken?

It's been almost a month, and no bill has arrived yet.

Just thought I'd update you guys...

http://www.my-smileys.de/smileys2/033102sor_1_prv.gif (No pricing, due to site rules (http://www.hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=1241) )

[Edited by jultzya on 11-04-2005 at 02:35 PM]

[lonnirat]

Originally posted by slackeyed
Thanks for the response. My gas supplier tells me that they can come out and look at it for me..

Is $1.89/gal for LP a good deal? I'm upstate NY southwest of Albany (if it helps at all) LOL!


I just paid $2.36/gal. for LP. (Westchester County NY)

[slackeyed]

Well, this company tried to crack me for $2.20/gal but I had to work him over.

I had that other company that would come in, switch tanks for $0 labor, but I didnt wanna have to fill up both new tanks when I had 100 gal. already bought and paid for.

[beenthere]

Be prepared for that motor to sieze again.

WD40 isn't a motor lubricant.

[Mr HVAC41]

you need to call a real service man out!. where are you at? if in southwest ohio, gimme a call and ill come look @ it if i got the time!

wd40 doesnt work on motors. you probably need a new draft fan assuming that is what joe schmoe facked to cr@p. make the call and save some money.




as for the lack of bill, that guy probably went outta buisness or killed / arrested etc!!!

[slackeyed]

Then to make this more interesting, they came out while me and the Mrs. were at work, filled my tanks, they took 180 gallons! And they billed me at $2.30/gal.

The boss tells me that he will change the price and re-bill me.

[tinknocker service tech]

first wd-40 is a quick fix to get you through till a new inducer comes in. once a motor sizes up or tightens up and does not turn at proper rpm it over heats and the windings weaken. call a tech and get a new inducer. while he is there have him service the unit and check the intire unit over. a few minutes is not long enough to check a unit properly.