Cracked heat exchange?

[lambchop]

I had a reputable company come to my home to do a furnace inspection - we are selling our house. The contractor said that we need a new heat exchange (the part is under warranty for 12 more years) but the labor to replace the part is about half the cost of replacing the entire furnace. Seeing as this is a huge expense I got a second opinion. The second contractor assured me there was no crack in the exchanger and that if he took the item in to exchange, they would laugh at him! He proceeded to replace the ignitor, filter and cleaned the parts. He assured me and put in writing that the furance is ok. This contractor is a sole proprietor and is properly licensed also. He claimed the first contractor may have been "scamming" me. Do I get another opinion? I am confused!

[azel6]

I Have been in the heating and air business for over 6yrs and where I am from we have other companies that are infamous for condemning furnaces that are fine.If the other contractor is putting it in writing that the furnace is fine you probably don't need another opinion.It sounds to me like the second contractor is trying to earn your trust and your business.If the contractor puts it in writing than he is standing behind it,and if the heat exchanger was cracked it would potentially leak carbon monoxide,and noone would sign off an that unless they were possitively sure,Ithink the second opinion is enough.

[billva]

did the first contractor show you, or prove to you, there is a crack?

[davidr]

If neither contractor combustion tested your furnace I would not trust either one of them.

[lambchop]

Thanks for your quick response. I was kind of thinking the same thing, why would this contractor put in writing that the furnace was ok if it wasn't? Certainly not worth the risk. My problem is that the first contractor worked for a large, spiffy company with logo's on the van sort of gig, while the second guy works alone. I just find it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the guy who works for this large company would be so wrong - to the tune of shutting off the gas valve and tagging the unit as unusable. I am still going to buy a carbon monoxide dectector tonight, just to be safe. Thanks again for your quick response!

[lambchop]

Sorry, I posted before I saw the other replies. Yes, the first contractor showed me a video of the crack (there's supposed to be 3). That's why I am so confused? Would the first guy go through so much trouble to fool me? I don't know about the combustion test - I have some readings on the invoice, but I don't know what they mean. Inducer mtr?

[davidr]

Originally posted by lambchop
I am still going to buy a carbon monoxide dectector tonight, just to be safe. Thanks again for your quick response!

lambchop you need to be aware that an over the counter carbon monoxide alarm will not protect your family from low levels of carbon monoxide.

They are not designed to operate that way, it can possibly read 69 parts per million of carbon monoxide for a unlimited amount of time.

Don't trust the safety of your family to someones word, have that furnace tested to be sure.

[lambchop]

Thanks for the insight on the detectors DavidR. Another question, should I go with another big company or a small guy and do I tell them what the previous contractor said? I guess they will figure it out when they see the new ignitor, filters etc. I just don't know what to do and we are running out of money to keep paying people. It was mentioned somewhere that the gas company does checks?

[davidr]

The size of the company isn't going to determine the competence or honesty of the tech they send to your home.

To help sort out some of the confusion you can click on http://www.nationalcomfortinstitute.com, they have a consumer site where you can locate contractors in your area who have been trained by them.

You might even want to call them,they would be able to refer you to someone in your area who has been trained in combustion testing.

Good Luck in your search.

[m kilgore]

I am confused now. If the first company showed you a video of the crack how can there be any question of weather its there or not? Do you think the video was rigged? Maby the second guy is not up on the new ways to check heat exchangers. If the first guy has a camera and the video is suspect ask them back and they should be able to show you right on the camera screen. 1,2 or three cracks makes no difference. Any crack needs attention.

[tinknocker service tech]

if the first guy sent a camera up and showed you the cracks then in my mind there is no question. have it repaired asap. the second guy probably just looked at it and didnt see any cracks and the didnt show up is any visual test. does not mean the cracks arent there. pictures dont lie

[lambchop]

The first contractor wanted to charge a fee that was the equvilent of $XXX per hour. I thought this was really high, so I wanted a second opinion for pricing purposes. Maybe $XXX an hour. I know this is skilled labor, but c'mon! It just happened that the two didn't agree on what the problem was. As far as the video, it was a still picture, I'm no dummy, but a picture doesn't lie, the operator of that camera may.



(no pricing, due to site rules )


[Edited by jultzya on 10-26-2005 at 10:59 PM]

[jacob perkins]

Originally posted by lambchop
I had a reputable company come to my home to do a furnace inspection - we are selling our house.

Inform the buyers of your findings....or lack thereof.

[lambchop]

Sorry, i forgot about the pricing issue - just trying to illustrate why I needed another opinion. The second contractor was shocked at the price I was quoted and was going to replace the exchanger for half the price. When he saw it wasn't cracked (which still remains a mystery), he charged me even less for the work. I put a call into our gas company to see if I could have someone impartial look at this. I am not trying to be cheap here, but believe me, this is a ton of money and I am running out! I also want to be safe!
Our real estate agent just called and the buyers are ok with the just the stuff fixed that I mentioned before - apparently the same thing happened to them on the house they just sold. I am amazed and confused!!

[mo-flo]

have the combustion anaylist done and have them show you with camera again,....

[RoBoTeq]

I have put dozens of allegedly "cracked" heat exchanger furnaces back into service and not one has ever shown any sign of malfunction of CO leakage years afterward.

Some contractors really believe that certain deformaties in the heat exchanger are breeches and some contractors just use that video equipment to sell more replacement furnaces. Either way, there are an awful lot of perfectly good heat exchangers that are condemned.

Check with any furnace manufacturer and see how many in warranty heat exchangers have been tested to be sound.

[Black Adder]

have to agree with Robo on this one, If you are really unsure pay a few bucks and have someone dismantle the unit a little more and show you the actual crack. Should be easy enough to locate if you have the first guys original picture. Often what may look like a crack on a picture or even by eye turns out to be nothing more than a line on the heatexchanger. Are there any other symptoms of a crack? Does the flame flicker at all with the burner running? Are you seeing any sooting in the vent or around the registers. Did either guy sense any CO around the furnace or the vents? I am always skeptical when someone condems a furnace for cracked heat xchanger on a fairly new unit. From the sounds of it if you have 12 years of warrranty left, then your unit is about 8 years old, not very old for a furnace.

[krd]

Why is the first company showing you a video on the crack and the second company changing your filter and ignitor. Think about it. Everyone likes good news instead of bad. If it is cracked have it REPLACED!!! When the old one is removed be there with a camera and prove to yourself it is cracked. IF it isn't the first company is in deep do-do. You the homeowner are liable to disclose any problems in the house before you transfer it to another homeowner. do you want to take the chance? You could always call a third company. I went on a call yesterday and found a 4 chamber furnace with each chamber cracked. The furnace was inspected 3 years ago and the heat exchanger was cracked and replaced. The company that replaced It did the inspections after that. I had our lead man come out to verify it. We showed the homeowner the crack and the light coming thru the crack in the chamber. He called the other company and the owner told him we were tricking him. His man who did the checking was an EXPERT!!!!! And we were Liars just trying to sell him a furnace and he would give the homeowner a real good deal on a new one. We installed the furnace 4 hrs later. When someone shows you a problem whose is putting their reputation on the Line Think about It.

[markwolf]

You need a head slap!!You were shown video proof of cracks & make no repairs???This is not putting your life in danger only the children of whomever buys your house.....you fricken baby killer!!!!I am positive the first company will be glad to come back & show the second guy what he missed call them!!!

[lambchop]

Baby killer - that's funny. I suppose you are one of the guys that come to a lone women's house, scares the pants off off her and then chrages her an unfair fee to fix the job - just because she's scared and alone. Shame on you!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who has given good, sound advice. The gas company is coming to take a good impartial look at the unit. I really don't mind fixing the exchanger, that's not the point, the point is I have two conflicting stories, from two reputable contractors and would prefer not to be a victim of a scam, if this is the case. The first guy is charging per hour what I would guess a brain surgeon would make - no joke! I just want to be sure! Thanks again!!