furnace help, please - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#31 10-25-2005, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

You will enjoy this and it relates precisely to what is quoted above:

The village of Patchogue, our local municipality, decided to embark on a similar goal. But, in their case, they wanted to screw the landlords. So, they sent out their code enforcement goons to find every single violation that they could possibly write up.

Cracked window pane.

A crack in some concrete.

Some paint peeling.

Stain on a driveway.

You name it.......they wrote a violation for it. Sometimes they wrote 30 violations for a single dwelling.

When the violator went to court, the Village had the judge in their pocket. The fine was $1,000 per violation.

The prosecutor would typically offer a deal..........plead guilty to five violations and accept a fine of $5,000.

Many Landlords were totally screwed by this behavior. But, some fought back, using an agency called the "Coalition of Landlords and Tenants". This group knew the law perfectly and could easily fight the tickets as BS.

Finally, the Coalition took the Village to Federal court with the allegation that they targeted ethnic minorities who were living in the tenant occupied housing.

They won the case.

It cost the Village something like $500K when it all came down.

Needless to say, the Village does not attempt to enforce any code violations in an arbitrary manner, anymore.

You can fight back. And you can win. You need more support than you can get with your personal attorney.

Yip it seems like its going around, the city values aren't worth holding onto the propertys and they are correcting as we speak so we have one left and can't wait to get rid of em. Building new homes is much easier, the shame is many old homes with potential are being destroyed because of excessive violations. The median value in the city is only $60K so why bother?

kerry · #32 10-25-2005, 10:20 PM

If I were to make a guess, it seems to me that Michigan cities are taking a legal approach to a social and economic problem. As rust belt cities lose industry and jobs, the property values decline for both landlords and homeowners. There's less incentive for landlords and owners to keep their properties up and the cities take on a declining appearance. The only real solution is economic but lawmakers take the shortcut.
Landlords that complain the most about landlording on MrLandlord.com seem to come from Detroit.

#33 10-25-2005, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry edwards

If I were to make a guess, it seems to me that Michigan cities are taking a legal approach to a social and economic problem. As rust belt cities lose industry and jobs, the property values decline for both landlords and homeowners. There's less incentive for landlords and owners to keep their properties up and the cities take on a declining appearance. The only real solution is economic but lawmakers take the shortcut.
Landlords that complain the most about landlording on MrLandlord.com seem to come from Detroit.

I think that is a fair assesment, I can't imagine who whould bother renting in
Detroit of Flint and target money meant for restoring the homes or fixer upper homebuyer incentives is being used for more industry tax incentives and the cycle starts again. The cycle rinses and repeats every 5-10 years. OTOH cities like Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami and I think Denver is on the list values are increasing because the cities have taken a more proactive stance on commerce instead of putting a constricting band aid on the problem.

Check out the HUD listings for detroit homes its comical.

xp190 · #34 10-26-2005, 04:13 PM

Where can one get a Furnace? I need a new one, and all I see is Deals on a furnace with installation, I can do the pipes myself, and my sisters husband is a certified heating tech, so he will make sure it's all in place, but he's lazy so I have to get everything myself and install it so he can come in a check it out.

I see Lennox Furnaces, but they are not stand alone, entire packages, any ideas?

xp

mzsmbs · #35 10-26-2005, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xp190

Where can one get a Furnace? I need a new one, and all I see is Deals on a furnace with installation, I can do the pipes myself, and my sisters husband is a certified heating tech, so he will make sure it's all in place, but he's lazy so I have to get everything myself and install it so he can come in a check it out.

I see Lennox Furnaces, but they are not stand alone, entire packages, any ideas?

xp

your bro in law should be able to get you the best deal through his pro connections.. other then that i was wondering the same thing..

mzsmbs · #36 10-26-2005, 04:32 PM

btw. there is no pilot adjustment on my furnace.. i think i'll pull that line and run some wire through it and see what shakes out.. hopefuly tonight.. got all sidetracked last night.. will update.. thanks everybody

Brian Carlton · #37 10-26-2005, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xp190

Where can one get a Furnace? I need a new one, and all I see is Deals on a furnace with installation, I can do the pipes myself, and my sisters husband is a certified heating tech, so he will make sure it's all in place, but he's lazy so I have to get everything myself and install it so he can come in a check it out.

Well, you can't buy one from the local distributor without a license. So, what I did was head on over to e-bay. They have quite a selection of gas furnaces at very attractive prices. I believe that the one I purchased was $540.00 with another $100. for shipping to the local terminal. An excellent value.

A264172 · #38 10-26-2005, 05:05 PM

I think it was mentioned to bend the thermocouple (which is a copper wire that runs from the control box to what looks like a skinny O² sensor) into the pilot if it is not in the pilot's flame... if you have a good flame there that will work... just look over things three times before taking action and you should be good.

If the flame is on the thermocouple and it is allowing the pilot to die out it probably need replaced. Also as has been said 'measure the old one'. They are only like $4.00 to $8.00 US depending on length.

Just a quick refresher as you get ready to look at the beast based on last years work in the Modine... good luck.

mzsmbs · #39 10-26-2005, 07:43 PM

the thermocouple is not in the flame... it is also in a bracket with the flame that is too thick to bend towards the flame.. i kind of messed with the deflector some but couldn't really get the flame to go that much more towards the thermocouple.. we'll see, maybe after dinner..

A264172 · #40 10-26-2005, 08:26 PM

theoreticaly you could remove the thermocouple from the bracket and rig it so it is in the flame as long as the pilot is successfully able to light the furnace... aprox. how long is the flame of the pilot light in inches?

mzsmbs · #41 10-26-2005, 08:31 PM

well the gas hits a deflector so the flame is kind of horizontal. it's maybe 1.5" wide... maybe 1/2" past the deflector.. i'd guess the thermocouple is 3/4"-1/2" away.. just guessing though.. it could be a bit closer but not close enough to keep the thremocouple warm... it seemed to work just fine when i put fire to it directly but a few moments later (maybe 10sec,) after taking the fire away from the thermocouple, it kicks off (click emmited from the regulator)

manny · #42 10-26-2005, 08:57 PM

Okay............I'm going to tell you this once & once only.

The top portion of the thermocouple ( 1/2" or so ), must be heated by the pilot flame.
DO NOT bend the thermocouple.
There are 100's of strands of fine wire encased in ther.
If you bend it, you will surely break some, if not all of these wires.
Take out the pilot orifice, run a VERY fine wire through the hole (s ), blow residue out with compressed air & see what kind of flame you get.
If I can be of any more help just let me know.

bullwinkle · #43 10-26-2005, 09:25 PM

Not sure of your furnace type, but there is probably a replaceable pilot orifice or tube which is clogged up with crud-find the parts supplier for your furnace brand, get your model and serial #s, stop by in person with a good sob story for them-usually you only need licenses for freon, A/C parts/units, etc.