The obvious answer (at least obvious to me) to your question is that revealing that the furnace was worked on by someone other than a professional furnace repairman would have thrown up an ugly flag during the inspection process. Possibly, they would have been worried about a fire or an explosion due to what would have been perceived as a novice repair. What this means is that the repair you suggested would have been even worse to reveal (assuming I did the work) because it involved rewiring part of the system. (And NO, I was not about to get another repairman in to work on it after my experience with the last one).
I know that what was done was safe but THEY don't know that because they don't know me. I can feel free to write about this now because I have since learned that the subject furnace has been replaced by a new unit.
John Rapka, I am in almost complete agreement with your fix, but I think your justification about not disclosing it is a stretch. That is, you seem to project that the only forseeable failure scenario, i.e. if new owner wrenched on the control stem, they would make the connection with any subsequent malfunction, effectively lobbing the problem into the new owner's court.
Why not, as another poster has suggested, wire the control completely out of the circuit, and disclose to the buyer that although there originally was a speed control, it wore out and was removed from the system? It's hard to imagine a buyer being deterred by having a one-speed blower.
This tale is another example of how adding a feature removed some quality. My furnace has four speeds available, just by moving one wire to a different terminal, each of which has a quarter-inch "Faston" connector. That arrangement is very reliable and much easier to service.
I don't believe the repair was unethical. The soldered connections that were made were just as reliable as any other permanent electrical connections that existed in the furnace. The chance of them "failing" spontaneously was nil. There would be a problem if someone tried to turn the switch shaft and this resulted in the breakage of the connections made. The chance of this happening was reduced by removing the switch knob. If someone bypassed this preventive measure and broke the connections by turning the switch shaft (with a pair of locking pliers for example), the switch would be reverted to the original open circuit condition assuming the shaft did not get twisted off in the process. If this action caused the blower to no longer work, the person doing the breakage would most likely suspect the switch.
An ingeniuos repair but it bypassed the fullfunctioning of the system and one wonders if the new owners had any idea of what to do if it failed. An open direct wiring repair may have been more transparent.
I agee. I don't think not having variable speed controlsin the furnace is necessary in order to pass an inspection. However, I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't something about the furnace being in "original" operational status in the requirements of the inspection.
Reminds me a lot of automobiles. Just can't fix things like you used to. But stories like this do remind me to at least check for the simple chewing gum and paper clip solutions out there.
The fix of, in essence, hard wireing the speed contorol out of the system is a very valid fix. It is safe, no arcing like the old control that had to be coaxed into action. Would the fix been any better if the control was cut out of the circuit and the wires spliced?
You're right TJ. Even if it's a good fix, it's still not cricket. I remember watching inspectors go though my house and holding my breath as they looked over quick fixes I had made in certain areas and items in the house. Everything worked, but sometimes the solutions were homemade.
Using almost 200 light-emitting diodes in the front and back of the new 2014 CTS, Cadillac designers are showing how LEDs can change the character of a vehicle.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
3 
