As Chuck reported last week, our furnace has been on the fritz. While in Chuck's entry he is more the hero, and he stated the facts as they appeared at that very moment, a key part of the story was left out.
But vindication is mine and I offered him the opportunity to post and entry stating the facts. It has now been two hours and nothing has shown up over there and I have a lull in work and now feel the need to tell what really happened.
Yes, our heater was out. Chuck called me at work to tell me this. And, because my powers stretch far and wide, I guess he figured I was going to be able to do something about it from the office, approximately 17 miles from home. Well, while my powers are super fantastic, alas I could do nothing until I got home from work.
We opened the furnace closet, read the directions, and attempted to restart the pilot. It lit, but only for a second and then sputtered out. The furnace closet, being outside, was absolutely filled with spiders and spider webs. My diagnosis of why furnace doesn't work: spiders in the gas line.
It was I who arranged for the service people to come the next day. I was also the one who knew that the new flux capacitor (or whatever the hell they said it needed) was not a $500 part, but maybe a $100 part, and I told Chuck that if they said that it was the flux capacitor and it was more than $100 don't do it. So we didn't have it done.
We never got around to ordering the part online but I did talk to the guy who does service on my A/C system at the office. He agreed to send someone over today.
Well, the service guy arrives with the new flux capacitor, but in testing the old one, discovers that it is not in fact broken. He then toddled over the the plumbing/heating supply store, buys some stuff and does some things. Alas, the heater is still not working.
Then he disengages one of the lines and blows through it. Do you know what came out of the line? Yup. One bigass spider. Line reconnected. Furnace now working.
So yeah, I said it was spiders. I was scoffed. But I was right. And while it is often better to be kind than right, in this case, not so much. I'm right. And I'll be warm tonight.
Posted by beth at October 28, 2004 04:54 PMHow does a spider manage to survive the gas fumes? Those pesky little things, I sware, they never die.
Posted by: loxyfady at October 28, 2004 08:47 PMI have no idea how it survived. We're inundated with the critters here. I swear we must have four stars in the spider Michelin Guide.
Posted by: beth at October 28, 2004 09:27 PMrotflol!
Posted by: Square1 at October 29, 2004 09:33 AMI would have scoffed too. How the hell ... ???
Good call, though!
Posted by: Jim at October 29, 2004 09:55 AMActually ... actually ... now I'm worried.
If a spider could get *in* ... wouldn't it be logical that gas could get *out*???
Maybe you should have the Gas Company check for leaks.
Posted by: Jim at October 29, 2004 09:57 AMThe spider was in a sort of vacuum line running from the flue to the ignitor. It (the line, not the spider) acted as a sensor for the ignitor, telling it that the flue was working properly.
So it wasn't the GAS line Beth had predicted it was in, which is why I scoffed at it in the first place because a GAS line that has openings to let a spider in also has openings to let gas out -- which we would have noticed.
So I guess that, yes, I was schooled. But home-schooled.
Posted by: Chuck at October 29, 2004 11:31 AMWell, OK, but I said it was a spider.
Posted by: beth at October 29, 2004 11:55 AMWell, okay, but I said it wasn't the gas line. So neener-neener.
Posted by: Chuck at October 30, 2004 01:51 PM