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Furnace Mystery solved! [message #294736] Sat, 30 January 2016 17:23 Go to next message
lance is currently offline  lance   United States
Messages: 190
Registered: December 2004
Location: Vancouver, WA
Karma: 0
Senior Member
The two year furnace mystery is solved! Yes! No one is happier than me. My knees hurt from trying to exorcise the ghost haunting my furnace.

The reason no one could diagnose the problem is because there were two issues.

The first issue was my new converter ground. The wire was too short to reach the aluminum body, so I used a sheet metal screw to a small pice of galvanized tin. Yeah, I know. What was I thinking? Not just the cheesy metal but the screw was loose!

The second simultaneous issue was an open, broken or somehow cut thermostat wire. It was intermittent.

I bought three feet of 4 gage wire and a nice ground lug, drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the aluminum frame and bolted that cable in place, replacing the short one. Then I ran twenty feet of new thermostat wire. I used to install security systems, so I learned how to fish behind walls and ceilings, something many of us GMC'ers come to learn. It took all day, but my furnace now runs like a champ.

Thanks to all who read and gave me clues. No one had the right answer, but new ideas and feedback kept me going. What a great group!


1974 Palm Beach
Re: [GMCnet] Furnace Mystery solved! [message #294738 is a reply to message #294736] Sat, 30 January 2016 18:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jimk is currently offline  jimk   United States
Messages: 6734
Registered: July 2006
Location: Belmont, CA
Karma: 9
Senior Member
I have have couple customers that brought in just the furnace to save on
labor.
We repaired the unit and they took it back and complained that it was not
working.
We asked them to bring it back and we will recheck and repair N/C.
After the second time I told them to bring the coach in .
Well, after going over it, we discovered that the wiring was poor and we
redid it and tested it.

On Sat, Jan 30, 2016 at 3:23 PM, Lance wrote:

> The two year furnace mystery is solved! Yes! No one is happier than me. My
> knees hurt from trying to exorcise the ghost haunting my furnace.
>
> The reason no one could diagnose the problem is because there were two
> issues.
>
> The first issue was my new converter ground. The wire was too short to
> reach the aluminum body, so I used a sheet metal screw to a small pice of
> galvanized tin. Yeah, I know. What was I thinking? Not just the cheesy
> metal but the screw was loose!
>
> The second simultaneous issue was an open, broken or somehow cut
> thermostat wire. It was intermittent.
>
> I bought three feet of 4 gage wire and a nice ground lug, drilled a 1/4
> inch hole in the aluminum frame and bolted that cable in place, replacing
> the
> short one. Then I ran twenty feet of new thermostat wire. I used to
> install security systems, so I learned how to fish behind walls and
> ceilings,
> something many of us GMC'ers come to learn. It took all day, but my
> furnace now runs like a champ.
>
> Thanks to all who read and gave me clues. No one had the right answer, but
> new ideas and feedback kept me going. What a great group!
> --
> 1974 Palm Beach
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>



--
Jim Kanomata
Applied/GMC, Fremont,CA
jimk@appliedairfilters.com
http://www.appliedgmc.com
1-800-752-7502
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Jim Kanomata
Applied/GMC
jimk@appliedairfilters.com
www.appliedgmc.com
1-800-752-7502
Re: [GMCnet] Furnace Mystery solved! [message #294745 is a reply to message #294738] Sat, 30 January 2016 21:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
lance is currently offline  lance   United States
Messages: 190
Registered: December 2004
Location: Vancouver, WA
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Our coaches are now 40 years old. We are in the restoration business. We love our GMC's because . . a thousand reasons, front wheel drive, low entry, classic looks, on and on. You can't buy anything like it today. Thanks again for all you folks that have helped keep my coach alive. I feel like I owe someone a beer! Anyone in the Vancouver, WA area, step forward and claim your prize!

1974 Palm Beach
Re: [GMCnet] Furnace Mystery solved! [message #294746 is a reply to message #294738] Sat, 30 January 2016 22:09 Go to previous message
lance is currently offline  lance   United States
Messages: 190
Registered: December 2004
Location: Vancouver, WA
Karma: 0
Senior Member
I'm a pretty handy guy. I build and restore custom cars for a living. This is my third GMC. You'd think that if I can build a car from pieces, parts and heavy lifting, I can maintain a motorhome. Thank God for you, Jim, and the east coast Jim and the rest of you Bob's and Fred's and Bill's and John's. My furnace is running as I type. Thank you all. Happy camper.

1974 Palm Beach
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