Ahhhhh!!!!

[brain]

I just want to scream! I'm so furious at my Power Co for
what they had done, blowing a fuse and not one place in
United States carries it! Since Thursday - I had been looking
everywhere for the freaking fuse and was about to blow a
FUSE MYSELF! This grand old machine, made in the U S of A
doesn't have the FUSE?!?!? Oh yeah - we have 7 million
Lennox parts available, but we don't carry that fuse!



It's all because I had totally restored what was deemed as a
worthless piece of 'non-functional junk' and made it not only
fully functional but ozone-free, converted it to heat pump;
and after the County and Health Department Inspected it,
it was certified now as an HVAC! Which means it now has to
be repaired by an 'authorized HVAC certified mechanic'.

Well, I had to call the County Building and gave them the old
permit number so I could have permission to work on my unit
after I explained to them what happened, so he went to
review it, saw it on file, and I was given permission after
considering I had been the one who did all the work, you're
'authorized'. He wanted to know what work was I going to do
to the HVAC? I said "install a fuse".



I know this sounds comical, but he wanted to know WHY the
fuse was blown in the first place, and I explained it to him,
but I also told him I will be checking the wiring, conduits,
connections, connectors, conjunctions, and if necessary,
replace or trim back and reconnect if it didn't look good. I
also planned to clean the blower unit out and the coils, et
cetera. He then said, "have fun"



Well here's the fun part ... Hour after Hour after Hour, on
the danged freaking phone and online at the same time,
trying to find the blasted freaking fuse! Locally and all over
USA - not one person had it. Even those who specializes in
nothing but fuses "Oh yeah, we've got'em all" (Yeah right,
they've got'em all but that!)



I all needed was one freaking glass 1½ inch long tube
125V N 3½ Buss(man) fuse.

No one makes 3.5 amp fuses anymore! Even worse, they
don't even make "N" (for napped) fuses anymore either.



So as a former contractor & subcontractor, and having
restored, remodeled, rebuild, and even building - homes
and some commercial buildings - I knew one thing: It
meant going back to SQUARE ONE!



This meant going back to the transformer where the fuse
came from and with hopes that the Company would STILL
be in existence. I could only shudder if they were out of
business. With my luck, they sure still are in business when
I went online and found them in a flash! YAY ME! But bad
news!



THEY DO NOT CARRY OR HAVE THE FUSES OR THE PARTS!



Oh yeah - they had everything else, but just not that!



Then he said, "well we 'might' have some over here" - and
My gosh, I must had traveled across the USA, I should have
gotten frequent flyer or is that frequent transfer miles? Or
is that frequent Caller Miles?



AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT - I was back in my own State!
I was so tired and getting to a boiling point, and when I looked
at my digital thermostat (it runs on batteries), it was 96* in
my house and I was starting to LOOSE my temper, patience,
and about to blow a fuse --- and I think the Relay Operator
was too, because he had to finally speak up to "Please hold
while I inform them to please direct the call to the proper Parts
Department on your behalf." And the lady on the phone became
very apologetic and transferred me ...

Guess where to?

CANADA!



Now I'm really getting !
Why am I in Canada!?!?

The nice lady answered the phone and explained
before we could proceed, she had the part I needed
but she needed some info up front first due to their
laws: Wanted my make, model, unit number. My
street address, city, state, zip code; and if I was a
Dealer/Wholesaler/Distributor/Retailer?

I provided her the info, and no I'm not into any of
those. And she did some research and found I'm all
residential. She explained that their laws prohibits
them from selling or distributing to Dealers/Wholesalers,
etc ... However, residents who owns the unit and that
are recorded on the property and it matches with what
is on the system database; they are entitled to purchase
all parts from Canada. They have ample supply of fuses
up there, all the parts in the world that I need is up there.

She explained that there are quite a few Americans who
still have the same unit as I do, who takes care of it, but
have to use them for parts and I now have been officially
registered. She also elaborated that in Canada, these units
are very popular and very much are in existence and in
use, however in America; many are gone for they've
upgraded their systems to more costly equipments. I did
learn something about my unit - it comes in gas, oil, electric
or dual (multi - like electric air conditioning but gas or oil
heating) versions. Interesting!



I did tell her that this unit was 100% worthless pile of junk,
and how I had converted it to ozone-free, and added a
heat pump - and it's certified HVAC now. She needed the
certification number (which I had to go outside to get that
serial number they put on there and the certification number
and the year and my eyes were being hideous!), and
I finally got back in the house and provided her all the info.

Then my speech became really slurred - *sigh* - again. So
Relay Operator had to switch me back to TDD mode and I was
trying hard to stay in sync; but she understood about Epilepsy
and my fuses - which I got the box, so I could have some spares
as I do not want to go through this headache again!



While I know it will work just fine once I put the fuse in; it's
when my Power Co comes back to install their Gray Box back
in is when I fear that they're going to blow the fuse; and if
they do - they have to reimburse me for it all!

However on the flip side, the Power Co, he did admit that the
Gray Box (depending on your area, if available, is an energy
saving program which the Power Co controls certain appliances
in your household; I've been in this program for years) was in
a very odd place and did agree with me it was a fire hazard
where it was at; but he also agreed with me as why the others
(appliances) weren't hooked up to it and why it wasn't over
here, like I said it should be installed. He personally is making
all the notes on this; but he did check all my work when he
came out to inspect everything and found my job was excellent
and I did know what I was doing and he wasn't talking to some
'amateur' but to a professional.

He could see my work I had done in there, because my son
was talking to him of how this was a piece of non-operational
junk, and even got into the filing cabinet to show him the papers
( ::: rolls eyes ::: ) and when he saw that; he then said, you really
do everything! I replied to him, I keep telling them (Power Co)
that all the time, but they want to argue with me. He said in
return, they won't now, because he's going to notate this on
my account. (Well, at least - I can breathe there for a change)

However ... I learned something from Canada:

1) My unit is old
2) I've converted it to Digital Thermostat
3) There would really be no need to be on the Energy Savings
Management anymore when you have everything programmed
24/7 since it's automatic and it does it for you and you can set
the timer yourself.
4) Having the System and the Digital will result another blown
fuse or possibility a ruined Digital Thermostat and a Transformer

I've talked with this with my mom, and she said to give it a trial
run and see how it goes and see if it makes any difference being
disconnected off of the Gray Box and staying on the Digital System
and not on both.




But I am still livid about all of this, because we're suffering here
and it's so stuffy here and we just cannot open windows; for we
have a Security System here, and School is out. Kids are being
really weird now since School has been out. We already had one
person who tried something and it tripped the system off, and
sent them packing! We just cannot risk having any windows
opened at all! It's almost unfair!

[Georgiagirl88]

Good Morning Sharon,

Well this really stinks!! Trust me, I understand how furious you must be. Remember, I grew up in Fl. and lived there for yrs. I know how hot it can be. Sweltering!!
I wish I could fix it for you!!! Getting bumped around to different people and depts. is more than frustrating.
Is there anything they can do? I hope they can figure it all out. I truly feel for you!! I'd send you a new one if I could!!

Good Luck with getting it fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michelle

[CJR]

Doesn't it figure that Canada had a simple answer to what baffled all the Americans? I live really close to the Canadian border so I have friends from that side of the line. Once they said to me that they think Americans go through to much effort for too little results. In this case, I'd have to agree!

[brain]

Well the fuses arrived!

YAY!



BUT .......



Oh the system runs just fine! 100% fine!
So what's the problem?

I have

Heat
Super Heat
Ultimate Heat



I phoned Honeywell back again and demanded
to speak to their Supervisor or HEAD Tech
instead of their lower-end bumbling tech; and
was transferred over to one. We reviewed
everything and I had the whole Digital Panel
Programmed right - but he informed me that
there were some bad component boards that
were shipped out that were defective that
should have not been shipped out but were
supposed to have been returned back to the
department to be corrected and fixed and
unfortunately some of those panels got 'out'
and distributed; and they have had some
customers who had phoned and had the very
same issues as I did.

So all I needed to do was remove the Panel,
call the store and get the Manager, and
provided me the specific instructions of what
I needed to do - just for them to open the
new package and take the Digital Panel out
and put the bad one in and return it back to
them; and they would take care of it - and
I can proceed with everything as I had. I do
not need to remove everything that I had set
up - the wiring, the wall bracket, et cetera.




*sigh*

But it sure as heck was blowing the fuses! Even
though the heating was set for 40*? I told them
(Honeywell) that they OWE me for 5 fuses; but
they're not going to compensate for that!

I mean - what's with people and companies these
days? And companies wonders why customers do
not return for business? And people wonder why
folks don't return back to see them again?

Gee - it's a no brainer there! Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you - to which many
considers it the 'Golden Rule'.



Another night, muggy, humid, but at least one thing,
we've got some T'booms that may come our way
(T'booms - slang for thunderstorms)... so it would be
exceptionally nice - for both my son and I only had
a little over 2 hours of sleep total!

And I do not need to express or state how I am feeling
right now; even my mom could tell how I was on the
phone - even telling me to go take a cold shower and
go to bed - I can't. I already had a simple partial earlier
today. My son cannot take the heat anymore and his
own fuse is blown; and headed over to his friend's mom's
house where there's A/C going on over there.

I haven't even eaten all day either, and when I tried,
I started to get really dizzy, nausea, and felt like I was
going to pass out. I've lost count how many times I've
jumped into the cold shower to cool off. My own home
hit 98* in here, and there weren't even any breezes
until late after 6 PM.



I've been drinking water, gatorade, and decided to head
to the store and snatch a protein bar that didn't have
soy or nuts in it - and it was almost a mistake, I feel
really weird, my head feels like it's going to explode, so
I went to the fruit stand and snatched some banana
and some small fruits, and made a fruit salad; and that
itself was the biggest mistake I ever did. I just made
myself sick and now I'm in bed!

[Georgiagirl88]

Sharon..I am so sorry that this happened. Do you have a friend's you can go stay with? I have to say..I am really impressed with all your electical knowledge. I am o.k. with some gadgets, and fixing things..but I don't really think I'd have a clue about this. Maybe a soak in a cool showerbefore bed will help.

Good Luck!
Michelle

[brain]

Well, I grew up without any A/C so I'm used to it;
but this is all actually helping me in a lot of ways,
because I had spent my entire childhood until the
day I got married (right after I graduated from
Senior High); I never had it (A/C).

I did have a tiny antique metal osculating fan, yeah,
those 4 metal bladed ones with just 4 wires there
and just don't stick your fingers in there! It wasn't
much to circulate any air; but I got smart though
by making a platform out of leftover lumber and
used to brace it up on the marble window sill - we
slept with windows opened and it would help very
little but not much. You couldn't stop the fan from
osculating (it wasn't an option).

Then I got smart, I made a tilt table out of it and
used the left over panel frames (to keep it from
sliding off) and used a clamp to hold the fan down
so it didn't vibrate off, and yeah, it was noisy too
and you had to clean and oil it often at the oil
holes with the 3-in-1 oil. So it helped. However,
I couldn't keep it in my bedroom, so when I woke
up, the fan would be on my huge bookcase, and
the shelf would end up in my closet out of sight.

My little sister was the lucky one, as she had the
cool-end of the house; unfortunately, I had the
hottest end of the house, which was where the
sun shined on the most and set, even with the
awnings, it didn't help that much.

My parents didn't even add Central System until
20+ years ago! We used to have 2 Wall Mount
Units - only those were 'reserved for Company'
but even when we had company, our bedroom
doors were shut so the house would stay cooler.
(our parent's home is a very big home).

My Parents never considered going into Central
as they were so used without it; but with me,
having remodeled, restored, rebuild, et cetera:
homes - Central Systems were a must have,
and many of that which I installed (if the property
didn't have one) were rebuilts or refurbished; and
I added it on as I went along. And if they had units
in there - most of the time they were broken; so
I'm used to repairing standard (basic), single, or
HVACs. One thing I hated the most are those
existing units where half of it were up in the attics!

Of course my parents stopped by frequently and
had seen the progression of the work, and seeing
that Central DOES save money - if you set it up
right and take care of it. So it was my father who
looked into it and made the decision to go for it,
and those old wall units were gone and they had
the Trane Unit, which I recommended - with Heat
Pump; and since then - they saw their power bill
dropped dramatically and they lived in comfort.

While I did tell them it's very important to change
your filters, but I recommend to get the ones that
you can cut and clean yourself (it's cheaper and
saves you money on the long run than the disposables);
but they still use the disposables.

NOTE - Here's some FILTER SECRETS TO A NICE
SMELLING HOME WITHOUT HAVING TO BUY AIR SPRAY
OR OTHER JUNK ...

HERE IS A SECRET - those DRYER SHEETS, Nice
Smelling dryer sheets? Just use a paper clip or a
safety pin, and attach it to it (if you're using the
reusable ones) or just tape it on if its disposable.

PS: You can toss those fabric softener sheets in
your clothes drawers, right out of the box, I cut
them into 4 squares and put them into 4 corners
and my garments inside of the drawers all smell
nice and fresh --- instead of 'drawery-fresh'.




ANOTHER SECRET - Cut a small piece of fat yarn,
Soak it FIRST in BABY OIL, then dip in Fragrant Oil
or Cologne / Perfume (expensive ones only - not
el du toilet sprays). This will last for about 30 days
to 45 days! You will get used to the smell after a
day or two and then think "it quit working" - NO it
did not ... you just got used to it. So have it marked
on your calendar; or otherwise people would be
rather "OVERWHELMED" when they walk into your
home!

[Georgiagirl88]

Great tips!
I remember growing up in the old Florida homes in the 60's... not too many homes had air. We had the wall units also. And fans!!!! But my parents would wait to turn it on until it was really hot and then off at night. I can remember laying in bed on hot summer nights with the fans going and reading books. Now, we are very spoiled and are so used to having it. We were with out AC for about a week or so after Hurricane Fran hit the Carolinas and we lived there at the time. We had alot of damage, but the power being out was not fun. We couldn't sleep at night either. We would all just lay there with very little clothing on and moan and groan. The kids were little then. Anyways..hope you have a better night tonight and it gets all fixed so you can crank it down!!!!

[brain]

My System is functional and working, had a nice
long talk with my Power Company today, and they
admitted to their "fault". (Gee, why couldn't they
say so in the FIRST place?)



But nonetheless, they switched me over to the Energy
Program and we had a nice talk there, going over how
I have everything set up and programmed. They were
implying that most likely I won't qualify for their program
anymore with the settings and everything that I have
going at the present state. So I am on a trial run right
now to see if there is indeed a big difference.

She really believes there will be a huge difference with
what I have now and the way its all set up, I'm way
above everyone else's standards (well I do have a lot
of ceiling fans here, just about every room except the
kitchen and bathroom (but I do have an exhaust fan
in bathroom)...). And with the water heater settings
down so low, and to the fact I use the clothesline a lot
and only the heavy items after they're dry on the line,
I run them for a brief moment in the dryer.

She reviewed the notes that were made by their man
that was here who disconnected their system; that
my residence was extremely highly energy efficient home,
he checked; as well that I was indeed a former contractor
and subcontractor and knew what I was doing and was
certified, and saw my old certifications. Including what
my son had shown him that was done to the property
from the County that was in my name, approved, and
passed in all stages - construction, electrical, plumbing,
in 1999. He noted that our insulation exceeded the
R-Factor, which is what I required. He noted that the
unit was non-functional; Owner had made it functional,
revised unit to ozone-free, modified to convert to heat
pump - conventional multi-stage HVAC system. All wirings
were excellent and work done professionally was his
remarks and was approved by the County and Health
Department and has a seal and certification on the HVAC
Unit, and Inspector's initials on the Unit and the date,
1999, and the Power Co installed their Gray Box in 2001
which is also marked on the unit.

The only comment she remarked was "You really know
what you're doing for a resident"



She confused me there, I used to have a business, years
ago - so no, I wasn't a resident. I'm confused.



When I went outside to get my mail, my neighbor asked me
if I phoned the Power Co yet, and I acknowledged it, and
wanted to know what they said, and I told her - and then
told her the remark. And she laughed. She thought it was
really funny! I mean my neighbors saw me build the Florida
Room, rewire the entire house except for the 2 bedrooms
(I ran out of wiring in the spool, will have to finish that part,
to convert 2 prong outlets to 3 prongs - I only have 5 plugs
to do and only 1 in my bedroom is a 3 prong), and do a whole
bunch of stuff including hurricane reinforcement to the roofing.

Her (Power Co) comment had left me scratching my head
in total bewilderment.

I still have more work to do in this property, but taking my
time, no rush.

If anyone wants, I could do a slide show of what I've done,
how the property came together; it's kind of neat.

[BuckeyeFan]

My 'honey-do' list would be cut in half if my wife could borrow you for a couple of weeks.

Central air is basically standard in any Ohio home now, but I remember those humid nights fighting for the one fan for the upstairs bedrooms. Luckily, we only would get that for about 3 months.

[Meetz1064]

My 'honey-do' list would be cut in half if my wife could borrow you for a couple of weeks.

Central air is basically standard in any Ohio home now, but I remember those humid nights fighting for the one fan for the upstairs bedrooms. Luckily, we only would get that for about 3 months.

Can I have you first, huh, huh, PLEASSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!????!!!!!!!

PRETTTYYYYY PLEASSSSEEEEEEEEEE???????????

C'MON NOW, WE GIRLS GOTTA STICK TOGETHER, YA KNOW.......

[hawke86]

brain,
Sorry to hear what you went through and had to do to get the fuse you needed. I'm glad to hear you found one.