Merry Christmas!
Posted on 12/25/2014 2:55:28 AM PST by Battle Axe
I smelled one whiff of smoke as I walked through the house at 2:19 a.m. No smoke detectors went off and I did not smell it again. Searching the house I finally found one Lux thermostat that was not working. It runs the # 2 furnace in this big house. After finally figuring out how to get the cover off (I'm an older lady living with 2 cats), I discovered the batteries ....dated 2011...were moderately corroded. It takes two batteries and of that size I had only one new one.
I finally robbed one out of the wireless computer mice and got the thermostat going.
New Year's resolution: Change all the batteries in the house. I do the smoke detectors on Halloween, but I forget how many things have batteries in them. There is even a 9 volt one in the digital door handle.
I get home from work at 7:00AM and discover that the unit is not running. I did a voltage check at the output wires of the thermostat and found it barely registering. I changed the batteries and "Presto", the system was fixed. I stopped payment on our credit card and sent them a $100 check for their response labor. Their supervisor came out to argue the refusal to pay. I called their bluff and told them to "remove the parts they installed and put the old parts back in". The supervisor called the technician and asked him if he replaced the thermostat batteries?, and he said "no". He apologized and left.
Your point is a great one! Once a year, change all of your batteries in the house.
> The repair guy came out and charged my wife $2,400.00 for a relay contact and capacitor kit.
And you thought mechanics were bad...ouch! I’d contact the BBB, the AG Consumer Protection Diivsion and write a review online about that one...any competent repair tech should’ve known to check the batteries first...
I often charged my least favorite clients the standard rate of $200/hr, 8hr minimum on site, plus travel time and expenses. For a trip to NYC that was up to $3200. Sometimes all I did was show up, replace a wall wart, test the system, and leave — 1/2 hr.
Then I’d take a week off.
Merry Christmas!
WOW!
I sure wouldn’t be bragging about ripping off some old lady for doing a 1/2 hour of work for $3200, especially this morning.
Merry Christmas
Well, that would be the ones who don't work off of commission. I have discovered that in the residential home services industry that plumbers and HVAC guys are really bad with this practice. A $26.00 relay and a $60.00 capacitor kit (if at all bad) and a half hour labor turns into a $2,400.00 job. A toilet fill valve is a $15.00 part and these types of plumbers will charge you $265.00. I'm all for making a profit and for their dispatchers and fleet vehicles with parts stocks, but they are just predatory.
Another tip folks.............Ants are the cause of most central air conditioner failures. They seek condensate and they crawl into your outdoor compressor parts. they get into the dc to ac relay contacts and their little ant bodies cause pitting and arcing on the points. Keep the area sprayed with ant spray or granules.
> Another tip folks.............Ants are the cause of most central air conditioner failures. They seek condensate and they crawl into your outdoor compressor parts. they get into the dc to ac relay contacts and their little ant bodies cause pitting and arcing on the points. Keep the area sprayed with ant spray or granules.
Thanks or that tip. Will put that on the list...
Although I still chuckle over the service calls to fix inert appliances [mostly dryers] that were totally disassembled by the male householder attempting a repair, when the silly buggers had to only look up at the disconnect to see a glass fuse with a big black spot where the link had popped...
The ants in the compressor is endemic in the south with Fire Ants. The ozone created by the relays actually attracts the ants. Always put ant bait around the compressor to get the ants before they get you.
Madam, I commend you for your choice of screen names. Especially, after reading your "about" page. Both are truly inspired.
Re: The ad you mentioned on that page.
Given that the only criteria you listed is "over six feet" (typo notwithstanding), I am compelled to inform you that I, an older gentleman living with one dog, am over six feet.
I'm not sure whether this constitutes answering your ad or not.
And that’s why I have kept my 2 Honeywell mercury thermostats that do not use batteries. They last forever. These new thermostats are a classic case of over engineering.
Quit using Alkaline batteries, use Panasonic Eneloop rechargeable batteries.
The rechargeables won’t leak and ruin your electronics.
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