Annual maintenance for high efficiency gas furnace

Posted by DerbyDad03 on October 27, 2009, 1:16 pm

wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:30:37 -0700, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> > re: "how to (safely and legally!) monitor the level in the propane
> > tank"

> Ha - thanks for that :-)
> I think they delivery company get really upset if you run the tank dry
> though and charge extra.
> Maybe I could use the old "use it until it breaks, then back off a
> little" trick and when it runs empty, direct a hairdrier into the furnace
> vent to put some of the propane back into the tank...

re: "I think they delivery company get really upset if you run the
tank dry though and charge extra."

Why? (Seriously)

Posted by Jules on October 28, 2009, 8:17 am

On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:16:52 -0700, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> re: "I think they delivery company get really upset if you run the
> tank dry though and charge extra."
>
> Why? (Seriously)

Well, they insist on doing a full leak check on the supply lines if the
tank goes empty, and charge for it (50 bucks I think).

Quite why running it dry would cause joints to fail though, I don't know -
maybe it's that they won't take the customer's word for it that it's only
*just* gone dry, and assume that the system's been empty for a while.

cheers

Jules

Posted by DerbyDad03 on October 28, 2009, 8:33 am

wrote:

> On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:16:52 -0700, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> > re: "I think they delivery company get really upset if you run the
> > tank dry though and charge extra."
> > Why? (Seriously)

> Well, they insist on doing a full leak check on the supply lines if the
> tank goes empty, and charge for it (50 bucks I think).
> Quite why running it dry would cause joints to fail though, I don't know =

> maybe it's that they won't take the customer's word for it that it's only
> *just* gone dry, and assume that the system's been empty for a while.
> cheers
> Jules

Thanks.

re: (They) assume that the system's been empty for a while.

You'd think they could just check their records for the last delivery
and determine the max time it could have been empty.

Of course, that would be "work" and they'd miss the opportunity to
make a fairly easy (I think) $50 or whatever it is.

Posted by Jules on October 28, 2009, 4:58 pm

On Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:33:28 -0700, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> re: (They) assume that the system's been empty for a while.
>
> You'd think they could just check their records for the last delivery
> and determine the max time it could have been empty.

True - but I suppose they don't know if any construction's happened in the
meantime or any other stuff (I was surprised that the line from our tank
was only buried about 6" down and was just regular old copper pipe). If
it might have been empty for more than a few minutes I guess they want to
take the line that they have to do a check just in case.

> Of course, that would be "work" and they'd miss the opportunity to make
> a fairly easy (I think) $50 or whatever it is.

I agree there - I'm sure it's a nice little earner for them. They do
recommend calling them and scheduling a delivery when tank level gets to
20% though so that they can get the supply truck out before it runs out.

Posted by blueman on November 3, 2009, 2:48 am

> wrote:

>> On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:16:52 -0700, DerbyDad03 wrote:

>> > re: "I think they delivery company get really upset if you run the
>> > tank dry though and charge extra."
>> > Why? (Seriously)

>> Well, they insist on doing a full leak check on the supply lines if the
>> tank goes empty, and charge for it (50 bucks I think).
>> Quite why running it dry would cause joints to fail though, I don't know -
>> maybe it's that they won't take the customer's word for it that it's only
>> *just* gone dry, and assume that the system's been empty for a while.
>> cheers
>> Jules

> Thanks.
> re: (They) assume that the system's been empty for a while.
> You'd think they could just check their records for the last delivery
> and determine the max time it could have been empty.
> Of course, that would be "work" and they'd miss the opportunity to
> make a fairly easy (I think) $50 or whatever it is.

Maybe if it's empty, they worry that there was a catastrophic leak
that caused it and hence are afraid to fill.

If there is still propane and pressure in the tank, they can be pretty
sure that there is no serious leak or if there were, that someobdy
would smell or otherwise notice it.

Empty tank means no clue why it is empty and since people usually get
it filled before empty, it is a reasonable hypothesis that something
unnatural may have caused it to be empty.

I'm just speculating of course but it sounds reasonable at least.

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Annual maintenance for high efficiency gas furnace - Page 5