Helpful articles from ARS/Rescue Rooter http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/ http://www.ars.com/images/ARS_RRLogo.jpg http://www.ars.com/ Helpful articles from ARS/Rescue Rooter 290 85 en-us Copyright 2008 ARS/Rescue Rooter http://backend.userland.com/rss 60 My heat is blowing out cold air for the past 12 hours or more. The hot water works fine. The gas company said my pilot light may be out. HELP, WE ARE COLD! http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Cold-air--Please-help.aspx Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT I have a Comfortmaker Heating System. Unfortunately, I can't locate the maintenance information for it. I need to replace the filter and am uncertain if it is the washable kind? Can you help please? It measures 16 1/2 x 20 1/2 from edge to edge. Thanks! http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Filter-replacement-for-heating-system.aspx Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT I have a 68-gallon gas water heater. My shower head is a bit bigger than normal, but nothing insanely big. I’m only getting 15 to 25 minutes hot/warm water in the shower. If no other water is being used shouldn’t I get like 30 to 45 minutes of hot/warm water? My dad’s house has a little bit smaller water heater (also gas) and it lasts 30 to 45 minutes easy. Do I need a new water heater? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Not-enough-hot-water.aspx Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT My vent pipes are cut below my trailer which left open the toilet and bathtub backup. The washing machine drains out the one vent pipe. What can I do to fix this? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Vent-pipes-cut.aspx Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT I have an 8-month-old Rheem tankless hot water heater using LP gas. When using the hot water for more than 2 minutes it will turn into cold water for a couple of minutes than back to hot. Hot is not staying hot for a very long. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Inconsistent-hot-water.aspx Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT We have Carrier High Performance heat pump, installed in the past 8 months. This past week, we have had heavy snow (30") and ice (outdoor temperature 20F-25F) in our DC/MD area, but the heat pump heating function has been fine. Each day when I have been sweeping the snow away from the outdoor unit, the fan blades have been turning normally. This morning, however, I noticed the fan blades were not turning and that a large amount of snow and some ice had built up on the blades. (But the heater function had still been working OK during the night.) As soon as I removed the snow, the fan started up, but it was then badly out of balance, causing the whole unit to shake. I turned off the heat pump, removed the grill with the fan-motor unit, and scraped off ice that had built up mostly on two of the blades. After replacing the fan and grill, the fan now turned smoothly, without shaking. We have a wood stove that also provides heat to the main part of the house, and the heat pump unit shuts off when the wood stove is fired up. Maybe the snow is building up especially during these times. Now I am turning on the heat pump for a minute or two, every hour or two, when the wood stove is operating, to prevent snow build up again. What I would like to know, in case this happens again: Is it important to have the fan turning for the heating function of the heat pump to operate efficiently during winter weather like this? If so, is there anything I could spray on the blades to prevent ice and snow build up? Other suggestions? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Ice--snow-buildup.aspx Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT My Carrier heating unit is making a loud thumping sound about 45 seconds before it starts to blow air. I have had two techs out to try to figure it out and they have not found anything wrong. The thumping drives us nuts! It is definitely NOT normal. Both techs heard the noise, but neither of them could find the problem. The second tech took the time to go through the heating system, step by step, with me. We could not recreate the issue, but once out of the attic, he heard the noise for himself. This is a different sound than one hears when the ceiling filter is being sucked up to the top of its housing or being dropped back down when the system turns off. It's a dull, muffled "THUMP," wait 45 seconds or so, then the blower can be heard coming on. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Loud-thumping-sound-from-unit.aspx Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT During the hard freeze, the top cover on my backflow preventer for the sprinkler system popped and some of the plastic contents inside were broken. Is this something that I can purchase and replace myself, or do I need a professional? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Broken-backflow-preventer.aspx Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT My furnace is working properly, but the blower will only run in the on position. When I put it on auto the unit will light up and heat. The fan limit switch rotates and makes the first click which should start the fan, but after the click the fan will not come on. I can reach over and switch it to the on position and it will heat properly. Can you please help me figure out why it will not run in the auto position? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Wont-run-in-auto-position.aspx Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT I have three inch drain lines in the front yard which are full of palm tree roots. Can this be snaked out or do I need to just take out the drain pipe and start over? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Drain-lines-and-tree-roots.aspx Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT I believe we have a huge pipe leak. We walked into the bathroom and could hear water running behind the walls and underneath our modular home. What could this be and how much could this cost? We had to shut off the main water line at the end of our road. What do we do now? Due to the snow could this be a frozen pipe that has burst or just a busted pipe? Help!! http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Water-running-behind-walls.aspx Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT When our furnace won't come on and the temperature is below the selected temperature on the thermostat, we have to go and turn the switch off that is attached to the furnace, then turn it back on. Then it will come on instantly. But during the night, it will mostly NOT come on and getting up twice a night to flip the switch is getting old. We have your ARS sticker on the furnace and we have only had the house for about 3 years. The last check up on the furnace was before we purchased the house. Can you figure this out? It doesn't do this every time. It just seems to have a mind of its own. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Furnace-has-a-mind-of-its-own.aspx Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT Have a Coleman Evcon heater at my mom's that is working but blows out cold to warm heat from the vents. It also smells of gas. My sister and I are only trying to get the place ready to sell and need to know if this is something we can fix ourselves or do we need to call an expert? We don't have a lot of funds. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Heater-smells-of-gas.aspx Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT Went to turn on the heat last night (gas) but all I received was the fan blowing non warm air. Then I couldn't get the fan to stop blowing even with the system totally off (from the control panel), no matter what I did. Finally I went into the attic and turned the whole heating system off since it was the only way to get the fan to stop. I hardly ever turn the heat on so is it possible the pilot light just went out somehow? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Fan-wont-stop.aspx Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT I have a break box that has a cracked breaker support (the plastic holder that the breakers plug into). I will need to replace either that pieace or I will need a new breaker panel installed. The breaker panel is a GE TLM-612R model. I would like know a ball park figure or what ARS might charge to this kind of repair? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Broken-breaker-support.aspx Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT Can a UV light be effective without the installation of a humidifier? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/UV-light.aspx Sun, 14 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT The gas turns on, it ignites, lasts 1-2 sec then gas stops. Repeats. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Gas-on-ignites-stops.aspx Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT Why does my air conditioning smell bad when we turn it back on after a few hours or days say after a cold snap in Tampa? When we turn it back on the smell is horrible to a point where I have to run it with the windows open for a while. After it runs consistently for a while the smell eventually gets better or disappears. When the heater comes on though we do not have the smell problem, just the AC. We have replaced all our ductwork and the smell did not get better. http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/AC-smells-bad.aspx Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT There is rust residue found at the primary condensation line discharge, and the unit is only 3 yrs old (2006). What was the most likely cause of this rust? What needs to be done to correct it? Will cleaning/maintenance alone address this issue? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Rust-residue.aspx Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT There is a constant ringing noise that sounds as if it is coming from a heating/air vent. This is the only location in my house where I hear the noise. What could be causing this? http://www.ars.com/homeconnect/question/Constant-ringing.aspx Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT