DE you get two high 5’s from me! My 23 year old furnace shut down overnight Jan 3, called 5:45am given a 12-4pm appt, technician #1 showed up EARLY at 11:30am and installed a new, industry standard universal Pilot Gas Ignition Control (PGIC) right out of his truck, heat was up and running within 15min. Shut down again overnight Jan 5, called 4:45am given a 1-5pm appt, technician #2 showed up at 3pm, PGIC indicated “code 6: internal error” he assumed factory faulty part and replaced it. He also noted, unrelated to PGIC issue, that the Flue Gas Blower Fan was vibrating and running noisy, as preventative action he replaced both the motor and fan, all parts from his truck, heat was up and running within 30min. Shut down again overnight Jan 6, called 4am given a 12-4pm appt, technician #3 showed up spot on 12pm, PGIC again indicated “code 6: internal error”, did complete wiring check replaced some suspect old wires, provided all circuits with solid ground contacts and replaced PGIC, heat was up and running within 30min. Unbelievably we were shut down again overnight Jan 7, called 5:45am given an 8-12pm appt, technician #1 showed up at 10:20am, you guessed it, PGIC indicated “code 6: internal error”. He did exhaustive diagnostic check; confirmed input signals to PGIC were within spec. He called DE Parts to find a cross reference replacement part and sacrificed a 4th PGIC to keep the heat running in the meantime. Within 2 hours DE Parts called, they located the replacement and according to MY schedule, a service call for 12-4pm the following day was made. Technician #1 came with a DE Controls Specialist at 12:45pm once again a full review and furnace inspection was done and they agreed, remarkably the one and only fault was within this one model of PGIC’s. They swapped out the PGIC, since then we’ve had solid heating performance. It’s quite self-evident that there is an OEM factory bad batch of controllers out there.
A total of 5 service calls, 5 PGIC’s and a Flue Gas Blower Motor/Fan would have cost minimum $2,500 but because of my DE Heating Plan it cost me ZIPPO and it’s all guaranteed even with a 23 year old furnace. No “XYZ Heating Co” would offer me this level of service and dedication to resolution at their expense, other than “get a new furnace”. Furthermore DE came thru with each and every service call appointment as promised on time (if not earlier). For those of you who expect service within an hour, you do not live in the real world; unless you’re the one and only in the GTA with a heating problem, then you can complain. It is winter in Toronto and fecal matter does happen occasionally, at the very least I have only one number to call for worry-free service.
Thanks to DE Customer Support for being available 24/7. A special thanks and recognition to Technician #1 "Paulo", it’s early in the year but you are definitely in the running for a “Technician of the Year Award”. Paulo is very knowledgeable, methodical, detail orientated and caring (the sacraficial 4th PGIC was above and beyond the call of duty).
