Relying on noise to find furnace problems let me down hard

I always trusted my ear to tell what was wrong with a furnace. Last month, a unit had a strange hum, and I said it needed a new blower motor. I got the part and went to put it in. When I opened it up, the capacitor was swollen and broken. The motor was okay. I wasted a trip and looked bad. Now I always test with my multimeter first, even if the sound seems clear. It keeps me from making mistakes. What's your go-to step when you first look at a noisy appliance?

2 comments

2 Comments

iriscoleman1d ago

My old boss used to say a funny sound was just the appliance's way of asking for help. Turns out it was asking for a new capacitor while I was busy ordering a whole motor. So much for being a good listener, I guess my ears are just big liars. I'm totally with you on breaking out the multimeter first now, because that hum was probably just laughing at me the whole time.

kelly.robin23h ago

Big liars" is right, ears totally trick you. Been there too, now my multimeter is my best friend on every call.