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Williamson Furnace

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Discussion starter · #4 ·
Thanks for the confirmation. It's before my time. I figured units in the 70s had gas valves similar to todays. This had a seperate valve, regulator, and thermocouple control. It was interesting. It looked like an oil furnace retofit.
 
#5 ·
Still working?
 
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#6 ·
Why can't furnace manufacturers put a nice easily removable door for inspecting the heat exchanger like that. 43 years old and that one is probably fine, today I found a badly cracked heat exchanger only 8 years old and its not rare. I find cracks all the time on very young furnaces, usually its because its oversized or the ducts are undersized.
 
#7 ·
philjafo said:
Why can't furnace manufacturers put a nice easily removable door for inspecting the heat exchanger like that. 43 years old and that one is probably fine, today I found a badly cracked heat exchanger only 8 years old and its not rare. I find cracks all the time on very young furnaces, usually its because its oversized or the ducts are undersized.
Click to expand...
How many 2 burner furnaces do you find with cracked heat exchangers?

The hackery of yesteryear was replaced long ago. The ones that have survived 40+ years were most likely installed right to begin with.
 
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Discussion starter · #8 ·
I found no problem with the heat exchanger. The round burner is shot. It is a 100k btu unit putting out about 40k by clocking the meter. I tried to work on it and it is seized and brittle.

If I changed the burner it'd probably go another 40 years...
 
#10 ·
It does look like it could work, are the specs the same?
 
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#11 ·
54regcab said:
How many 2 burner furnaces do you find with cracked heat exchangers?

The hackery of yesteryear was replaced long ago. The ones that have survived 40+ years were most likely installed right to begin with.
Click to expand...
Good point, I always hated when people say "they don't make em like they used to" and now I see how my post sounds exactly like that. The only thing I like about that furnace is the way the front opens up, and that I wish the back panels came off of new ones to make inspecting the heat exchangers easier. Oh and replace that dinosaur, the standing pilots that get the gas from the shutoff valve like that will dump gas into the combustion chamber if it gets blown out, no thermocouple, no rollout switches, no spill switches. I think the only safety it has would be the limit switch. Running at only 40kbtu input its probably only at 50-60% efficiency. Lots of good reasons to replace a furnace, cracks in the heat exchanger are not the only reason.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
54regcab said:
It does look like it could work, are the specs the same?
Click to expand...
Both are 100k btu, but the replacement is made for a grill or turkey fryer!

philjafo said:
Good point, I always hated when people say "they don't make em like they used to" and now I see how my post sounds exactly like that. The only thing I like about that furnace is the way the front opens up, and that I wish the back panels came off of new ones to make inspecting the heat exchangers easier. Oh and replace that dinosaur, the standing pilots that get the gas from the shutoff valve like that will dump gas into the combustion chamber if it gets blown out, no thermocouple, no rollout switches, no spill switches. I think the only safety it has would be the limit switch. Running at only 40kbtu input its probably only at 50-60% efficiency. Lots of good reasons to replace a furnace, cracks in the heat exchanger are not the only reason.
Click to expand...
It's getting replaced... was just joking about repair... No safety devices. The pilot is on a ball valve. Main valve has a thermocouple safety to keep it from coming on if the pilot is out. It's got a fan/limit stat above the unit about 12" in the plenum. It seems a little high to me, but that's apparently where it has always been.
 
#13 ·
mjohnson2981 said:
Both are 100k btu, but the replacement is made for a grill or turkey fryer!



It's getting replaced... was just joking about repair... No safety devices. The pilot is on a ball valve. Main valve has a thermocouple safety to keep it from coming on if the pilot is out. It's got a fan/limit stat above the unit about 12" in the plenum. It seems a little high to me, but that's apparently where it has always been.
Click to expand...
Hopefully you are downsizing that beast. 100kinput is probably close to 60-70 output. More like a 80k in todays furnaces, and that's if it wasn't oversized to begin with.
 
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#14 ·
Those individual burners are removable with a wrench or a easier crescent wrench
and they have their own individual orifices that are dirty. If you wanna tackle it you could

Or just give em a new furnace.

That furnace like all williamson furnace of that era and later were assembled in the basement with many cartons of parts
 
#15 ·
yeah good call on replacing it

Just be ready for the call about this furnace isn't blowing as much hot air as the old one did

with the fan and limit that high up in the plenum the temp rise could have been extremely high
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
Currently it wont produce enough heat to keep the fanstat on. The blower cycles but the burner doesn't. I tried to unscrew a couple of the burners but the are froze and the brass on top was brittle. I figured if I broke one they would be without heat... at least they have something now...
 
#17 ·
I got a hand full of customers with old furnaces like this with belt drive blowers. Surprisingly, they are still in good shape. Not much to go wrong with them in the first place. If they don't mind their efficiency, then I will keep them going as long as I can.

Some things I have done are:

Added electronic ignition to one.
changed the bearings and worn out shaft on a few.

Powerpile on another.

I like the old stuff because all the new stuff is sheit. :)
 
#18 ·
Many of the old Willies could use either fuel. Only difference was what burner they had. Actually the oil burner for the Temp-o-matic that came with Sis's house is still in the attic. It was converted at some point and you wouldn't know it wasn't factory.
 
#19 ·
I started in the trade in 1984 as a helper.

I have installed a handful of that style furnace, both oil fired and gas fired models. I LOVED those furnaces if for nothing else the erector set aspect. The furnace arrived in a couple of boxes and one or two crates and an envelope with instructions and the nameplate that YOU fastened to the vestibule. Step one was to place the base of the furnace on the floor and you built it piece by piece from there. It came with a quality belt drive blower and you could pick your drive (motor and pulley set) according to the needs of the job.

One has to ask, what's the better value? That Williamson with a heat exchanger that will last almost forever or the crappy 90% model that's 6 years old with a faulty heat exchanger?

I also cut my teeth on Pulse furnaces. Installed MANY and serviced even more.

I am getting old.

I am going to take a nap in my recliner now. Carry on.
-JM
 
#20 ·
jm0711 said:
I started in the trade in 1984 as a helper.

I have installed a handful of that style furnace, both oil fired and gas fired models. I LOVED those furnaces if for nothing else the erector set aspect. The furnace arrived in a couple of boxes and one or two crates and an envelope with instructions and the nameplate that YOU fastened to the vestibule. Step one was to place the base of the furnace on the floor and you built it piece by piece from there. It came with a quality belt drive blower and you could pick your drive (motor and pulley set) according to the needs of the job.

One has to ask, what's the better value? That Williamson with a heat exchanger that will last almost forever or the crappy 90% model that's 6 years old with a faulty heat exchanger?

I also cut my teeth on Pulse furnaces. Installed MANY and serviced even more.

I am getting old.

I am going to take a nap in my recliner now. Carry on.
-JM
Click to expand...
Old thread, I see.

.. but I am trying to figure out how this old beast runs. I figured out my own Goodman trinket in my own home.

I have a physically identical one of these Williamsons in my moms house. I mean exact construction from what I can see, only ours is brown color tone. The plate reads model 626 (or 62*, 628, 623? ) - 17D and serial is 'BAA'. No date can be seen on it. Plate is a bit crusty. I've never dug into this at all growing up

It has an issue of shutting off, and needing to be reset. The blower motor was recently changed by my brother. There is a White Rodgers red box with a button on top of it. I assume this is a fan limit switch/fan thermostat. Am I correct? Theres 3 pairs of thin wires running to this red box. One pair goes to gas valve. I dont see any thermocouple. I guess my aim is to make it not keep shutting of, once or twice a day. I have a working theory that the new motor might not be moving fast enough to keep switch from triggering off (too hot inside, tripping a limit). Just a thought, or transformer is getting warm or something and dropping out. Pilot stays on at all times. I thought I could figure this out and get it reliable again. No other issues with this thing. I wondered how they got it in the basement, but I understand they are assembled when installed and brought in, in pieces. Anyone have a reference for me on how this furnace operates, hunches on why it would shut off, or possible sources of parts for this thing. lol I thinks theres only 5 parts. :det:
 
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MacEwen
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