"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
first problem...

got home from xmas road trip last night. furnace was not working and
house was a chilly 48 degrees inside (thermostat was set to 57 while I
was away.) Fortunately I'd drained all the plumbing just in case it got
really cold and something bad happened, and also it never got seriously
below freezing while I was away. I ASSumed that the ignitor had gone
Tango Uniform again but I simply power cycled the furnace and it fired
right up and has run through several cycles. I can only assume that it
failed to ignite at some point while I was away and the thermocouple
shut it down. I've had the water heater go out a couple times, but only
a couple, over the past year. Never often enough to consider it a
problem and call in a repairman. I'm starting to wonder if there's an
issue with the gas service (water?) but I had the water heater shut off
while I was away so I couldn't see if the pilot on the heater had blown
out as well. Any ideas? I can deal with relighting the water heater
every couple months but not so much with the furnace shutting off while
I'm away.

Second problem is I'd like to strap up some pipes but have been
completely unable to find copper roofing-type nails, which is what I
assume I want. Only source of copper nails at all that I've been able
to find is McMaster-Carr, but they only sell common nails and small
tacks. Is that all that is currently available? I actually stopped at
the hardware store that has the best selection of various fasteners that
I've ever seen while I was on vacation and couldn't find any copper
nails there.


I threw out (Actually recycled) a bunch of copper nails I got from my
grandfather many years ago. I used brass wood screws for strapping some
water pipes.