Peter Wells wrote:

Duane...

Please read the original post, the system HAS been regularly serviced and
other tech's (reputable companies) have come out specifically to address
this problem, the reality is that try as you might it is difficult without
knowledge to assess the abilities of those who do this kind of work.
Gaining some knowledge before calling a service tech, for which I am
grateful to those who gave constructive comments, helps me vet the tech's
before they come - that to my mind is the lesson learned.

Chill, Peter... I followed the whole thread. I only put in the
$0.02 at the end because the solution was simple and especially now that
you know you can do the check first each fall. If you then have a
question/concern, you can then call the tech knowing you at least took
care of the really obvious.

If it came out (or you interpreted it) as being critical, I didn't
intend that way, simply that such rust and dirt is an inevitable
occurrence w/ any gas furnace from combustion products and condensation
and the burner and pilot orifices should be checked each fall prior to
lighting and the general crud cleaned out. That any service tech
wouldn't do that w/ the information it wasn't lighting reliably is a
real indictment of them.