My heat exchanger on a 10 year old Janitrol went bad. Sure the company warranty exchanged the part, but it still cost me over $400 in labor... YIKES ! ! ! Learn from my MISTAKE, NEVER... and I mean NEVER buy a Janitrol
Well the old clam shell heat exchanger has problems, 80% of the heat exchangers I have inspected are cracked. Your heating person should have offered you a new furnace under a Goodman furnace replacement program. This program will let you buy a new furnace with labor to replace it for $800.00 to $950.00 depending on if you have an 80% or 90%. Why buy a new furnace you ask. Goodman bought out Amana and they now use Amana's tubular heat exchanger that has proven to be a good one, plus you get a new 10 year parts warranty on the unit. You can plan to have another cracked heat exchanger in less the 10 years like the first time.
They had their share of problems over the years this is true, The new stuff they are making is a leap ahead of the old crap. Janitrol furnaces have been around for over a hundred years, but Goodman has not. They are the cheapy of the cheap furnaces. You get what you pay for. Janitrol went out of business and Goodman bought the name.
I have installed more Goodman furnaces than you could imagine, and have had hardly no problems with any of them... In my opinion Goodman carries the best warranty in the business... How do you know for sure that the heat exchanger is bad in the first place? Did your service tech show you a picture of a crack or hole in the heat exchanger? I know sometimes certain techs like to say heat exchangers are bad just so they can sell you a new furnace or collect for a big labor charge to replace one...
I have a combination Goodman natural Gas/ electric Air Conditioner. My first cracked heat exchanger was replaced still under warranty (unit wasn't 10 years old yet) so I only got charged for labor... but now only 6 years later the heat exchanger that was replaced is cracked and I need a second heat exchanger put in. I was wondering if anyone knows if Goodman will help me with replacement costs because The part itself is obviously faulty because it should have lasted more than 6 years in my opinion. I don't have the money right now to replace it and I have been having trouble finding the part online. Not quite sure what to look for ...it is a 3 chamber heat exchanger. Could someone tell me if I should be looking under Amana parts to replace it or if they even make this. Also is there a number I can call to complain and get some answers
I have said before on this forum that Janitrol has been building furnaces for over a hundred years. I have one installed in 1995 with absolutely no problems. Have installed several others in rentals. No problems. All heat exchangers are subject to potential problems, no matter what brand. I have seen them go bad (not Janitrol but other big name brands) in four years, and have seen some outlast the entire furnace over a twenty year period. So, my experience is good with Janitrol, although it appears it is the cost of the work that bothers you, and the fact that the unit happened to go bad before you thought it should. An awful lot depends on how your climate is and how much and how long your unit is running.
