FIRE-PRONE FAULTY FURNACES DISCOVERED IN AREA HOMES.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Scores of defective furnaces produced by a now-defunct Indiana company have been found in Antelope Valley homes.

The furnaces - which were fitted with steel rods over the burners to reduce pollutants - have caused attic fires in dozens of homes around Southern California, although fire officials say they know of none locally.

``Consumers should definitely have their furnaces checked out,'' said Ken Giles of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. ``The only thing we're worried about, though, is the furnaces with the steel rods. If they don't have the steel rods then they're OK.''

Consolidated Industries produced and shipped about 190,000 of the faulty furnaces for California homes built from 1983 to 1994. The gas furnaces were manufactured under a mix of nearly 30 brand names.

At JLC Heating and Air Conditioning in Palmdale, employees have been busy for two months inspecting and replacing Consolidated-manufactured furnaces.

``It's been slowing down but at the beginning of the month we had about 20 calls a day for inspections,'' said secretary Tracy Wilson. ``We've booked about 30 installs this month.''

At A.V. Air, workers have been replacing at least one defective furnace a day for more than a month.

Although no fires in the Antelope Valley have been blamed on the units this far, fire officials say the units are ``ticking time bombs'' and sooner or later will break down, igniting attic support beams or releasing deadly carbon monoxide into the home.

Faulty units in Orange County have been blamed for as many as 31 fires and some injuries. The Torrance Fire Department in 1999 responded to three fires in just three days, prompting the department to issue warnings to residents in a door-to-door campaign.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has been investigating the possibility of the units containing a serious design flaw since about 1994 but did not issue an official warning until September.

Since Consolidated Industries went bankrupt and is still in the process of negotiating several class-action lawsuits, most homeowners are simply having the defective units replaced and asking to be reimbursed by their insurance companies, a CPSC spokesperson said.

Some of the companies under whose names the units were sold have agreed to replace them.

Forensic engineer Gerald Zamiski, president of Vollmer-Gray Engineering Laboratories Inc. in Long Beach, began examining the defective furnaces in 1990 for clients who had fires.

He found two main problems with the furnaces during his examinations, a Torrance Fire Department report said. First, a heat-resistant coating applied to the burner was damaged during the manufacturing process.

Rods added to the furnaces to meet California's stringent air-quality standards actually radiated heat through the damaged coating to the heat exchanger. Over time, the heat exchanger cracks and air pushes large flames out of the furnace.

All the defective furnaces were horizontal units installed primarily in the attic, but some may be in crawl spaces, Zamiski said.

Furnace breakdown depends on the usage but generally begins within three to 10 years.

``I've never heard of this type of failure,'' Zamiski said in a report.

Many of the companies that sold the defective units, like Trane and Sears, are replacing them, a CPSC report said.

The problem was first sent to the CPSC in 1994 when a Manhattan Beach Fire Department fire marshal noticed three fires in one year from horizontal Premier gas furnaces overheating and igniting attic support boards.

CPSC officials said they tried to work with Consolidated to issue a recall but under federal law could take no further action during negotiations. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1997.

The warning issued by the federal agency in September said the furnaces ``present a potential risk of life.''

The warning suggests that homeowners have a licensed contractor inspect the furnace.

For more information, call the CPSC at [phone].

DEFECTIVE MODELS

Horizontal gas furnaces were produced by now-bankrupt Consolidated Industries and sold by other companies. Units that are believed to be defective all have serial numbers that end in ``X'' and may include:

Company Name Trade Name Model

Addison Products Company Weatherking GHC 

Amana Refrigeration Amana GSE-DN

Arco Comfort Products ACP, Arcoaire, Northrup GHB 

Bard Manufacturing Bard HG, ESG 

Coleman Co. (Evcon Ind.) Coleman 2505-2509B

2505-2509C

Consolidated Industries Consolidated HAC/HCC

DMO Industries Duomatic-Olsen HCC 

Olsen, Airco Goettl Air Conditioning American Best Goettl HCC

Goodman Manufacturing Franklin Electric GMC HAC/HCC/HBA

Hamilton Electric

Johnstone

Janitro

Liberty

Heat Controller Inc. Century, Comfort Aire GSH 

ICG/Keeprite Keeprite HAC/HCC

Magic Chef Magic Chef EG/ENG

MLX Refrigeration and

Air Heatmaster HAC/HCC

Premier Furnace Company Premier, Sunburst HAC/HCC/HBA

Sun Glow, P.F.C.

Sears Kenmore 735

Square D Company Sundial GH

Trane Company Trane (XE60, XE70) THS, THN

American Standard

Westbrook Distributing Heatmaster HAC/HCC

CAPTION(S):

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Box: Defective Furnaces (see text)