March 17, 2023

2 Pastors, a Blown Fuse, and a Christmas Cold Snap – Part 3 of 3

Read: 2 Timothy 1:5-7

Our area of Florida was experiencing a record cold spell: the outdoor temperatures were sinking to below freezing – Very Rare in our area. We came home from church Christmas Eve, and as we settled in for a long winter’s night, we noticed the house felt unusually chilly. That’s when I found the thermostat had a blank screen. Uh Oh!! Being an Old HVAC and mechanical/electrical guy I spent many a Christmas Eve working on the furnace for someone in similar circumstance. Often it was a single mother, scared she could hardly afford simple gifts for the kids let alone an expensive repair bill. I’ll confess now, those moms got a whole lot of free furnace parts and extra things taken care of off the record as my gift to a stranger on Christmas Eve, which for many people in my business was the perfect time to inflate a bill. There is, however, something about the look in a frightened person’s eyes when you tell them, “it’s no charge tonight” that is worth more than any other form of payment to me.

This night however, I didn’t have a “Ron” to call. Then I remembered I am Ron; I’m the guy I’d call anyway. So, still in my Christmas go-to-church clothes about midnight, I went out to our heat pump in the dark cold night, and after a half hour of remembering how these things work, I found a tiny blown fuse hidden way back in a pile of wires that resembled technicolor spaghetti. By now it was 12:30 AM Christmas Day and I was driving from one 24-hour gas station to another looking for a fuse that would fit my needs. Station #4 had a package of 3. Knowing fuses usually blow for a reason, I put it in and upon starting the heat, it immediately blew my replacement fuse. I went to bed with lots of extra blankets.

We were set to have a house full of company Christmas Day, and a cold house in Florida just wouldn’t do. I also learned the old trick of leaving the oven door open and putting a fan near it doesn’t work anymore. Modern ovens know the door is open and they shut themselves off. Arrrrghhh!!

All night as I tried to sleep, I was trying to remember everything I knew about the complicated wiring of a heat pump. It’s been 20+ years since I worked on one. Morning came, I went back, started reading the schematic wiring diagram and realized that even with my reading glasses, my tired eyes couldn’t see the fine print or follow the tiny lines indicating the wires.

That’s when I remembered the two Pastors. One told me sometimes the gift is a surprise that happens to be just what we need. The other sent me a magnifying glass. Well, see Part 1, specifically the Witness Committee sent the magnifier, but at that point I wasn’t sweating the details. Long story short, with my new flexible magnifier I found the only component that could cause the symptoms I was having and blow the fuse. It was Christmas Day so there’d be nowhere I could buy this component which can only be gotten at an HVAC distributor. Then I remembered that I’m still Ron Draper, and me being me, just happened to have a 30amp, 24VAC coil, 2 Pole electric Contactor sitting brand new in a box in the top of my toolbox. It was one of only a few spare parts I brought to Florida from our previous life and it was an exact replacement part. 20 minutes later the part was installed, the heat pump running and with my dignity still intact, we had a Christmas party and a feast for the ages.

Of course, the feeling of relief and accomplishment put me in a mood to write it all down for Charlie. Somewhere there’s a point to it all, if you find it, let me know. Or as my mom used to say all the time, “The Lord Provides Ron!, the Lord Provides😊”

Ron Draper