Thread: Can anyone I.D. this

Not sure what this is. It was next to the furnance in a 1945 home. Any assistance would be appreciate.

Originally Posted by fidel gonzales

Not sure what this is. It was next to the furnance in a 1945 home. Any assistance would be appreciate.

Is there any connection between the two units? (if so, could be one of these)
- Is there water and electric to the Lennox unit? (could be a humidifier)
- Is there electric only to the Lennox unit? (could be an old electronic filter)

I would go along with Jerry on filter. Assuming that it is an up-flow furnace.

Why did you not remove the face panel? Just curious.


1945? Could have been the home for the midget that stoked the original coal furnace..
not a bad job since only worked a few months a year in Atlanta,GA
In 1951 it became politically incorrect to keep midgets for personal use.

You can see the sheet metal patch on the left side of the Lennox cabinet, from a previous duct connection.
What was inside the unit?

Originally Posted by Garry Sorrells

...
1945? Could have been the home for the midget that stoked the original coal furnace..
not a bad job since only worked a few months a year in Atlanta,GA
In 1951 it became politically incorrect to keep midgets for personal use.

WTF??

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Is there any connection between the two units? (if so, could be one of these)
- Is there water and electric to the Lennox unit? (could be a humidifier)
- Is there electric only to the Lennox unit? (could be an old electronic filter)

Just electric. The cabinet was seal and could not be open. But it appear to me like it was old electronic filter. Thank you all for your help

Simply guessing here...a separate air handler with AC coil in the basement, pre-dating the more recent furnace installation, possibly for a second zone, perhaps for the second or higher or half-story of home, or possibly original source of heating was hydronic (converted coal to gas or elec. boiler + hydrocoil ahu, or orig elect strip heat...Elect. used to be cheaper esp. in non-ComEd teritorry for res. elect. based heating.

It can get rather difficult cooling upstairs in older homes without making first floor & basement uncomfortably cold, with older basement based AHU and ducting installs to upflow units in basement.

Removing access panel, review data plate, presence of split AC or HP coil, investigation for damper system, zoned thermostat system, etc.

Originally Posted by H.G. Watson, Sr.

Simply guessing here...a separate air handler with AC coil in the basement, pre-dating the more recent furnace installation, possibly for a second zone, perhaps for the second or higher or half-story of home, or possibly original source of heating was hydronic (converted coal to gas or elec. boiler + hydrocoil ahu, or orig elect strip heat...Elect. used to be cheaper esp. in non-ComEd teritorry for res. elect. based heating.

It can get rather difficult cooling upstairs in older homes without making first floor & basement uncomfortably cold, with older basement based AHU and ducting installs to upflow units in basement.

Removing access panel, review data plate, presence of split AC or HP coil, investigation for damper system, zoned thermostat system, etc.

This is just a 2 bedroom house with basement. I think it is a filter for the furnance. The unit was seal with star screws and had no face plate. I just found out that the previous owner was very alergic to dust so she had this hughed air filtration system installed.

Thanks to everyone for there help.

Best regards Fidel

It looks like it could also be an older style Lennox electric furnace.

Is there a large (2awg or larger) electric feed entering the cabinet? Has anyone removed the front panel?

I don't know of a nice sounding way to say this, so ...
Not having the right screw head tip is no excuse. You should have a full set of tip heads in your kit. A 'set' of all the different sizes and types of tips can be bought at stores. I think theres a Woodcraft out in the Lombard / western burbs area somewhere. In the City you can go to Clark & Barlow. I would guess the big orange box has them but I wouldn't know for sure. By star head I'm guessing you mean Torx. Just a set of Torx tips can be bought anywhere.

Originally Posted by Markus Keller

I don't know of a nice sounding way to say this, so ...
Not having the right screw head tip is no excuse. You should have a full set of tip heads in your kit. A 'set' of all the different sizes and types of tips can be bought at stores. I think theres a Woodcraft out in the Lombard / western burbs area somewhere. In the City you can go to Clark & Barlow. I would guess the big orange box has them but I wouldn't know for sure. By star head I'm guessing you mean Torx. Just a set of Torx tips can be bought anywhere.

Exactly. Harbor Freight, Tool Town are both sources of inexpensive sockets and torx bits. Black and Decker has a nice little set that fits in the small pocket of your nail bags.....

Fidel G. can pick up aprox. 66 pc. set complete with compartment sleeves for each, in the fold-up fabric holder with velcro catch from Stanley for under $10 at his local Menards, under $6 on sale. For a little more comes with chuck extention mag tipped.

Includes "star", square (robertson type) allen type (six sided), double phillips sets, double flat sets. Ferrous, use with mag tip holder, a 1/4" rachet socket or your electric screw driver or drill chuck. Entirety folded slightly larger than a change pouch, and smaller than a small tri-fold bilfold (wallet), and can be slipped on, banded on, or strapped to your tool or tool belt or carried in your pocket. Each set has five or six sizes of each type tip.

This is nothing more than a return air drop with a filter rack inside. Lennox used this cabinet next to their G11 furnaces 30 years ago. I have worked on several of these and changed the filters, the one screw at the top opens the access door to get to the filters.

Originally Posted by Dan Hagman

This is nothing more than a return air drop with a filter rack inside. Lennox used this cabinet next to their G11 furnaces 30 years ago. I have worked on several of these and changed the filters, the one screw at the top opens the access door to get to the filters.

I agree with you 100% Dan. Thank you for clearing the air.

Originally Posted by Dan Hagman

This is nothing more than a return air drop with a filter rack inside. Lennox used this cabinet next to their G11 furnaces 30 years ago. I have worked on several of these and changed the filters, the one screw at the top opens the access door to get to the filters.

Originally Posted by Edward Olsoe

I agree with you 100% Dan. Thank you for clearing the air.

I agree with both you. You must be very old to remember those old Lennox filter boxes.

Originally Posted by Rod Butler

I agree with both you. You must be very old to remember those old Lennox filter boxes.

I believe you are referring to those Lennox filters which was long sheets of fiberglass filter material and were installed on a wire frame, then the wire frame and filter material is slid into the filter box and the cover replaced?

Those are back from the early-to-mid 1970s as I recall ... possibly even into the early 1980s.

Are those the ones you are referring to?

This looks like a second furnace. It has what looks like and exhaust flue and it was mfg by Rheem.

I can't see how the ductwork is connected so I'm not sure, but if the units have a common return and they are separate zones I would be concerned about the negative pressure effect of shared units. Not good practice.

Originally Posted by Ken Amelin

This looks like a second furnace. It has what looks like and exhaust flue and it was mfg by Rheem.

I can't see how the ductwork is connected so I'm not sure, but if the units have a common return and they are separate zones I would be concerned about the negative pressure effect of shared units. Not good practice.

This is not a second furnace, The Rheem is a replacement furnace and the Lennox is a return air cabinet they used on G11 furnaces 30 years ago and is noting more than a filter rack. You should have read the posts above and you would have seen this.

Jerry... You are correct about the old filter media used on the wrap around filter rack, that rack on some models wrapped around the bottom of the blower squirl cage. It was a pain because thoses furnaces were belt drive and the filter media would sometimes get caught in the belt or sucked in.

Originally Posted by fidel gonzales

Not sure what this is. It was next to the furnance in a 1945 home. Any assistance would be appreciate.

I wanted to thank everyone for your help id the cabinet.

You guys rock...

Fidel