Gotta love incompetent technicians.

Son's furnace died. It is a 1960s model gas fired hot air design. I phoned for a company to get a repairman to fix the problem of the pilot light not staying lit. The young repairman told me that the valve block was illegal and that the thermocouple was so broken parts were missing off of it. He tried to put in a new thermocouple but when it wouldn't fit he told me that I really needed a new furnace and his company would give a free quote on one. He left and the furnace was still off and the house was getting colder. It was going to -25 C so the furnace had to get going or the pipes would freeze and burst. I decided I would look into the problem. The first thing I noticed was that the 'thermocouple the technician thought was broken was not a thermocouple at all. It was a vent tube. The furnace didn't have a thermocouple it had a thermopile. I went to the local furnace parts place with the old thermopile and about 1/2 and hour later I had the pilot light working and the furnace back up and running. I am now wondering why I called the furnace company if they can't supply a technician who knows the difference between a thermocouple and a thermopile.