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Fraser Johnston gas furnace data tag details (C) InspectApedia.com MullerDFraser Johnston Furnace Age, Manuals, Parts Lists, Wiring Diagrams

aka Fraser Johnson Furnaces

  • POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about where to find Fraser Johnston furnace or boiler installation and service or maintenance manuals and guides

Manuals, parts lists, wiring diagrams and company history and contact information for Fraser Johnston HVAC equipment:

Free downloadable manuals for Air Conditioners, Boilers, Furnaces, Heat Pumps. Here we provide free downloadable copies of installation and service manuals for heating, heat pump, and air conditioning equipment, or contact information for the manufacturers who can provide that information for nearly all major brands of HVAC equipment.

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Fraser Johnston Gas Furnace Information

FraserJohnston Co. Air Conditioning Furnace Data Tag (C) InspectApedia.com JomocFraser Johnston or Fraser Johnston Serial Number Decoding Guide

Below we provide Fraser Johnston / Fraser Johnston (from some readers "Fraser Johnson" without the "T") heating & air conditioning history, serial number or "age decoder"s, manuals, photos of Fraser Johnston data tags, manufacturer contact information and direct links to free downloadable installation, service, and users manuals, focusing on hard-to-find manuals for older models or discontinued equipment.

We also provide links to the manufacturer's current model lists and literature.

Fraser-Johnston merged with Westinghouse and stopped marketing under the FJ brand in 1978; Fraser Johnston was bought by the York corporation in 1980. This Fraser Johnston HVAC brand may be currently in use (2023) by York International.

Older Fraser Johnston Air Conditioner & Furnace Age Decoder

Older Fraser Johnston HVAC equipment like those bearing the data tag shown just above have an all numeric serial number such as

Serial No. 124205 or a 6-digit format nnnnnn

We're still researching a reliable decoder guide for this older equipment, such as confirming a 2 digit week 42 and year 05 in the serial number.

Recent Fraser Johnston Furnace & Air Conditioner Age Decoder

More recent Fraser Johnston serial numbers might be decoded using one of the four serial number format decoders given below:

Decode 10-Digit Fraser Johnston Air Ease Serial Number beginning with four numeric digits

12YYM34567 where YY is a two digit numeric year, and M is a single alphabetic character that decodes to Month as given in the month-decoder table above

Example: 1200G34567 decodes YY = 00 = 2000, M decodes G = July

 

Decode 9-Digit Fraser Johnston Air Ease AlphaNumeric Serial Number Decoder

X12345MYZ where M is a single alphabetic character encoding the production Month and Y is a single alphabetic OR numeric character encoding the Year,

For M - Month, use the Month decoder table given above.

For Y - Year, use the older year decoder table given below. Note that other manufacturers also use this or a similar year encoding table and may extend the number of years covered by reusing characters each decade.

Older Johnston Air-Ease
Serial No. Year Decoder
Letter or number Year
8 1978
9 1979
A 1980
B 1981
C 1982
D 1983
E 1984
F 1985
G 1986
H 1987
J 1988
K 1989
L 1990
M 1991
N 1992

Notes to the table above:

Notice that letters that might have been confused with numbers were not used: I, O, Q, U and Z.

Date Code Found on Some Older Fraser Johnston Furnaces

As we illustrate below, some Fraser Johnston Gas Furnaces include a CODE DATE on the unit's data tag.

Fraser Johnston gas furnace date code or CODE DATE on some data tags (C) InspectApedia.com

So this furnace was probably manufactured in month 3 of 2012 or March, 2012 OR Month 12 of Year xxxx3 such as 2003. The owner of this furnace thought that it was a unit from the 1960s or 1970s but we thought that it looked much newer, probably from 2003 or 2012. See more photos of this furnace below on this page at

On 2024-01-27 by Bill Panton - Find the age: Fraser & Johnston natural gas furnace model #125 C 21, code date 3 - 12

Fraser Johnston Furnaces, History, Age, Contact Information

Fraser Johnson gas furnace PBKM series built in 1994 - US DOE studyShown here is a Fraser Johnston gas furnace, PKBM series, made in 1994 and used in the US DOE gas furnace energy efficiency study. - Yee & Baker (2013)

Note that some sources spell the Fraser Johnston Co. as Fraser Johnson - we note two different companies with near-identical names in this discussion. Adding to the arbitrary spelling of Fraser Johnston as Fraser Johnson is the current owner of the brand: Johnson Controls Unitary Products.

The current Fraser Johnston company produces Reliant™ Gas Furnaces, the LX-series Gas Furnaces, a Standard Series of gas furnaces labelled Fraser-Johnston.

The original Fraser Johnston Company was purchased by Westinghouse, 1978 and was sold-off to York International in 1981. York International, in turn, was purchased by Johnson Controls in 2005. At the time, Johnson Controls specialized in the design and production of automatic temperature regulation systems.

Unitary Products: Contact Information: 5005 York Dr., Norman, OK 73069 United States Tel: 877.874.7378

For Consumer Relations please contact UPG Consumer Relations toll free at: (877) 874-7378

Website: https://www.fraser-johnston.com/ [as of April 2021]

Email: cg-upgconsumerrelations@jci.com ?

Watch out: this OLDER FraserJohnston Website was "dead" as of 2021/04/27: http://www.fraserjohnston.com

It takes an hour or so of clicking in their website to find manuals, but the company does an excellent job of providing online downloadable PDF files of user information and manuals for their equipment. A few examples are just below.

Fraser Johnston HVAC Air Conditioner & Furnace Manuals

Fraser Johnston HVAC - current company logo cited & discussed along with manuals and contact information at InspectApedia.com

 

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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2024-02-10 by Jim macaluso - my Fraser Johnston gas furnace needs a new thermocouple - where do I find one?

I was told my unit needs a therlcouple where can i get one

On 2024-02-10 by InspectApedia Publisher (mod)

@Jim macaluso,

It's easy to find a replacement thermocouple at any plumbing or heating supplier or building supply store.

Just check the length of your existing thermocouple tubing and buy one of the same length or longer.

It's a generic part.

See details at

THERMOCOUPLE REPAIR / REPLACEMENT

On 2024-01-27 by Bill Panton - Find the age: Fraser & Johnston natural gas furnace model #125 C 21, code date 3 - 12

Hi, I'm trying to figure out the age/date of my Fraser & Johnston natural gas furnace model number 125 C 21, code date 3 - 12, input btu/hour 125,000, bonnet capacity btu/hour 100,000. From reading the above information on this page I am guessing it is from the 1960's possible 1970s.

The home was built in 1920 and previously had a coal fired furnace. We are located in Bend, Oregon

last photo
Fraser Johnston Gas Furnace Age & Data Tag (C) InspectApedia.com Bill Panton
more photos
Fraser Johnston Gas Furnace Age & Data Tag (C) InspectApedia.com Bill Panton

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Fraser Johnston Gas Furnace Age & Data Tag (C) InspectApedia.com Bill Panton

furnace plate photo
Fraser Johnston Gas Furnace Age & Data Tag (C) InspectApedia.com Bill Panton


On 2024-01-28 by InspectApedia Publisher (mod)

@Bill Panton,

Thank you for the Fraser Johnston furnace photos and age question.

As you probably saw on the page above I haven't found the decoder for that format. But from the appearance of your heater it looks much newer to me than 1960s or 1970s. Perhaps it's from 2003, month of December but I'm just speculating.

I'll do some more research to see if I can find the date code format that's on your data time.

In the meantime if you find more information such as a date that may be on the owner's manual stored in your building for that heater, that would be very helpful.

On 2024-02-02 by Bill Panton

@InspectApedia Publisher, thank you. I will let you know if I find anything. Unfortunately there are no manuals for the furnace in the house and the former owner is no longer alive. Given how rudimentary the type of controls for the furnace I doubt that it is from 2003.

There are no control boards or electronics just the thermocoupler and a very basic squirrel cage and electric motor mounted to the concrete floor for the blower. It appears to be more like the furnace shown above by Dorothy Frantin, 2022/03/08.

On 2024-02-02 by InspectApedia Publisher (mod)

@Bill Panton,

Thank you for that added information. I will look further to see if I can find a manual for that heater.

Certainly for its age, from the outside and from just your photos it looks pretty good.

On 2023-12-02 by Dean - solution for furnace fuse that keeps blowing

My 5 amp fuse sometimes blows, last time was 3 weeks ago. I was wondering if I could go higher to a 7 or 10 amp buss fuse, without a problem?

On 2023-12-02 by InspectApedia Publisher (mod)

@Dean,

I would be careful about installing a larger fuse than the original 5 amp unit before knowing more about the problem.

You don't say just what that fuse is protecting, but 5 amps is a rather low current draw so I worry that if you install a larger fuse AND if the device that the fuse is protecting (such as a furnace control) is in truth experiencing an overcurrent then it could be damaged, destroyed, or even catch fire.

On the other hand, if the fuse is blowing because of a momentary but not serious current surge, such as at the start up of a some electric motors, then a slow-blow fuse might solve the problem.

If your fuse is one like the MDL fuse I'll show below, you should first try buying a slow blow 5 amp fuse and installing it in place.

Instead of 70 cents for a typical 5A MDL this fuse costs about $2.00 - still a good deal. We found this one at westmarine.com - a marine supply company but you can find the same fuse at your local hardware store or big box building supply store in the electrical department.

At some suppliers you may find a slow-blow fuse described as a Time Delay fuse such as fuses made by Bussman.

On 2023-09-24 1 by D.Hastings - Need maintenance manual for Airease furnace BTS100

Need maintenance manual for Airease furnace BTS100

On 2023-09-24 by InspectApedia Publisher (mod)

You can hop over to AIREASE HVAC AGE DECODER, CONTACT & MANUALS

for Airease furnace manuals, but despite a careful search the ONLY links we found outside of our own InspectApedia.com website claiming to offer a manual for the Airease BTS100 furnace offered nothing but malware.

Please go to our Airease manuals page - link above - and post a photo of the data tag on your Airease BTS100 furnace - that will help us research further.

On 2023-03-23 by S Mc - which manual do I need for my Fraser Johnston furnace?

@InspectApedia Editor , The problem is, I don't know what I'm looking for. I see lots of manuals for controllers. Since they are many marked Honeywell, are they for the thermostat on the wall?

Or is furnace made up of different controllers, so you need X number of manuals to understand the furnace? I did write to JCI.

On 2023-03-23 by InspectApedia Editor - using model number you can download the manual for your furnace

@S Mc,

First, download the manual for your furnace itself - knowing its model number and age can often help narrow that down. Using the model number printed on your data tag, you can also ask the manufacturer for help.

Now if you know that you need instructions for a specific control, usually there is a manufacturer's name and control model number on a label on the control or inside the control cover. We provide those manuals here too, or you may find one directly from the manufacturer.

Watch out: if you're not trained in electrical work or heating service, be careful what you try - you could be injured or worse.

On 2023-03-22 by S Mc - what year is my FJ (Fraser Johnston) forced air natural gas furnace?

Fraser Johnston data tag (C) InspectApedia.com SMC

I have a FJ forced air unit, natural gas, closet style. AC is on the roof, and we have no access. What year is it? Where do I find information on it?

This was built in 1979. We bought it 1993. This may be the original furnace. We did have to replace the pilot unit shortly after moving in. Is it from the Westinghouse years? Thanks

On 2023-03-22 by InspectApedia Editor

@S Mc,

The glare in your photo makes it difficult to accurately read both the model and serial numbers. If you are able to post another clearer, straight on photo, that would be helpful. Or at least post those numbers in another comment.

Above on this page, you'll see a number of age decoders depending on format. The table shows that the letter F at the beginning of your serial number indicates 1985.

Also as stated above on this page, the Westinghouse years were 1978-1981 so if the F indicates the year 1985, it would be after the Westinghouse years.

Please do take a look.

On 2023-03-22 by S Mc

@InspectApedia Editor Yes. It was a dark rainy day yesterday, and it inside the furnace, inside a closet...very low light!

I did see the various charts. Replacing a 7yo furnace in a new building doesn't seem likely...is it?

Hope you can see this one better. [Shown above - Ed]

@InspectApedia Editor , I see in the first photo F 15840380 0051 The 3 may be something else. It looks larger than the other letters. The 0051 us aksi karger than the others.

On 2023-03-22 by InspectApedia Editor - trying to decode age of my Fraser Johnston furnace

@S Mc,

I agree that a 7 year replacement is unusual. Sometime the decoding isn't easy due to the manufacturer's changes in serial numbers.

So trying to use the method from above of:

X12345MYZ where M is a single alphabetic character encoding the production Month and Y is a single alphabetic OR numeric character encoding the year...

for your serial number the 38 would be the MY - translating to March of 1978. Much more likely that a 1978 unit was installed in a 1979 home.

On 2023-03-23 by S Mc

@InspectApedia Editor , I agree 1978 makes more sense. Where can I get information on it? A parts list?

On 2023-03-23 by InspectApedia Editor

@S Mc,

The manuals we have available are above on this page and if we are able to find more, we will add them here.

You may need to attempt to contact the manufacturer directly.

Although at https://www.fraser-johnston.com, there is not an obvious contact number to use, that page is hosted by Johnson Controls and you can message them or phone them here

https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/contact-us or 1 844 628 2529

to ask them for assistance with a manual, parts list, etc.

Let us know what you find out as that can help other readers.

On 2023-02-04 by Jay - should I fire up my 1968 Fraser & Johnston Air Conditioning furnace model 100H R. ?

I have a 1968 Fraser & Johnston Air Conditioning furnace model 100H R. Code 68-6 should I try to fire it up what’s your suggestion

On 2023-02-04 by InspectApedia Publisher - if equipment has been off for years without a thorough inspection of the heater, get a trained service technician to do so

@Jay,

It would be helpful to know something about the condition of your heating system, it's maintenance history, and even it's fuel.

Watch out: But as a general rule I would never turn on heating equipment that has been off for years without a thorough inspection of the heater itself as well as its chimney and vent system by a trained service technician. The risks are of a fire or explosion.

On 2022-10-17 by Courtni - need a service tech for my old Fraser Manufacturing Floor Furnace

I have an old old Fraser Manufacturing floor furnace. I'm trying to find a technician to come out just to take a look at it before I turn it on this winter but am having trouble finding someone to do it. I'm looking for a manual so I can try to figure it out myself at this point.

Fraser Johnston Model 450E (C) InspectApedia.com Courtni

...

Fraser Johnston Model 450E (C) InspectApedia.com Courtni

On 2022-10-17 by InspectApedia (Editor) - Fraser 450E gas furnace maintenance needs

@Courtni,

We've not been able to locate the Installation & Service Manual for a Fraser 450E gas furnace - which is what I think you've got there.

We're continuing to look.

Can you tell me the location (country & city) and age of the building where the furnace is installed?

Also I'd appreciate a photo of the furnace itself.

It looks as if your furnace is missing the control knobs and is a bit rusty.

The most important things to check are not model specific:

1. there should be no gas leaks anywhere

2. the heat exchanger is not rust-damaged or perforated

Watch out: Those are things that any gas furnace service technician can check, though I'm a little worried that some techs may be afraid to even touch a very old, marginal heater. Those important life-safety checks that you can not easily check yourself, except to be alert for gas odors and for visually obvious rust damage.

Some details are at

HEAT EXCHANGER LEAK TEST

and at

GAS LEAK DETECTION, LP / NG

Once the furnace is established as basically safe to operate

AND

its exhaust venting and chimney are considered safe as well

you and your service tech can proceed through the basics of cleaning, burner adjustment, filter change, inspection and cleaning of the blower assembly, and blower fan testing, and other controls and safety device inspection or testing.

My goodness, the room view looks so clean and new - compared with the control photo posted earlier. It's that inside inspection that's critical.

On 2022-10-15 by Tom old Fraser-Johnston furnace with a typewritten tag from 1960

I have an old Fraser-Johnston furnace with a typewritten tag taped on it that says it was new in 1960, Model 45-CJDS, Serial 295438.

The unit dimensions are Height: 60 inches, Width: 8 inches, and Depth: 27-3/4 inches. There is no manufacturer’s tag on the unit. I would welcome any comments or information.

Re-posted by moderator from original page - HEATING SYSTEMS - home - https://inspectapedia.com/heat/Building-Heating-Systems.php

On 2022-10-15 by InspectApedia-911 (mod)

@Tom,

Sure Tom, what we have on Fraser-Johnston furnaces is found on this page -

Please post photos (one per comment) of your furnace's typewritten data tag and another of the furnace itself, and then perhaps we can comment further.

On 2021-11-18 by Jim Abler - Looking for a manual for my Fraser Johnston LP furnace model #pbnu-ld12po800

I'm looking for a manual for my Fraser Johnston LP furnace, model #pbnu-ld12po800

On 2021-11-18 by Moderator

On this page FRASER JOHNSTON HVAC

we have the manuals and information we've found to date - I'll see if I can find more for your Fraser Johnston propane-fueled furnace in the PBNU series and add it here.

Question: Need air filter location for Fraser & Johnston, Gas Furnace # 100 CD 13-A

Looking for diagram for Fraser & Johnston, model # 100 CD 13-A, to see where to replace filters. This model is early 1920s. - Dorothy Frantin, 2022/03/08

Moderator reply: typical air filter location on older furnaces

Air filter slot at the return air inlet at the bottom of a basement air handler (C) Daniel FriedmanI had no luck looking for a 100-year old user's manual for a Fraser Johnston furnace, though it'd help if you'd post a photo of your furnace and another of its data tag.

Your furnace will have at least one, usually two openable covers,

one at the front - the side where the burner is mounted, sometimes divided into an upper- and lower- access panel

sometimes a second openable cover or cover pair at the rear of the furnace.

With power OFF so that there is no danger of cutting off a finger or getting hurt by moving blower fan parts, open each cover and look for

- an old (dirty) furnace filter
- a pair of slots that hold an air filter
- a pair of L-shaped brackets mounted on two sides of the furnace interior inside the air handler, between the blower fan outlet and the air path into the heat exchanger - that hold an air filter

On some furnace systems the filter may mount in a vertical or horizontal slot found where the large return air duct connects to the body of the furnace blower compartment - you may see a narrow vertical or horizontal cover or access panel that is removed to insert the filter.

See complete details that should work for just about any brand and model heating furnace or air conditioner filter location at

AIR FILTER LOCATION

There you'll see photos that illustrate each of the places to look, including not just at and on or in the furnace but also at return air inlet registers.

Reader follow-up: Fraser Johnston natural gas furnace data tag and photos

Photos of my Fraser Johnston furnace showing the data tag and the furnace ductwork and exhaust vent connection.

Fraser Johnston gas furnace from 1965 (C) InspectApedia.com Frantin Dorothy ... Fraser Johnston gas furnace from 1965 (C) InspectApedia.com Frantin Dorothy

Moderator reply: air filter location on 1960s Fraser Johnston gas furnace

Thank you for those photos - we'll be sure to keep them with the article.

Most likely your Fraser Johnston gas furnace dates from the 1960s (date code = 1965) though the asbestos-paper-wrapped vent or duct material does indeed look older.

And we take it from your notes that the age of your building may date from the 1920's. Please also include the city of location.

Fraser Johnston gas furnace from 1965 (C) InspectApedia.com Frantin Dorothy

In fact that duct tape across the top of the return air connection to the bottom of the furnace's left side may cover a slot where an air filter was inserted - quite similar to the photo we posted earlier.

Question: what year was this Fraser Johnston model?

FraserJohnston Co. Air Conditioning Furnace Data Tag (C) InspectApedia.com Jomoc

2021/04/28 Alf Jomoc said

Hello, what year was is this model? Thank you.

[Click to enlarge any image]

This Q&A were posted originally

at AGE of HEATERS, BOILERS, FURNACES

Moderator reply: steps at guessing the age of an older Furnace or Air Conditioner based on surrounding information + Serial Number

We see on your Fraser Johnston Air Conditioning Furnace a serial number:

124205.

[See the photo excerpt I've made just below]

But the serial number stamped into the box is older six digit unit for which we don't have an authoritative answer.

Notice the Serial Number and also that "D6" stamped onto the data tag?

We're not sure what the D6 indicated, possibly part of the age or possibly a model identification.

FraserJohnston Co. Air Conditioning Furnace Data Tag (C) InspectApedia.com Jomoc

Let's approach making a reasonable guess at the unit's age as follows:

  1. What is the age of the building

    where this Fraser Johnston Air Conditioning Furnace was Installed? - that sets an approximate floor under the age; the unit won't be much older than the building.
  2. Is there a service tag

    on the equipment showing oldest service date?
  3. Is there a service or owner's manual

    with the unit or stuck up into the framing above or near the unit? Often we can find a publication date printed on the manual or sometimes a tag right on the equipment on which the installer wrote an "installation date" or a "repaired-on" date.
  4. Is there other building history

    of renovations including replacement of its HVAC equipment that puts a younger floor under the Fraser Johnston age?
  5. Pick and guess digits:

    Now, armed with all of those answers, let's select some pairs of digits in the all-numeric serial number to see if any of those could be a reasonable guess at the unit's age:

    Example: Would 05 = 2005 be a reasonable guess based on the other data above? If so we might guess Week 42, year 2005.

    Example: would D6 = D (April) 2006 be a reasonable guess at manufacture date?

Question: photo of older Fraser Johnston Co. gas furnace

Fraser Johnston gas furnace - Fraser Johnson (C) InspectApedia.com Muller D2020/04/07 Damian Muller said:

Wish I had a better picture of name plate. I believe it is model 100 with serial 37168

[Click to enlarge any image]

Below is a closer-look at the data tag on this old Fraser Johnston furnace.

This Q&A were posted originally

at AGE of HEATERS, BOILERS, FURNACES

Damian Muller said:

Not a question, but hope some would find this a bit interesting.

These 2 oldies [the Fraser Johnston gas furnace shown above and the old gas vent / heat exchanger detail shown below] are from our rental houses.

We replaced them both within the last 10 years.

Old gas furnace heat exchanger / vent detail (C) InspectApedia.com Muller D

Reply:

Thanks for the photos & comments, Damian.

We can see that that green furnace is an old Fraser & Johnston unit.

I've enlarged the data tag to give a closer look.


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