Some pictures of the carnage: http://imgur.com/a/A4LdM
Safety info: the electricity and gas are OFF to the unit now.
Earlier tonight I opened the lower access panel and gave the blower motor its annual several drops of oil to each oil port. It seemed to be working fine and the intermittent squeak that reminded me to oil it went away. A couple hours later I smelled burning plastic, went to furnace and found the upper access panel really, really hot. Turned heater power switch off, gloved up and found the wiring around the valve all burned up (see pictures).
Valve was installed 4/2015 due to the previous valve having a slight leak. It's otherwise been working fine since.
I don't see how giving each motor bearing a few drops of oil could cause a different area of the furnace to burn up, but that's an awfully big coincidence.
Called shop that installed the new valve - they say the furnace probably had flame blowback from the burner and will likely need total replacement. They haven't seen it yet, just heard my description over the phone. It's after hours and I don't want to pay emergency repair rates. Wood burning stove is fine for the weekend, but I live in a cold northern state along the Rocky Mountains so I can't dally around with this issue long.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
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