Thermocouple

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"Give", Harold is a very well trusted and respected poster here. He doesn't need me to stand up for him, but I think that you are off base in a couple of areas. One basic one is that most pro's will not call what you are talking about a "thermocouple". The part is more properly a "flame sensor".

I am college educated, competent in many home improvement areas, and smart enough to know when to call a pro. I do change the furnace flame sensor when needed but I also have a pro check my furnace occasionally. Part of the reason that I do this is that I have asked the pro's that do the work to show me what to check and how to do the simple repairs when they were there for check-up's. Doing your homework is important, no matter what your trade. And, FWIW, I have never seen written instructions or pictures for changing a flame sensor nor do I want to change out a gas valve on my furnace. Being smart enough to know what you can SAFELY do is the real heart of the issue. If you saw a lot of questions here, you would recognize some where the scope of the project was well above the level of compentence for almost all homeowners. Even experienced pro's is similar areas learn what jobs to duck and call in a specialist. And that's a VERY important message.

Henry in MI