Well, it's all been solved now, but I wanted to make a post in case others come across this problem. First let me say that Orbit has been PHENOMENAL. They have gone above and beyond what a company needed to do, and that's so rare these days. THANK YOU ORBIT! The reason my soaker hose was exploding was because my pressure was too high. I bought the Orbit brand pressure regulator, but those are made for "normal" water pressure situations. It turns out mine is super high. Normal PSI is 30-60. Mine is above 90. (I got a gauge) WIth the regulator, it was down to just above 40, but that's too high for these hoses. It needs to be 25 PSI or below. (Which also explains why the ground was soaked in a half hour instead of the two or so hours people were talking about!) I'm going to have to buy a regulator that's built for high pressure situations, something that can take 90 down to 25. Even though this wasn't Orbit's fault (because my town has crazy pressure), they're still sending me yet another roll of hose. No charge. (They'd already sent one, and I exploded it too) I did make one suggestion to Orbit, and that is they rewrite their manual to emphasize the pressure control. And I hate to suggest people spend an extra ten bucks on a pressure reader, but if your hose starts splitting, get one and see if your pressure isn't too high. Lessons learned, but at least now I know why this was happening. Orbit rules. The good news is that for some odd reason I still have the receipt on the regulator so I can return it to Wal Mart! Yay.

Just an update: our contractor arranged for a KA certified repairman to come today. As you all suspected, it was a clogged drain line. The repair guy said it was better to remove the gasket rather than notch it - he said it's a tight space and is near the compressor, so it tends to get plugged up from the heat and pressure. He said he's done this at least 100 times, on all models of bottom freezer refrigerators. My contractor was very anxious to confirm it wasn't his fault. This all began after they installed the water line, so I was afraid there had been some mistake. It probably wasn't totally unrelated, since they kept the fridge in the kitchen throughout the demo but unplugged it repeatedly to move itmultiple times, frame it, and also to do a heavy up at the outset of the project. But it wasn't their error, clearly. This being a high cost area, I paid $145 for the fix, but truthfully I'm glad it wasn't more! (not long ago a clogged washer drain wound up costing $1k just for the plumber - I'm pretty sure we were fleeced on that one!) Thanks so much to all of you for pointing me in the right direction!

Are you guys out to lunch and forgot to bring money ? look at the heat exchanger. It is rotting out. there is a serious problem with the gas flame. it's HIGHLY corrosive. The gas pressure is not right or the gas utility is dumping waste gas into the line as in propane, Butane,and or benzine. That is very common to bring up the supply for excess demand. your first hint is 3 inches of ice on the top of the B vent on the roof. also look at the air shudders. they are almost wide open. ( high temp lean mixture ). there might even be a cat litter box next to the furnace. I've seen 23 year old heat exchangers that still have the paint on the out side of them. If it was my furnace it would be out the door. a heavy coating of rust, as this one has, makes a very nice insulator. You know, lots of air buddles in the rust. This is just my observations. you guys have your own opinion. that's what makes for good competition. actually i'd red flag that furnace and call in the gas company. they have the final say. That leaves me out of it. If they say the furnace is fine and it burns down the house or gasses people, so be it. Not my problem. As i said before. This is just my opinion.

What you want to do is common, that is to have the humidifier operate only when the furnace is making heat (and/or when the fan blower is on). I see in the users manual for that model humidifier they give you instructions on how to wire it up in stand-alone mode, but they do not show how to interface to a furnace. I'm sure that is on purpose, this is the kind of thing you should have a HVAC technician do for you. Several reasons why, you my void any warranty on the furnace, you'd be in the vicinity of high voltage, you run the risk of damaging the control board/circuitry in the furnace if you do it wrong (that is assuming you locate and understand the wiring schematics for your furnace). Also, there's a naming convention used with the control wiring/terminals between furnaces and thermostats that HVAC technicians understand but is not easily understandable to the typical home owner (the Y terminal, the Y2 terminal, etc., etc., etc.).