Furnace Problems - Trouble Shooting

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MasterSolenoid

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Sep 26, 2017
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Just some suggestions on being prepared for furnace problems.
♦ Learn the START sequence and names of components
♦ Have the Owner's manual handy

Spare parts to have
1) Ignitor
2) Heat Sensor
3) Start Capacitor
4) Fuse (located on circuit board)

5) This is a handy tool if you suspect your Thermostat may be faulty

YouTube video of being used.
 
brianl703 said:
If your furnace ever turns the flame on and then shuts it off a few seconds later, it's probably the flame sensor. Many furnaces will blink an error code which means no flame was detected by the flame sensor.

You can often clean the flame sensor with steel wool or fine sandpaper to fix it.
Click to expand...
Most furnace problems can be avoided with a light cleaning of the flame sensor every fall. They rarely go bad since it's nothing but a metal rod. Deposits on it stops it from functioning as it should.
 
Lubener said:
Most furnace problems can be avoided with a light cleaning of the flame sensor every fall. They rarely go bad since it's nothing but a metal rod.
Click to expand...
If you pay an HVAC company to do an annual "check-up" or do it yourself, cleaning that should always be part of the job. I did have to replace mine a few years ago as cleaning/sanding it no longer helped.
 
The only other item could be a control board. That would be a judgment call... depending on the cost and availability of the board, and the age of the furnace.

I had a control board on my furnace fail right before an ice storm hit. We overnighted the part in, and it made it to the UPS terminal that was 50 miles away, the morning that the storm hit. It would have been delivered to my house that day. Instead it was delivered 2 days later (3 days total without heat) House got mighty chilly while I was waiting.

Yes, I have a control board on hand now. For $80, I don't care if it never gets used.
 
Lubener said:
Most furnace problems can be avoided with a light cleaning of the flame sensor every fall. They rarely go bad since it's nothing but a metal rod. Deposits on it stops it from functioning as it should.
Click to expand...

I never once had to clean the one on my York furnace in the 17 years I lived in the house with it.

But I've had to clean the one on the Goodman furnace in my mom's house.

Difference? York furnace is in the basement. Goodman furnace is in the attic. A stupid location for a furnace.
 
MasterSolenoid said:
5) This is a handy tool if you suspect your Thermostat may be faulty
Click to expand...
I just use these:
test_leads_01.jpg
 
kart17 said:
My tool of choice :)
If the Inducer motor will not start the Capacitor may be bad. I keep a spare in the furnace compartment
Click to expand...

Inducer motors are often shaded pole motors which don't need a capacitor.

The blower motor does require a capacitor and that capacitor is far more likely to fail than anything having to do with the inducer motor.
 
The inducer motor on my furnace is making a racket of a noise and will sometimes slow down enough to trip the pressure switch causing the furnace to short cycle.

I order 2 new “OEM” motors, or at least I thought they were, from 2 different online parts warehouses and both have been DOA, and the replacements went “on order” so I cancelled it. 🤦‍♂️

I took the original motor apart a little and cleaned it up for the time being, but will try an aftermarket one from Amazon which is almost half the cost. Hope to have better luck with that.

I also bought new limit switches and a new pressure switch just because they were so cheap, it will be good to have on hand. Before this issue with my furnace I was afraid of the big scary furnace, but they’re really quite simple to work on, thanks to help from YouTube.
 
Hall said:
If you pay an HVAC company to do an annual "check-up" or do it yourself, cleaning that should always be part of the job. I did have to replace mine a few years ago as cleaning/sanding it no longer helped.
Click to expand...
Thats what I do, get it cleaned every other year, have whatever it needs replaced, done and over with. Winter is a long time here!

Plus if I were to be out of town… can just have the wife call and deal with it.

Ironically I just got back from MIL’s and had to describe to her service company what is going on with her furnace. I think a cleaning would fix, just about due, but it’s acting up and something is not right, and she would not have been the wiser.
 
Hyundai Respecter said:
The inducer motor on my furnace is making a racket of a noise and will sometimes slow down enough to trip the pressure switch causing the furnace to short cycle.

I order 2 new “OEM” motors, or at least I thought they were, from 2 different online parts warehouses and both have been DOA, and the replacements went “on order” so I cancelled it. 🤦‍♂️

I took the original motor apart a little and cleaned it up for the time being, but will try an aftermarket one from Amazon which is almost half the cost. Hope to have better luck with that.

I also bought new limit switches and a new pressure switch just because they were so cheap, it will be good to have on hand. Before this issue with my furnace I was afraid of the big scary furnace, but they’re really quite simple to work on, thanks to help from YouTube.
Click to expand...
I am trying to learn about how my furnace operates. I am currently very nervous around it because of the natural gas, but will become more comfortable as I learn more about the operation and safety elements meant to protect me.
 
brianl703 said:
You can also jumper the W and R terminals at the thermostat to see if the furnace starts up.
Click to expand...
W = White
R = Red

Yes, that would work (turn furnace ON and run continuously)
The devise in video I linked to would cycle furnace ON/OFF and maintain 65°
That would give homeowner time to shop for a thermostat.
 
mrsilv04 said:
The only other item could be a control board. That would be a judgment call... depending on the cost and availability of the board, and the age of the furnace.

I had a control board on my furnace fail right before an ice storm hit. We overnighted the part in, and it made it to the UPS terminal that was 50 miles away, the morning that the storm hit. It would have been delivered to my house that day. Instead it was delivered 2 days later (3 days total without heat) House got mighty chilly while I was waiting.

Yes, I have a control board on hand now. For $80, I don't care if it never gets used.
Click to expand...
Control boards are a pain. I've seen many fail randomly without reason.
 
MasterSolenoid said:
Yes, that would work (turn furnace ON and run continuously)
The devise in video I linked to would cycle furnace ON/OFF and maintain 65°
That would give homeowner time to shop for a thermostat.
Click to expand...

You can buy a thermostat at a number of stores that are open late and on weekends, probably including Wal-Mart.

It wasn't a thermostat problem that made my furnace stop working on Friday night in December.

It was a failed ignitor. They don't sell those at places that are open late or on weekends, at least not around here. (Maybe closer to a big city that actually has some industry like Chicago or New York they do?)

So I went to Wal-Mart and got a barbecue lighter.

Set the thermostat to 75 and went in the basement and turned the furnace off via the wall switch.

Stuck the barbecue lighter in front of the burners near the ignitor, lit it up, and turned the furnace on.

Did the same thing the next morning and whenever I got cold through the weekend.

That Monday I got an ignitor from a York distributor.
 
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