Furnace issues?
12-17-2009, 07:36 AM
#1
Administrator Alumnus
Thread Starter
Furnace issues?
We maintain a maintenance contract with a HVAC company, they service/clean the A/C and Furnace annually. Last Friday was the furnace cleaning/servicing.
I was down in the basement watching the guy do his thing... Nice guy but seemed to have some troubles pulling things apart and getting things back together. Didn't seem like he did anything wrong, but it was certainly not a smooth cleaning.
Anyhoo, he got everything back together and the furnace fired back up. And he was on his way.
However, I have gotten up three mornings and it's been wicked cold in the house. The first floor thermostat would say 59, it would say the heat is on, yet the furnace isn't running. Unfortunately, I don't know if this has been happening during the day, because my wife gets home before me and usually runs straight to the pellet stove and turns that on.
So in the mornings when this happened, I would go down in the basement and sure enough, dead silence. So I simply flip the emergency off switch (there is still power to the furnace, humidifier and zoning system, all lights are on), wait a few seconds and turn it back on. In about 10-15 seconds, the furnace will kick back on. However, this morning... Same issue. But when I turned it back on, the gas would ignite, burners would start to go, but I then noticed they kicked off for about 10 seconds, then it reignited and went on its mary way.
So... Here's my challenge. When the dude left, everything was seemingly working. And even wrote on the paperwork, everything is functioning. Clearly, it's not. But it seems sort of random.
I'm wondering if there's a pinched wire somewhere, perhaps a bad contact on the main board. Again, never had this issue (EVER) prior to this cleaning. So they jacked something.
How I'm going to prove it, beats me.
Just venting, I guess. Sort of annoyed.
I was down in the basement watching the guy do his thing... Nice guy but seemed to have some troubles pulling things apart and getting things back together. Didn't seem like he did anything wrong, but it was certainly not a smooth cleaning.
Anyhoo, he got everything back together and the furnace fired back up. And he was on his way.
However, I have gotten up three mornings and it's been wicked cold in the house. The first floor thermostat would say 59, it would say the heat is on, yet the furnace isn't running. Unfortunately, I don't know if this has been happening during the day, because my wife gets home before me and usually runs straight to the pellet stove and turns that on.
So in the mornings when this happened, I would go down in the basement and sure enough, dead silence. So I simply flip the emergency off switch (there is still power to the furnace, humidifier and zoning system, all lights are on), wait a few seconds and turn it back on. In about 10-15 seconds, the furnace will kick back on. However, this morning... Same issue. But when I turned it back on, the gas would ignite, burners would start to go, but I then noticed they kicked off for about 10 seconds, then it reignited and went on its mary way.
So... Here's my challenge. When the dude left, everything was seemingly working. And even wrote on the paperwork, everything is functioning. Clearly, it's not. But it seems sort of random.
I'm wondering if there's a pinched wire somewhere, perhaps a bad contact on the main board. Again, never had this issue (EVER) prior to this cleaning. So they jacked something.
How I'm going to prove it, beats me.
Just venting, I guess. Sort of annoyed.
12-17-2009, 08:02 AM
#2
Team Owner
but I found this http://www.hvac-for-beginners.com/fu...eshooting.html
If the burners come on but do not stay on for more than about 3 seconds, the flame sensor could be dirty or the furnace control board could be bad. On condensing furnaces, if the burners come on for longer than 5 seconds but turn off before the thermostat is satisfied, the condensate drain could be plugged. Most of these units have a built in trap and sediment can build up in it. This can cause the furnace to operate abnormally.
Once the burners stay lit, the blower motor should start after a delay of from one to three minutes. If the blower does not start, the problem could be it's run capacitor or the motor.
Once the burners stay lit, the blower motor should start after a delay of from one to three minutes. If the blower does not start, the problem could be it's run capacitor or the motor.
12-17-2009, 08:44 AM
#3
sounds like it is related to something electrical like a sensor of some sort... i would check the t-stat as kinda a first step, since that is the cheapest... then diagnose from there...
last winter, the Auto function wouldn't turn on the fan after the temp kicked on the burners... i had to manually turn the fan on... thought it was fan relay but ended up being a bad tstat...
last winter, the Auto function wouldn't turn on the fan after the temp kicked on the burners... i had to manually turn the fan on... thought it was fan relay but ended up being a bad tstat...
12-17-2009, 01:32 PM
#4
Administrator Alumnus
Thread Starter
Fixed.
Sounds like it was a "cleaning" issue.
On our furnace, there's a small tube that runs through all five burners that carries that natural gas. The ignition sensor is down at the fifth burner.
When the dude came over, the furnace fired but only got to the third burner then cut off, sensor didn't get confirmation things were working properly. Turns out, there was a piece of "fuzz" in the tube carrying the gas and was obstructing the flow between the third and fourth burners. Cleaned it out, fires like a champ.
phew
Sounds like it was a "cleaning" issue.
On our furnace, there's a small tube that runs through all five burners that carries that natural gas. The ignition sensor is down at the fifth burner.
When the dude came over, the furnace fired but only got to the third burner then cut off, sensor didn't get confirmation things were working properly. Turns out, there was a piece of "fuzz" in the tube carrying the gas and was obstructing the flow between the third and fourth burners. Cleaned it out, fires like a champ.
phew
12-17-2009, 02:28 PM
#5
Team Owner
That's nice that the safety feature worked as advertised.
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12-18-2009, 01:29 PM
#8
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Fixed.
Sounds like it was a "cleaning" issue.
On our furnace, there's a small tube that runs through all five burners that carries that natural gas. The ignition sensor is down at the fifth burner.
When the dude came over, the furnace fired but only got to the third burner then cut off, sensor didn't get confirmation things were working properly. Turns out, there was a piece of "fuzz" in the tube carrying the gas and was obstructing the flow between the third and fourth burners. Cleaned it out, fires like a champ.
phew
Sounds like it was a "cleaning" issue.
On our furnace, there's a small tube that runs through all five burners that carries that natural gas. The ignition sensor is down at the fifth burner.
When the dude came over, the furnace fired but only got to the third burner then cut off, sensor didn't get confirmation things were working properly. Turns out, there was a piece of "fuzz" in the tube carrying the gas and was obstructing the flow between the third and fourth burners. Cleaned it out, fires like a champ.
phew
12-18-2009, 03:17 PM
#9
Senior Moderator
I had a similar issue with my garage furnace. I was able to blow it our with a little compressed air and good to go.
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