Timeline for Furnace sometimes fails to ignite, despite extensive replacement of parts
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
19 events
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| Feb 20, 2020 at 20:00 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Oct 23, 2019 at 19:02 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Jun 25, 2019 at 18:03 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Feb 25, 2019 at 16:02 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Jan 26, 2019 at 15:22 | answer | added | Vman | timeline score: 1 | |
| Mar 5, 2018 at 19:15 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | Condensate drain not an issue here. Cleared and even bi-passed with a hose loop, and the same issue within a day. | |
| Jan 6, 2018 at 6:28 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | So, I did some more researching, it looks like I,need to check out the entire condensate drain setup. I have cleaned it out before, but reading a lot of other places with furnaces doing the same thing....appears it could be a starting place. I might just replace my trap hoses and clean it out really good and see how it runs | |
| Dec 31, 2017 at 18:12 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | If it sparks at the igniter, it always lights and works normal, it's just random if it even sparks at all. I never hear it try to spark when it has this issue. Sometimes I can reproduce it if I quickly power cycle the system. Its like it needs a 1 minute power off time. | |
| Dec 31, 2017 at 18:10 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | But it's totally random. When I listen to it, I hear the system click on, the inducer motor spins up, the gas valve opens and then nothing happens, like the spark control box times out waiting for something. No spark. But normal operation 90% of the week. I can't record what it does to post because it's totally random. It can happen 2 times in a row, or not at all for a few days. I have noticed that it does it more when the outside temp is below freezing. The only parts not replaced are the hi-limits, heat exchanger, wiring and the thermostat. | |
| Dec 31, 2017 at 18:04 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | It will randomly stop igniting. Example: say 4pm on saturday, I notice the house is cold. Check the thremostat, it is calling for heat. The furnace isbdoimg nothing. I turn the heat off, wait about a minute, then back on and it starts up, goes through normal operations and heats fine all the rest of the day. I wake up at 2am on Sunday and it's 5 degrees below the set point, again, I power off and on and it works normal. About 10am I am near a hvac event and heat the furnace start up, but after 30 seconds or so, the induction motor stops and the furnace fails to work. Power cycle and normal. | |
| Dec 28, 2017 at 16:25 | comment | added | Jim | To clarify, the unit goes through a normal ignition cycle, and sparks clean at the igniter but does not ignite gas...or does not spark at the igniter? The last sentence throws me off on this. | |
| Apr 14, 2017 at 17:32 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | I have read a lot about drip legs, know where one should be, but could that really be the problem? | |
| Apr 12, 2017 at 14:53 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | I'm not sure if the home owner before me had any issues like this. | |
| Apr 12, 2017 at 14:53 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | I am pretty sure the line is 3/4 with a tee to split off to the water heater. Water heater doesn't run that often, and usually the furnace issue is in the middle of the night, we are asleep, or middle of the day when no one is home. The gas lines have no drip legs. The furnace and water heater are 25yrs old. And I don't have a way to monitor pressure. Like I said, it's weird. It runs and runs sometimes weeks at a time then randomly stops, but with a power off or thermostat off, wait 30 seconds and it starts right up. Then might run a few hours, days, weeks, it's all random. | |
| Apr 12, 2017 at 14:48 | comment | added | Jeff Cates | Ignition cable was replaced, but original found to be just fine. When it sparks, it's strong and consistent. I don't think that it's the control. Ignition components have all been replaced twice in the last 4 years, but never solved the issue. | |
| Apr 11, 2017 at 20:56 | comment | added | Wayfaring Stranger | Ignition spark cables, and their connections, get old and cruddy. I pulled my cable, cleaned contacts at both ends of cable and on high voltage unit, and spark plug. Furnace now reliably starts all but once a month or so. Waiting for warm weather before looking for replacement HV cable. | |
| Apr 11, 2017 at 19:34 | history | edited | RedGrittyBrick | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
More specific title - more likely to be findable by future visitors.
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| Apr 11, 2017 at 10:44 | comment | added | Tester101 | What size is the gas piping leading to the appliance? Are there any other appliances branched off the same gas line? Does the gas line have a drip leg (sediment trap)? Are you able to test/monitor the gas pressure? | |
| Apr 11, 2017 at 4:15 | history | asked | Jeff Cates | CC BY-SA 3.0 |