Nitrousbird Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Because life is fair right now, my furnace decided to shit the bed. It's a Rheem Criterion. The blower motor works fine. If I switch the fan from auto to on, it kicks on as well. The unit has an auto-ignition pilot, which I think is the problem, as nothing ever lights up. I don't know anything about furnaces, but I'd like some heat......today. It's 59 in here right now, and I'm less than pleased. Am I better off buying the ignitor and swapping it, or hiring a pro? How much will a pro usually rape you (X-mas has drained my funds a bit). If I hire a pro, who should I call, and what is their normal pricing? I don't want to get ripped off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Alright, so I turn it on again this morning. It is the ignitor, or something that controls the ignitior, for sure. After a minute, I notice this red glow (ignitior kicking on), when the furnace does the relay click for the gas....ignition. Furnace has now kicked on (thank f'ing god). Since the ignitor came on and glowed red, I'm guessing a bad relay or something in that regards. I'm sure I can fix this myself, but any guidance would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillJoy Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Call a HVAC guy. Some offer FREE estimates (ie - All Knight). Messing w/ gas.....when you have no clue what your are doing, is a BAD thing KillJoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Ehh, I think I have it narrowed down already. Upon further inspection, there is a step-by-step troubleshooting diagram on the circuit board cover. It seems the input voltage for the hot surface ignitor is supposed to be 115V AC when it goes through its power cycle. Instead, on the off cycle, it sits at 13-15V, and on the power cycle, it sits at 77V AC. I tried it a little later, and only showed 18V on the on cycle. Looks like it might be the circuit board...lucky me. Assuming I can get an identical board, it shouldn't be hard to replace. To ensure the multimeter was correct (it's a good Craftsman one), it shows 0V when not hooked up, and a steady 120V when shoved in an electrical socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam1647545489 Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Joe call this number for any help. 740-927-8384, Talk to Suzanne and tell her that you are a friend and I told you to call. They are a HVAC company and good friends of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam1647545489 Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Make sure you have the model and serial number of the furnace when you call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 IT'S FIXED. But boy was it an expensive fix. Sam, I called that number, but Suzanne wasn't in. I mentioned your name to the lady working there, though. She looked up the part, but said she didn't have it in stock. I went to a place in Reynoldsburg, they wanted $350 just for the board, and $70 for the flame sensor (which I didn't think I needed....more on that). I found a place in Grove City that had a board in stock for $250. Bought that up, pulled the old, wired this new one. It was somewhat different, as my board hasn't been used for while. Get it all running, flames come up and....shit. Stays on for 5 seconds then turns off. I take a look a the diagnostics steps, and yup, requires a flame sensor for my board, even though the documentation w/ the board said it was un-needed for this serial number series. Go BACK to Grove City, get my part (now $310 total spent), mount and wire up the sensor, and I now have heat. After looking at the old board, you can see where a bunch of resistors are cooked, and the board is scorched. I can only imagine how badly I would have been raped had I called someone out to fix this problem. My guess is $600-700. Sucky way to spend a vacation day, but better than shelling out crazy cash to an HVAC guy to do something I'm more than capable of doing myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinner Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 http://furnaceparts.com mind you, you would have to order the parts but it could have saved ya some coin maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 That flame sensor is the most common problem on gas furnaces and its very cheap and sold at any hardware store. Your problem sounds exactly like a bad temp sensor. I can't remember the name my dad aways called it. Its either a thermocouple, thermostat or thermoswitch. My copier fusing unit training is getting in the way of the correct term, but you know what I mean. Don't go wasting money until you've replaced that part. Its 100% fixed any furnace I've worked on for people. Oops saw that you've replaced both. I'd pull that board and put the old one back in with the good sensor and see what happens. Its definately worth $300. Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam1647545489 Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 That flame sensor is the most common problem on gas furnaces and its very cheap and sold at any hardware store. Your problem sounds exactly like a bad temp sensor. I can't remember the name my dad aways called it. Its either a thermocouple, thermostat or thermoswitch. My copier fusing unit training is getting in the way of the correct term, but you know what I mean. Don't go wasting money until you've replaced that part. Its 100% fixed any furnace I've worked on for people. Oops saw that you've replaced both. I'd pull that board and put the old one back in with the good sensor and see what happens. Its definately worth $300. Evan thermocoupler... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted December 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 That flame sensor is the most common problem on gas furnaces and its very cheap and sold at any hardware store. Your problem sounds exactly like a bad temp sensor. I can't remember the name my dad aways called it. Its either a thermocouple, thermostat or thermoswitch. My copier fusing unit training is getting in the way of the correct term, but you know what I mean. Don't go wasting money until you've replaced that part. Its 100% fixed any furnace I've worked on for people. Oops saw that you've replaced both. I'd pull that board and put the old one back in with the good sensor and see what happens. Its definately worth $300. Evan Uhhh, re-read my post. My old board didn't even USE a flame sensor. The newer boards require one, the old board doesn't, but you can't buy the old board anymore. The old board was fried. About 8 resistors were toast, and the area around those resistors is all black from the board over-heating. The board wasn't putting out the correct voltage, which is why the ignitor wouldn't light. Soldering in new resistors "might" have fixed the problem (though the board itself was probably damaged), but they were so cooked the resistance strips were gone, and detailed diagrams for a board like that isn't exactly easy to come by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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