grrr - gas heat problems, ideas?

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
Oh, lucky me. Woke up 5 am to discover the house getting cold... the heat wasn't running.
What a way to start Christmas!

We have a standard gas furnace, can't figure this out. From what I can tell, the stat is kicking the unit on, it's doing the pre-warmup and getting air flowing into the furnace... can hear was sounds like the igniter kicking on (or at least a relay flipping) - but there's no flame. It tries a few times then quits, have to reset the unit to get it to try again.

Our box has an automatic lighter, no pilot light, and a big warning on the panel with the starting instructions, "do not attempt to manually light".

My gas meter is inside the same basement, I can see and hear that there is gas flowing for a 3 sec burst while it's trying to ignite.

So I'm baffled. Is there any safe way to test if its just a bad igniter?

Now - maybe related, maybe not - yesterday evening, we used the gas log unit in our fireplace for the first time since we've bought the house (almost a year). That thing feeds of of the same pipe line coming form the meter, not directly above but near the furnace. We're using it now to help keep the house livable :shaking:
It just seems like a really odd coincidence. is it somehow possible for there to be an interaction there?

We have a home warranty (runs out in 20 days lol), already made a service call in - but seeing as how its both Saturday and Christmas day, I figure the chances of getting a tech out here anytime soon are slim to none.
 
No help to offer...but it could be worse, you could be this guy:

awww.finehomebuilding.com_assets_uploads_posts_13987_Avery_10_16_10__28__lg.JPG


Yes, the gas is plumbed into the aux. condensate drain!
 
bwahahahahaha that's hillarious.

OK so i called back AHS and since we have no heat they upgraded to "emergency" and called the local company directly. Guy just left.

And, just as I suspected, the little carbon igniter coil was bad, so it just wasn't creating the spark. "Oh yeah these things die about every 2 years." Great. I'm guessing that's about a $15 part.
Guy was in/out in 15 minutes. I'd be curious to know what this cost AHS though for a visit on Christmas day.
 
Mine went out last year.It started the same thing this year,starting,hear the fan running then stopping and starting again.I finally got frustrated and kicked the crap out of it.It's been running for 3 weeks now no problem.I know I have a looming repair in my future though.
 
The ignighter is a common replacement for me, I do it at least once a year. Grainger has them for thirty bucks, it's a ten minute job. Ars also has them on their service trucks for weekend repairs.
On older gas units any rust or debris that lands on the ignighter will cause a hot spot and burn it out. Really stinks.
Good luck.
 
^^^ fail-safe heat, always guaranteed to work.

Well, until you run out of dry prepped wood, lol.
 
Yea, very common problem. That's one of those things you get a spare of and keep it with the furnace and then when it craps out, you replace with spare and get a new spare.
 
Back
Top