How To Tell If Furnace Ignitor Is Bad

When winter temperatures are here, you don't want to deal with issues heating your domicile. Waking upward to a common cold business firm or spending the solar day in a frigid part with a broken furnace can ruin your day.

It tin seem like your Furnace goes out when you need information technology most. Even with preventive maintenance, your Furnace tin misbehave on the coldest days of the year. Sometimes it's a quick set up. In other cases, yous could have a faulty furnace ignitor.

What is the furnace ignitor? How practice you know if it'south a problem? Continue reading everything you need to know well-nigh your furnace ignitor and what to exercise if the warning signs point to a problem.

Tabular array of Contents

• How Does a Furnace Ignitor Piece of work?
• How Exercise I Know If There'south a Trouble?
• What Causes a Furnace Ignitor to Fail?
• How Practice I Check the Ignitor?
• Oftentimes Asked Questions
• Don't Ignore the Warning Signs of a Faulty Furnace Ignitor
• Allow St. Louis' Finest Technicians to Save the Day

How Does a Furnace Ignitor Work?

Older furnaces used a pilot low-cal to heat the air bravado into your home. Every year before the temperatures dropped, you probably noticed your parents bravely light the pilot light in the Furnace.

Today, the furnace igniter replaces the open flame of the pilot light in most furnaces. Without the ignitor, your heater won't accident hot air. Information technology's a critical part of your furnace organisation and one of the virtually common reasons your Furnace doesn't work correctly.

Yous've probably heard the "click" from your Furnace earlier the air starts blowing. When the thermostat kicks on to get-go the Furnace, the ignitor creates a spark that "ignites" the gas connected to your heater. Other types of igniters estrus without a spark. Instead, these ignitors heat up and touch the surface of the gas to oestrus the air blowing from the Furnace.

No affair which blazon of ignitor is in your Furnace, this chain of events lights your heater and so that information technology blows hot air.

Don't worry—an ignitor that goes bad is common for most furnaces. Fortunately, y'all can replace the ignitor without replacing the whole Furnace. Most ignitors last almost seven years. Go on reading to learn how to tell if your furnace problem is a faulty ignitor.

How Practise I Know If There'due south a Problem?

A furnace that doesn't work could have a variety of issues. Some of the nearly mutual symptoms could cause several unlike problems. Here are a few indications that you have a faulty ignitor.

No Cold Air

If you take a faulty furnace ignitor, it won't produce that tiny spark to heat the air coming from your Furnace. Your heater blows air at the same temperature as the common cold outside air without it.

Common cold air blowing through your vents is a good sign that you have a heating problem inside the Furnace. However, at that place could be a more straightforward prepare.

• Check the thermostat to ensure the setting is "heat" instead of "absurd."
• Ensure the temperature is set high plenty to tell the Furnace to accident hot air.

If the thermostat's setting is okay, the side by side simplest solution could be a problem with the ignitor.

The Furnace Won't Come up On.

If y'all notice your home getting colder and colder, yet the Furnace never comes on, no matter how high you set the temperature, this could indicate a problem with the ignitor.

Perform the thermostat checks mentioned above. Next, check your breaker box and brand sure the switch connected to your Furnace hasn't tripped to "off." Here's how to find it if you've never needed to locate your breaker box.

Take a look at the switch that controls the power to your Furnace. If the furnace billow is "on," there could be an effect with the ignitor, or you could take a more pregnant electrical problem.

The Furnace Of a sudden Stops Bravado

Your Furnace has built-in fail-safes to go along y'all and your house safe when there is a problem with the system. If you enjoy the warm air from your Furnace, but it of a sudden stops blowing, that could betoken a sudden problem with the ignitor.

• Cheque the air filter. If it's dirty, air tin can't flow properly through the Furnace. This could crusade your Furnace to terminate blowing.
• Check for droppings where the air filter sits inside the Furnace and in your air ducts. Annihilation blocking airflow through the filter or your vents can cause the Furnace to close off.

If the air passageways seem gratis and clear and yous take a clean air filter, your next all-time option is to cheque the ignitor for a problem.

Starts, Then Stops, Then Starts Again

If your furnace goes on and off frequently, the ignitor could be the culprit. An ignitor on its way out can't hold a charge long enough to heat the furnace air. Plus, your Furnace probably has a safety characteristic that forces your system to wait at least sixty seconds before it starts over again.

Repeatedly going on and off is bad for your Furnace. To salve yourself from a more significant furnace issue, look for the trouble equally soon as you detect it cycling on and off a few times.

Tripping the Breaker More Than One time

We mentioned checking the furnace breaker to make sure it'south on. Even so, if your Furnace keeps tripping the breaker presently later information technology starts bravado air, the culprit could be a faulty ignitor.

Repeatedly tripping the breaker is terrible for your Furnace and your domicile's electrical organisation. While a faulty furnace ignitor can be a simple fix, don't let the Furnace go on to trip the breaker more than twice. Leave the billow prepare to "off" while repairing the furnace problem.

I Hear the Click, But Null Happens

That "click" we mentioned earlier is the audio of your ignitor trying to warm the fuel in your Furnace. However, if y'all hear the click only the air doesn't blow soon, you could have a unsafe ignitor problem.

Earlier you get farther inside your furnace system to cheque the condition of the ignitor, be certain y'all know what to look for and how to go to information technology!

What Causes a Furnace Ignitor to Fail?

There are a diverseness of reasons why your furnace ignitor may neglect.

On the 1 hand, information technology may simply exist that the ignitor is too old. Over again, about ignitors final effectually seven years. So if yours is about that old, you may need a new ignitor.

But there are other potential reasons too.

Flame Sensor Issues

Regardless of your furnace model, it comes integrated with an ignition sensor to forbid dangerous explosions. The Furnace simply ignites when a flame sensor confirms a pilot flame and sends voltage to the gas valve.

The process ensures that the system does non turn on without fire and prevents gas buildup. In older furnace models, the thermocouple was responsible for this task.

When the Furnace lacks cleanliness, these sensor devices tend to malfunction. A burner caked in droppings obstructs the gas supply and sends a false alert to the sensor. The sensor, therefore, shuts the flame off.

Unproblematic cleaning volition help y'all go rid of the soot-covered rods. If the damage is too all-encompassing, you might have to expect into a complete replacement. Consult the user transmission or the model number to buy a suitable replacement sensor. You can access the senor through the access panel.

However, don't try the replacement at habitation unless you accept a knack for mechanics. An incorrectly installed sensor could worsen the situation. Hire an HVAC technician to do it correctly.

Brusque Circuit

You can expect gas furnace ignitors to handle a 120 volt electrical supply from the household circuit. This electricity allows the ignitor to create a spark or heat the silicon to generate a flame. Fluctuations in this optimum range can be unsafe and crusade the ignitor to short circuit.

For instance, a surge in the supply would lead the circuit breaker to overload and trip. This would obstruct the electric connexion and produce no ignition. Y'all can risk flipping back the breaker switch once to exam the situation. However, if it continues to switch, a professional must examine your home's current and wiring system.

How Do I Check the Ignitor?

If you're comfortable getting up shut and personal with your Furnace, the ignitor can be easy to find and repair.

Before opening whatsoever panels on your Furnace:

• Brand sure to unplug the Furnace from the wall. Yous don't want any power to the Furnace while attempting to notice the ignitor and replace it.
• Turn off the gas valve. Please make sure no gas flows into the Furnace while you lot work on it.
• Brand certain the Furnace is at room temperature before opening any panels. A hot furnace can burn you lot if you touch it.

Getting to the working components of your Furnace can be dangerous! Brand sure information technology's condom before going further.

You need to proceeds admission to the ignitor. Remove the service panel located at the side of the Furnace. If the panel has screws or knobs, use a small nut commuter to unscrew it.

Now, you can meet the various components and connections of the system in front of you. Locate the ignitor among them.

What Does a Gas Furnace Ignitor Expect Like?

You'll need to know what the ignitor looks like to make sure you don't mess with the wrong parts inside your Furnace. After removing the burner panel door from the Furnace, look for a small device connected betwixt the electric wires and the Furnace near the gas input.

• A typical surface ignitor has a white ceramic base with a apartment metallic surface coming from it.
• Spark ignitors often have two metal prongs that generate the spark.

After you've located the ignitor, see if yous tin identify a problem with it.

What Are Possible Ignitor Problems?

A faulty ignitor tin be acquired by any one of several problems:

• Old and worn out. If the ignitor is quondam, it might be at the cease of its life. It'south fourth dimension to supplant it.
• The wrong one. Your Furnace needs the right kind of ignitor to work. Even if information technology worked, if it was the wrong ignitor, you should supersede it.
• Bad limiter switch. If it's faulty the switch shuts off your Furnace if the temperature gets besides hot.
• Overpowered. If the breaker box blows when the Furnace comes on, your ignitor tin can't handle a power surge.

Without the tools and knowledge to test your ignitor, it can be challenging to identify the problem. In whatever instance, visible damage indicates a faulty igniter.

Consult your Furnace'south manual. If y'all need to supplant the ignitor, buy the right one.

If y'all can't encounter any impairment, at that place may be a mechanical problem. Turn your power supply back on and find.

• The inducer motor should kickstart working. If the thermostat is heating, energy will menstruum through the wires, making the inducer motor piece of work. It fails to starting time if the voltage is insufficient.
• The force per unit area switch should allow ignition. Nigh 10-30 seconds after the inducer motor starts, yous should hear a 'click' sound. This will indicate the pressure switch opened the gas valve.
• The ignitor should activate and heat up. An ignition spark is created as the ignitor energizes the gas valve. The ignitor should glow orange/yellow.

Yous should exist able to observe these activities in the arrangement. In example whatsoever of them fails to occur, motility to the side by side phase of this diagnosis.

Call a professional person! Your safety and your Furnace are at take chances when you try a repair yourself. Just proceed if you are confident about your mechanical abilities.

Oftentimes Asked Questions

Below are a few of the most ofttimes asked questions virtually furnace ignitors.

How Long Do Furnace Ignitors Last?

Near furnace ignitors last about 7 years. The lifespan of your furnace ignitor will depend partly on how well maintained your system is. Regularly changing furnace filters and scheduling yearly technician maintenance is key to getting the most out of your ignitor.

What Happens When the Ignitor Goes Bad on a Furnace?

The furnace ignitor is what creates the minor spark needed to heat the air coming from the Furnace. Without that spark, the Furnace tin merely circulate air that'southward being brought in from outside, whatever temperature that may be.

Equally a result, if y'all notice your ignitor's gone out, be sure to take the steps needed to supervene upon or repair that ignitor, whether that's doing it yourself or calling a professional.

How Practice You Know If Your Furnace Ignitor Is Bad?

Plow off the power and let the Furnace absurd down. You lot can perform a multimeter exam to discover out exactly whether the ignitor is at mistake. Hither'south how to do it:

• Disconnect the wiring that connects the ignitor to the surface.
• Turn the power back on and wait till the inducer motor starts working.
• Grab a multimeter to cheque the voltage going to the ignitor connection.
• Gently put the probes of the meter inside the plug. Brand sure you only bear on the tips of the plug and non damage it by pushing the probes through.
• If the value on the meter reads anything above or below 120 volts, the ignitor is bad.

Based on the tests, do not delay consulting a heating and cooling company to supersede the ignitor.

What if the ignitor is not at fault? In that case, notice out the common bug associated with furnaces and effort locating the event. The best way would be to become a professional furnace repair done.

How Do You Diagnose a Bad Ignitor?

It is also possible that the ignitor may not exist the real culprit.

To truly diagnose the problem, you will accept to check up on some other components. This small troubleshooting process includes canceling out potential problems in the surrounding parts one by i.

• Thermostat. The Furnace will only ignite if the thermostat is functional. Double-bank check that the temperature is set college than the temperature of the surround. If you accept a programmable device, check for an error code. In one case you've inquired about all these matters, restart your thermostat.
• Gas Valve. The handle to the valve must rest parallel to the gas piping when the connection is secured. In one case you have confirmed that the valve is working, plough on any gas appliance in the firm. If there is no gas pressure, the fault lies in the stability of your connection, not the Furnace.
• Air Filter. If your furnace filter is dirty, it will cake the airflow from reaching the estrus exchanger. This volition overheat your organisation, causing the ignitor to shut off. You volition observe the filter inside the blower compartment. Inspect the extent of damage and accordingly either clean information technology or go for a replacement.
• Burner. Autonomously from an unstable connection to the gas supply, dirt and debris tin can also damage the burners. They will neglect to provide sufficient natural gas for heating. Although the ignitor will actuate, it will shut down when the temperature is not hot enough. Attempting to clean a gas-powered burner can exist dangerous without professional assist.

How Often Should a Furnace Ignitor Be Replaced?

On average, furnace ignitors will last about 4 to seven years. This depends upon how well maintained the system is. Afterward the seven-year mark, you should replace it. The Furnace itself can hands terminal you for 20 years or more with proper maintenance.

Don't Ignore the Alert Signs of a Faulty Furnace Ignitor

At the first signs of a faulty furnace ignitor, have action. Investigate the symptoms on your own, then call a professional to handle a repair. An ignitor repair or replacement is often an inexpensive fix that tin salve you lot from more meaning (and expensive) furnace repairs. A professional repair can also protect yous from injury or blow.

Allow St. Louis' Finest Technicians to Save the Twenty-four hours

Don't suffer without furnace rut! Allow Crystal Heating and Cooling accept over the job for yous. In one case yous've discovered a problem with your furnace ignitor, contact united states of america to schedule a furnace repair or maintenance. Our technicians are standing by to aid you get your Furnace back in tiptop working condition.

Source: https://crystalheatingandcooling.com/the-warning-signs-of-a-faulty-furnace-ignitor/

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