Furnace Troubleshooting & Repairs ? Get a Local Heating Pro Fast! If your home is heated with a forced- air heating system, the appliance at the heart of if is either a furnace or a heat pump. Here we look at how to handle furnace problems. For heat pump problems, see Heat Pump Troubleshooting & Repairs. Though forced- air furnaces are normally quite reliable, they can break down and, when they do, getting them fixed quickly is usually critical. With a little do- it- yourself experience and the proper guidance, you can troubleshoot and repair a variety of furnace problems yourself. Once a year, vacuum out the area around the furnace’s blower. If possible, slide out the fan unit, clean each fan blade with a toothbrush, and then vacuum with a brush attachment on a vacuum cleaner. Resources and tips on Furnace Repair and troubleshooting. If your furnace quits or breaks down try these eight simple solutions before you call for service help. You can solve the problem and avoid a $200 service call. Troubleshooting Electric Furnaces and Electric Heaters - If your electric furnace isn’t working, you may just need to clean the filter or blower. This oil furnace troubleshooting guide will allow you to diagnose and repair the typical problems on a furnace that burns fuel oil or waste oil. Troubleshoot no heat for electric, gas, oil, heat pump furnaces. Gray Furnaceman Furnace Troubleshoot and Repair. Home For the homeowner Safety. Before you call a heating professional, you can take some important steps to troubleshoot your electric furnace issues. When issues occur with oil-fired furnaces, a few safe and user-friendly troubleshooting procedures may get your furnace up and running, saving an expensive service. Tutorial describes how to troubleshoot a high-efficiency, condensing-style home furnace, with simple fixes for common problems. Look for oil ports on the motor, normally located near the motor shaft. If the motor has these, apply two to three drops of non- detergent motor oil into each port (you may have to remove a cover plate to do this). Most contemporary motors don. For more about maintenance, see Maintenance Checklist for Central Heating Systems. Gas Furnace Parts Diagram. The information in the following articles is for some of the most common types of repairs. If these look to be beyond your abilities, call a qualified HVAC repair person. For problems with a heat pump, please see Heat Pump Repair. GAS LEAK: If you suspect a furnace gas leak, deal with this immediately! If you smell natural gas in your home or near the furnace, do not light any matches or turn off or on any switches. If the gas odor is strong, immediately evacuate your house, leaving the door open. Shut off the gas supply to your home by turning the valve until it is perpendicular to the supply pipe (here it is shown open). Turn off the gas supply valve, which should be located by your gas meter on the gas inlet pipe. To turn off the gas, rotate the valve one quarter turn with an adjustable wrench so that the valve. Then call your gas utility or the fire department from a remote location. Do not return to your home until you know it is safe. No Pilot Light or Ignition. Older gas and combustion- fuel furnaces have pilot lights; some newer ones have electronic ignition. Furnace with pilot light. If your older furnace has a pilot light that won. Be sure to turn off the gas to the furnace first. Also shut off the switch or circuit breaker that controls power to the furnace. Just poke the thin wire into the tiny orifice where the pilot flame normally burns to knock out any debris. Some pilot lights have a flame adjustment screw. With a gas- fired furnace, be sure the valve on the gas pipe is turned on (the lug or handle should be in line with the gas pipe). With an oil furnace, check the fuel supply. Electronic ignition furnace. On an electronic- ignition furnace, turn down the thermostat or turn the power switch off and then on again to reset the ignition control module. Listen for the sound of the spark or watch for the hot surface ignitor to glow (see your owner. The video below shows you how. Another video further down the page under the discussion of “If your furnace keeps shutting off after about 5 minutes” shows the same project with a different brand of furnace. If your furnace has a pilot light, be sure the pilot is lit. Usually this involves turning the gas valve to Off, waiting a couple of minutes, turning it to Pilot, pressing and holding it down while you light the flame, and waiting a minute or so, releasing it, and then turning it to On. If the furnace won’t light or ignites but fails again, call a furnace repair technician. Heating or Cycling Problems. If your furnace runs and provides some heat but not enough. Try raising the set temperature 5 degrees and waiting a few minutes. Be sure the room heating registers are open. Check the filter. Get a Local Heating Pro Fast! If your furnace does not heat at all. Check both the main electrical panel and any secondary subpanels that supply power to the unit. If the circuit has blown or tripped, reset the circuit breaker by flipping it all the way off and then on again. If the circuit blows again, there is probably a short in the electrical system providing power to the furnace. For this, you may need to call an electrical contractor. Be sure the furnace. Look for a Reset button near the blower motor. If nothing happens, wait about 3. Reset button again. Turn off the power to the furnace at the main electrical panel or subpanel. Look for a fuse in the power switch. If there is one, it may have blown. Replace the fuse (be sure to follow the instructions in your owner. With a gas furnace, the pilot light may have gone out or the gas valve may be shut off. See Thermostat Repairs. If your furnace cycles on and off too often. For information on how to solve and repair this problem, see Thermostat Repairs. If your thermostat has a small lever that moves along a calibrated scale that indicates . Just set it one calibration mark closer to the . It may take several hours for the thermostat to stabilize at this setting, so wait a while and then adjust it again if necessary. If making these adjustments doesn. When an electric- resistance furnace or heat pump turns off and on too frequently, the problem may be that the unit is overheating because of a clogged filter or a blower that is malfunctioning. First try cleaning or replacing the filter. If none of these measures do the trick, call a furnace repair technician. If your furnace keeps shutting off after about 5 minutes. Here is a video on how to deal with this problem: Furnace Blower Problems. If your furnace. Replacing it is an easy fix. First, turn off all power to the unit and turn off the gas at the gas valve that serves the furnace. Remove the door on the front of the furnace cabinet to give you access to the blower (it might be on a slide- out drawer.) Check the number stamped on the belt and get an exact replacement from a home center or heating supply outlet. Replacing a blower pulley is an easy fix. You can usually slip the belt on the motor. Rotate the blower pulley by hand, holding the belt in place but keeping your fingers from getting caught between the belt and the pulley. The belt should slip right into place. If it seems to be too tight or difficult to set in place, it may be necessary to adjust the motor mount to provide more slack. Then you can re- tighten the tension once the belt is in place. Check the manufacturer. If recommended by your maintenance manual, oil the bearings according to the manufacturer. The limit switch is designed to shut off the furnace if the air in the plenum gets too hot. Check the thermostat to see if the Fan switch has been turned on. If it has, turn it to Off or to Auto. If it is set to Off or Auto, the furnace. The lower pointer should be set to about 9. F., and the upper one should be at about 1. F. Noisy Furnace or Duct Work. Many heating ducts are metal, so they conduct noise quite readily from the air- handling unit to your rooms. To break the conduction of sound, you can have a heating contractor insert flexible insulation duct work between the furnace or air conditioner and the duct work runs. If you hear a pinging or popping sound coming from the duct work, this may be caused by thermal expansion or by air blowing past a loose flap of metal. Track along the duct runs, listening for the sound. If you locate it, make a small dent in the sheet metal to provide a more rigid surface that. Follow the instructions in your owner. When reinstalling the belt, be careful not to over- tighten it; this can wear out the motor bearings. Oil Burner Problems. If the oil burner goes on and off too much, clean or replace the filter.
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