"Oscar_Lives" writes:
"blueman" wrote in message
...
"Oscar_Lives" writes:

"blueman" wrote in message
...
Bubba writes:
On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:19:47 GMT, blueman3333
wrote:

We have a "York Diamond 90" gas-fired furnace that was working well
until today.

There seems to be something wrong with the gas flow/valve, burner, or
sensor.

I can see the electronic ignition element turning white hot, then
hear
the gas valve click on, then see the blue gas flames light for a
second or two before sputtering out. This cycle repeats itself
several
times until, the system "gives up" (or I guess locks out) at which
point the blower just continues to blow cold air forever and no
further ignition attempts are made. The blower continues to blow even
if I shut off the thermostat

Interestingly, if I cycle off the power (even just for a second or
two), the furnace will start up normally and ignite the burners
properly. The burner will continue to fire for a *couple of minutes*
before blowing out at which point it goes into the (failed) cycle of
trying to relight a couple of times before finally giving up and
again
leaving me in the stuck state with the blower blowing cold air.

Sometimes in the cycle of trying to re-light it will burn for a
few seconds before sputtering out. Also, sometimes, I hear the valve
clicking on-and-off a couple of times in rapid succession.

Now the other two gas furnaces are working properly, so I don't think
it is a supply problem. Also, I don't think it is a ventillation
problem
because it seems to burn fine for a few minutes with a nice blue
flame
before suddenly sputtering out.

When I opened up the bottem panel (overriding the disable switch), I
noticed that after it locked up in the continuous blower position,
the
diagnostic LED exhibited a pattern of 8 short (red) flashes -- I
believe
this simply indicates that the flame is lost 5 times within a heating
cycle which according to the online manual indicates either:
Low gas pressure (unlikely since other two gas
furnaces in the house work fine, right?)
Faulty gas valve
Dirty or faulty flame sensor
Faulty hot surface igniter (unlikely because the flame does
ignite, right?)
Burner problem

Any idea what might be wrong and how to fix?

Even if this is not a DIY fix, I would like to have some idea of what
the potential problems could be so that I can intelligently engage
the
service person and make sure that I am not being taken

Thanks!

Why exactly is it that you homemoaners think you need to "engage" the
service tech? All that does is run your bill up while we waste time
chit chatting on your dime. A good tech really doesnt need to hear a
word from you other than, "the heat doesnt work and its down there in
the basement". If he needs any more than that then he isnt much of a
competent tech.

What a waste of response. If you don't want to help, then don't
respond to posts. If you hate engaging with customers, then you
shouldn't be in the SERVICE business.

The good service techs I know really appreciate it when a
knowledgeable homeowner has done his/her homework. At a minimum it
saves some diagnosis time. It also very often saves a return trip back
for parts.

Engage your brain for a second and just think -- if I can diagnose the
problem or at least narrow it down in advance, then the service tech
may be able to actually bring the right replacement part on the first
visit. This save me and the tech time and money.

Also, at least in the world I live in, there are many service people
who are only too happy to swap out parts until they get it right
rather than spending time on diagnostics -- whether this comes from
lack of knowledge, laziness, or greed, I will leave up to you.

If you want to fix it yourself, pull all the parts off the working
furnace and start putting them on the inoperative furnace one by one
till you get it. Whats the worst that can happen?
Your burn yourself, you asphyxiate yourself or your family, you burn
your house down or you electrocute yourself.
and maybe, just maybe, you might get it right.

If you actually READ my post rather than just frothing, you would see
that I SPECIFICALLY asked whether this was likely to be a DIY fix and
did not claim that I would go off fixing things beyond my level of
expertise.

Is business so bad for you (or is your reputation so poor) that you
need to beat down customers in order to drum up some business? Again,
the good service people that I know are happy to help customers help
themselves because they know that at the end of the day, the best
customer is an informed and satisfied one -- those are the ones that
keep coming back, particularly when they need to spend big bucks on a
new install...

Bubba
Name is pretty much consistent with the intelligence and mentality
expressed in your post.


Keep working on it.

Nice and warm here.

Warm here too -- the heater is only for a guest room and we have no
guests this week...

I can see why you don't have any guests. They probably know that you do
your own furnace work and they don't want to die from carbon monoxide
poisoning or from a fireball explosion...

Another "brilliant" ad-hominem comment from another underemployed,
disgruntled tech...
If you have nothing constructive to say, then stop wasting
bandwidth...
Get yourself a life!
ploink!