My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.

We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.

We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.

So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.

Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
blowing, but then about 2 minutes before the blower stops it stops. I
assume this is the same time the fire goes out and it stops actively
heating while the blower continues to blow over the still hot metal
parts.

Does anyone have any idea what is doing this? I could swear it seems
to be coming not from the heater itself but from some ductwork about
20 feet away in the attic (inaccessible to me), and this makes no
sense to me because as I said, it doesn't start and stop with the
blower, so I don't think it's some kind of air movement noise. (I
could be mistaken. In the small attic trying to locate the source of
the whine is like trying to find a cricket--I can't really tell where
its coming from.)

Any ideas?

possibley the draft inducer motor.

"N Harrison" wrote in message
...
My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.

We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.

We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.

So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.

Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
blowing, but then about 2 minutes before the blower stops it stops. I
assume this is the same time the fire goes out and it stops actively
heating while the blower continues to blow over the still hot metal
parts.

Does anyone have any idea what is doing this? I could swear it seems
to be coming not from the heater itself but from some ductwork about
20 feet away in the attic (inaccessible to me), and this makes no
sense to me because as I said, it doesn't start and stop with the
blower, so I don't think it's some kind of air movement noise. (I
could be mistaken. In the small attic trying to locate the source of
the whine is like trying to find a cricket--I can't really tell where
its coming from.)

Any ideas?

Many furnaces use a blower to blow air into the combustion chamber. Some use
a fan at a distance from the furnace, but also to blow the exhaust through
the flue pipe.

Might be the inducer on the furnace, or possibly a fan located in the flue
some where. I have a friend who has an inducer fan about 20 feet or so from
the furnace, and you can hear the fan through the house.

I'd suggest you follow the flue (chimney) from the furnace, and you'll
likely find a blower fan that needs a shot of oil.

Remit $47.50 for consultation fee.

--

Christopher A. Young
Jesus: The Reason for the Season
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"N Harrison" wrote in message
...
My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.

We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.

We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.

So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.

Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
blowing, but then about 2 minutes before the blower stops it stops. I
assume this is the same time the fire goes out and it stops actively
heating while the blower continues to blow over the still hot metal
parts.

Does anyone have any idea what is doing this? I could swear it seems
to be coming not from the heater itself but from some ductwork about
20 feet away in the attic (inaccessible to me), and this makes no
sense to me because as I said, it doesn't start and stop with the
blower, so I don't think it's some kind of air movement noise. (I
could be mistaken. In the small attic trying to locate the source of
the whine is like trying to find a cricket--I can't really tell where
its coming from.)

Any ideas?

The high-pitched whining you hear is almost certainly from the exhaust
fan.

Your furnace has two fans -- a small exhaust fan to make sure there's a
draft up the chimney to exhaust the combustion gases, and a large
blower fan to blow the air throughout the house. The running of the
exhaust fan coincides with when the gas is burning, which is what you
described.

It sounds like you've got a failed bearing in the exhaust fan, and it's
probably eventually going to fail completely. Ours took at least a
year to completely fail after the first time we heard it making bad
noises.

If you've got a service plan on the furnace, you can ask them to
replace the exhaust fan before it dies completely, but they may say no
(they did when my exhaust fan was dying and I asked them to replace
it). In that case, you'll have to pay them to replace it early, or
wait until it fails, in which case you'll have some period of time with
no heat while waiting for them to come replace it (and perhaps a longer
time while waiting for them to order the correct fan for your furnace,
which is also what happened to us).

Obviously, if you don't have a service plan on the furnace, then
you'll have to pay for replacing the fan whether you do it now or when
it fails completely, so you'll probably want to do it now for peace of
mind.

I'm including your whole article below, because your initial posting
had a typo in the Newsgroups line so it didn't actually appear in
alt.home.repair....

N Harrison writes:
My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.

We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.

We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.

So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.

Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
blowing, but then about 2 minutes before the blower stops it stops. I
assume this is the same time the fire goes out and it stops actively
heating while the blower continues to blow over the still hot metal
parts.

Does anyone have any idea what is doing this? I could swear it seems
to be coming not from the heater itself but from some ductwork about
20 feet away in the attic (inaccessible to me), and this makes no
sense to me because as I said, it doesn't start and stop with the
blower, so I don't think it's some kind of air movement noise. (I
could be mistaken. In the small attic trying to locate the source of
the whine is like trying to find a cricket--I can't really tell where
its coming from.)

Any ideas?

Thanks for all the advice. I found what I think is the inducer fan
after opening up my Carrier WeatherMaker 8000 (about 4 years old) and
oiled it with wd40 where I could reach, but it still makes the noise.
Perhaps it is the bad bearings Jonathan Kamens mentions.

BTW, I called Carrier and there is absolutely no technical help of any
kind offered. I can understand that with something so potentially
dangerous they don't dare give out advice to consumers, but I'm
spoiled by computer and software vendors who at least will look up the
symptoms and tell you what they know about a model/version. Carrier
offers nothing but "here's someone to call in your area."

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 10:43:17 -0700, N Harrison
wrote:

My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.

We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.

We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.

So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.

Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
blowing, but then about 2 minutes before the blower stops it stops. I
assume this is the same time the fire goes out and it stops actively
heating while the blower continues to blow over the still hot metal
parts.

Does anyone have any idea what is doing this? I could swear it seems
to be coming not from the heater itself but from some ductwork about
20 feet away in the attic (inaccessible to me), and this makes no
sense to me because as I said, it doesn't start and stop with the
blower, so I don't think it's some kind of air movement noise. (I
could be mistaken. In the small attic trying to locate the source of
the whine is like trying to find a cricket--I can't really tell where
its coming from.)

Any ideas?

The problem might be that you used WD. Which is nearly useless for electric
motors. Try "Zoom spout turbine oil". Ask for it at the hardware. Comes in a
4 ounce tall plastic bottle, with a spout tube that comes out. Great stuff.

Failing that, try ND-30 or "two stroke" engine oil.

--

Christopher A. Young
Jesus: The Reason for the Season
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the advice. I found what I think is the inducer fan
after opening up my Carrier WeatherMaker 8000 (about 4 years old) and
oiled it with wd40 where I could reach, but it still makes the noise.
Perhaps it is the bad bearings Jonathan Kamens mentions.

BTW, I called Carrier and there is absolutely no technical help of any
kind offered. I can understand that with something so potentially
dangerous they don't dare give out advice to consumers, but I'm
spoiled by computer and software vendors who at least will look up the
symptoms and tell you what they know about a model/version. Carrier
offers nothing but "here's someone to call in your area."

wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the advice. I found what I think is the inducer fan
after opening up my Carrier WeatherMaker 8000 (about 4 years old) and
oiled it with wd40 where I could reach, but it still makes the noise.
Perhaps it is the bad bearings Jonathan Kamens mentions.


WD-40 is not a lube, and will cause premature failure of a bearing in that
unit. Period.


BTW, I called Carrier and there is absolutely no technical help of any
kind offered.

and never will be to non dealers.


I can understand that with something so potentially
dangerous they don't dare give out advice to consumers, but I'm
spoiled by computer and software vendors who at least will look up the
symptoms and tell you what they know about a model/version. Carrier
offers nothing but "here's someone to call in your area."

Thank your local and regional code enforcment guys...and about 300,000
lawyers that make a living off lawsuits.


On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 10:43:17 -0700, N Harrison
wrote:

My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.

We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.

We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.

So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.

Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
blowing, but then about 2 minutes before the blower stops it stops. I
assume this is the same time the fire goes out and it stops actively
heating while the blower continues to blow over the still hot metal
parts.

Does anyone have any idea what is doing this? I could swear it seems
to be coming not from the heater itself but from some ductwork about
20 feet away in the attic (inaccessible to me), and this makes no
sense to me because as I said, it doesn't start and stop with the
blower, so I don't think it's some kind of air movement noise. (I
could be mistaken. In the small attic trying to locate the source of
the whine is like trying to find a cricket--I can't really tell where
its coming from.)

Any ideas?

replying to N Harrison, mimccu wrote:
nharrison wrote:

My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.
We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.
We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.
So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.
Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
blowing, but then about 2 minutes before the blower stops it stops. I
assume this is the same time the fire goes out and it stops actively
heating while the blower continues to blow over the still hot metal
parts.
Does anyone have any idea what is doing this? I could swear it seems
to be coming not from the heater itself but from some ductwork about
20 feet away in the attic (inaccessible to me), and this makes no
sense to me because as I said, it doesn't start and stop with the
blower, so I don't think it's some kind of air movement noise. (I
could be mistaken. In the small attic trying to locate the source of
the whine is like trying to find a cricket--I can't really tell where
its coming from.)
Any ideas?



There could be several reasons for this type of noise. The key is to
determine whether it's the electric motor that's going bad or it's
something else entirely. I disconnected the PVC pipe (that exhausts to
the outside) from the blower motor while the unit was operating to check
on the noise source. (Be very careful while doing this and make sure
there is extra ventilation in the room....open some windows, etc. and only
do this for a very short period). With the exhaust pipe disconnected, the
noise went away, so in my case, it was not the electric motor going bad.
I found it was simply a poor seal where the plastic blower motor housing
mounts to the top of the heater. Over time, the seal moved around and was
not airtight, so some air was being pulled through the seal and causing a
whistle noise.
Buying a whole new blower motor ($300 plus dollars) would likely solve the
problem, because you would get new seal tape with the new blower, but I'm
pretty sure that seal tape (not sure if that's the proper name for it)
would be much less costly. Good luck to all in finding the root cause.


--

On Sat, 02 Jan 2016 02:44:01 +0000, mimccu
wrote:

replying to N Harrison, mimccu wrote:
nharrison wrote:

My forced air Gas heater makes a high-pitched whining noise but I'm
pretty sure that it's NOT the blower! If anyone has heating a/c
savvy, please read on.
We are in a house in Chandler, AZ, that is about 4 years old. It has
forced air gas heating. I hear that it's been done cheaply: both the
heater and air conditioner are located in the attic (the a/c
compressors are outside, the blower etc. are in the attic). People
say this is a bad design but cheaper for builders, so we're stuck with
it.
We bought the house in during the summer, so we tested the a/c and it
works flawlessly. I also tested briefly the heater enough to notice
that it worked, but I was so excited looking around our potential new
dream home I didn't notice the high pitched squeal it makes.
So around November, when you have to start using the heater in this
part of Arizona, I switch the thermostat over to heat and am appalled
when I hear this high pitch whining noise that appeared to coincide
with the heater. I figured, no problem, it's probably an unlucky
small vent in a duct that's making this noise, and I'll just find it
and go over it with duct tape. But then I notice that it doesn't
coincide with when the blower runs.
Here's its behavior: when the heater lights up to warm the air BEFORE
the blower starts, the whine begins. It continues while the blower is
snip

This was posted on January 24, 2004.

See he
http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...he-503454-.htm

By now, the guy probably was decapitated by the fan blade, due to bad
bearings.

On 1/2/2016 5:19 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jan 2016 02:44:01 +0000, mimccu
wrote:


This was posted on January 24, 2004.

See he
http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...he-503454-.htm

By now, the guy probably was decapitated by the fan blade, due to bad
bearings.


Posted by a guy from example dot com, which is
Home Moaners Hub. A web portal to Usenet. The
nitwit probably doesn't know what a Usenet is.

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

replying to Paintedcow , mimccu wrote:
Paintedcow wrote:

On Sat, 02 Jan 2016 02:44:01 +0000, mimccu
snip
This was posted on January 24, 2004.
See he

http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...he-503454-.htm
By now, the guy probably was decapitated by the fan blade, due to bad
bearings.




I know it's a very old post. I should have started a new one, since this
is a common issue and a lot of sites have pretty poor information on how
to diagnose. So many folks just assume it's their fan bearings or blades
going bad. On a newer heater (that is less than 8 years old or so), I'd
say that is a pretty poor bet.

--