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OT: Owner's of Natural gas furnaces

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El Toro

Well-known Member
If you have furnace ignitor like this you should buy a spare ignitor. My neighbor's furnace quit on a Sunday and it cost him $200.00 to get a service man out. I bought a spare ignitor for about $14.00 including tax. They're not that hard to change. They have 120 volts fed to the ignitor. Use a multi-meter to check for voltage and if you have voltage shutoff the furnace voltage and then check for continuity through the ignitor. If there's no continuity replace the ignitor. Hal
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Good advice, I've been down the same path. Another tip is these are very fragile and can break if not handled carefully. Also don't touch the heating element, its like a halogen lamp the oil on your fingers will cause it to fail prematurely.
 

Both posts are good advice.

One comment I would make is that not all hot surface igniters are 120 volts some such as those used with the early generation of Honeywell smart valves are 24 volts.
 
I saved a service call when my gas furnace began to ignite and then shut off after a few seconds. It turned out there was a sensor near the flame path which would shut it down if it did not get hot enough fast enough; this would prevent a gas build up if it didn't ignite. The sensor had some soot or dirt on it. I just wiped it clean and it worked like new.
 
(quoted from post at 13:36:29 12/26/11) Use a multi-meter to check for voltage and if you have voltage shutoff the furnace voltage and then check for continuity through the ignitor. If there's no continuity replace the ignitor.
Click to expand...

Another tip - Even if the ignitor shows continuity it MAY still not work.

Reason: The furnace burner control logic constantly looks at the current flowing through the ignitor. As an ignitor ages its resistance tends to increase, thus its reducing current draw. And when ignitor current falls below a certain minimum it prevents the main burner valve from opening.

Incidentally I've encountered this problem not only in gas furnaces, but also in gas ovens and dryers.
 
Yep it's a good spare to have on hand. I don't have an electronic ignitor, but I do keep a spare thermocouple on hand for my boiler.
 
if you're haveing problems with them breaking as i did once on a dryer,...keep all drafts away as they will break if they catch a draft while hot...
 
Ironic you posted this Hal, myself and friend a long time HVAC/plumber changed one of those out Christmas eve. Just prior to that, oil furnace across the street at neighbors had to be reset, had spares, filter, nozzle on hand, but it stayed on, told her to have the service guy in asap, and do so yearly after seeing the last service date, 2 years ago!

Funny thing that heating element ignitor, is like a halogen bulb, you can't touch the element or it will fail. He had to change the plug end on it, as when we saw what it was, (co-workers service van was a lot closer to the home coincidentally, we did not take his just some tools and things) had one on hand, little different, quick modification til he puts the right one in next week, heat back on. Seems the plug configuration and ceramic insulator vary on these, but you can modify them in a pinch, just have to make sure they are set with the same distance from the burner.

On top of that, this persons parents home lost heat too, got to visit with some people I have not seen in years, so everyone got heat back and we got to visit !
 
El Toro,
I've had the same problem, it was 11pm just over 1/2 hr $295 no tax - Receipt + 13%. (non union)
It was the owner, he has serviced my furnace since he installed it 18 years ago - guess who will not be back.

I now have a spare the suppliers make you jump through hoops to get one. I know an electrician that got it for me, not having a furnace TEC license he even had problems.
 
If you have voltage and the ignitor does not glow red, no sense in checking for continuity. Just replace ignitor, it's bad.
 
The connectors on the end (at the left in the photo) are not all the same and may not interchange even if they look about alike. So I have wire nuts and wire stripper handy to mate the new element to the old connector from the bad element if necessary.
 
Good advice. But...
My NG furnace would have to be at least 20 years newer than it is to have one of those.
I do keep a spare thermocouple on hand though.
I'm using it in the water heater right now :)
 
To add to the "very fragile" part, I needed one a few years ago on a Sunday. Local dealer didn't have one so called the warehouse 50 miles away to get one (emergency service charge). By the time I got there they had set it outside and gone. I opened it and it was broken - still wrapped in foam and bubble wrap. Had to wait a half hour for them to come back and get another one. Sure glad I looked before getting home.
 
I'll second that. I've broken one tryin to install it in a gas dryer. Costly buggers too! Should find a inexpensive source and stock up before the next one goes. Fortunately, they don't go very often.
 
My Ruud gas furnace is 16 years old. My old Kenmore water heater used 24 volts, but the replacement has a pilot light. Hal
 
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