Need a lil propane furnace info....

[Snaggletooth]

My daughter just called. She's at the house her and her girlfriend share. Their furnace is apparently not heating. She said they just had the propane tank filled yesterday and it seemed to be working last night.

 

Tank is on and showing pressure.

 

I was trying to walk her through checking and relighting the furnace. It's an Arcoaire Deluxe 2 stage Model NTP605.

 

I had her check for stickers on the panels for relighting directions and all they could find was one that said "Autostart", no relighting info at all.

 

I'm not even familiar with propane furnaces so I'm gonna ask.......what the hell?

 

Any suggestions as to what I can do from here to get them fired up?

 

Mike

Edited December 25, 2012 by Snaggletooth

[Kirby]

Tell her to turn off the heater and wait a few minutes. It probably has a timer on the gas solenoid that will have to reset. After a few you may hear a click. Then you can restart normally. Hope this helps. Not familiar with this particular model but should be the same.

[Snaggletooth]

Got her doing that now. Waiting to hear back with any results.

 

I'm all for an easy fix.

 

Mike

[CaptainJoe]

If its a newer gas furnce there is a small exhust gas fan in the middle right hand corner. When the thermostat calls on heat, this fan has to start first or the furnace won't light. try tapping on it. They are a PITA but ever couple years you have to take off and put two drops of sewingmachine on the bushings. a unscrupulose? repair man will replace fan... most when called will use just use the oil... Im told the fans are notorious for this as the as sit all year long without moving as it is a heat only function.

 

 

before you do anything... there should be a circuit board with diagnostic light in middle... If a malfunction is detected it will flash 3,4,5,6 etc. times.... that along with the make model serial numbers and you can go on-line for the trouble code. If our lucky it will be written under cover or in general vicinity.

 

PS

or it could be something as simple as a bad thermostat.

Edited December 25, 2012 by CaptainJoe

[Mel]

One thing of importance is if it has electronic ignition or does it have a pilot light? Probably not a just pilot light, but if I remember correctly, the electronic ignition first lights a pilot, then it lights the main burner. Pilot light has to heat the thermocouple before the main burner valve will open. The thermocouple is a kind of safety device that assures that the pilot is lit before releasing gas through the main burner valve. I would think that their best bet would be to bite the bullet and call a licensed repair service. Gas heaters can be seriously dangerous if not working properly.

 

P.S. You say they are sharing a house. If they are renting, they should contact the landlord right away and have him take care of it.

 

Please let us know how they resolve it.

[Squidley]

Ours is like Capt Joe mentioned, it clears the combustion chamber 1st by allowing the blower to come on and clear it out. Then there is a glow element that heats up orange hot and then one it meets that criteria, it opens the gas valve and allows the flame to ignite in the combustion chamber. Sounds like it might be a bit dirty.

 

I would have them bring in someone trustworthy to perform a cleaning of the furnace. I had it done to ours up north every year before the cold set in....

[Snaggletooth]

Well they got it fired up. I'd had them turn off the thermostat and let it sit for a bit. It took 4 trys for it to fire up. They could not see a pilot light on and with no instructions on hand for relighting I was digging online for a manual. The "automatic" kind of had me wondering on the relighting. So apparently it's an electronic ignition. I've never seen the thing so was a guessing across the board.

 

It's an old house built in the 70's and way back off the highway on gravel roads. I'm thinking all kinds of problems from dirty sensors. Who knows the last time it was checked out well.

 

But they are warming up. I did talk to them about contacting the rental ower and let them know what happend. Not a good thing this time of year and a couple of young gals back in the sticks. They love it out there but ya no, they lack some basic skills and knowlege for contry living. I'll feel a lot better if and when the owner sends some one out to check the furnace.

 

I'll give them my plug in heater and a cabonmonoxide alert alarm to help out in the meantime.

 

Remember......I'm talking to young women who drive in..... not on... the snow. And she wonders why I worry. Geesh!

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Now back to your holiday festivities.

 

Mike

Edited December 26, 2012 by Snaggletooth

[cimmer]

I have a 2 stage natural gas furnace and it sometimes doesnt light. It has no pilot light as it uses a heating element to light the gas. Mine has a circuit board and I sometimes have to turn off the power to the furnace via a switch that was installed on the side of the unit. I leave it off for a few minutes and then turn it back on and that seems to clear the system board and it relights. I also make sure the thermocouple is clean and use some emery cloth to knock the buildup off of it. I do this as that is what the repair man told me to do and it had worked for the last 15 years.

I hope this helps some and make sure they get it checked out soon.

Merry Christmas..

 

Rick F.

[campfire12]

Most furnaces within the last 7-8 years use what we call hot surface ignition. With that being said there is a sequence of operation that the unit goes thru. First thing that hapens on a call for heat(t-stat turned up for heat)is the inducer fan which is the fan that blows exhaust out the home has to come on. If the plastic flu pipe is not restricted with ice outside or inproper sloping back to the furnace and water colecting in the pipe there is a pressure switch that will not close. If pipe and fan are working one would assume the pressure switch makes when the inducer fan comes on. If thats all good after aprox 1 min or so you should see a red glow appere around the burners. That is the inginitor glowing. when ignitor gets good and warmed up a click will happen and the gas valve opens up. Burners should light and stay lit. If burners lite then goes out the flame sensor is dirty. The flame sensor is a steel rod that is at the other end of the burners from the ignitor. If flame goes out as soon as the lite the flame sensor needs to be pulled out and cleaned with steel wool. That is the very basic operation of 90% of the higher efficency gas furnaces. Good luck and like others said if your not really shure of whats happing you should call a repair man to be safe. Good luck and be safe.There are other saftey switchs involved and if any of those are bad the blower motor usually comes on and stays on with no heat.

[ragtop69gs]

I've been told not to clean the flame sensor with anything more aggressive than a dollar bill and that steel wool or emery cloth may damage the flame sensor.

[CaptainJoe]

The best thing to do in this case is to call landlord and hopefully if he's not competent he'll call a qualified technician....

 

I've been a landlord for longer than I care to remember and 99 % of the time I can fix the problem.

 

Some can some can't...

 

When I'm in over my head, I know B&G heating and cooling in Ripley WV has got my back...

 

I hear what Dan and Jay are saying about cleaning the Flame sensor... same goes for a temporary fix to a 220 volt well pressure switch. or a thermocouple...Key word there is temporary...

 

and yes sometimes a inducer fans needs replaced...

 

Unfortunately things are not made to last the way they use to be?

 

And I'm told by my AC tech that with this new Freon... well let's just say don't expect the units to last like the older models.

Edited December 26, 2012 by CaptainJoe

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Hows that song go?

 

Oh yeah: "cmon baby light my fire'....

 

 

[frankd]

How I clean flame rods (aka flame sensors) is to remove it from the furnace and then take a Scotch pad and clean the crud off. Reinstall the rod and you're good to go. When the flame rod needs to be cleaned, the pilot will light, and because the flame rod isn't sensing a flame, it'll go back out in 10-15 seconds. Usually, the furnace will try to light a couple more times before it shuts down. When this happens, you will get a 'no flame' or 'no ignition' error (the flashing LED on the control board).

 

Frank D.

[Snaggletooth]

Well they got ahold of the owner last night and he felt bad about the furnace problem. He said he had the unit checked when the last renter moved out about two years ago. He contacted his heating company and they are sending out someone today to inspect and clean it.

 

Sounds like a decent landlord.

 

All is good.

[billmac]

good landlords know to take care of good tenants.

[Snaggletooth]

good landlords know to take care of good tenants.

 

I agree. For a couple of young gals they have done a lot to keep up the property and make some improvements. They are on about 5 acres and mostly wooded. They keep the front mowed down and have been dragging dead fall in from the woods. They cleared an area and built a stone fire pit out back. The owner seems to be pleased with the work they have done. He dropped off a huge roll of plastic sheeting a while back and apologised for the poor windows. He helped them get the sheeting up on a few and they finished it up.

 

Her girlfriend hunts and likes to shoot. She asked if they could clear an area by the ravine at the back of the property to build a small range. He gave them the ok for that project. I'm planning on pitching in on that one myself. Nothing like gun fire to keep the wolves way. LOL!

 

The thing is that blows my mind is they have no cable TV, only a broadcast convertor and no computer hook up and still they seem to be surviving. Never thought that was possible for a young person today.

 

Mike