MiCarl

For those of you eagerly watching for the next installment. Went back at it today with the meeter with longer leads and alligator clips. I'm reading 29V at the new ignition control while it is showing low voltage. The brand new ignition control is bad.

I hope she doesn't talk about V-max heads and cams on her Venture. That would be spooky....... Good on you for a great thing you did!

I already jumpered around the thermostat and its wiring. I narrowed the problem down to a couple connections inside the furnace before I got cold and quit (remember, it's outside and I need to lay in the snow to work on it).

The new control draws its power from the thermostat wire. When the thermostat first calls for heat the spark fires but the pilot valve doesn't open. After it finishes sparking the low voltage indicator comes on. At that point I measure less than 2V at the control but 30V at the transformer. If I disconnect the pilot valve I get the spark and no low voltage indicator, and measure 30V at the control. So I've got about 28V voltage drop on the circuit with the gas valve load. The original Johnson Controls G60 has a separate power lead (in addition to the thermostat) that I believe powers the gas valves and maybe the spark. It also grounds through the chassis in addition to the ground lead back to the transformer. The G60 has been working fine since Monday morning. I brought my better meeter with long leads and alligator clips home from work today. With the warmer temps this weekend I'll chase down my voltage drop. I'll also check to see if the G60 is pulling the voltage from the thermostat low, if so that might be the cause of my original problem.

I had that with my speedometer. The bearings that support the needle needed cleaning and lubricating. It's a delicate job, like working on a mechanical watch. I believe I did mine with a 30 year old can of Radio Shack color TV tuner cleaner/lubricant. Mine is gone and I don't think you can get it new. I was using it to clean/lubricate a clock too and after I ran out the clock eventually quit. My wife got me clock oil for Christmas and the clock is back in service. I'd guess clock oil or another light oil (sewing machine?) would be a good choice.

I was thinking about offering you a deal on a heat exchanger......

The plot thickens...... The new ignition control came in. It's status indicator shows low voltage when the pilot valve is connected. The meter I have here has short leads and no alligator clips so it was tough to get a good reading but it looks like about 1V at the ignition control. I get 30V at the transformer with the ignition control connected. I bypassed a bunch of stuff without resolving the problem before I got cold enough to give up and re-connect the original control. The new control gets all it's power from the thermostat wire, where the original has an extra lead directly to the transformer for power. The original also seems to ground through the chassis in addition to the ground lead. I'm starting to think maybe my whole problem is low voltage on the thermostat wire at the control (I did bypass the thermostat with no improvement in voltage). I'll bring my good meter and test leads home from the shop and try again on a warmer day.....

Ouch! That's going to be a bit more than my ignition control.

Let me change the direction: If it's on the internet it must be true. If posted on Craigs List you can take it to the bank!

It's like any other law - you're not going to be punished if you're not caught. On the other hand, if you have a routine interaction with police and they discover you carrying concealed without the proper permit you are instantly looking at felony charges.

Changes coming to Michigan: Michigan: Governor Snyder Signs CPL Reform Bills

I'd come back from a ride and find that SWMBO had unfurled it and filled with pots and garden decorations.

Nothing goes in the watering hole unless it is put there. What's probably causing your confusion is that many people just post in the watering hole rather than a more topic appropriate board. I'm sure you've seen Don's posts threatening to go nuclear over classifieds in the watering hole. By the way, good on you for posting it where it belongs!

I count work time as total time away from the things I love/need to do. By that measure you currently work a lot of hours. You should consider that in your vacation comparison.

For the time being it's started working again. That ignition control box is deep enough I bet it has relays in it - probably have a contact that is worn out. At some point in the future I may look into trying to repair it, the "universal replacement" I have on clearly is not as weather resistant as the original. Also, it finally occurred to me that that access panel probably had a schematic on back. I took a look and it sure does. Now I know which wire does what. It should only take a few minutes to drop in the replacement.

If you can see it and it's there it's real. If you can see it and it's not there it's virtual. If you can not see it and it's there it's transparent. If you can not see it and it's not there it's been deleted.

....and I can see it in Forum->VentureRider Website Discussion->Bug Reports

This topic showed up for me in "new posts". After my reply I'm going to go look in the board and see if I can see it.....

Mine went out again. I wonder what the technical reason is that they fail at bed time instead of while the sun is out........ Manually lit it last night and had to light it again this morning, so it hasn't "healed" itself this time. At least it's not so bitterly cold. New ignition control is on order.

I believe it has to do with our handgun registration: 1) Every hand gun in Michigan must be registered with the State Police. 2) Non-residents cannot register a hand gun in Michigan. 3) It is illegal to posses a handgun that is not registered to you unless you have a CPL. (Our license is called a Concealed Pistol License). There is an exemption allowing CPL/CCW holders from reciprocity states to possess in Michigan. If your home state adopted permit-less concealed carry and stopped issuing permits you'd have no way to carry legally in Michigan or other states with similar rules.

Hopefully it won't be too bad. Mine is still working fine. Fingers crossed.......

Thanks for the help guys. Generally I hate it when stuff "fixes" itself. In this case though I'm glad I'm not laying in the snow!

Model No. 585HJW036100 Product No. 585HJW036100ABAF Serial No. 1987C92368 A picture of the ignition control: Pretty crappy cell phone pic. Label says G60RBG-3, EF33C2189. There appear to be two wires going to the pilot, the white one passing across the face of the ignition control and the spark lead from the left end. The gas valve is behind (part?) of it. That's all that's down in the combustion area. Above it is a partition and above that are mounted a couple capacitors and relays. I believe the control board is behind the caps and relays. It fired up while I was in there. There is a heavy click that sounds like a gas valve and an almost instant woosh from the burner lighting. After that I can hear a rapid, quiet clicking (almost a buz) that I think is the spark. After a few seconds the clicking quits. The spark lead is wound around the gas line to the pilot. I wonder if it's possible the insulation is breaking down and it's grounding? It was close to freezing yesterday and possible some snow melted making it damp. For now I'm not inclined to mess with it while it continues to work. It's quite unpleasant to get to and I don't want to risk making what appears to be a transient issue permanent while the weather is cold.

Yeah, I've got similar problems on a much smaller forum I run. While I don't have classifieds, everyone still posts everything in the equivalent of the watering hole. I've got a couple people that are inclined to make damn fools of themselves. I've quit moderating their posts - I figure if they want to announce to the world they're not too sharp I'll just let them. We're playing in your house - your rules. Keep up the good work!

Error code? What's that. This ain't got no blinking anything. Since I could manually light the pilot and then it fired right up I don't think it's the flame sensor or gas flow. The igniter wasn't firing off for some reason. SWMBO is home today and I haven't got a call saying she's cold so I guess it's still working. Supposed to be -6 tonight. Probably quit again about midnight.........