Hi All,
My furnace is about 30 years old Still works fine and does the job. I know it's not as efficient as new models, but here in Midwest it's adequate.
Just had a good look at the pilot and it seems to be a much bigger flame than say the water heater pilot. In fact the pilot is more like a plumbers torch. It's wasting a lot of gas.
Are the pilots adjustable in any way? I don't want to tear into it, if it's a lost cause.
Rich
This is Turtle.
This can be done but you would have to watch what you was doing and follow what it should look like when tring to lower it. now here is something to look for first and it could be the cause of the long pilot lite.
Dirty Jets which the blue flame will have somewhere in it a white or yellowish color.
If you would like to e-masil about it here or on line here. what ever but it is not a hard thing to do.
TURTLE
Rich, Listen to Turtle, he knows of what he speaks.
If you still want to try, find the gas valve (has the Off-Pilot-On knob). Somewhere on it (often on the same surface as the knob) will be a screw head that adjusts the pilot flame. Often it will have a cover which pops off. Adjust it a bit at a time watching the flame. If it seems to have no effect, return it to its original setting and look for another.
Thanks RichG,
I always do :-)
This is an original Hoenywell valve. It has a big head screw on the top (back) with Adj next to it. This must be it. Almost impossible to turn it, unless I use 90deg screwdriver.
Puzzles me that someone set that pilot, on what it seems to absolute max setting. In the heating season, all the pilot heat stays "in the family", but on warmer days it's wasting an expenisve fuel.
Regards,
RichK
Unfortunately, I'll bet that the big pilot contributes nothing in winter- in fact does you financial harm. By maintaining reduced draft which sucks lots of heated indoor air up and out when main burner is off. Unless you have an isolated system which draws air from outdoors only.
Your gas company should be able to send someone to adjust the flame (and avoid damage to valve.)
HTH, J
Make sure you are not turning the Nat. Gas-L/P set screw used when/if converted to L/P. There is a spring under the set screw and if you mess with it without knowing what you've done you might get a bigger bill than you want.
Is there any yellow on the tip? A small amount is OK. If it's larger then it probably has been reamed out over the years when cleaned.
Yes, that is correct. I should note that the screw is sometimes hidden under the plastic knob on a water heater. However, you are working on a furnace, so there is no temperature knob. Look around, particularly near where the tiny tube (to pilot) enters the control. Often a screw under another screw (actually a plug with slotted head).
You ARE wasting a lot of gas if your flame is that big. A normal pilot flame is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch high, and should be blue with some yellow. (Natural gas of Propane is about the same). Someone may have turned that pilot way up because the thermocouple is on it way out. If you make the pilot smaller and it keeps going out, you need a new thermocouple (not all that hard to replace and under $10).
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This pilot has holes on the side and the flames shoot out sideways onto the thermocouple, with quite a force. As I said, you can hear the hissing - never heard that in a pilot, at the couple I lighted before :-)
I discovered this last summer, when I got my hand near an air outlet on the second floor and felt a lot of warm air. I turned the pilot off at that time. When lighting it not long ago, I was puzzled at how big it was.
That's a good possiblity, as the thermocouple appears original. Have to find the adj first and see if it can be done.
Did a search on the web, and noticed that some of the Hoenywell furnace valves did not mention adj pilot, while others did.
Is it possible that the valve has no pilot adj? Are all of them supposed to have it? Then numbers on the vavle are V8138F 1007-2 and FB1
Rich
Rich
To close this thread - I did adjust the pilot. Adj screw was under a bigger cap screws, in the back of the valve. The adj screw was all the way out counter-clockwise, which allows max gas flow to the pilot. Had to make good
5-10 turns clockwise, before the pilot flame started to get smaller. Set it such that one of the jets just covered the thermocouple. It all well now.This frunace may have been burning gas needlesly for 30 years - what a waste. None of the repairmen that made maintenance calls ever noticed it?. Perhaps too lazy to make this minor adjustment - why bother after all, when the fee is the same.
Thanks to all who helped with the advice,
Rich
replying to Tom Lachance, Jes327 wrote: I have the same issue. My pilot light adjustment screw loosens all the way out and tightens all the way in (it seems) just fine, yet does not affect the pilot light flame size at all! The pilot light on my propane furnace uses way too much gas. It looks and sounds more like a torch!
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