Furnace will not come on unless I reset circuit breaker.

Dec 21, 2005 28 Replies

Problem with my Bryant furnace.



I come home or wake up to a cold house. The furnace has stopped working. First thing I do is beat on the thermostat. Does not work. Turning the blower to the on position starts the blower motor.



I go downstairs, and reset the furnace circuit breaker. Furnace fires up.



The rest of the day, the thing works fine. Then a day later, happens again.



I put tape over the door switch, so I can see if the diagnostic LED is blinking a code next time it happens. I assume the door switch kills power, thus clearing any errors.



Right now it glows steady. I suppose I need a list of error codes, and possibly a way to retrive any stored codes, if the board has that capacity.



Any ideas?



Thanks John


yeah blink blink .......blink blink blink.....blink. blink blink blink blink.....blink blink.....blink blink blink. blink.

say do you realize its projected to be 82° here on christmas day? prolly haf to run the ac.

Just one idea: I had exactly same problem on Carrier high efficiency furnace last year. It was 2 stage furnace. During the day normally furnace works on 1st stage, so no problem there. At night furnace needs more heat so it starts at 1st stage, then after 12min goes to second stage. As in second stage it worked quite long to satisfy thermostat next time it starts with 2nd stage right away. My problem was that venting of pipes from furnace was not sloping. So some water was staying in pipes and was freezing. When furnace was starting on

2nd stage furnace computer would calculate that there is too much resistance in pipes and would shut itself down. Reseting furnace power would start next time furnace in 1st stage, so it worked. Re-venting furnace fixe problem.

I am sure this is just one of possibilieites, but I hope it will help you.

Reagards,

No change in our venting. It is, however, much colder than it has been in previous winters.

I did replace an EXTREMELY dirty furnace filter the day before the problem started. I can't imagine though, how this would bear on the situation.

Flame sensor bad or dirty Electrode bad or dirty or needs gapping hi-V transformer weak nozzle partially plugged

its broken, call your favorite tech.

This is Turtle.

This is What Paul is tring to stop but you can't stop it for it's coming no matter what you do. The only way Paul can do is to slow it down by making it a hell hole out of the group and it will hold it back for a while , but when it does break loose, it all changes at once. These two posters are a example of the future.=20

TURTLE

The door micro-switch does kill power to the furnace. We had a similar problem a couple years back (mid-winter) and the company doing the service (not anymore) took a week (yes a week) to figure it out. My wife and I had to go down around the clock and manually restart from the circut board. Turns out the service company said they had checked the gas valve which it later turned out they hadn't, and the valve was the culprit. Our lockout codes could be "overwritten" (manually) only for a short period of time, hence the constant restarting..........Doc

"Noon-Air" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Once I get the error codes I can go from there. I see no reasons to call for an expensive service call when all I need to do is clean a flame sensor or replace a $45 ignitor.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news:1135177571.576495.68670 @o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

Yeah. That's why I need the board to hold a code. The problem has occurred 3 times out of probably 100 ignition cycles now. The tech who replaced our board 3 years ago told me not to call for service until I get a code to tell them. They could have us solve the problem by a simple phone call.

"Pop" wrote in news:csudnXAmgesg8TTenZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@usadatanet.net:

I'm hoping on the ignitor or flame sensor. Both have had issues in the past few years. Both have been cleaned or replaced before.

Hi, When it happens is the time to fetch code. Until you read the code, don't reset it by powering on/off which is initializing the logic. Think logic, LOL. Tony

Try reading the whole thread before replying.

Lets see how long your wife is gonna stand being without heat. After all, its not rocket science....right??

What's your fuel source? Oil, propane, or natural gas?

Is it an 80% (metal chimney) or 90% model (plastic PVC vent)?

: >

: : I'm hoping on the ignitor or flame sensor. Both have had issues in the : past few years. Both have been cleaned or replaced before.

Can you observe them to watch them work? If they've gone out before, well maybe ... makes sense to check at least.

Have you tried any of the appliance web sites? Thre are a couple of good ones I'll look up if you haven't tried them yet. Let me know. Or maybe someone else has them right handy and will post them. Have you tried the mfg's web site? I've forgotten the initial post, so ... sorry if you already said those things.

Pop

My wife must be more understanding than yours.

Hi, My Carrier furnace can go into test moce cycling thru it's sequences. Just a mattrer of jumpering one pin. No such thing in your furnace? If you do, you can observe what's going on. Tony

Is this your post? No change in our venting. It is, however, much colder than it has been in previous winters.

I did replace an EXTREMELY dirty furnace filter the day before the problem started. I can't imagine though, how this would bear on the situation.

If you cant figure out how a dirty filter can cause a unit to trip out and lock out and stay in a locked out condition, then you REALLY do need to call a qualified tech out. Particularly if you are willing to pay $45 for a damn ignitor...an ignitor that ISNT your issue, nor is that flame sensor. And if you cant find the error codes, that are either on your board, or on the door, then you sure you can go from there? I mean, just cause it says its in a particular circuit, does that mean you will replace everything in it and then still get the code later? Then, you are still down, and its still not right, and you have blown money on parts you didnt need....lets see...

$200 in parts you didnt need.... or $150 service call that got you fixed...

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