heater won't kick on

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I have a gas heater with a electric starter. as near as i can tell the electric starter is trying to start, but is not sparking. i dId what the book said not to do and stuck my long lighter doWn in there when it started to go. and it lit. so my house is warming up alittle. so i know i am getting gas. Any body else have this problem? wHat DO i have to replace? randy

-- randy in central missouri (rwybrant@coin.org), March 21, 2002

Answers

electric start, gas heater,, do you see a spark? Id guess the "sparker" isnt working correctly, either it fell out of place,, or not creating a big enough spark,, that would be my gues,,as long as you can light it with a lighter,, then the gas is working

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 21, 2002.

Check the gap on your electric ignitor. Somewhere in your fernance literature their should be a setting for the gap. It acts as a spark plug to ignite the gas.

-- tom kehn (sandykehn@netzero.com), March 21, 2002.

randy,

I once had a spider lay an egg sac in the igniter of my furnace and it wouldn't kick on. Might want to check to make sure that nothing is obstructed.

-- chickadee (chickadee@treetops.com), March 21, 2002.


what brand of heater do you have and do you know the aproximate age of it?is it an electronic ignition (like an 80 or 90 % model or is it a spark assist?if you can find the model# and tell me the manufacturer. i can probably give you a good idea what is wrong

-- ed (mkwrth@fsb.net), March 21, 2002.

I'm no gas guru, but it's got to have a thermostat on the wall or somewhere. They go bad, too.

-- Hank in Oklahoma (hbaker@ipa.net), March 21, 2002.


Randy, Tom Kehn had the best diagnosis. Most newer models have just two igniter points and if they are gapped too wide, there will not be a spark. Older models had points on both sides of a metal plate. Since there is a certain amount of actual water in the gas, the plate would corrode and there would be no electrical continuity when the controls sent the juice to it. My old Lennox was a bear for that every fall as I'd have to sand the soot and rust off the igniter plate. Newer Heil gas furnace didn't want to ignite last fall and that just has 2 points. Emery cloth and a slight squeeze on the two points was all it needed. If you still have the manual that came with your furnace, it should tell you what distance the points should be gapped.

-- Martin Longseth (paquebot@merr.com), March 21, 2002.

The first time I tried to start our new gas furnace, I could hear it come on inside, but then nothing else happened. Repairman came out and a fan had come off the ?spindle? (the stick-like thing that goes through the middle of it. He put it back on and left.

Thirty minutes or so later, it happened again. I had watched him so knew what to take apart to get to the fan. I super glued it back on. That was four years ago and I haven't had any more trouble with it.

DON'T MESS WITH IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GOOD IDEA WHAT YOU ARE DOING! Gas is dangerous.

-- Mona in OK (modoc@ipa.net), March 22, 2002.


thanks all, it was the igniter. $50 for a house call and the part. i think i am going to get another for a spare. It will cost $20. but hey that is cheaper than another service call.

-- randy in central missouri (rwybrant@coin.org), March 22, 2002.

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