its -20C outside, and my furnace isn't kicking in. help?

[willett]

hey guys,

i'm out in a bush camp northern ontario again and my crappy and ancient atco's furnace isn't doing what it should.

i have a digital thermostat on the wall that is reading out right now at 41 ferenheit.

i would like it to be 70 in here.

it was working well the last few days when it was hovering on the freezing mark outside.

now that the temp has dropped the wont come on.

it is an electric ignition furnace.


earlier i had it kinda working in that instead of climbing up to 70 it would get to the mid 50s and turn off. if i simply dropped the thermostat to below the shown room temp a relay would click somewhere and it would fire up again.

now nothing. the fan comes on for about 3 minutes but no heat.

i tried resetting the power to the unit and it lit for a minute and then quickly turned off.

any suggestions, i'm afraid that i might actually freeze my nuts off if this thing doesnt come on tonight.


i am thinking about trying to bypass the thermostat completly by bridging the leads that come off of it with a peice of copper wire and turning it on and off when necessery.


any help would be greatly appriciated by me and my crew.
-spen

[nuke1]

this just happened to me at my house, take a 5 dollar bill and gently clean the flame ignitor. The little sticck that points towards the flame to start it.

[LockDoc]

-
I can't really help you but I would try the bypass. Can't hurt anything. It could be the thermostat. Does it have batteries in it? If it does they may be dead. If the gas valve comes on but it doesn't light I would just light it with a match. I don't know how new it is but some of the newer ones have a flame sensor in them and if the sensor rod gets dirty it won't sense the flame and the gas valve will kick off. Just some things to try...

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by nuke1

this just happened to me at my house, take a 5 dollar bill and gently clean the flame ignitor. The little sticck that points towards the flame to start it.

Does that mean if he only has a one dollar bill he is out of luck??? j/k..

LockDoc

[willett]

i will try the 5 dollar bill trick. i'm up for anything at this point in time.

i tried to bypass and it didnt do anything for the burner.
just kept the fan on a constant on/off cycle

[willett]

just looked, the whole thing is burried behind a big plate and the only access is a little door.

i am going to spray canned air in there for now and if that doesnt work i will pull the whole thing apart tomorrow.

[69GMCor70Chevy]

Willett, if it is ancient why does it have the electric ignition?

Give me the model of the furnace and I will try to help you out. My family runs a business that includes installation and repair of furnaces. My parents have three journeymen plumbers on staff. My knowledge of furnaces isn't great but I can ask them.

Could be the ignitor, control or the gas valve.

[msgross]

does it have a thermocoupler? that's what senses the flame and tells the regulator to keep the gas flowing. Sometimes the ingnitor works as the same piece.

Last winter my ignitor needed replaced, the old one's crack easily and won't get hot.

Mine acted up again last weekend, the tube from the regulator that has gas for the pilot flame (first thing lit by the ignitor) was clogged a little, there was a small jet opening when I took it apart...

It's really easy to pull the burners out of mine, two screws and I can get it out to blow air through it. A little rust or dirt will really clog the lines. After your furnace tries to light once or twice it will go into "lockout" and you need to reset the power to it..

[willett]

hey 69 GM the atco is ancient, but the furnace had been replaced sometime in the last decade. i forgot to mention that.

i pulled it apart today and hit the sensor with emery cloth. works like a charm again

[nuke1]

That sensor is what i meant, sorry, by bud that is a furnace guy told me to use a 5 dollar bill, it worked for me.

[69GMCor70Chevy]

Originally Posted by willett

hey 69 GM the atco is ancient, but the furnace had been replaced sometime in the last decade. i forgot to mention that.

i pulled it apart today and hit the sensor with emery cloth. works like a charm again

Good!! With the wind we have here today I don't think I would want to go too long without the heating system. Do you have a stove in their or a space heater? If not you should get one. I have had to turn the stove on and open the door a time or two.

[willett]

i'm going to run into town tomorrow and pickup some propane heaters.
the furnace in my bunk trailer was one thing, but today our 30kw genset calved out. it has been a constant sh*t storm since last wednesday....

that was some kinda wake-up call. power was down 10 hours before we could truck in a replacement.

i almost had to re-winterize our water system as frost started forming on the copper lines.

but if you gentleman will excuse me i am going to have my first shower since last wednesday. BECAUSE I FINALLY CAN:|