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Main Area => Odds n Ends => Topic started by: Fry on August 07, 2008, 02:45:57 PM

Title: Oil Furnace Techs
Post by: Fry on August 07, 2008, 02:45:57 PM
I was hoping their are some Furnace techs out there that could help me in diagnosing an issue.

Heavy storms in the area today resulted in a power outage at my house, all the clocks were flashing, CPU off, Blah Blah Blah.

When I went into the living room I heard a noise from my utility closet were the Furnace and Hot Water heater are located, upon further investigation the Furnace Blower motor was on, the Burner was not. My Old man, who installed the Furnace some 8-10 years ago came over my house earlier in the day to shut the windows due to the heavy rain and I suspected that he may have some how messed with the Thermostat in the house, yet when I checked it, it was set at 60 allowing it to remain off in these summer months, same as I always keep it.

So I located the Emergency Burner Switch and shut that off, which shut down the Blower Motor however after waiting a few minutes when I turned the switch back on, the blower motor came on again. We also have a typical looking On/Off Power switch that I cycled with the same results as the Emergency Switch? Next I tried turning my Thermostat up to see if the Burner would kick on, it did, yet once turning down the Thermo the Blower motor still stayed on?

So I'm thinking it's something to do with a circuit board or something inside the control module? Perhaps a power surge got to it and fried the board? I also noticed that the Burner (Beckett) was warm even prior to cycling it on to try and shut off the blower motor, whats up with that?

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Title: Re: Oil Furnace Techs
Post by: Jughead on August 07, 2008, 08:29:56 PM
Bad Contactor? Don't know if an Oil Burner has one but the last time I saw anything like that it was a Bad Contactor in a Heat Pump. :dunno_white: :dunno_white: :dunno_white: :dunno_white: While the Inside Unit wasn't running the Outside Unit wouldn't shut off. $40 part $115 to fix it.


http://toad.net/~jsmeenen/contactor.html (http://toad.net/~jsmeenen/contactor.html)
Title: Re: Oil Furnace Techs
Post by: yamahonkawazuki on August 07, 2008, 08:33:16 PM
is there a fuel pump for an oil furnace?, if so could that have been shut off?
Title: Re: Oil Furnace Techs
Post by: pkhoff on August 07, 2008, 10:04:15 PM
Does your thermostat have a switch for "ventilation"?  I don't have an oil furnace (it's LP), but I can turn my fan on from the thermostat without the furnace or the AC unit running. Some thermostats have an "auto" and an "on" setting to control this function.
Title: Re: Oil Furnace Techs
Post by: Fry on August 08, 2008, 04:08:21 AM
Thermo is old fashion, to temp scales on it, actual temp, and the temp you want. You slide a little pointer to the temp you want.

The Beckett Burner acts as the pump as well?

It has a Honeywell controller on/in the furnace I suspect something in their?
Title: Re: Oil Furnace Techs
Post by: scottpA_GS on August 09, 2008, 04:15:07 PM
 I would think its a relay or switch or something making it think there is a flame on  :cheers:

I dont like to mess with my furnace. Shouldnt cost more than $60-80 for someone to come clean and inspect it. I have mine cheecked and cleaned (if needed) every 2-3 years  :cheers:

Call a pro  :cheers: Its well worth the $$ to ensure its running efficent and clean  :cheers:
Title: Re: Oil Furnace Techs
Post by: DoD#i on August 09, 2008, 07:24:34 PM
You got gas, Scott? For us oil types, I've always heard and followed the yearly maintenance call rule - when I had gas it was a lot more casual.

As for Fry, you got something fried. You need someone with debug capacity and spare parts - that would be your oil burner service guy/gal - call him/her. The problem with funky microprocessor control doing fancy crap is weird failure modes where a relay logic setup would not even have failed.

Garage door opener (at MILs house) went whacky this summer. Kept trying to drive the door into the ground (a safety hazard, not operating correctly, and not failing safe, either). Microprocessor control board - nearby lightning strike - fried its brain and started doing something it should NEVER have done. 50% of the cost of the whole opener to get a new control board. Put that one on a surge suppressor (something the original installation instructions did not bother to suggest).