Furnace problems??

[jwanner]

Hi i have a Amana air command 90 natural gas furnace in my house & a lot of times it will kick on for literally 1 second and turn off then kick back on! It will do this sometimes 1 or 2 times! Sometimes it wont do it at all! Are there any Hvac pro's out there with advice? Is there something wrong with my furnace??
the furnace was installed in 1989 so it is over 20 years old!!

 

[rickairmedic]

Sounds like either an air proving switch issue or a flame sensor issue. Easy way to find out pull the flame sensor out and give it a good cleaning with some emery cloth or sandpaper and put it back in if it doesnt solve your problem then I would lean towards the air proving switch.


Rick

 

[Eggman]

Don't use sandpaper. It will ruin the flame sensor by removing the flame sensor's coating. Instead use either a dollar bill or a small piece of scotch bright.

Eggman

 

[cowboyjosh]

Im not a HVAC pro, but the first thing I'd check is what others have mentioned, the flame sensor. If the furnace has a standing pilot, again flame sensor or replace the thermocouple.

 

[Kevin54]

We had the same problem with our Lennox and it all related to the pressure switch. It would fire, quit, fire, quit. Sometimes it would work fine, but if it tried to fire five times it would have to wait for two hours to reset itself automatically. We had it worked on numerous times at the tune of several hundred dollars, changed the inlet and outlet as they were a one piece combo. Bottom kine is that it turned out it was 4 small pieces of plastic about the size of the ink cartridge of a ballpoint pen that was longer and had to be replaced. Total cost about $.98 for the parts. This now let the pressure switch work correctly and have not had a problem since.

 

[stingry]

We had the exact same furnace and experienced similiar problems. At first, I could remove and clean the igniter and get it going again. Then other things started happening, after several repairs and service calls, we replaced it. The guy that originally installed it and subsequently replaced it said that 20 years is about the life of these furnaces. That's exactly how long ours lasted!

Hope you can get yours fixed.

Steve

 

[cowboyjosh]

I'd be thrilled if my furnaces lasted 20 years.

 

[SPDMETL]

Just moved into a house with the original 37 y/o oil fired furnace...beautiful heat blossom coming out of the chimney, but it doesn't seem like much is getting in the house

 

[Eggman]

Just moved into a house with the original 37 y/o oil fired furnace...beautiful heat blossom coming out of the chimney, but it doesn't seem like much is getting in the house

Around 50% efficient....or less. Change it out for a more efficient unit. Probably pay for itself in 10 years or less.

HTH, Eggman

 

[oldgoaly]

what is it your hearing kick on? the venting motor? the gas valve? the ignitor? the blower/fan? If it is venting motor, then I would check you T-stat. These furnaces can last much more than 20 years, but the hvac guy isn't going to make as much money.

 

[Gary S]

I'd be thrilled if my furnaces lasted 20 years.

My house has the original old boiler that is now 59 years old and working great. My furnace man tells me that boilers, unlike forced air furnaces have made very little improvement in efficiency in the last 60 years, so if it ever dies, a new one wouldn't save enough fuel that I'd ever notice.

 

[SPDMETL]

My house has the original old boiler that is now 59 years old and working great. My furnace man tells me that boilers, unlike forced air furnaces have made very little improvement in efficiency in the last 60 years, so if it ever dies, a new one wouldn't save enough fuel that I'd ever notice.

I got the same story today as it relates to oil furnaces; the 80% efficient, 40 y/o expensive one will probably outlast/outperform a new one. There's something truthful about a guy who could be telling you to spend, but instead is telling you not to

 

[jwanner]

thanks to all for the replies!