Anyone know anything about furnaces?

[ToothDocNick]

Built a house a little over 5 years ago. Had a Lennox furnace installed. Model G61. Since then I have had to replace the ignitor 3 times in this unit. Every time I hear, "this is an off repair for this model". Each time they have checked the other components with no other signs or troubles. Just wondered if anyone else might have an idea or works with these units. I don't mind replacing it every 18-24 months, but the cost of $250 a pop and on top of that it always happens on the weekend to boot. Any ideas would be great.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

My wife had a unit in her house that would blow the board once a year, every year. It was always the coldest week too. Go figure. The particular model was only made one year.
There is one guru in our midst, but he was commercial.

 

[Splat]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

Ummmmm.... There's not much to the ignitor. A transformer and electrode are really all there is.

Or are they replacing a board that controls the ignitor?

Bill

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

Here it is for $102:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lennox-Sureligh...temQQimsxZ20090110?IMSfp=TL090110119007r37742

Maybe you can get one for a spare

 

[ToothDocNick]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

Not sure on this one, I am assuming they are just changing the ignitor out. The part was $75 from the company I used this time. The previous two times it was around $125 for the parts. They also cleaned out the burners and checked the main board. The guy who serviced it this time told me he was going to call Lennox today and see if they had any ideas to the problem.

I was not physically there this time. I was about 150 miles away with some friends when this all happened. My mother-in-law was there and she tried to get as much info as possible, but she is not the best a relaying info. I talked with the service guy on the phone and he said he inspected everything, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. He said it might be the control board, but short of replacing it (and he said it was not cheap to do) he did not see anything wrong. He also said some models were known for this type of thing, but that this was not one of them. A google search last night did not reveal problems like this with this model either.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

I assume by "igniter" you mean the furnace isn't firing up. We had a similar problem on our Trane XL-80 where a small part would fail that would not allow the gas to ignite in the burner. It was a small metal rod encased in a bit of ceramic with a wire lead at the other end. Not sure what it is called, but I learned to remove it every other fall and use an emery cloth to clean the metal rod. Three minute job. No problems since, and that was 14 years ago.

 

[chiefalen]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

I have the same model navy 2 of them one for upstairs one for downstairs and 2 compressors.

Heres a link, buy the American made igniter, i call them glow plugs.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=287557

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

Hot surface ignitors IMHO are a PITA. They are easy to change in most models. I suggest you buy a spare and keep it handy. There are several styles and shapes that are new on the market that the manufactures claim they will last for many years vs just a season or two. However, Lennox and a few others change their specs just enough where generic parts will not work. In some applications, going with the OEM part is best.

 

[chiefalen]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

The one i bought had a adapter in the box, he said it will fit 99 percent of applications. I took it with me to match it up and didn't need any adapter. I paid 28 bucks. But was a universal unit.

Reminds me to go and get a spare. Keep forgetting.

 

[ToothDocNick]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

I'll have to see if I can find something that shows how to do this. I have never been home when it is getting fixed. I am pretty handy, but until I know what I am looking for I might get in deeper than I want or need to. I am just baffled as to why a 5 year old furnace has needed this replaced 3 times already.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Anyone know anything about furnaces?

Trane XL-80 where a small part would fail that would not allow the gas to ignite in the burner

That is the flame detector, not the igniter. That part detects if the ignition sequence worked or not and turns off the gas if it failed. Even a tiny amount of carbon can cause it to misdetect (I've had the same issue with our furnace). The steel wool trick is a lifesaver.

From what I've read, the igniters are simply maint items. Most repair sites tell you to keep one on hand, as they do go reasonably often. Of course, they also say they don't cost more than $30, so $130 seems a bit steep.

Hope you find a cheaper alternative!