Amana 90 Will Not Ignite

[jukelemon]

Hi all. Newbie here so please bear with me. A little background prior to the post. I am very mechanically inclined-rebuild engines, can follow schematics understand relays, circuits and the like.

My Aunt just moved here from Seattle. Her new house has two Amana 90 gas furnaces. I am guessing them to be 5 years old or less. She calls me two night ago stating that she cannot get heat from X vents. The house is divided not by floors but by sections in terms of circulation. So, I check the furnace designated to that side of the house and sure enough, nothing i.e. no flame. The other Amana is firing perfectly.

So, I did notice that the LED light was giving the one flash Lockout code. So, I cycled the T stat down for a bit and then asked her to cycle it up while I was watching the unit. The electric pilot came on, induction motor came on but no ignition.

Unit was running fine prior to that i.e. in normal use on a day to day basis.

Thoughts?

Thank you.

[Twilly]

replace the control board

[airworx]

no voltage to ignitor, bad ignitor, bad control board, gas valve bad, no voltage to gas valve, limit open. pick one

[bornriding]

The unit must verify that the inducer is on, if not the main won't come on.
The inducer has to prove that it is on.
Need a serviceman as different makes use different inducer sensors

[Edited by bornriding on 03-16-2005 at 05:37 PM]

[Twilly]

Replace the control board

[tlcartman]

Originally posted by twilli3967
Replace the control board

and you came to that conclusion, how ?

[beenthere]

Usually the pressure switch must close for the hsi to be energized.

[jukelemon]

Thanks for the suggestions. What are the ways, if any, to test the components that are listed in this post? Why would the control board be defective only after 5 years?

[billva]

Originally posted by jukelemon
Thanks for the suggestions. What are the ways, if any, to test the components that are listed in this post? Why would the control board be defective only after 5 years?

bacause the warranty is up.

[polar121]

check to see if the valve is getting the 23 volts, if not, trace it down, something is not letting the valve open. I beleive if the pressure switch from the vent fan is not operating the Electronic ignitor will not fire. sounds like to me the valve is not getting 24v. therefore not opening. Could be valve, rollout switch,etc. if all that is good, change the board. my advice, Call a serviceman.

[Twilly]

Replace control board

[htg guy]

Originally posted by twilli3967
Replace control board

As you can see there is good advice and also bad advice around here. This is the bad advice!

The furnace needs someone to check it out and properly determine the problem without just changing parts till its fixed. Just because the furnace is only 5 years old doesn't mean things can't fail. If there is indeed a failed part it needs to be discovered by troubleshooting.

[jukelemon]

Understood. I am assuming that only a serviceman has the specs to checkout voltages/valve operation and the like? Is there no simple way/non serviceman way to check ANY of these components so a narrowing down process can occur?

Thanks for your help. Keep it coming ( :

[Twilly]

Replace the board

[Twilly]

Residential HVAC
Questions and discussions pertaining to HVAC for the home. No pricing, no DIY questions, please read Site Rules

[jukelemon]

Just so I am correct, you do not discuss how to troubleshoot issues surrounding the HVAC system? If not, what do you do? I am not trying to be a smart ass, but that is the first time I have ever heard such a thing from a member of a board.

[docholiday]

Yes, in a nutshell we do discuss troublshooting here, sometimes in great detail and we might even ruffle a few feathers along the way. But it is against the site rules for us to knowingly offer anything other than the very basic troubleshooting solutions to DIY's or Homeowners.

[jukelemon]

OK. I read the rules and now I understand the comment. Sorry. In retrospect, I should not have posted to the board.

Thank you for the insight though. I agree that a service tech is a good recommendation.

[MikeJ]

Originally posted by jukelemon
Understood. I am assuming that only a serviceman has the specs to checkout voltages/valve operation and the like? Is there no simple way/non serviceman way to check ANY of these components so a narrowing down process can occur?

Thanks for your help. Keep it coming ( :

"The electric pilot came on, induction motor came on but no ignition." - you said.
'

By this I understood you to mean the hot surface ignitor (?)is heating up and glowing but the burner is not igniting. Watch the good furnace for a sequence of events up to and including shut down. Many things can fail causing the unit to not work properly. A parts changer has suggested replacing the board without properly diagnosing what is and what is not working properly. Perhaps he has experience with many failures that replacing a board has fixed, but that is not my way.


"Thanks for the suggestions. What are the ways, if any, to test the components that are listed in this post? Why would the control board be defective only after 5 years? "


Have a working knowledge of meters, voltages, hvac, and especially experience in that model of furnace. Say you ohm out the HSI and find it to be 125 ohms but it still glows? What does that tell you? What if you could and did read the voltage to the gas valve and it wasn't 24v.? Or it was but the solenoid wouldn't hold it open?

Your question of why a board could fail in 5 years means to me that you have never experienced a failure in an electronic device? Usually they are caused by something other than design flaws, external to the board that is.

As to what type of board this is, no one knows. But there are rules posted. Your situation is obvious. You don't have the tools or the knowledge to safely work on your unit and no one wants to be responsible for what may happen if you do and screw something up.

Get on a regular service schedule with an Amana Contractor.
It is well worth the investment and you may still be under warranty on some parts. Labor could be extra.

[Twilly]

Parts changer I'm not. I just offered a suggestion based on nothing more than a guess. He was looking for advice and I gave him some. Many of you were trying to diligently help him. I appreciate that somewhat, however most of us go to the professional board and read all the complainst about the "hacks". Why should we give out or advise or skill to the "diy" for free.

With no offense to the gentleman asking the question he was looking for a way to avoid paying a legitimate HVAC contractor by having the problem diagnosed for "free". He then may turn to the internet to buy the repair part. I see lots of complaints about internet sales of parts and equipment on the pro boards.

The reason I kept telling him to replace the board wasn't necessarily bad advice, nor was it good advice. The proper response was to diagnose the problem and take corrective action. If you don't have the ability to do so them you should be calling an expierenced HVAC company to service the equipment.

Lawyers don't give free advice why should we? I understand helping someone out if they can't afford a repair my company does it all the time. I have no way of judging this gentleman's aunt's finacial condition, however she doesn't sound indigent living in a home that has 2 amana 90 plus furnaces.

Do lawyers go online and try to solve people legal problems? Not hardly. Most of us spend years learning our trade. Take continuing education to maintain our license's, pay for those license's. etc.......

I never give customers advise over the phone, if you do that's your right and your business and good for you. We should get paid for our "skill".

This gentleman stated going in and at least he was honest that he was not an HVAC technician. He could have went to the pro board by forging some information and probably have gotten his problem solved.

Most of us realized this problem could have easily been solved by someone with some basic understanding of furnace operation and a volt meter. I apologize for my bad attitude in telling him to replace the board. I knew some of you would know I didn't really mean it, obviously some of you did not.

My advice to the gentleman is for his aunt to establish a realtionship with a good HVAC company and allow them to service her equipment and solve her problem.

If he refuses the above mention advice then "replace the board".