New Lennox EL296V Shaking

[Teletran]

We just installed a new EL296V Lennox furnace and the furnace is shaking once the blower wheel kicks in. The previous furnace that was removed did not shake at all.

The installers came back and couldn't figure out why it was shaking. They also opened the panel and put their hands on the exterior of the blower wheel and it was not shaking however the entire furnace is shaking, the ducting on top of it, the return air ducts (less so), the exhaust pipe is visibly shaking too.

They are planning to replace the blower wheel with another one from another new furnace. I am hoping that fixes the issue, but I have no idea if it will. I suggested that the wheel itself was not secure properly to the furnace housing.

Has anyone experienced this type of issue before with a new furnace install? Is there anything else that it could be?

I'm at my wits end and very stressed about the furnace breaking down in the near future because it is literally shaking.

Please help.

[rider77]

When they commissioned the furnace, what did they determine static pressure to be?

[Teletran]

I have no idea, I can ask them when they come in next time. I don't believe they measured anything when they came in. What should I be looking for/asking them about static pressure. I did some googling and the basic concept seems that if the ducting is too restrictive for the air to flow though, this would cause more stress on the furnace.

The previous furnace was a single stage furnace 80k btu 80% and the new one is a 70k 96%. The old furnace had no issues blowing air through the ducts, in fact the air coming out of the ducts was faster. I also made sure all vents were open when we turned on the new system. Not sure if this answers your question.

If static pressure is bad, is there anything that can be done about it?

Thanks so much for responding.

[slctech]

Simply put, there is an installation manual that arrives with your new furnace. In the back of that manual is a check list that the installer should fill out as he/she commissions the new furnace. Should give gas pressure, static, combustion numbers, etc. Most installers have no clue what a manometer is nor a combustion analyzer so 90% of the time if the form is filled out it is just pencil whipped. If I was you I would request your installer to provide you with their start-up checklist and if they can not provide one, request they perform one and I bet you'll find that they will start to sweat a bit and stutter...LOL

[Sleuth]

.
Likely a psc motor previously being replaced with a furnace with an ecm motor. Have static checked.
..

[rider77]

Excessive static will cause vibrations as you describe.
I don’t know who your installers are or how good of a job they do, but the sad truth is a lot of residential contractors throw the equipment in and roll without doing a proper startup checkout.
Do you care to provide photos of the installation?
There is a good chance that the furnace vibrating isn’t the fault of the furnace at all.

[Teletran]

Excessive static will cause vibrations as you describe.
I don’t know who your installers are or how good of a job they do, but the sad truth is a lot of residential contractors throw the equipment in and roll without doing a proper startup checkout.
Do you care to provide photos of the installation?
There is a good chance that the furnace vibrating isn’t the fault of the furnace at all.

Yes I can provide photos! I'll get them posted on here within the next 2 hours.

If the issue is static air pressure, what can you really do about it?

[Teletran]

Excessive static will cause vibrations as you describe.
I don’t know who your installers are or how good of a job they do, but the sad truth is a lot of residential contractors throw the equipment in and roll without doing a proper startup checkout.
Do you care to provide photos of the installation?
There is a good chance that the furnace vibrating isn’t the fault of the furnace at all.

Here are the photos:
Apparently I cannot post links until I have 7 posts!

Let me get my post count up.

[Teletran]

Simply put, there is an installation manual that arrives with your new furnace. In the back of that manual is a check list that the installer should fill out as he/she commissions the new furnace. Should give gas pressure, static, combustion numbers, etc. Most installers have no clue what a manometer is nor a combustion analyzer so 90% of the time if the form is filled out it is just pencil whipped. If I was you I would request your installer to provide you with their start-up checklist and if they can not provide one, request they perform one and I bet you'll find that they will start to sweat a bit and stutter...LOL

I will ask them for a start-up checkup list when they come next time. They are supposed to give me a call later today.

[Teletran]

.
Likely a psc motor previously being replaced with a furnace with an ecm motor. Have static checked.
..

Yes it was a previous Single Stage unit with a PSC motor (an old American Standard Freedom 80).

[Teletran]

Excessive static will cause vibrations as you describe.
I don’t know who your installers are or how good of a job they do, but the sad truth is a lot of residential contractors throw the equipment in and roll without doing a proper startup checkout.
Do you care to provide photos of the installation?
There is a good chance that the furnace vibrating isn’t the fault of the furnace at all.

I gave posting the pictures a try and I keep getting this error message:
vBulletin Message
Sorry Teletran, you are not allowed to post links in the forums. You must have a minimum of 7 posts in order to post links. You currently have 7 posts.

Looks like I meet the minimum post count, but it is still not working.

[Teletran]

Excessive static will cause vibrations as you describe.
I don’t know who your installers are or how good of a job they do, but the sad truth is a lot of residential contractors throw the equipment in and roll without doing a proper startup checkout.
Do you care to provide photos of the installation?
There is a good chance that the furnace vibrating isn’t the fault of the furnace at all.

Trying to post photos:
https://imgur.com/a/ksfUa2Y

Great, you need 8 posts not 7!

Please let me know if you want more photos from different angles or objects.

Thanks so much for helping me out.

[Sleuth]

Yes I can provide photos! I'll get them posted on here within the next 2 hours.

If the issue is static air pressure, what can you really do about it?

.
That's their job.
..

[firecontrol]

Hopefully when they change the blower the problem will be solved. The couple of times I've seen this happen was once when it was determined that the furnace was dropped hard in transit from the factory to you. The result was that it bent the blower wheel and also dislodged the balancing weight from the wheel. The other times was because the new furnace moved more air than the last it actually sucked debris from the return ducting into the blower wheel, unbalancing it. This can happen if they start the furnace in the beginning without the air filter in place.

[pecmsg]

No hole in the exhaust pipe or duct work so a combustion analysis was NOT performed.

No holes in duct work so TESP readings weren't taken.

Why is the evaporator drain so low?

Unions are generally NOT allowed inside the cabinet.

Not the neatest duct work.

[Teletran]

No hole in the exhaust pipe or duct work so a combustion analysis was NOT performed.

No holes in duct work so TESP readings weren't taken.

Why is the evaporator drain so low?

Unions are generally NOT allowed inside the cabinet.

Not the neatest duct work.

Oh my goodness

[rider77]

Not a very clean install. The union shouldn’t be in the cabinet, although the national fuel gas code doesn’t directly forbid it.
Like has already been said there’s no evidence of any testing I can see. Which as I said before is unfortunately becoming what’s done more often than not.

[Teletran]

Not a very clean install. The union shouldn’t be in the cabinet, although the national fuel gas code doesn’t directly forbid it.
Like has already been said there’s no evidence of any testing I can see. Which as I said before is unfortunately becoming what’s done more often than not.

Thank you for your help rider77. I will ask them to perform the necessary testing.

I am not sure what you mean by Union and whether or not it applies to Ontario, Canada.

[Mr Bill]

.
Likely a psc motor previously being replaced with a furnace with an ecm motor. Have static checked.
..

We just installed a new EL296V Lennox furnace and the furnace is shaking once the blower wheel kicks in. The previous furnace that was removed did not shake at all.

You lost me here, can you explain?

[Mr Bill]

Yes it was a previous Single Stage unit with a PSC motor (an old American Standard Freedom 80).

Are you talking about the old furnace or new furnace? this thread is confusing for an old dude. Aren't we trying to figure out the issue with the NEW furnace? It should have an ECM, forget the old furnace. What day is it?