- This topic has 10 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 4 months ago by
AKPlumber.
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Richard Jarvi Jr
I have a problem with my home gas furnace. it is a Payne 394 G Gas furnace. The main burners will light and then go out after about 5-10 seconds, and then
re-ignite and go out, over and over. This is before the main blower comes on. I have cleaned the entire furnace including the heat exchanger. It will just cycle like this for 15 min or so and will eventually perform a normal heat cycle with the main burners lighting, stayling lit, and the blower operating. I have taken the fron top cover off of the unti and it seems to work better that way. The furnace has an electronic pilot. Thanks for any suggestion you can give in advance. -
I’d say the first things to check would be the thermocouple, and if not that then perhaps the gas valve itself is either blocked up or going bad. After that, other possible culprits could be a bad relay or aquastat, or possibly a bad wiring connection to one of the zones or t-stats.
Start with checkinjg out your wiring first, be sure everything is tightly connected clean. Then, start with the cheapest thing first, the thermocouple (changing thermocouples regularly is a good maintenance routine and should be done every so often anyway). If that’s not it my next suspicion would be the gas valve itself. -
If the problem you are having is continual cycling from pilot to main burner and so long as the pilot is continuous the problem is likely to lie with the electronics controlling the furnace burner flame prooving device. Get a competent gas serviceperson to check it out and also check the limit switch for possible fault.
If the fault you have is the pilot continually going out then the heater starts it back up again only to go out after a few seconds then I would check for a blocked pilot burner or if this heater has one a possible burnt out thermocouple lead.
In any case it is better to spend a few bucks getting a qualifed gas person to check it out for you as this will ensure everything is safe when completed. Playing with gas appliances by non qualifed persons can and often does lead to a very rapid combustion!!!!!
Selgas Services Ltd
Craftsman Gasfitters, Plumbers, Electrical Service Technicians -
Usually it’s only 2 things….the thermocouple or the gas valve. Occasioanlly the aquastat/relay is at fault.
If all we ever did here was to assume everybody is incompetent without common sense and tell people to call a service person, why the need for an advice board? -
AKPlumber
Thanks for your post and I would like to respond – After having been active in the Gas Industry for more than 40 years and operating my own business I have learnt NOT to assume that most people don’t have any common sense when it comes to basic faults with Gas Appliances however, I will not ever explain to anyone outside the Industry how to actually effect a repair on a gas appliance as I have no control on what the receipient actually does or how safely they undertake the work. It is ways far better to err on the side of safety as other qualified people in this forum would also agree.
But thank you again for stating your points. 
Selgas Services Ltd
Craftsman Gasfitters, Plumbers, Electrical Service Technicians -
I could not agree with Peter more. However, there is one thing that a homeowner could safely do to address this particular problem, and that is to make sure that the furnaces high and low cut-in/cut-off temperatures are set properly (see the manual for your particular furnace). The problem you describe can be caused by defective sensors, thermocouples, and regulators, BUT even if everything is OK you can still have this kind of problem by having the upper and lower limit switches set too close to each other. This would require a simple readjustment.
However, I still have to agree with Peter than even in this case it would be best for the homeowner to call in a competent plumber or gas man to check it out. If it’s a matter of simple adjustment it shouldn’t cost much more than the housecall fee.
NtP
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I agree if someone does’nt know what they’re doing or lacks the required experience a professional should be called in, especially with any gas/oil fired appliance. But I don’t agree with a policy of “canned Response” on message boards like these where the automatic answer to any question is “look up someone in the Yellow Pages”. What, then, is the point of a discussion forum?
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AK,
I think we’re in agreement. I’ve been here for a bit over a year and I’ve taken a bit of heat (sometimes, not a lot) for my general advocacy of informed amateurs attempting DIY plumbing jobs. Since you’re a “Yank” like me, I guess you share some of my belief in the abilities of the common folk to take hold of their lives and succeed by rugged individualism (along with common sense and study when needed). The guys who run this site are from Australia/New Zealand. They are a good bunch, and I think they are essentially Yankees like us, though they probably talk a bit funny. If you hang out here a while you’ll probably find, as I have, that although we may disagree to some degree on this matter of amateur plumbing, we pretty much will wind up agreeing on the important issues. I don’t know anyone here who irrationally insists on giving a canned response to “call in a professional.” Generally when this is done, it’s because of legitimate concerns about health and safety.
NtP
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I agree with NTP & Ak that if you are not machanically inclined on certain things then don’t try to fix it. Call an experienced person. There are tricks to all trades that other people don’t know.
Art retired plbg» This message has been edited by John Aldrich on 11 December 2004
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Nick
I take my hat off to you and agree as well we are all here to help where we can but just sometimes it pays to control one’s enthusiasum to assist others when it comes to explosive mixtures.
Like you I too have taken “heat” from others but look at it this way – well at least those folks must be reading my posts and that is all one can ask these days.
Yep just cause we are Kiwi’s and Auzzies don’t mean we are any different with DYO installations/maintenance folks – heck them people are the backbone of our Industry and create more work than most of can cope with.
Ya’all have a Safe and Happy Christmas and best wishes to all.
Selgas Services Ltd
Craftsman Gasfitters, Plumbers, Electrical Service Technicians -
In reply to message posted by Peter:
Yep just cause we are Kiwi’s and Auzzies don’t mean we are any different with DYO installations/maintenance folks – heck them people are the backbone of our Industry and create more work than most of can cope with.
LOL, yes, and many times I’ve seen maintenance guys fix screw-ups left behind from so-called “journeyman” plumbers. It goes both ways.
Nick, thanks for your awesome response, and thanks as well to the others. I’m in agreement with most here that no rank amateur Johnny-Homeowner should attempt potentially dangerous tasks such as gas appliance repair without some amount of study and proper guidance…..the potential consequences of a botched job could endanger entire families, not only from fire/explosion but also from CO poisoning. Not a pretty picture. BUT, I also do not think boards like this are designed for automatic responses such as “call a pro”. Maybe what we can do here is by offering our ideas and advice, the homeowner can prevent themselves from getting ripped off by a less than ethical serviceman (you know they’re out there!) by telling them what it could be and not be and helping them avoid an unnecessary charge. Or maybe someone is just smart enough with enough common sense and experience to take advice and run successfully with it. My only point is why assume anything? Unless someone actually asks for the number to a local plumber in thier area, I believe the best response is one that tries to genuinely help, and if the taker of this advice does something stupid how can that be held against you? We’re just here trying to help and learn ourselves, and nobody knows it all.
Anyway, thanks for your responses and I do apologize for my rather arrogant attitude previously. Happy Holidays!
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