00:03 hey guys J here is word of advice TV and
00:07 in today's video I would like to go over
00:08 five most common furnace problems and
00:11 how to fix them and I'm actually going
00:12 to be showing the scenarios or the
00:14 symptoms of what the furnace will be
00:16 doing or not doing when you are
00:19 experiencing that problem so let's go
00:21 ahead and take my top door off here we
00:25 will need to see what's going on so
00:29 my thermostat upstairs is set to heat
00:31 and I have the temperature pumped up so
00:33 the furnace should be running but I have
00:35 the power switch off at the moment
00:37 and just two things I want to point out
00:39 before we begin the first one is before
00:42 you touch your power switch at all if
00:44 your furnace is not working or if it's
00:46 not working right before you reset the
00:48 power to your furnace which I'll be
00:49 doing throughout the video the first
00:51 thing you want to do is look at your
00:54 control board and find the led error
00:57 code light most furnaces will have this
01:00 error light on them it's just a little
01:02 LED light that's either green or red
01:04 oftentimes there's gonna be a sight
01:06 glass on the door so you don't even have
01:08 to take the door off to see what it's
01:09 blinking and just write down or remember
01:13 which code it is blinking usually you'll
01:15 have short blinks and it'll have long
01:17 blinks so just count those blanks and
01:20 write them down for example there it'll
01:21 be too short blinks you know blink blink
01:24 pause and then there will be three long
01:26 blinks 1 2 3 then it'll be a long pause
01:30 and then it'll start over it'll show
01:32 that code over and over and over again
01:34 so what happens is when you reset the
01:37 power to your furnace that little error
01:40 code that's blinking it gets reset or
01:42 cleared out and if it's an intermittent
01:44 problem then chances are your furnace
01:47 might start up and run fine for a little
01:49 bit and you're not going to know what
01:50 the problem was because you just cleared
01:52 that code out so before you clear
01:54 anything out check that out write it
01:56 down just in case the furnace will not
01:58 repeat that same problem for awhile only
02:01 to bite you in the pot later on so
02:03 number one is to check the error code
02:05 before you flip the power switch on and
02:08 off or you turn your circuit breaker for
02:09 your furnace on and off and number two
02:12 is that I will be referenced
02:14 other videos in this video and I'll have
02:17 links in the description of all the
02:19 videos that I'll be referencing just in
02:20 case you need them and one of them is
02:22 about the error codes so if you're not
02:24 sure what to look for how to determine
02:26 what they mean and where to find the
02:28 chart that explains everything
02:29 I have a video where I explain all of
02:31 that and I won't go into details in this
02:34 video it's called furnace not heating
02:38 where to start or something like that
02:40 I'll have a link in the description
02:42 anyways let's begin so the very first
02:44 problem that we're gonna go over is a
02:46 dirty flame sensor that's the champion
02:48 of all furnace problems that one happens
02:51 the most out of all the furnace problems
02:52 and let's just see what that will look
02:55 let's turn my furnace on
03:01 I also have a video called furnace
03:09 sequence of operation which really helps
03:12 and in that video I go step by step by
03:14 step and I explained in which sequence
03:16 the furnace fires up if you want to
03:20 watch that it's gonna be in the
03:22 description as well so here's the
03:24 igniter that's glowing the flames just
03:27 lit and about three or four seconds
03:33 later they just go out so that's the
03:35 symptom of a dirty flame sensor this is
03:38 the most common and also the most
03:40 easiest thing to fix so whenever you see
03:42 your furnace light like that I mean
03:44 everything seems normal it starts up
03:46 normally if let the flames light and
03:48 then it only lasts for about three
03:50 seconds that is almost guaranteed to be
03:53 a flame sensor issue and what will
03:55 happen is the furnace will typically try
03:58 again three three to five times it'll
04:00 keep trying to light and once it fails
04:03 it'll go into a lockout so for three
04:05 hours the furnace will just sit there
04:06 and do absolutely nothing and in three
04:08 hours it'll start back up and try again
04:10 so if your furnace is sitting there and
04:12 doing nothing the first thing you can
04:14 try doing is just flipping the power
04:16 switch off for about five seconds and
04:19 turning it back on and see what the
04:20 furnace does and if you see it doing
04:22 what I'm showing you right now where
04:25 it'll light for about three seconds and
04:27 then go off then most likely all you
04:29 have to do is just clean your flame
04:30 sensor and you'll be good so one more
04:33 time the flames just lit
04:36 there's about four seconds they went
04:39 right out so let's go ahead and show you
04:41 how to clean the flame sensor now I'll
04:42 turn the power off and any time you're
04:46 reaching into the furnace and touching
04:47 things you really you should have the
04:49 power off because there are electrical
04:51 connections that could shock you if you
04:52 touch them accidentally so the flame
04:55 sensor is going to be somewhere by the
05:00 burners in front of the burners so right
05:03 here I have my burners by the way I also
05:05 have a video where I talk about all the
05:08 furnace components what they are and
05:10 what they do so if you're not sure what
05:12 different names of different components
05:14 are check that video out so we have an
05:17 igniter on this side that's the thing
05:18 that was glowing bright orange usually
05:21 the flame sensor will be on the opposite
05:23 side of the igniter so if my igniter is
05:25 here the flame sensor is gonna be over
05:26 here in my case it's pretty easy to
05:28 access it in some furnaces it's actually
05:31 kind of hard to get to I have a video on
05:34 more about flame sensors and more about
05:37 that issue as well and how they work and
05:39 all of that so if you want a more
05:41 detailed video on the flame sensor you
05:43 could look at that in this video I'm
05:44 just going to show you how to clean it
05:46 usually the flame sensor is held in
05:49 there just by a quarter inch screw and
05:52 this is what it looks like the flame
05:57 sensor is just a metal rod it can be
05:59 bent in two different positions it could
06:01 be like a 45 degree Bend or it can just
06:03 be a straight rod all together and with
06:06 time build-up starts to form on the
06:08 flame sensor and that's what prevents it
06:11 from actually sensing the flame and if
06:13 it doesn't sense the flame it turns the
06:15 gas valve off and the flames go out so
06:17 that's what we're seeing the flames come
06:19 on for three seconds and then they turn
06:21 right off to remedy this all you have to
06:24 do is simply clean the flame sensor with
06:27 a scotch brite pad even a dishwashing
06:30 scrubby should work so with the scrubby
06:32 like this just press down real firm and
06:35 clean that whole metal rod so that it
06:38 starts to shine get all that build-up
06:40 off of it and that should solve your
06:44 problem if it doesn't then you may need
06:47 to clean your burners I have a video on
06:50 or just watch my flame sensor
06:52 troubleshooting video where I go into a
06:54 lot more detail about this problem so as
06:57 you can see most of that buildup is gone
06:59 I cleaned it all off and now we can put
07:03 my flame sensor back in usually there's
07:05 only one screw hole so you can't put it
07:07 in incorrectly it's always gonna be
07:09 facing the right direction once in a
07:11 long time you do have to replace it but
07:13 usually cleaning it is enough there's
07:15 one wire that goes to it and I'll do a
07:18 little close-up right here and show you
07:19 where it goes in so I plug it back in on
07:23 my furnace it just goes right over here
07:29 and it ends up right in front of the
07:32 burner and then with the quarter inch
07:36 screw I just tighten it down so after
07:42 you get the flame sensor cleaned you
07:44 should be able to turn your furnace
07:45 power switch back on and the flames
07:48 should turn on for a lot longer than
07:50 just three seconds your furnace should
07:52 just get right back up and running
08:05 so there's my igniter starting to glow
08:13 there's my flames 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
08:24 11 12 and the flames are just going to
08:28 stay on I'm gonna go ahead and turn my
08:30 power switch off before my furnace gets
08:32 too hot and let's move on to problem
08:36 number 2 and problem number 2 is not as
08:39 common as the flame sensor but it also
08:41 is surprisingly one of the most common
08:43 problems ranking number 2 and that is a
08:49 dirty furnace filter you'd be surprised
08:53 how often I come to a house that simply
08:56 has a dirty furnace filter and that's
08:59 so the furnace filter the symptom of
09:01 that I can't really simulate it but
09:04 basically what happens is the furnace is
09:07 just simply not going to keep up in most
09:09 cases so for example you have your
09:12 but it's only getting to about 70
09:14 degrees and no higher if that keeps
09:17 happening to you and you haven't
09:19 replaced your filter in a long time then
09:21 I would recommend the first thing you do
09:22 is just try replacing the furnace filter
09:24 and that may be the only problem that
09:26 you're experiencing so basically what
09:27 happens is most furnaces will have a
09:30 high limit switch or a fan limit switch
09:32 which looks like this guy right here
09:34 just a black box or it can be a little
09:37 cylinder shaped or a round shaped silver
09:41 looking disc that's in there that's the
09:43 high limit and the function of the high
09:45 limit is to turn the furnace off if it's
09:49 getting too hot in there and one of the
09:51 reasons it'll get too hot is because the
09:53 furnace filter is plugged and there's
09:54 not enough airflow going past the heat
09:56 exchanger if there's not enough airflow
09:58 then the furnace will start to overheat
10:00 slowly once it overheats to a certain
10:03 point the flames will shut off and the
10:05 fan will stay on to cool the furnace off
10:07 and of course the dirtier your filter is
10:09 the more often that will happen and just
10:11 like the flame sensor if this happens
10:14 three to five times in a row during one
10:16 heating cycle that thing will cause the
10:19 furnace to go into a lockout so for
10:20 three hours the furnace will just sit
10:22 there and do absolutely nothing
10:23 sometimes that is not very noticeable if
10:26 it's not very cold outside
10:27 you might not even notice that the
10:29 furnace went into a lockout and it just
10:31 sat there for three hours doing nothing
10:32 or maybe the furnace blower motor was on
10:35 the whole time some furnaces will do
10:36 that that masks as well so it seems like
10:39 the fan is running something is
10:41 happening but the burners are not on so
10:43 once again like I was saying if it's not
10:45 very cold outside you might not notice
10:46 it right away but once it gets colder
10:49 outside that will become noticeable and
10:51 your temperatures in the house will
10:52 start to drop so if your furnace is not
10:54 keeping up there's a good chance that
10:56 you simply have a dirty furnace filter
10:58 once you replace that that should solve
11:00 your problem I also have a video where I
11:02 talk all about the furnace filters if
11:04 you have more questions about these
11:05 filters you know how often you should
11:06 replace them which filters you should
11:08 use where they can be found wire filters
11:10 needed all of those questions I answer
11:12 in that video so if you're interested
11:14 check that video out so that's the
11:16 furnace filter the most common problem
11:21 number two after the flame sensor and
11:23 coming in in third place is a bad
11:26 inducer motor which is this guy right
11:28 here and the symptoms of that are
11:30 actually fairly simple
11:32 usually if you're experiencing that
11:34 problem yeah and your thermostat set to
11:36 heat temperature bumped up a lot of
11:38 times your control board will be
11:39 blinking a pressure switch open code and
11:42 your furnace will be doing absolutely
11:44 nothing so for example if we turn our
11:46 power on my thermostat is calling for
11:49 heating and this is what happens I
11:56 actually heard a little click so the
12:00 control board actually sent power to the
12:02 inducer motor judging by that click if
12:04 you have a multimeter you can check if
12:06 it has power I also have a video where I
12:08 talk completely about the inducer motor
12:10 how to troubleshoot it with and without
12:12 a leader so if you want more details on
12:14 that check out that video but anyways if
12:17 your inducer motor is getting power and
12:19 then the inducer motor is simply bad or
12:21 there's something stuck in it like a
12:23 bird or some bird nesting or stuff like
12:26 that a dead giveaway of a bad inducer
12:29 motor though is if you put your hand on
12:31 it so let's say your thermostat is set
12:33 to heat that's supposed to be running
12:35 but it's not if you go down to the
12:37 furnace take the door off and put your
12:38 hand and then do some motor if it's
12:41 but almost guaranteed that that inducer
12:44 motor is bad or there's something stuck
12:47 in the blower wheel inside so if you put
12:49 your hand on the inducer motor and it's
12:51 super hot your furnace is doing nothing
12:53 then your problem is with the inducer
12:55 motor but if you do think that your
12:57 inducer motor is the one that's the
12:58 problem and you're about to replace it I
13:00 would recommend watching my video about
13:02 the inducer motor and troubleshooting it
13:05 a little bit before you come to that
13:06 final conclusion because maybe like I
13:08 was saying something is simply stuck in
13:11 that blower wheel and once you replace
13:12 your inducer motor you should be right
13:14 back in business so let's turn our power
13:17 switch back on and move on to problem
13:19 number four the most common problem
13:21 number four and fourth place is a bad
13:24 blower motor so let's see an example of
13:27 bad blower motor a lot of times this
13:29 will be accompanied by a burnt plastic
13:32 smell or a burnt electric smell all
13:34 throughout the house you're probably
13:36 gonna smell it so oftentimes when I come
13:38 into a person's house and they tell me
13:39 they smell a burnt electrical smell it's
13:41 almost every time that the blower motor
13:44 is banned so this is what it'll look
13:46 like if you cycle the power to your
13:48 furnace what happens is the burners will
13:53 come on your inducer motors running
13:55 everything spying and your blower motor
13:57 should come on shortly after the burners
13:59 light so about twenty or thirty seconds
14:02 after the burners light your blower
14:04 motors should be coming out but if your
14:09 blower motor is bad then of course it's
14:10 not going to come on
14:11 you might hear it hum a little bit if
14:13 it's trying to start but it won't if
14:16 it's bad and what happens is that
14:18 temperature limit that senses the
14:21 temperature inside the furnace it can
14:23 sense that the furnace is getting too
14:25 hot because the blower motor is not
14:27 turning out at all and once that limit
14:29 switch trips the flames will extinguish
14:31 and the furnace will wait until it cools
14:34 off and that switch closes back up
14:36 before it'll try again so let's just see
14:40 my blower motor is not going to come on
14:42 right now the furnace has been on for
14:44 about one minute so my guess is that
14:49 that limits which will trip and cause
14:52 the burners to come off so by now my
14:57 blower motor should have came on like at
15:01 least 30 seconds ago so if your burners
15:06 are on for a minute or longer and your
15:08 blower motor is not coming on then
15:11 there's a good chance that that blower
15:16 so my furnace has been on for a while I
15:19 don't want to fry my heat exchanger too
15:21 much so I'll go ahead and turn the power
15:23 off another thing you can look for if
15:27 you have a bandura motor is you can take
15:31 that bottom door off on your furnace and
15:35 your blower motor is typically going to
15:37 be on the right side but it can be on
15:39 the left as well reach in there
15:41 carefully and of course your power
15:42 should be off to the furnace and
15:44 carefully just grab the motor and just
15:47 feel it on the sides just like the
15:49 inducer motor if it's super hot then
15:52 most likely you're gonna have to replace
15:54 that whole blower motor and I have a
15:56 video of where I replaced mine on this
15:58 furnace so if you need help with that
16:00 you can watch that video but there is a
16:03 chance that the Control Board has simply
16:05 not sending power to the blower motor
16:07 and that's what's causing it not to turn
16:09 on I have a video for that case as well
16:11 how you can tell if it's the board
16:14 that's the problem or if it's the motor
16:16 that's the problem but if your blower
16:17 motor is really hot that means it is
16:19 getting power and you for sure will have
16:22 to end up replacing it so if your blower
16:24 motor was the problem after you replace
16:26 it you should be able to turn your
16:28 furnace back on and everything should
16:31 work correctly so let's just see let's
16:34 just see what the correct sequence of
16:37 operation will be with it working normal
16:41 so the inducer motor always comes on
16:43 first and shortly after the igniter will
16:46 start to glow some of the gas valve
16:50 all the flames ignite or all the burners
16:52 light two three four five six seven
16:58 eight nine ten 44 45 46 so it took about
17:06 45 seconds for my blower motor to come
17:10 on and depending on what furnace you
17:12 have your blower motor may come on after
17:14 20 seconds 30 seconds 45 seconds
17:17 it depends what your control board is
17:19 set to there's a little timer that
17:21 decides when the blower motor should
17:23 come on so as you can see in 45 seconds
17:25 my blower motor came on and what it
17:27 wasn't working the burners were on in my
17:30 example for about two minutes and the
17:32 blower motor never came on and of course
17:34 that switch will trip and then the gas
17:36 valve will turn off the lights will go
17:38 out until the furnace cools back off and
17:40 probably number five is a bad control
17:42 board so on my furnace is this guy right
17:45 here they can look differently on
17:46 different furnaces but if you have a bad
17:49 control board there's a variety of
17:51 different problems that can happen from
17:53 that one of them like I mentioned
17:56 previously is that it will not send
17:58 power to a component when it should be
18:00 sending power to it so for example the
18:02 board might not be sending power to the
18:04 blower motor to turn it on and that's
18:06 why your furnace is overheating
18:07 other times I've seen it not send power
18:09 to the igniter when it should be so the
18:13 inducer motor will come on the pressure
18:14 switches will close but the igniter
18:16 never starts to glow it never gets power
18:18 sometimes I've seen it not send power to
18:21 the inducer motor so your thermostat is
18:23 set to heat but nothing happens I've
18:26 also seen Control board's that turn on
18:28 both the air conditioner and the furnace
18:30 at the same time of course that's a
18:32 problem and most often that's caused by
18:34 a bad control board usually whenever I
18:37 come across bad boards it's most of the
18:40 time it's because it's not sending power
18:42 to a component and usually that will be
18:44 the inducer motor so if the control
18:47 board long story short you kind of do
18:49 need a meter to check control boards to
18:51 verify but long story short if the
18:54 control board is getting power into it
18:56 but it's not sending power out then that
18:59 control board is bad and I have a video
19:03 how to troubleshoot it with a meter so
19:05 if you would like you could watch that
19:07 video for more information and if you
19:08 get lucky sometimes the control board
19:11 itself will blink an error code saying
19:13 that the board is defective and needs to
19:15 be replaced in that case you for sure
19:17 need to replace that control board
19:19 well guys and that is all I had I hope
19:21 you found this video useful and if
19:23 you're a technician watching this and
19:24 you have any further suggestions or tips
19:27 to add about those five problems or if
19:29 you have any corrections to what I've
19:31 said we would love to hear your insight
19:32 in the comments below thank you so much
19:34 for watching this video don't forget the
19:36 match to like button on the way out and
19:38 I'll see you next time and if you're
19:40 still here and not in the comment
19:42 section below I just recently found out
19:45 that my electric toothbrush is not
19:47 waterproof I was shocked
![Welp, Here's what the Fed *Just* Said [Fed FOMC Minutes]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fl8u23oq1E9E%2Fhqdefault.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
