Furnace help needed!
Quick question!
The ignitor in my Duo Therm camper furnace is boogered. Been trying to get the furnace to light and I traced it down to this. The electrode on the Hot side is loose and spins freely in the ceramic housing. What can I use to snug that up and how far apart do the electrodes need to be.
See short video
https://youtu.be/fsAWb6hYfZM
The ignitor in my Duo Therm camper furnace is boogered. Been trying to get the furnace to light and I traced it down to this. The electrode on the Hot side is loose and spins freely in the ceramic housing. What can I use to snug that up and how far apart do the electrodes need to be.
See short video
https://youtu.be/fsAWb6hYfZM
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you might google a new one, if there is a picture of it, it would give you a better idea the angle/distance apart. don't know what you could do to tighten it...... maybe duct tape, sandwiche the wires where they slide on the connector to keep from spinning? 0 -
Am I the only person who thinks doing a "Bubba" fix on a propane igniter might be a good way to end up looking like a chunk of charcoal?? 0 -
dreher wrote:Am I the only person who thinks doing a "Bubba" fix on a propane igniter might be a good way to end up looking like a chunk of charcoal??
Are you a parts changer or a mechanic? I hate buying parts when things can be fixed.
I got the part fixed, someone had ?serviced? this and when they tried to force the wires off they loosened the electrodes, they just needed realigned and tightened up. Some JB weld on the wire side has them good as new.
Now the gas valve won?t open. Think I can find anything for a replacement valve? No, I won?t fix that, that gets replaced.0 -
I'm known for being cheap but not with something that could go "KABOOM!" 0 -
dreher wrote:I'm known for being cheap but not with something that could go "KABOOM!"
The ignitor won?t make it go kaboom but f?n with that gas valve will!0 -
BSR, yes f'n with the igniter can make it go boom. Get a delayed spark and gas build up BOOM.
I've seen it happen with an oil furnace so bad it cracks the cast boiler,now imagine gas!0 -
brier-49 wrote:BSR, yes f'n with the igniter can make it go boom. Get a delayed spark and gas build up BOOM.
I've seen it happen with an oil furnace so bad it cracks the cast boiler,now imagine gas!
I?m about to get an education. Can you please explain ?delayed spark??
I?ve heard of a weak spark that fails to ignite but a delayed spark, well that?s something new.
And for the record, I set the gap the same as the spare ignitor for the house furnace and bow it sparks a nice pretty blue spark, I have no worries. But there is no gas flow so still no heat.0 -
I hope your JB never lets go so the igniters change settings, you may find a delayed spark and boom. But it's your furnace not mine .I would have bought a new igniter, even my son the heating, plumbing pro wouldn't screw around like that.
Your call your house.0 -
Test your input micro dc voltage on your gas valve.
I'm guessing one of the probes you have pictured is a thermocouple/thermopile.
If that is bad, it will not tell the gas valve that there is a pilot light lit.
With no voltage there, the gas valve will not open.
Good luck.0 -
Slide the electrode back some and peen it with a hammer then press it back in. Check spark and adjust as necessary. 0 -
Chief Shaway wrote:Test your input micro dc voltage on your gas valve.
I'm guessing one of the probes you have pictured is a thermocouple/thermopile.
If that is bad, it will not tell the gas valve that there is a pilot light lit.
With no voltage there, the gas valve will not open.
Good luck.
This doesn?t have a pilot light, direct spark ignition. The gas valve, I?m trying to understand the wiring. One side has a dual wire, one side goes to the t-stat and is hot, 12V and the other goes to the fan relay. The second plug is a single wire, while the unit is off it is hot, 12V when running it cycles 12V to 0 while the furnace is trying to light. I have gas to the valve but none going to the burner. That I will replace! I found a wiring schematic for it but the information provided doesn?t tell the entire story, only shows connections and switches but no voltages. I can find no good troubleshooting guide for this, just end user stuff that ends with call a tech.0 -
brier-49 wrote:I hope your JB never lets go so the igniters change settings, you may find a delayed spark and boom. But it's your furnace not mine .I would have bought a new igniter, even my son the heating, plumbing pro wouldn't screw around like that.
Your call your house.
Again, what is a delayed spark? In all my years of fixing things I have never heard of a delayed spark. I have heard of a weak spark, is that what you mean?
And those electrodes are permanant now. That epoxy I used is the same epoxy I used to patch a set of cylinder heads that someone got carried away with a die grinder on. Those heads are still in use today.0 -
"Oh Boy, this is going to be great."
Insert image of Animal House pledge, buying 10,000 marbles. :shock: :roll:0 -
Who is watching this and holding your beer? Make sure they get video. 0 -
Big Sky Redneck wrote:
I?m about to get an education. Can you please explain ?delayed spark??
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Delayed spark, the furnace is getting gas in & because you jerry rigged your ignitor it isn't sparking when it should, when it finally gets it's spark you have a load of gas built up & BOOM.
Like I said right off it cracked an oil fired boiler that didn't ignite right, gas is a whole other animal.
But like I say, It's not my house , you are definitely younger & smarter than me so you should be good to go0 -
brier-49 wrote:Delayed spark, the furnace is getting gas in & because you jerry rigged your ignitor it isn't sparking when it should, when it finally gets it's spark you have a load of gas built up & BOOM.
Like I said right off it cracked an oil fired boiler that didn't ignite right, gas is a whole other animal.
But like I say, It's not my house , you are definitely younger & smarter than me so you should be good to go
The ignitor is nothing but an electrode, the actual ignitor is an electronic board that sends juice to this electrode. It is a solid piece of wire fed through a ceramic sleeve that insulates it from the metal housing that it is attached to. At no point is the connection broken or damaged, all that happened is when the previous owner attempted to remove it it came loose from the ceramic. All I did was reset the gap which is common as the electrodes burn down and epoxied the back side on the opposite side of the housing from the flame so that it no longer moves. Now you can hear the spark and see a nice pretty blue spark through the window as the furnace is running.
You make it sound like I totally rigged this thing with bailing wire and a car coil. Me thinks you are just letting your imagination run wild and once again, someone needs to run another down in order to appear smart and if you yell loud enough the crowd will follow.
And further more I asked if anyone knew the gap and what would be good to hold the gap, you decided to show your ass and try to make me look like a fool. I have regapped and set electrodes in several furnaces as it is a common repair, the only thing setting this apart is the ceramic was stripped which I made a permanant repair to.
The only reason it isn?t firing is the gas valve is stuck closed and no, I won?t repair that, I?ll replace it.0 -
Smitty500mag wrote:
After the screwing I got on this I thought about that! This thing was ate up0 -
Excuse me for my terminology mix up. Your electrode may not stay set as you did a jerry rig job , not a permanent repair.
Like I said you are definitely smarter than me , when in reality I was hoping to shed a little experience on this. I worked on boilers for a number of years & have seen the damage done. But I wasn't trying to run you down or make you look the fool you have done that all on your own.0
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