I have problems with my furnace ignition. It has a Honeywell control board. I don't always get a spark to light the pilot. To get it to spark, I have to open the panel and wiggle the blue wire coming from the control unit. The wire is attached to a little ceramic piece/small metal rod under the burner. Once I get a spark, it fires right up.
I replaced the connector where the wire plugs into the control unit pin. That didn't do the trick. Could it be a short somewhere? I took it out and it looks like it's connected to the ceramic piece as one unit. Should I replace the wire and the ceramic piece?
The fact you have to wiggle the wire, leads me to believe the wire or it's connection is the prolbem. Unplug the wire from the ignitor/pilot assembly clean the connections. Make sure the connections are good snug. Another problem can be a bad ground. Make sure where the ignitor mounts is clean. Remove the ignitor/pilot clean both the base of the mount where it actually mounts. Check all ground wires to insure where they connect is clean.
Thanks. I'll clean everything up and check the grounds. The ignitor/pilot is the ceramic piece with the small metal rod, right? Also, I've taken it out before and it looks like the wire is attached inside the ceramic piece. Should that come apart, too?
What you describe does sound like the ignitor assembly. On MOST ignitors the wire just plugs in. Yours may be different. Without seeing it I can't say one way or the other for sure. If you have an ohm meter know use it, you could check the resitance thru the wire ignitor. While doing so, wiggle the wire to see if the resitance changes (an analog meter works best for this since you can see the needle move).
It's still not working. I've checked the wire with with an Ohmmeter and it seems like the wire is OK. I've checked the ground from the control module as well. Any other thoughts? It almost seems that there is a physical problem with the pin coming out of the control module. When I wiggle the wire near the control, it gets a spark and the furnace fires up.
Is this pin more like a small spike onto which the ignition wire plugs with no connector? With these, sometimes if you have enough wire, you can cut off the first inch of ignition wire plug it onto the spike. If there is a metal connector on the end of the ignition wire, often replacing it will do the trick. If there is a bad solder joint on the ignition module, you can't do much about that other than replacing the module.
The pin is a 1/4 inch flat pin. I replaced the connector, but I'll try that again. Also, is there only one ground coming from the control module. I've checked to make sure that it tight, but I'll try taking it off and cleaning it with WD40. I'll keep you posted. For some reason, I don't think it's the control module because the furnace is working intermittedly. It fired up Sat. with no problem, but on Sun. I had to wiggle the wire to get the spark.
markdiy: I just replaced this piece on my furnace....comes as an assembly and cost about $22.
Don't use WD-40 on any electrical connections. It traps dirt is not compatible with some plastics.
lhewitt:
Which piece did you replace - the ignitor or the pin near the control module? Also, where did you find it? Would like to get this taken care of before it gets too cold.
Tags: ignition, problem, furnace, ceramic piece, control module, wiggle wire, from control, ignition wire, ignitor pilot, coming from, coming from control, control unit
