Easy Fix

Its 1:00 AM and 20 Degrees outside and your furnace is acting up... That's just great! You say to yourself. Now I have to call a heating contractor and pay hundreds of dollars extra to get my furnace fixed or freeze the rest of the night... That is just great!

Well sometimes the most common gas furnace issues do not have to cost anything to fix and you would be surprised at just how easy it actually is to resolve the problem. What are we talking about here? We will talk about the flame sensor first.

The flame sensor is usually a small metal cylinder about 1/8” thick and few inches long with a porcelain mounting and will have a long wire connected to it. The sensor will sit or be positioned directly in the flame itself above one of the burners. When the burner is lit the sensor tells the control board that you have an active burner and when it is not working properly it will cause a nuisance by not allowing the furnace to run, sometimes for short periods and sometimes not at all.

The problem is very common and can sometimes be rectified by simply cleaning the little metal probe that sticks in the flame. These metal probes are prone to getting dirty, caked with a deposit of dirt. This deposit of dirt prevents the sensor from heating up properly and provides the control board false readings for the flame condition.

So if you are stuck in the middle of the night with the gas furnace symptoms described above you can try this simple measure and see if it works. Simply clean the metal sensor with a dollar bill, (any denomination will work), or you can also use a fine sandpaper or other fine abrasive materials. Just clean it enough to get the dirt off, be careful not to scratch off too much of the metal as that can ruin the sensor.

This works nine times out of ten. If the sensor is clean and the gas furnace still does not work then it is more than likely time to call E. L. WALTERS Air conditioning & Heating for a furnace repair.