Note any additional wires tapping power off the inputs and outputs. Retired drapery and home furnishings installer. Obviously a switch or - Answered by a verified HVAC Technician ... Hello, I have a central heating electric furnace. This repairman has a money gadget going. Heating elements are tightly wound coils of resistive wire mounted inside of an electric furnace cabinet. Can a 2 story house have only 1 A/C and heating unit? When you turn up the thermostat, you should watch the ampmeter and look at your watch. To remedy this, switch the unit off for about half an hour, then press the reset button on the furnace. The blower disengages at the appropriate temperature according to what is set on the thermostat. 902824 - Intertherm OEM Replacement Electric Furnace Heating Element. Cutting down chain link posts, should I be concerned that sparks from an angle grinder might set dormant grass or a nearby fence on fire? Any connections that are the least bit lose inside the furnace will cause a heat build-up, arcing, and eventually a completely burned off connection. The heating elements provide the heat to warm the air, and the blower motor sends this warmed air through the ductwork. Elements: Electric resistance coils that heat the air circulated by the blower. Again you might have 1 or 2 large relay blocks where your big feeds from the panel go into one side of and the other side feeds your elements, while wires will tap off those feeds to power the low voltage transformer which powers your control circuitry. The sequencer most likely has stuck open supplying elements. Then tap on the sequencer with a screwdriver. For a relay you just have to match the coil voltage and make sure it meets or exceeds the amperage handling. Below are a few possibilities why your furnace doesn’t stay on and what to do about it. The heating element in my electric furnace remains on after the blower stuts off.? 5.0 out of 5 stars 6. Usually on the back of the main access cover. An electric furnace uses an array of heating elements, which are enclosed metal Heating element stays on even after blower has shut off. The heating elements of the furnace are also fused, and these fuses are located on a panel that is on or inside the furnace housing. In electric furnaces, the elements are activated in stages to prevent overheating. This is usually a good thing because thermostat problems are usually easier (and cheaper) to correct than problems with the furnace itself. When it heats and reaches the temperature that the thermostat it set the blower shuts off but the heating element stays on to where the furnace starts to overheat and smells like a burnt hair dryer. If not then you have a stuck coil. Keep in mind that many electric units may use 2 seperate circuits. Good luck. Element size Heating output . Either way, when you catch the element on with the stat off turn off the breaker wherever it is. First, it is important to realize that a furnace which is “short-cycling,” as we call it in the business, probably means that its safety features are working properly, so breathe a sigh of relief. Most furnaces have a dedicated circuit breaker or fuse in the electric panel. This sounds like a bad relay. You should be able to recognize this readily because the coil with have two sets of small wires going to two coil packs in the middle of the large relay. It's not a good idea to leave it on when the fan is not running because it could damage components in the case. Most home furnaces are designed to come on when the temperature in your home falls to a certain degree and stay on until the temperature rises back to your ideal level. Problem: Heater will not light/stay lit. It seems to stay on almost constantly. Since many older heating elements are no longer available, your only option may be to repair them using a properly sized restring kit. If they did, the electrical demand on the circuit would cause a circuit breaker to trip. FREE Shipping. I would locate that and use a multimeter to see if it's receiving activation voltage while it is engaged. Wrong fuse. I have an electric furnace at home that for sometime has worked fine except as of late it won't shut off unless you switch it off fully via the breaker switch, either the 2 that are on the furnace itself, or the "main" breaker switches in the hall. There will definitely be a circuit board with your thermostat wires going to it. If you have it, look at the low voltage activation coil and see if there is 4 small wires connecting to isolated terminals to indicate that it requires voltage to disengage. The fan and the 220 would shut off off but it continued to heat at 110. Helping You to Do It Yourself! I've never worked on an electric heat air handler before. An electric furnace works by turning on a series of electric heating elements that generate heat through coils, much like the heating elements in a toaster or electric oven. The thermostat switches the relay to “closed” position when heat is called for, sending electrical power, and then to “open” position when the furnace reaches the indoor target temperature, cutting off the power. Attempt repairs at your own risk. Many electric furnaces are on separate circuits, sometimes located in a separate fuse box away from the main panel. Water still running from taps and toilet after turning water off at mains? You most likely have a bad sequencer.The sequencer is stage to allow blower and one element to come on, then second, and so forth. Furnace turns off and briefly back on when it relights the burners? This article is a little different and is less common than the other problems. Many times they are in a block in which two or three tiers of several coils are stacked on top of one another. 5kw 17,000 Btu's 7Kw 24,000 Btu's 8Kw 27,000 Btu's 10Kw 34,000 Btu's 12Kw* 41,000 Btu's* 15Kw 51,000 Btu's Therefore, the sequencer staggers how the elements turn on so the furnace can supply the heat it needs to without causing a circuitry overload. Is my breaker box three-phase or single-phase? If you determine that this is the issue, take a good picture of it for a reference, tag wires that aren't obvious. Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images Electric furnaces use up to seven heating elements, also referred to as resistance coils, to heat a home. So here is the latest & greatest: I replaced the heating elements and now everything appears to be fine. Electric furnaces use lots of electricity. This is odd. If the airflow out of the registers feels weak, look for an obstruction such as a clogged air filter or closed seasonal damper. But I have to assume it would need a big relay to switch the heavy amperage load on and off. This causes the furnace to fire up, heat for a few minutes, and turn back off before it has had time to reach the target temperature. It is important to note, that there are a variety of reasons that your furnace won’t turn off, many of which are outside of your control. If it's receiving activation voltage at all times then your trouble lies in the circuit board. A forum community dedicated to Do it yourself-ers and home improvement enthusiasts. What you should see, assuming a 6 element furnace, is the following: 1. with the aid of fact it somewhat is warm however the heating aspects look to nonetheless paintings, the breaker is wiped out. Please see the picture (compliments from one of our nice customers) below of a burnt heat sequencer. Good heat, and no contactor chattering. If the relay is disengaged, (no continuity across the big wires) then the problem lies in the control circuitry and will take a bit more analysis. VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter, Suite 901, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. Join Yahoo Answers and get 100 points today. I am not in the business of any trade I give advice on. More Buying Choices $141.99 (2 … When the thermostat comes on, the meter reading will jump from zero to 21 amps as the first element comes on (assuming a 5 kilowatt element, which is the most common). The elements turn on by themselves for ten seconds and then the limit switch clicks and turns off. 95. FREE Shipping. Did you allow a less-than-qualified person to try to service your furnace? Relays are easier to get than circuit boards. The blower disengages at the appropriate temperature according to … Get your answers by asking now. A sequencer is essential for proper furnace operation, because if all the elements were heated simultaneously, the demand for electricity would pop a fuse or trip the circuit breaker. Is your furnace running improperly? It can shut the system down to prevent overheating. Your dyi expertise will determine whether you want to try it or call a pro. Hi, My heating elements won't go off after a heating cycle. Thermostat: Also known as a limit controller, the thermostat is built into the electric furnace system to regulate the temperature. Bring heat to your air conditioning system with an electrical heat kit that interfaces with the AC systems we sell. Maybe you can correct the trouble. But the heating elements cannot all turn on at once, since this will overload the circuit. If you find that your furnace is not igniting at a time when you need it most, try these easy fixes first in an attempt to get your heating system up and running in a short amount of time as possible.. So it sounds like the element never turns off no matter what you do with the thermostat? Most electric air handlers have breakers in the furnace near the sequencers. $154.95 $ 154. Why Your Furnace Won’t Turn Off. The one time I had a problem like you describe in was a bad contactor. Sequencers aren't to expensive but can be tricky to replace on some models. call yet another qualified expert electrician. I ruined my landlords $1k hard wood table. I have non-professional hvac experience + good knowledge of theory. The furnace motor can become overloaded at times as well. The sequencer on an electric furnace is a switch mechanism that activates the different heating elements inside the unit. 4.2 out of 5 stars 3. At least you do have heat when you need it despite the inconvenience of manually turning it on and off. New limit switches and/or fuses should also be installed. Sounds like maybe only one element and blower which is first stage is energizing. 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It’s possible … Currently the only way to turn of the heating element is to shut off the breakers on the electrical panel. An electric furnace uses multiple heating elements, but they can’t all turn on at the same time. Restringing an element simply means replacing the heating wire with a new one. Make sure you have all power to the unit off. Many electric heaters have more than 1 element too and split feeds like a 2 pole 60 and a 2 pole 30 or two 2 pole 60's (the breakers feeding it) in this case you would likely have two relays being controlled by different wires. If your furnace isn’t functioning properly and you’ve ruled out the usual suspects—like a dirty furnace filter or bad flame sensor—it may be that the thermostat is to blame. Many homeowners discover that their furnace is not working when they go to turn it on for the first time of the winter season.. TELL ME MORE. These kind of relays have two coils, and then an auxiliary low voltage relay which switches the voltage signal between engage and disengage. If none of this works, it's time to call a professional. Whats a cheap fix for this damage? We'll have a list of frequent causes and any replacement parts you may need. 8 Posts . One of the most common furnace problems is when the burners won’t stay lit. Each Kw produces about 3400 Btu's of heat, so the heating output of the various heat strip options are as follows. At any rate there should be a schematic diagram inside the case of the unit. Rather, it … I think it could be a bad sequencer but am looking for other options or confirmation before I go purchase parts. Test for continuity from input to output. The sequencer will be the part that has all the wires leading to the elements. A blower fan moves the heat generated from the heating elements through the home. There is one other possibility, some relays stay engaged and require a signal to disengage it as well as engage it. Before long the entire wire will be burnt off. The electric furnace heating element options are displayed within the electric furnace pricing. If your furnace keeps turning on and off repeatedly, it can be stressful at best, and cold or downright uncomfortable at worst. Scan our list of Coleman furnace symptoms until you hit on the one that matches the problem. Power it back on and see if this corrects the problem. Gas furnaces and electric furnaces operate on the same principle: a blower fan sends air through the furnace, where it is warmed up, and then into the ventilation system. You have a stuck sequencer, it's very common with electric furnaces. Than the other electric furnace heating element stays on times they are in a separate fuse box it... Most furnaces have a stuck sequencer, it 's receiving activation voltage at all then! 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