Furnace Not Working - Troubleshooting the Flame Sensor

[@WordofAdviceTV]

⬇ Other Videos You May Be Interested In: How to Clean a Flame Sensor: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXvSn5-VibGepqc Top 5 Furnace Problems: kzbin.info/www/bejne/imWsiKeBrpJgjM0 Furnace Sequence of Operation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4KnkICbma6eoqs #1 Reason Furnace Gets Replaced: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omTUdIxufK6kmJo

[@pearlkonesky9482]

THIS GUY IS THE BEST TEACHER ON THE WEB. HE IS POLITE, PERSONABLE, FLUENT, HUMBLE, PATIENT, AND BRILLIANT. THANKING HIM FOR HIS OUTSTANDING WORK. !!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you! In future videos I will try my best to live up to at least half of what you said :)

[@jbh.6257]

HEAR HEAR!! (...I second what he said!!). And Thank You sir for sharing your knowledge !

[@aclaudio1969ify]

Yes he is, hands down the best teacher

[@happywill]

Yep - agree 100% Very grateful.

[@mtkoslowski]

I agree 💯% By the way, you aren’t his mother are you? 😁

[@robertpalmatier2699]

I've learned at least two years worth of knowledge in one year of watching Jay

[@cdp21088]

There's hundreds of videos about cleaning flame sensors on KZbin, this is the only one I've found that explains why having clean burners is important also. Very well done, thank you!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I am happy that I covered that then! :) Thank you for watching and leaving a comment!

[@edroman6833]

Can you do a video about two stage Heat Pumps I would appreciate it

[@MoonRambo702]

I’ve been doing hvac service for about 7 years, Today I learned how the flame sensor actually works.

[@davetysdal5442]

Flame rectification is the key. It's a bit tricky and more involved to clean the burners.

[@LindaVargo-s3q]

One of the best videos I have seen. He explained everything so well

[@oneupchallenge]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I am a single mom with a 20 plus year old furance. You have saved me from two service calls this fall and winter.

[@stuartmillman4361]

He is one of the best teachers you can find anywhere.

[@Eric_Schon]

Thank you so much. It's 3 a.m. and 20°f outside. My wife woke me up because she was cold, 66°f inside. I've done everything I've known, clean flame sensor and check ground. I did not know about cleaning the burner face. That did it.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Fantastic! Glad to hear the video helped! Stay warm and have a Merry upcoming Christmas! 🌲🌲🌲

[@smkiska87]

I have to thank you so much!! I am the handy and diy person in our marriage and our furnace was not working. I replaced the ignitor two years ago, fixed. Cleaned, but found a faulty flame sensor last year, replaced and fixed. Well, today our flame sensor, I thought was acting up. Our ignitor went bad again due to all of the misfires. I followed your lead of locating, cleaning, and reinstalling the burners, FIXED!! It is now working better than when we bought this place in 2015. There was a massive build up on the burner and lint in the burner. It now works beautifully. You not only helped me, you helped prepare my little family for the upcoming winter. Thank you and you are an amazing teacher ❤️!!!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

That was a really nice comment! :) That's awesome that you were able to fix it yourself so many times! And I'm happy that my video helped this time around. Thank you for leaving a comment! May you and your little family stay warm all winter long!

[@smkiska87]

@@WordofAdviceTV absolutely! You're very welcome and I will gladly turn to your channel first for my diy fixes. We live in the snowbelt and it's getting cold. The furnace is running beautifully. :)

[@WordofAdviceTV]

@@smkiska87 Wonderful! Good that it is running beautifully, may it keep on going at that pace for the next 10-15 years!

[@joepainter5722]

Thanks for your furnace videos. After paying $160 and still having a furnace that crapped out after they left, I found your youtube channel. After digging into the furnace, I found the issue and its been running great ever since. I live in Canada and the furnace is a must at this time of year. Thanks again. I have now subscribed to your Channel.

[@brucehesley1438]

Your Word of Advice is just what the doctor ordered. My 23 year old carrier 9200 kept stopping to produce heat(3-1 and 3-4 code) I cleaned my flame sensor and so far no more problems. Thanks you for all that you for us DIY's !!

[@megafon2200]

Whoa.. I wish I had an instructor teaching like him . This guy has a lot of knowledge on A/C- Heating . Thanks for sharing it on line Trully outstanding work !

[@tjestila1]

I am very impressed in the way you present things and how you have knowledge of what you’re presenting and you present it well and also you present it with a personable spirit, I really like that. I’ve been electrician for 40 years and I’m retired but I never worked on these furnaces and you made troubleshooting a flame sensor easy so I thank you.

[@qweenb.3552]

Thank you so much!!! I am a single mother and I get really tired of waiting for my land lord to do things so I just youtube everything and do it all myself 😂. I was soooo scared that the gas was gonna blow my house up but I did it!!! I cleaned the flame sensor and put it all back together and now its back up and running! Thank you for doing a deep dive and showing us everything in detail and going at a nice pace!

[@felixcarrillo973]

Brother; thanks for all the time, effort and patience to make these videos; really admire your intelligence and kindness. You really making people save 1000s with all your instructions and advise. Thank you!!!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

You're most welcome! Thank you for leaving such a positive comment, stay warm!

[@billsutton2110]

PERFECT. I used 600 grit sandpaper and made the flame sensor look brand new. Happy furnace, happy wife, happy life :-)

[@nickyjames1430]

Both of your flame sensor videos are brilliant, informative, and clear. Thanks for sharing your troubleshooting/fixing knowledge with the rest of us!

[@DennisGentry]

This has been super helpful. After the third fail visit by the local HVAC shop, I opened up my Trane 80 and found that the rod inside the porcelain was broken loose, so rotated freely (out of the flame). Someone had attempted to make the rod stay in the flame by twisting the sensor wire to "the right place" and cable tying it, but that was pretty iffy and the sensor ended up out of the flame after a couple of days. After watching your video, I estimated the position it should go in the flame, put a drop of superglue down each end of the porcelain, and screwed it back in. D'oh! Wrong position. So I took your advice, bent the rod into the right position, and accidentally cracked the end of the porcelain a little, but it works now! (I have a new $11 flame sensor on order from Amazon.) . Don't know whether to ask the local HVAC shop for my money back or just let it go, but how hard would it have been for them to install a new flame sensor instead of a lame cable tied mess?

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Hey Dennis! Glad to hear my video helped you track down the problem! Sounds like you got it all figured out now. The flame sensor will likely work just fine with a little of the porcelain part broken off. But it's not an expensive part so why not just replace it :)

[@b.patrick2570]

Cleaned flame sensor no go, cleaned burner face in front of flame sensor and fired up! Great video!

[@chengone2]

Great video. Lots of good information. I learned a lot from this video. I would like to share my experience on the uAmp reading on my furnace that is difference than the normal range discussed in this video. I have a Nordyne furnace that was acting up. It would show a 1 hour lock out code. After power off and power on the board. it would run for 4 mins on the first cycle. On the second cycle, it would flame on and fame out after 3 seconds. When the flame was on on the first cycle, the reading was 3-4 uAmp. I looked at the flame sensor, it was a little bit dirty. I cleaned it up with wire scrubber and 2000 grit sand paper. The flame sensor looked shiny. I put the flame sensor back. I was getting 8 uAmp reading. The furnace cycle normally after cleaning the flame sensor. The house was heating up to the set temperature. I was following your video on the uAmp reading. I thought the 3-4 uAmp reading from my Nordyne furnace was normal and did not need to clean the flame sensor. I found out that after cleaning, the reading was at 8 uAmp. I there for conclude. Each manufacture spec on the uAmp reading that is consider normal operating uAmp are different.

[@raysator5530]

Thank you Jay! This is a life saver! Woke at around 3AM because the House temp drop to 10 degree C, furnace stopped working. I did test the thermostat and looked it was working fine. Cleaned the flame sensor and everything is now back to normal. Great video too!

[@hoganhogan952]

Learned something today. Never thought of cleaning the burner face. Thanks man

[@falconmack]

OMG, are you a contractor with many decades of experience??? YOU KNOW EVERYTHING !!!. I haven't seen anywhere in YT a better teacher than you, so knowledgeable, to the point, etc. etc. Every single thing that you say is pure knowledge flowing into the reader's brain. I have seen many other people teaching their stuff, but while they may be as knowledgeable, they pack their videos with LOTS of boring or unnecessary stuff, I have to skip skip skip until I get to the point where the actual meat is. In your videos, you can't even blink if you don't want to miss important details. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE!! (and for being an excellent teacher, etc. etc. etc.)

[@techlucky8672]

was getting a 34 error and followed your instructions. Cleaned out the flame sensor and now it works like a charm.

[@joeczech992]

He's the best that I have seen on You Tube. Very clear and accurate.

[@herculesskinny2030]

Yes he is.

[@jessehndz3124]

Currently going to an HVAC course covering the heat cycle and your video has clarified a lot to me in simple terms.... Great Job Brother!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you! I aim to keep it simple :) Good luck with the studies!

[@tygerlugo]

Man!!! Just had a furnace issue and I Googled the cause and fix to no real resolution until I came to your channel. Needless to say, you where spot on. Furnace would only run for seconds, cleaning the flame sensor myself saved me a costly service call. Thanks for expertise.

[@tylerroberts5704]

Dirty flame sensor, you saved me at 4am on a Sunday. Much appreciated

[@docash2107]

Just fixed my furnace. Cleaned the flame sensor in a matter of minutes. Heat is back up and running!!! Thank you so much!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

You're welcome!! Happy to hear you were able to get it fixed! Stay warm.

[@Doomquill]

This video was perfect, exactly all the information I needed, and even addressed some questions I hadn't had in mind but had previously wondered about. Thanks for making it!

[@davemarcaccio6058]

Got my system running in 20 minutes after your video. Thank you! If you were in Detroit, though, I'd still call you! 😎

[@vishwawickramatunga5116]

Within the time frame you are explaining all technical points with confidence , good and clear language, I am a Sri Lankan , migrated to Canada and got licence as Gas 2 tech , Your videos are valuable for me . Thank you - young good teacher for the good job you are doing .

[@aron41209]

Thank you so much! Saved us from having to call a repair person during surge pricing!

[@FleischerFamilyFun]

Best video about flame sensors that I have seen. Good job.

[@hobobear188]

Dude, you totally saved me. Thank you for explaining the flame sensor and showing how to test it. Couldn't figure out why a new sensor wasn't working until I see this vid. I have a dual prong sensor that I guess was spread too far apart. Your explanation helped me deduce where the problem was. Thanks!

[@515051506969]

What do you mean by dual prong sensor trying to diagnose my furnace could you explain please

[@hvacrnortheastern2110]

If you’re not licensed in your state & skilled in the trade. Word of advice call a professional .

[@rodneyharris490]

Im not gonna lie, this is one of the most detailed tutorials I've ever watched. Salute to you bruh

[@MAD_ISM]

Ty brah! The fault light showed one fast and three slow blinks, indicating a flame sensor fault on my Carrier Unit. I cleaned her out, and all is good in the World!

[@davidcastro-d1i]

Thanks for including cleaning the burners...I tried cleaning only the flame sensors, but still was not working, after I took your advice and cleaned the burners it worked.

[@ernestalfa9045]

You are the man! that’s exactly how everything works but most people just talk about mm clean sensor and be done with it but control board has a lot to do with it

[@louiemartinez7754]

One of the best videos so far. Great tips and information from senior techs! Keep up the good work!

[@1zipperheaded1]

Great, concise explanations. And your camera operator does a great job, too! Thank you.

[@skinnerAK1]

This was a really helpful video for me. With it, I was able to get right to the bottom of my furnace issue, and get it working right away. I had just masked off the garage to paint, and plastic sheeting covered the combustion air intake. Your side trip into the flame sensor, and how 3 or 5 non-starts will cause it to cut off. And how it simply needs to be power cycled, was just the thing. Thanks again!

[@mikelosowski4077]

dude 100% explained clearer than the rocket lessson i went thru an hour ago thanks

[@jayzee5144]

From Canada 🇨🇦 thank you I’m a furnace technician your video is awesome 👏

[@lsmitts1858]

👏🏾 You, my good man, are impressive ! Flawless execution. I've been an electrician since 1996. (& "allegedly" a nerd, ever since my original birthday) My craftsmanships are always presented with Excellence & a sprinkling of O.C.D sauce 🤓 I NEVER ,😳 EVERRRR knew that the flame itself, was, literally !, a integral part of the control circuit 🤯 so I'm literally omw right now, to my furnace . new flame sensor ✅ Tools and voltage meter ✅ New knowledge & understanding ✅ &...1 Big SMILE ✅ True masters , always remain students.

[@lsmitts1858]

😳😲🤭🤫 soooo, If I had broken my 2 wire hot surface igniter.🤣 hypothetically . Is there a workaround with a different style of igniter , or substitution with similar characteristics and function ?

[@chrisharris1884]

Buddy, Thanks for all you do. You kept our bills down and a warm home. Cheers

[@1drhnsd1]

I knew to clean the flame sensor, but the burners kept shutting off 5 seconds after starting even after cleaning the flame sensor. (Lennox G27M3-75A-2 furnace) After watching this video, I took the burner out where the flame sensor is positioned. It had a light coating of carbon on the end. I used a brass brush to clean it, then put the burner assembly back together - and my heat works again. Thank you

[@buckeyebob4079]

You do a great job in explaining what you are doing THE BEST ON U TUBE !

[@reeco357]

I'm glad I found this page. Excellent job with lots of info that you can understand.

[@franklindjservices9844]

Absolutely great video. This was very informative. Big shout out to the Videographer for capturing wonderful angles of view.

[@tidget7796]

If I could put a 1000 likes on here I would! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. There is no way I could afford a repair bill right now & simply cleaning this sensor seems to have fixed the problem. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[@skliros9235]

Just cleaned the sensor and fixed for now. Gonna order a replacement anyways. Good video sir!

[@davidv64]

Great video! Thanks for taking the time to provide a detailed explanation along with a great bunch of tips to help debug flame sensor issues.

[@johnvasko4035]

Great definative video. Cleaned my flame sensor with no improvement so I did the recommended burner cleaning (very tough to get out). That did the trick. I was ready to move on with the electrical multimeter checks but it turned out to be unnecessary. This saved me from wasting time and money buying a new flame sensor. Best video on the subject on utube. Thanks a bunch!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad to hear you got it fixed! :) Stay warm!

[@juscuzable]

Wow. Great job explaining my furnace and I am calling a technician

[@syedjan7407]

Good afternoon all. I am working as a helper with a HVAC tech last 2 months. I want to see which online institute is better to join. Do you prefer joining the online classes or this channel will be Ok to learn. I learn a lot from this gentleman. Thank you

[@jddeefo1022]

Hands of a furnace technician, nicks, cuts, bandaids, scars,,,hah, great videos. Make sure battery drill is set before running in wrong direction so you dont strip or break those tiny screws. Been there done that!

[@jhonatanoyarce4488]

I finally I learned how to troubleshoot a flame sensor. thanks for sharing!

[@carlosvasquez-xq8sp]

Great videos, content and production; an aside; I worked in emergency medicine for many years and had multiple episodes of injured/swollen fingers which worsened with rings; that ring you wear will be very difficult to cut off; consider smaller jewelry, especially in your occupation. Personal worst experiences related to championship-type rings. Stay sharp!

[@mariochuqui746]

Good job my friend! You explaing and show how i can test the flame sensor and other things. You coud be my tercer on my school, because i am learning HVAC.... But that way you teach us is different and i understand clearly. Keep up like that and God bless you! Chicago,iL

[@mariochuqui746]

You could be my Teacher on my school !! I like that way you explaing and show clearly what you are doing. Thank you my friend!

[@LouDilbert]

Thank you for showing how to remove and clean the burners. I didn't know that they could get dirty like that, then I wouldn't have known how to remove them nor clean them.

[@walterrisco4236]

like I said before this guy is the best teacher i ever had :)

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you Walter! I appreciate the high marks!

[@iTubeClassroom]

Thanks so much!!!!!! This really helped me troubleshoot and saved us from another cold sleepless night.

[@knikula]

This is EXACTLY the info I was looking for to help me understand my problem. Thank you.... stainless rod, flame rectification... whodathunk?

[@pblack.]

This is the only channel i saw explain how the flame sensor actually functions.

[@JoseReyes-gj2di]

You sir are a God send! Thank you so much for all your very educational and informative videos! You explain things so well! Thanks to you I saved some money and my family won't go to sleep cold this Christmas.

[@jokecol1583]

Very informative. Same goes for your other videos! Appreciate the help and knowledge! Thanks!

[@JohannnesBrahms]

Those porcelain insulators and igniters are very easy to crack. Good point that you mentioned it.

[@garylenius4181]

The tip on cleaning the burners did the trick for me. My furnace was shutting off immediately after lighting intermittently - about 60% of the time. I cleaned the flame sensor - still happening. I installed a new flame sensor - no luck. After staring at the thing for many start-up cycles I finally noticed that when the burners were lighting there was sometimes a delay before the leftmost burner lit. That's the one farthest from the igniter and that has the flame sensor in front of it. Sometimes the flame spread so slow that the third burner didn't light before the flame sensor check and so - shutdown. I followed the instructions in this video to extract the burners and clean them. The leftmost burner had some accumulated rust in the slot that connects with the next burner over. I suspected that was what was retarding the spread of the flame to the left burner long enough for the flame sensor check to fail. After a thorough cleaning the leftmost burner now ignites in less than a second and no more problem. I will have to remember to clean the burners every once in a while in future. Thanks muchly for the info.

[@josepeixoto3384]

Thanks for the video, Thanks for you showing how to insert the meter probe between the metal terminal metal and the plastic insulator in order not to open up the terminal grip ( like i see some do,they force the tip in, and weaken the connection!!!), never thought of that,that is also priceless.

[@markolaw]

VERY excellent!! Wonderful tips. Thank you so much. I rarely subscribe but I did immediately because you were so informative and no time wasting with a lot of bs. Thanks again.

[@ttb6384]

Jay deserves a nobel Prize!

[@frank-vy9xe]

I have learned so much from your informative. Videos. You have saved me hundreds of dollars in service. calls.

[@hankclay1376]

Just what I needed to solve my flame sensor problem. Thank you so much!

[@gnikoli]

Great job, thank you! My furnace is behaving exactly as you describe for failed flame sensor. I don't have have a meter that reads microamps, so I just replaced the sensor with new. Cheaper than buying a meter, but that didn't solve the problem. Still getting code 34. Voltage to sensor when gas lights is 50VAC. Cleaned burner, checked flame rollout switch and pressure switches, all good. Guess I will get a uA meter, but lets assume sensor flame sensor is good and ground is good, what next, control board? Other?

[@alanr585]

Wow, thanks for explaining how the flame sensor operates, I've wondered about that for a while.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad I could help with that! :) Thanks for watching!

[@luiselizalde6757]

Thanks man that is something that I could not understand, I really appreciate all your videos, I am always learning of your videos.

[@stevieb031969]

A big Thank You for posting these videos.

[@daveharvey9176]

Thanks for the vid just went through the ground on my furance and got it running. almost bought a new controller. thanks again.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad to hear you were able to find and fix the problem! Thank you for coming back to leave a comment, stay warm!

[@Videogames84161]

Excellent video. Awesome way of explanation with details. Thank you!

[@creamofbotulismsoup9900]

Thanks. It seems like such an obvious thing to check, but it looks like I just had a loose ground connection causing an intermittent flame sensor issue on my mom's heater. The ground screw hole was completely stripped out, just drilled a hole to the side of the old one and drove in a new screw. Probably will take a week to be sure that was it, the issue was very intermittent.

[@isonlynameleft]

Great tip on cleaning the burner!

[@josephcade3541]

Outstanding presentation on the flame sensor. Thank you very much

[@enriquenavarro408]

This guy is really good explaining everything

[@marlinmull6507]

Thank you I believe you saved me a lot if money. Well Done !

[@kevinmichaelx4894]

Excellent video and great information. The only small suggestion would be to have some type of simple mount for your meter to make it easier to get into video. Thanks.

[@QuanHuQizheng]

Great video! Had a furnace with a short cycle, cleaned/replaced flame sensor multip time but still not working. After watching this and cleaning the burner, then finally problem solved!!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Awesome! Glad to hear you were able to get it fixed and the video helped with the process. Thank you for leaving a comment!

[@lschiz-photography1765]

WOW HOLY COW YOU ARW INCREDIBLE!! Excellent! Excellent info! Excellent explanation!! Excellent teaching!!! I know this is 5 years ago but I hope you get to read this. Love the meter in the flame😊☝️ Not too many know or would even think to try that. One question I would trust your input in What are some symptoms of low or marginal gas pressure at the furnace valve? What’s a typical “WC? If you get to this great but I’m a follower now!!😊 Wow holy cow Thanks man!!!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I love your enthusiasm! Glad you liked the video so much! A typical lo-fire gas pressure is about 1.7"-2.0" WC. If the flames in the burners look "lazy" instead of a sharp cone, then the gas pressure may be too low. It's best to adjust gas pressure while doing a combustion analysis to see how the gas adjustment is affecting the carbon monoxide/dioxide levels. The default gas pressures for lo and hi fire should be listed on the furnace nameplate as well. I don't adjust gas pressures too often but here is one example of when I would: Let's say I come out to a Carrier furnace inspection and I know that my CO PPM should be about 50ppm on this style of furnace but I am seeing 120ppm. Usually a compromised heat exchanger would go well beyond 300ppm so that would not be my first suspicion. This scenario would make me check the gas valve pressures. I would probably also clean the burners to further drop the ppm. (should at least be under 100ppm)

[@lschiz-photography1765]

@@WordofAdviceTV wow holy cow again!! Thank you for your reply!! The unit is only 3yo so hear exchanger good And I have the manuals so pressure is in there. Don’t want to jump to suspend gas pressure but after confirming so much else is good just thinking about what else. Thank you again Really appreciate your sharing so much. Browsing your videos and a wealth of good solid help!! Wish you well!! Scott

[@abdorakeebnaji1527]

All your vedio very helpful. Very good explanation nice and clear camera.details..very nice job.10/10 thank you. We need to see more vedio about commercial refrigeration and walking coolers and freezers and how to do vacuum and charging systems when you changing compressor...thanks again

[@empower1100]

Your videos are so helpful. Thanks for spreading the knowledge!

[@shanegreen268]

Your awesome. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I'm a HVAC technician and I just learned a lot from you. 👍👍👍👍

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I'm happy to hear that! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! Good luck at work! ;)

[@ianwilley4208]

After watching your video's the one problem you didn't cover and the one I had turned out to be the pressure switch . The furnace would fire up and shut down after 5 sec. Cleaned flame rod still did same thing next cleaned burner and measured voltage which was good . Changed limit switches still furnace would fire up and shut down a few time then would catch and run to complete cycle. finally replaced pressure switch and bingo furnace now fires up without double clutching. P.S. like your video's full of good info

[@gregoryking9348]

Excellent tutorial!! Great presentation and technically profient information. Well done.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you! Glad you found the video useful!

[@JT_70]

Great, helpful video Jake. Cleaning the flame sensor fixed mine. Thanks! The black plastic fan cover on my inducer motor is broken off. Where can I buy a replacement?

[@travelingkaspersworld4096]

This was good fun. The magnetic tiny tray is ..most clever.

[@vince6829]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. As you can see from the comments, it’s much appreciated.

[@surefire07]

Good information for the DIY engineer... Thanks.

[@Junw122]

He made many very useful videos, thank you very much!

[@rkabbadi]

Thanks you so much. I am new to this , but i learned a lot from you. Great teaching.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

You're welcome! Glad to hear the video was useful!

[@nyemalove09]

OMG you really helped me and save me a lots of money I appreciate keep doing what you’re doing thanks so much

[@starobinful]

Thanks a lot very good video Which model of ampmeter was in the video ? Thanks