Hello SigForum brain trust.

Our gas furnace had quit heating a couple weeks back. Using the flashing led code, it suggested the ignitor (electric) was inop. Removed the ignitor and could see where there was a damaged spot, no conductivity on the multi meter.

Ordered the replacement, installed, fired right up and all was well.

Fast forward to today, no heat again. Same led code, same spot on the new ignitor damaged.

Any ideas as to what could be damaging the ignitor? Line debris? Any suggested fixes?

Pictures of the damaged part might help.

My first guess would be that the igniter is staying on after it's needed, then burning open prematurely.

I'd start looking for an electrical issue. For example, if the relay on the circuit board is stuck and the ignitor is constantly being fed power, it will burn out. Or if it's getting excess voltage, it will burn out. (You did replace it with the correct voltage ignitor, right?)

Verified part # matched for our furnace model.

Do not touch ignitor surface during install.
Oil from hands can cause them to burn out.

Get OEM. Had a similair ignitor in my gas stove. Burned out, replaced with amazon cheapy. Lasted 2 wks. Replaced with OEM, still going 5 yrs later.

Our furnace at our old house failed & the ignitor looked almost the same.
Got an OE replacement & all was well after that.
Maybe your replacement was faulty? Hate to get a 3rd & have it fail too, but an option.

That's about the limit of my HVAC ability. Luckily the board was smart enough to give the code to know where to start.

I vote for one of the two items suggested above.... not shutting off after start up or oil or just a bad igniter... either way you need to put a new one in and see what happens.... I guess buy two this time and them you'll never need the second one.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
I vote for one of the two items suggested above.... not shutting off after start up or oil or just a bad igniter... either way you need to put a new one in and see what happens.... I guess buy two this time and them you'll never need the second one.

Lol, I ordered two, different manufacturers just in case...

As usual, this stuff happens at the least opportune time. Coldest day we've had so far.

Had no heat here for a bit over an hour while the gas co replaced my gas meter.
House dropped to 67* inside while he worked on it.

New ignitor arrived and installed, back in business for now. Will see if this one fails in the same way.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
As usual, this stuff happens at the least opportune time. Coldest day we've had so far.

Had no heat here for a bit over an hour while the gas co replaced my gas meter.
House dropped to 67* inside while he worked on it.

An hour in Texas...Oh, the Horror!

My thermostat is set at 66 Degrees when the space is occupied and we're NOT sleeping.

Same. Mine stays on 66 during the winter. Works great for me.

65 degrees in my house during the day and 60 at night.

Propane or Natural Gas?

Is there a drip leg on the gas line to the furnace?

quote:

Originally posted by Appliance Brad:
Propane or Natural Gas?

Is there a drip leg on the gas line to the furnace?

Natural gas, line fed by six outlet manifold. Doesn't appear to have drip leg.

Alot of parts are being made overseas and just plain don’t last over a couple years.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Had no heat here for a bit over an hour while the gas co replaced my gas meter.
House dropped to 67* inside while he worked on it.

An hour in Texas...Oh, the Horror!

My thermostat is set at 66 Degrees when the space is occupied and we're NOT sleeping.

70 during the day & 68 at night, in the winter.

^^^How the hell can you even sleep/fall asleep at 68 degrees? I have my thermostat programmed to set back to 62 at night, and I sleep in a t-shirt!

Back on topic, those HSI's (Hot Surface Igniters) are kinda' fragile. You definitely don't want to touch the element, which is made of Recrystallized Silicon Carbide. The oils on your skin will cause it to fail prematurely. They also don't like to get debris on them, such as particles of scale/rust from the heat exchanger. I also believe, based on my own experience, that condensation from high humidity air, or condensing flue gasses if they make their way back to the igniter somehow, can negatively affect their lifespan.

I have a boiler with what looks like the exact same HSI pictured above. When I need replacements, I only buy the OE Igniter, which is made by CoorsTek, and I believe Made in the USA. In the case of my boiler, cold starts and short cycling can result in low return temperatures which can also cause condensing that I believe may have caused a few HSI failures. I actually buy them three at a time so I always have at least two spares, just in case. That said, I've never had one fail in a couple of weeks. I had one that lasted just one year, but most have lasted 2-3 years on avg. In checking my records I've replaced the HSI 8 times, and my boiler is 18 years in service.

ETA - In fact, here's how fragile they are...



I ordered two online back in Nov. 2018, and this was the condition of one of them when I opened the unblemished packaging.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nhracecraft,

I always keep two on hand and order another when I use one. I can change one out in <10 minutes.