Comfortmaker Furnace/Blower - blowing reset switch

tmarcel · 09-03-2007, 01:59 AM

Last week, the AC wouldn't turn on. Not even the fan/blower would turn on when the system was switched to the 'ON' position on the t-stat. I decided to make a trip to the attic and tried turning the 'light switch' looking thing off, then back on. It worked! The system turned on and the house cooled down.

Earlier today the samething happened again. I went back to the attic and turned the switch off and then back on. Unfortunately, it won't turn on for more than a few seconds. I noticed that there's an electrical type flash inside the box (light switch/reset), presumably a fuse of some sort. You can hear the fan outside turn on and the furnace too but then stops within seconds. I dug around on this forum and it appears that the switch is an emergency reset switch??

Any of you guys seen this issue before? Seems like it might be a short?

Some additional info:

1.) The system was new with the house built in 2001.
2.) I had to replace the fan outside in the compressor. I replaced it with a universal fan that had to be wired in. Everything has been great since replacing it about 3 months ago.
3.) Thermostat was replaced with a programmable one about 3 years ago. Seems to work fine.

tmarcel · 09-05-2007, 01:57 PM

Did any of that make sense to anyone LOL

I broke down and called Sears to have a tech come out to look at it. Unfortunately, they said they can't be out until Monday the 10th so if anyone has an idea please let me know. It's 97f outside today and humid. Trying to work from a home office in this heat sucks bad!

martyshel · 09-06-2007, 10:13 AM

Have you changed your A/C filter lately? I had a really dirty filter in my inside unit when I was remodeling and the fan motor would trip out because it couldn't pull enough air through the filter.

tmarcel · 09-06-2007, 10:27 AM

Okay problem fixed! Turned out to be a faulty switch like I suspected. The "switch" is nothing more than a light switch that is apparently required for building code (I guess that's the correct terminoligy?) in North Carolina. It is there so that the furnace can be serviced. It is not an emrgergency reset switch like I had thought. One of the negative wires had broke out of the terminal causing it to make slight contact and eventually not make any contact.