For the past week or so, we were hearing a pretty horrid sound coming from the attic where the unit is located. To me it sounded like a motor was going bad. Well, the heating went out on Friday night after my kids went to bed. I'm pretty sure that the unit itself is pretty old, but have no idea of its age.
The unit has a LED light on the control board that blinks a pattern to show what is wrong with the unit. There were 3 blinks, which meant "Pressure switch failed to close." I found a discussing
on this forum that said that one issue may be "reduced vent motor-turbine output" which made me think of that motor sound we had been hearing.
What the unit does when it tries to come on is make a hum for awhile and then give up. I found what I eventually learned was the inducer motor and realized it had a plastic wheel that I could spin. I turned the unit back on and when that hum started, I spun the wheel by hand. At first, it tried to spin up and then gave up. I gave it another spin and it made some horrible noises but eventually spun up enough that the process continued and the gas was lit. I figured that piece was the issue.
I took it off and inspected it and didn't see anything obvious. I found no way to get further into the piece to examine more closely. The plastic wheel does spin the inside gear but it seems restricted/doesn't spin as freely as I imagine it should.
So, do I need a new motor? Is that the issue or could it be something else. If it is indeed the issue, is there someway to fix it instead of purchasing a replacement?
Below is a picture of what the piece looks like. This particular picture is of a piece that can supposedly replace the one we have. Mine has a model number of jakel j238-112-11128. I've also provided a link to what I think the piece's replacement is.
Thanks for any advice or help you can provide.
replacement link
Linear Mode
