Furnace pilot light - DIY Chatroom

simonb · 09-12-2007, 12:09 AM

Im having a few problems with my furnace. When it tries to light it sounds like a bunch of ticking, almost like its little electric shocks trying to light it. At times it can do this for a minute and then the furnace just stops, guess it times out. Other times it lights after about 15 seconds, goes out, then lights again after a few more ticks.

I have a knob for the pilot, its only on or off, no push button with it. Im thinking its probably dirty. Any thoughts?

RippySkippy · 09-12-2007, 08:11 AM

Could be, you've checked to see that the gas is turned on to the furnace? If it is, sounds like you should contact a service person to come look at it.

simonb · 09-12-2007, 08:58 AM

Ya the gas is on, the furnace does work. Just when it tries to light itself, at times it has trouble. Im guessing its a pilot or thermocouple problem. Im thinking im going to try to remove it and clean it

RippySkippy · 09-12-2007, 09:10 AM

It could be that the electronic igniter is failing. My parents have a furnace that has the same type of clicking, and it ends up being a faulty igniter, they now always have a spare on hand...some sort of design flaw.

simonb · 09-12-2007, 09:38 AM

Thanks for the quick replies RippySkippy. Im going to take a quick look at it tonight, try to save myself a few bucks. Ill clean the thermocoupler with a brissle brush and examine the spark area of the pilot. If that doesnt work ill see if i can get the part and replace it myself, its very accesible. Any tips before i tackle this?