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Newbie has issues with Trane XE80

6K views 26 replies 7 participants last post by  hayescary 
#1 ·
Well they say nothing runs like a trane, but I cant seem to just get this trane running at all.

Here is the rundown on what I have done and what I am seeing/hearing

I bought a used CH&A unit but at this time I am just trying to get the heat portion of the unit to work as there is no need for the A/C/ side of the unit at this time.

I installed the furnace, made certain that there is gas and electricity to the unit. I connected a thermostat to the unit. When I adjust the thermostat to make it call for heat all the unit will do is make a couple of clicking noises like it is trying to do something. I believe that these clicks are coming from the circuit board. Despite the clicking noise the unit is doing nothing at the present time.

I just got the unit installed late last night and so I had limited time to search on the internet, but I was able to learn a few things. The circuit board is giving three flashes which is a pressure switch problem. I pulled the pressure switch and it seems to be ok, no real way to tell for sure. I have no way of confirming if the pressure switch is bad because there is no vacuum being pulled on the switch by the inducer fan to begin with. I have figured out that the first thing that needs to happen is for the inducer fan to power up, so I need to achieve this before I can tell if the pressure switch is bad. I need to know how I should go about getting that fan powered up.

Also I noticed that the door switch has no wires coming off of it. I know that it is possible to bypass this switch, but how can I c board on firm that this switch has in fact been bypassed?

Could what I am experiencing be as simple as the thermostat being wired up incorrectly? I purchased from my local hardware store a four wire thermostat cable and wired it the logical way white on the W, Green on the G, red on the R and blue on the Y, it is done this way on the thermostat as well as on the furnace. On the thermostat there is two spots for the Red and they have a jumper wire running from one to the other. The circuit on the furnace is a little different with regard to how the red is done. Am I on the right track with this or am I totally off base.

I know nothing about heat and air, but I vow to be a serious pupil to who ever with lend their time and expertise to help me get heat in my house.

Thanks so much in advance for any assistance provided

Thanks
Cary
 
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#13 ·
What are you talking about the motor works fine it was a bad connection I thought I covered that a few posts back. If not my bad but I am way past that I am trying to get this thing running which is where I am at right now. If you read my last post I fired it up and it ran fine sans a little smoke which I think is related to dust buildup. Shame on me for buying a used unit, OK but one does what they can in order to provide for their family...
 
#16 ·
Thanks a lot for your vote of confidence Ben. I am planning to call a pro out on Monday so I can see what they say before I run this unit full time. I meant what I said earlier I would not have gotten this far without you guys and I certainly appreciate what you all have done for me.

Thanks A Lot
Cary Hayes
 
#23 ·
Hey Harleyrider, don't know what your problem is but you need to figure it out and deal with it instead of being ignorant with everyone that is just asking for help. That is what this forum is all about, you think you know eveything and news flash YOU DON'T, yea I may be simple in my words on here but I am a HVAC tech. and I do know what I am doing sometimes it is better to start with the most simple and work to the most difficult and to put in the way they can understand it. Your words can build one up or tear one down your choice.
 
#2 ·
the door switch must be jumped it should kill all power also to the board..no lights.yes the ID is the first thing to run..forget the stat for now do your jump on the control module where the stat wires come down from the stat.remove the stat off the subbase and do the jump at R to W toggle up the service switch on the side as you should have one there feeding 115Vs to the furnace.the ID should be running with the jump...the pressure switch proofs then ignition..then main burner then supply fan
 
#4 ·
Well they say nothing runs like a Tirane, but I cant seem to just get this trane running at all.

Here is the rundown on what I have done and what I am seeing/hearing

I bought a used CH&A unit but at this time I am just trying to get the heat portion of the unit to work as there is no need for the A/C/ side of the unit at this time.

I installed the furnace, made certain that there is gas and electricity to the unit. I connected a thermostat to the unit. When I adjust the thermostat to make it call for heat all the unit will do is make a couple of clicking noises like it is trying to do something. I believe that these clicks are coming from the circuit board. Despite the clicking noise the unit is doing nothing at the present time.

I just got the unit installed late last night and so I had limited time to search on the internet, but I was able to learn a few things. The circuit board is giving three flashes which is a pressure switch problem. I pulled the pressure switch and it seems to be ok, no real way to tell for sure. I have no way of confirming if the pressure switch is bad because there is no vacuum being pulled on the switch by the inducer fan to begin with. I have figured out that the first thing that needs to happen is for the inducer fan to power up, so I need to achieve this before I can tell if the pressure switch is bad. I need to know how I should go about getting that fan powered up.

Also I noticed that the door switch has no wires coming off of it. I know that it is possible to bypass this switch, but how can I c board on firm that this switch has in fact been bypassed?

Could what I am experiencing be as simple as the thermostat being wired up incorrectly? I purchased from my local hardware store a four wire thermostat cable and wired it the logical way white on the W, Green on the G, red on the R and blue on the Y, it is done this way on the thermostat as well as on the furnace. On the thermostat there is two spots for the Red and they have a jumper wire running from one to the other. The circuit on the furnace is a little different with regard to how the red is done. Am I on the right track with this or am I totally off base.

I know nothing about heat and air, but I vow to be a serious pupil to who ever with lend their time and expertise to help me get heat in my house.

Thanks so much in advance for any assistance provided

Thanks
Cary
You are getting a pressure switch fault because the inducer motor is not running, if that motor does not run, the pressure switch can not close.......you obviously have a call for heat, that is for sure....that is why you have a fault.....no call for heat no fault. I really see no reason to disconnect t-stat....not that i disagree with biggles, it just seems redundant at this point. Either your ID motor is shot of the main c/b is not sending a signal to the ID motor.
 
#5 · (Edited)
When you pull both of the doOrs off of the unit and the dOor switch is open (pulled out) and there is power to the control board (the led light will be on) then it's bypassed. It's as simple as that.

What you need to do is see if the inducer is receiving 120 volts on call for heat but then again the unit needs to be wired properly to the stat and on the board if you are using the stat to control heat.

Do what biggles said and with the stat OFF you simply jump the R to the W and see what happens. If the same code appears and you still have no inducer FIRST then you check the inducer, the pressure switch is not the problem.

Two ways to check to see if voltage is being sent to the inducer. You'll need a meter.

1.) Trace the inducer wires back to the board. These wires will more than likely be a part of a pin plugged into the board with a lot of other wires. You can pull the plug off and check for voltage on the two pins that go to the inducer or proceed to the much easier method..

2.) Pull the two wires off of the inducer and check for voltage between the two wires to the inducer while on call for heat, while jumping R to W on or at the control board.

If you have no power to the inducer than the board is bad, plain and simple and then I'll leave you with an hvac confusious says, "He who buy used non working furnace remain cold." :whistling2: :thumbup:

Be careful as you have no doOr switch to control high voltage, why I say to turn the breaker to the furnace in the electrical service panel OfF first and then turn ON when you get ready.

I can also walk you how to test that inducer without the board to make sure it is gOod, if you need it.
 
#6 ·
OK More information needed

OK With the tstat off I jumped the R and W on the circuit board and it clicked and sort of hummed and nothing else happened. So I disconnected the two wires going to the Inducer motor and checked for current while the R and W were jumped and I am getting current to the motor so it looks as though the motor may be shot. How can I be sure that the motor is or is not shot. By the way I appreciate everything you guys are doing for me here. All of the Heat and Air Companies in my area are covered up and cannot get to me for two weeks or more.

Thanks
Cary
 
#12 ·
OK With the tstat off I jumped the R and W on the circuit board and it clicked and sort of hummed and nothing else happened. So I disconnected the two wires going to the Inducer motor and checked for current while the R and W were jumped and I am getting current to the motor so it looks as though the motor may be shot. How can I be sure that the motor is or is not shot. By the way I appreciate everything you guys are doing for me here. All of the Heat and Air Companies in my area are covered up and cannot get to me for two weeks or more.

Thanks
Cary
Look, we can sit here all night long and jump through hoops......but in the end it will be what i said in post #4.....YOU HAVE A BAD ID MOTOR....shame on you for buying used hvac equipment.:whistling2:. you are going to pay between $200 and $400 for that inducer.Now I dont want to get anyone mad but the extra steps that other s are having you take are exstremly redundant, if you chose to follow them then it certianly wont hurt anything, but from your first post that was very well informed its clear as to what your problem is.
 
#8 ·
ok I took the Inducer off the furnace and it spind freely so with it off of the furnace I plugged it back in and jumped the R and W on the control board and messed with the fan and it now spins up freely is there anything else I should do prior to expecting this unit to fire up.

Thanks
Cary
 
#9 ·
Read the manual. What is the model number?

Gas pressure, delta tee, esp, amperage, voltage, flame rectification, vacuum at pressure switch, and capacitor reading would be some things that I would check.

You should at least get the temperature rise and compare it to the nomenclature rating.
 
#11 ·
Firing it up Now

OK so I decided to go ahead and fire this bad boy up since everything seemed to be legit. It all fired up as you would expect, but about 3 minutes after the blower started I saw some smoke coming from the furnace on the side near where the electric connects to it. Of course I immediately shut the furnace down because I was unsure of what was causing the smoke.

This unit was stored in a house for two years that was being remodeled so it was no stranger to construction dust of all kinds. Some of the time it was covered and some of the time it was not covered. Is it likely that the smoke I saw could be from the dust build up on the furnace??? I sure hope that this is the case?

Something else that I noticed after I shut the unit down is that the housing on the inducer fan is was very hot to the touch and the flue pipe was also pretty toasty. Since I have no experience with stuff like this I am unsure if these things I am experiencing are normal.

As an aside the blinking light on the furnace is showing no fail codes at the present time.


You guys are awesome!!!!
Thanks
Cary
 
#14 ·
I saw that you have the inducer running.

Measure the air temperature on both sides of the furnace.
If you have an evaporator coil, measure the temperature after it since this is usually the warmer reading.

Compare the difference with the rated rise on the furnace tag.
(possibly~30 to 60 depending on size)
If you are exceeding the rated rise, increase the fan speed.

I recommend having a professional commision this for you.

If you post the model number I may be able to provide your manual.
 
#20 ·
The inducer did work when I lit it up. I believe that everything is working as it should be. I am not very experienced with what a normal heat cycle is like with one of these units.

So far I have only ran this unit for one complete heat cycle and I observed the following. The inducer powered up first running in its own briefly, something then began to glow near where the burners are, the burners lit and heated the heat chamber for a little bit before the blower motor came on.

During the power off process I did not pay as much attention as I did with the startup process, but I think the inducer shut down prior to the burner turning off. Not sure if this is normal or not??? I did notice when the burner shut down the blower still ran for a minute our two.

Can you guys tell me if what I am experiencing here is normal our not with regard too a typical heat cycle?
 
#25 ·
I don't really care what you think of me....well I do, but I hate redundancy. If someone clearly describes a problem and the problem is evident from that explanation then why lead a person with limited knowledge down a long as confusing path?

if you turn on a light switch and the light does not come on, do you remove the cover from the electrical panel and inspect the breaker.......or do you swap out a light bulb?
 
#27 ·
Hey Harley, In my opinion and from the standpoint of a Newbie any information provided no matter how redundant it may be is much appreciated and valuable to someone like myself who has no knowledge of HVAC. I would like to think that most of the people who are DIY'ers and posting on here have a least some bacis knowledge of how things work and I would hope they know their way around a toolbox.

For instance I have no knowledge of construction, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc..., however I have managed to completely gut and rebuild a 2500 sqft. home. I was able to do this with the help of people like yourselves, who are kind enough to lend some of their knowledge to the less fortunate like myself. I was also able to dothis because I believe that I know generally how things work and are supposed to be done, but believe when I came to a point where I did not know I would always consult with more knowledgable individuals such as yourselves.

Just like with this post several people responded to my original post and the responses varied some so I read everything decided what I could do within the scope of my abilities and got to work teching out the problem and finding a solution.

At the end of the day, redundant or not, all information above what a person already knows, should be consideered as valuable.

Thanks again for everything guys, I am sure I will be calling on you again in a few months when it comes time to install the airconditioning portion of my used HVAC equipment and I hope that it goes as smoothly as this job did.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thanks
Cary
 
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