Weatherking drum style furnace with Honeywell s9201a board

bobnorman76 · 03-06-2010, 05:11 PM

I have a Weatherking drum style furnace with a Honeywell S9201A control board or IFC as the manual calls it. I think the board is going bad but it is an obsolete part. Every site I have been to recommends replacing it with a UT Control Board 62-24084-82 or -02. Either way if the furnace was made before 1994 it does not have a flame sensor and needs to have one installed for thr new control board to work. Remote Flame Sensor kit 62-24044-71 is recommended. Here is the problem. The drum style furnace has only one burner and uses a hot surface ignitor (HSI) but the installation instructions say not to locate the sensor on the burner with the HSI. The brackets that come with the sensor are also designed to fit on a ribbon style or inshot style burner and do not fit the drum style burner in my furnace. I therefore cannot figure out how to mount/use the sensor and furthermore cannot use the new board that requires it. There are no other recommended boards and I cannot find the S9201A anywhere. Any Ideas?

bobnorman76 · 03-13-2010, 01:28 PM

While I never got an answer on the control board/flame sensor issue I did finally figure something out. I had taken my furnace apart to install the flame sensor on the burner and realized it was very simple and low tech. I imagine most are probably this way. While I had it apart I decided the burner and inside of the drum needed a good cleaning and since I couldn't install the sensor I went ahead and put it all back together. When I fired it up it ran like a top and has run for a week now with NO PROBLEMS. A friend of mine told his HVAC buddy what I had going on and he said 90% of the time furnace problems stem from part or all of your furnace needing a good cleaning (aka proper maintenance.) I wish I would have known it was so easy to do myself. Now I do and so do you. Why didn't the owner's manual trouble shooting guide ask if the furnace had been cleaned first before going through everything else? Lesson learned!

bobnorman76 · 11-26-2010, 02:56 AM

OK so it wasn't just needing a good cleaning. Still having the same problem after a week or so. AC ran great all summer now it's back to the ssame old, same old. Does anyone know if I can put in this control board without the flame sensor?

hvactech126 · 11-26-2010, 07:58 AM

well, all you have told us is you think the board is bad, what are the symptoms? Does the board flash a code? Have you followed the flow chart that is on the inside of the blower door? Need more info to help.

bobnorman76 · 11-26-2010, 10:51 AM

Ok here goes. I did follow the troubleshooting flow chart. Most of the time the furnace will just not come on when the thermostat calls for heat. Sometimes it will come on when it reaches 62 sometimes 65 sometimes it comes on when it calls for heat. It's very sporatic and seems to get worse the colder it gets outside and in my basement. (I noticed the computer in my basement runs extremely slow in the winter when it gets really cold down there) When it does start up it sometimes runs until the call for heat ends and sometimes it will only run one cycle then shut off again. It used to run well for a day or two after I reset it. Then it went down to running for only hours. Now it shuts off usually after one cycle and we must continue to reset til it reaches the correct temp or it starts working right. I replaced the thermostat. I replaced the condensate trap and drain thinking it was plugged. Nothing. I replaced the limit switches and the pressure switch. No change. I checked the air intake and the exhaust and neither is plugged. When I cleaned the heat exchanger and drum it helped for a week but went right back to it's old habbits. Anytime I do anything it seems to run better for a short time then goes back to running poorly. I guess it could be that it's not the board but if I could replace it and still had problems the I could rule it out. Like I said I bought the replacement board but as you read I cannot install the flame sensor. It just seems to me (not a professional) that it has stopped in so many different places in the cycle that all I'm really left with is "replace the IFC" on the troubleshooting flow chart. It cost me less to replace everything myself than it did to call a pro out one time to replace the ignitor when I couldn't call off work. I really can't afford to pay someone to trouble shoot it for hours or days and then just tell me I should buy a new furnace. The other thing the flow chart mentioned that I haven't checked was to see if the gound was eratic but I'm really not sure how to do that. It ran flawlessly for the 8 years we lived here before this. It hasn't really been a problem furnace and I'd hate to replace the whole thing if I can fix it. And oh yeah, we have replaced the filters regularly. Does that help? If you want more details I can give them.

kenmac · 11-26-2010, 11:39 AM

have you ruled out possible t.stat problems ? they do go bad

markr2010 · 11-26-2010, 12:18 PM

I was searching around to solve my furnace problem. For the past two or three years I have put up with my furnace heating for a few minutes and going out. Today, I just got fed up and had to solve it. I looked at the HSI and it looked okay, no cracks or breaks. Then I looked at the flame sensor. Unlike bobnorman76, I have two burners. I was able to get the flame sensor out. I cleaned it with emery cloth and reinstalled it. Seems to be working fine. Good luck Bob. You did help me solve my problem by posting yours.

Does it just oxidize and need a cleaning once in awhile or does it need to be replaced?

bobnorman76 · 11-26-2010, 03:55 PM

I found a post on another website that mentioned having pets and that their hair/fur may have clogged up the cold air returns bad enough to prevent enough return air for the high eff. furnace she had. We have 2 cats and hardwood so all the hair tended to get sucked right into the vents. The filters haven't been all that bad so I pulled down one of the cold air return duct (which was a major pain in the rear). There was about an inch to an inch and a half of fuzz and dirt built up and I supose this could have been part of the problem. I took the side panel off the bottom of the furnace and taped the reset switch closed. It ran like a top for about an hour and now it's off again. A friend of mine mentioned a guy that just did some work for him. I guess he knows his stuff and since he's retired he doesn't charge an arm and a leg like a lot of guys do (I know, they gotta make a living too). He'll be over later this evening and I'm hoping he can shed some light on my dilema. As far as the thermostat goes I just installd a new one last year. The problem started before I replaced the olf UFO looking one with a new programmable one and didn't end when I put in the new one. I guess as long as I installed it right and it was the correct model for the furnace It should be something else. Thanks for all the help guys. I'll take all the ideas I can get.

bobnorman76 · 11-26-2010, 05:09 PM

Hey! the guy showed and looked at the furnace. He thinks one of two things is wrong with the furnace. He said that the outer drum round the heat exchanger/burner maybe cracked and he said it doesn't take much to cause the problems or he said it's the control board. He's coming over tomarrow morning to check it and hopefully I'll know then. Later!

**beenthere** · 11-26-2010, 06:40 PM

The drums are known to crack.

bobnorman76 · 12-01-2010, 02:06 PM

I think I got it. Here's what I did. Since it was either do or die for my furnace and then just replace it I went ahead with experimental surgery. I know, I know. Just hear me out. The retired tech cameover and helped me run a new power supply to the furnace as he noticed it was not grounded properly. This still didn't fix te problem. We decided to go ahead and hook up the new control board (62-24084-82) withoutthe flame sensor (Remote Flame Sensor kit 62-24044-71) and see what happened. Naturally after getting it hooked up it ran until the board checked for the flame and it shut down. Then we both sat there and scratched our heads trying to figure out a way around wiring up the flame sensor. We gave up on that. He asked some other tech buddies what they had done when they came across the same situation and they said the tried to no avail to rig it inside the drum and had no success because the flame sensor was to short meaning the wire had to be inside the drum which they said was too hot. I ended up drilling new holes in the mounting bracket and a large slot and mounted the flame sensor to the top of the HSI housing (more drilling) so that the flame sensor woud be in the flame. I used some of that white shielding stuff from a heat sensor I replaced earlier to shield the wire after I melted off the female connector insulation. I then ran the shielded wire out through a screw hole for the HSI housing. I'm hoping with so little wire actually inside the furnace it won't get hot enough to do any damage. It's been running well and I can see my handiwork through the window glass. It looks like it's holding up well. It's supposed to be pretty cold the next few days so it will definitely be tested thoroughly. I don't think I would recommend doing this to anyone but if it doesn't work out I would have had to buy a new furnace anyway. The tech thought it was a good idea. I just wish I would have taken pictures before I put it all back in the furnace. I'll post back after a few days or so and give an update.

bobnorman76 · 12-15-2010, 04:09 PM

Got it Done!

The old weatherking has now been running for two weeks straight without a problem. It must have been the control board and adding the flame sensor the way I did seems to be holding up just fine. I hope this helps someone out there. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Thank God!

hvaclover · 12-15-2010, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobnorman76

Got it Done!

The old weatherking has now been running for two weeks straight without a problem. It must have been the control board and adding the flame sensor the way I did seems to be holding up just fine. I hope this helps someone out there. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Thank God!

I am a former Weatherking dealer and sold many of the type of furnace you own.

I would like to know if you are aware that the furnace you own was recalled due to heat exchanger failure?

hvactech126 · 12-15-2010, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvaclover

I am a former Weatherking dealer and sold many of the type of furnace you own.

I would like to know if you are aware that the furnace you own was recalled due to heat exchanger failure?

really? they were? can you give me information on this?

I have replaced parts for these and never has the distributor said anything....there are only a few left in this area.

hvaclover · 12-15-2010, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobnorman76

Got it Done!

The old weatherking has now been running for two weeks straight without a problem. It must have been the control board and adding the flame sensor the way I did seems to be holding up just fine. I hope this helps someone out there. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Thank God!

I read your post on relocating the sensor after i posted my msg about the heat exchanger recall.

What you have done is render your furnace safety certification null.

There are several after market boards available to fix your problem that your hvac contacts evidently didn't know about.

You run the possibility of having your furnace malfunction to the point of the gas valve passing unburnt into your heat exchanger literally turning it into a bomb.

You have made a major alteration that would normally be submitted to AGA for testing before it is deemed safe.

There is reason had such a great deal of time invested before you got it to light: it was meant to be repaired in only a certain manner to keep it safe.

You have a potential bomb on your hands.