This month’s troubleshooting situation centers around a standard natural gas, induced draft, hot surface ignition system furnace. This is a new installation that has been accomplished in anticipation of the upcoming heating season, and the problem is that during the initial start-up, the unit did not perform properly.

The customer’s description of the problem is that in one test cycle, the glow coil will ignite the fuel properly, while in another test, the burner shuts down prematurely. They also note that in some cases when the unit is started, the induced draft motor operates, then shuts down before the ignition is accomplished. However, after disconnecting the power supply, the draft motor operates long enough to allow ignition, which can lead to burner firing normally and blower motor operation in some instances, but not every time.