Sticking gas valve in furnace
Orlandes
come on, the gas valve sticks. I can free the sticking with vibration
by tapping in the area.
Do I need an entire gas valve assembly, or can I just replace part of
the switch? Would a service call be able to clean the valve?
TIA
Ken
First measure the voltage applied to the coil of the valve. (It could
be as simple as a bad connection at the terminals) If it is there and
tapping the valve makes it operate, the valve is bad. Replace it.
The valve is not serviceable, it needs to be replaced if bad.
Stormin Mormon
good heating service company should be able to replace the gas valve for
you.
--
Christopher A. Young;
.
.
"Orlandes" <gn...@nethere.com> wrote in message
news:8f8252e6-4dc0-4c33...@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
PaPaPeng
wrote:
If the valve works otherwise on your current setting the valve works
OK. Its the controls to the valve that needs work or replacing.
The valves are fixable. But by law no parts repairs are allowed even
if done by a certified HVAC technician. A new valve costs CDN $185.
Call you gas company to do the checkup. Mine has the obligation to
restore service (a functioning home heater or water heater.) There is
no charge if no parts are used. Checking transformer voltages and wire
connectiions, including fixing them is free. If parts are used he
will only charge that part of the work. Or if he advises you to hire
an independent service company you will know the exact problem that
needs to be fixed by them.
PaPaPeng
>If the valve works otherwise on your current setting the valve works
>OK. Its the controls to the valve that needs work or replacing.
One more tip. If you think the valve is sticking use a rubber mallet
and give it a good thump. The feed gas pipe to the valve is made from
very tough black iron. The gas burner manifold that connects the
valve to the burner array is made of as tough a material (mine is
silver colored that is not paint). You can't dent either with a heavy
hammer if you tried. A good thump on the valve won't damage anything
and may just loosen the valve. That was what the gas company service
guy did to my furnace.
In the end I replaced my furnace valve. But the actual problem was
the old brittle plastic insulation on the 24Volt wires to the valve
that had caused an electrical short. It was not visible as I had
wrapped them with electrical tape and the wires looked OK. Once used
the new valve could not be returned for a refund.
Big Giant Head
for main gas flow under the silver screw on this one? Elsewhere?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2403/2053479619_631323b0cb.jpg
I put this in several years ago. The OEM part was NLA; this was the
recommended replacement (which surprised me a little since the body size
was different so I had to use a different nipple on the left and relocate
the pilot line a little as well). Works fine but early on I had a few
trips of the heat sensor attached to the draft diverter. Never had that
happen before but then someone pointed out that they thought the flame size
was a little bigger than in the past.
I throttled back the gas at the shuttoff and figured I'd check into further
adjustments at the gas valve. I got lazy and just left it and it's been
working just fine ever since. But of course that's not exactly right.
Figured I'd ask before looking myself as someone will know.
PaPaPeng
The adjustment on the valve I am familiar with is for the size of the
pilot flame. You can eyeball the flame to adjust to your idea for
the best flame.. The valve I have is a Honeywell V800A1161, slightly
different from yours. Right next to the pilot light knob is a screw
with the words "Pilot Flow Adj" screw molded into the alloy body.
In the valve installation manual there is a "Pressure Regulator
Adjustment" beneath cover screw (illustration). My furnace works
fine. I am not about to fiddle with this adjustment. I believe if
your furnace works leave it alone.
The other adjustment is the air restrictor orifice on the burner tube
to adjust the air/gas mix ratio. The flame should be a clean blue
flame.
Moe Jones
Just wanted to throw in my two cents.
If the gas line that feeds the gas valve is copper you may want to replace
the gas line and maybe the valve.
When you have a copper gas line carbon forms inside the copper pipe and
after awhile that carbon falls off and goes into the gas valve and cause the
valve to act up.
The worse thing I have seen is the valve not closing.
--
Moe Jones
HVAC Service Technician
Energy Equalizers Inc.
Houston, Texas
www.EnergyEqualizers.com
We Sell Lead Free A/Cs :)
MitchS
"PaPaPeng" <PaPa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bll9k3dkd51i1uggo...@4ax.com...
First off, you and your "gas company service guy" are idiots !!!
Telling someone to grab any kind of hammer and whack a gas valve
is not only idiotic, but downright criminal. You want to help him
blow up his house ? the fact that the valve had a malfunction is
reason enough to not dick with it, and just replace it with a new
one. you want a fucking half ass repair job or one that's done
right ????
Secondly, if you had an "electrical short", you better hope a
fuse opened up somewhere. If it didn't then you got more issues.
Let me guess, the "gas company service guy" replaced the fuse
with a loose bolt off his truck (it fit the fuse holder perfectly
right?).
So let's recap. It's a miracle your house is still standing -
after - gas guy whacks valve with big hammer, electrical wires
smolder without popping fuses.
you need to buy a freakin lottery ticket ! your luck is
amazing.
Steve Kraus
>
> Telling someone to grab any kind of hammer and whack a gas valve
> is not only idiotic, but downright criminal. You want to help him
> blow up his house ? the fact that the valve had a malfunction is
> reason enough to not dick with it, and just replace it with a new
> one. you want a fucking half ass repair job or one that's done
> right ????
I agree with that. Well, maybe a gentle tapping to nudge away any dirt
that came in with the gas. If the problem totally goes away then fine but
really, this is the most critical component and if there's even the
slightest chance that it will get stuck open it has to go, no question
about it. Lives are on the line.
> Secondly, if you had an "electrical short", you better hope a
> fuse opened up somewhere.
Dunno about that. There isn't necessarily a fuse on the low voltage side
and a short there isn't necessarily going to trip or blow anything. But
it's also possible the he didn't really mean short but rather an
intermittent connection.
Steve Kraus
> Any adjustment on the valve isn't going to make much difference. The
> flame is determined in large by the orifice in each burner.
Well is there an adjustment or not? If not does it seem likely that
replacing the gas valve would result in a different rate of flow? Seems
odd that one would have to change all the orifices as the result of valve
replacement but then again, while this was the recommended replacement,
it's not exactly the same as the original.
PaPaPeng
wrote:
>
>"PaPaPeng" <PaPa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:bll9k3dkd51i1uggo...@4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:05:51 GMT, PaPaPeng <PaPa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> >If the valve works otherwise on your current setting the valve works
>> >OK. Its the controls to the valve that needs work or replacing.
>>
>>
>> One more tip. If you think the valve is sticking use a rubber mallet
>> and give it a good thump. The feed gas pipe to the valve is made from
>> very tough black iron. The gas burner manifold that connects the
>> valve to the burner array is made of as tough a material (mine is
>> silver colored that is not paint). You can't dent either with a heavy
>> hammer if you tried. A good thump on the valve won't damage anything
>> and may just loosen the valve. That was what the gas company service
>> guy did to my furnace.
>>
>> In the end I replaced my furnace valve. But the actual problem was
>> the old brittle plastic insulation on the 24Volt wires to the valve
>> that had caused an electrical short. It was not visible as I had
>> wrapped them with electrical tape and the wires looked OK. Once used
>> the new valve could not be returned for a refund.
>
>
>First off, you and your "gas company service guy" are idiots !!!
Hey if you are so nervous about working on gas installations go find
some other line of work. One of these days you'll die of a heart
attack because of a strange click while you are working on one.
>
>Telling someone to grab any kind of hammer and whack a gas valve
>is not only idiotic, but downright criminal. You want to help him
>blow up his house ? the fact that the valve had a malfunction is
>reason enough to not dick with it, and just replace it with a new
>one. you want a fucking half ass repair job or one that's done
>right ????
>
It will be a very brave or foolhardy homeowner who will stike his
furnace valve hard enough with a steel hammer to damage something.
The chances are he'll be too scared to tap it hard enough to unstick
the valve (a very light rubber disk on a teeter totter requiring a
milligrams force to open. Its normally closed). So how much do you
make every time you scare some poor home owner with a sticky valve
that could have been unstuck with a THUMP of a RUBBER mallet. $300?
More? If not a rubber mallet then use the handle of a large
screwdriver. The force delivered is pretty modest no matter how hard
you strike.
>Secondly, if you had an "electrical short", you better hope a
>fuse opened up somewhere. If it didn't then you got more issues.
>Let me guess, the "gas company service guy" replaced the fuse
>with a loose bolt off his truck (it fit the fuse holder perfectly
>right?).
>
A fuse on a 24 volt line? Why do you think they use a 24 V system in
the first place? Hint. Inherent safety for just this very instance
of a wire short. Anyway short means no juice to the valve. Valve
never opens. No gas. No heat. No danger of a gas leak explosion.
You don't know your basics.
>So let's recap. It's a miracle your house is still standing -
>after - gas guy whacks valve with big hammer, electrical wires
>smolder without popping fuses.
The 24 V wire insulation had degraded from age (25 years) in a hot
environment (near the burner array). These things happen. And also a
lot of more weird furnace malfunctions in many ordinary households.
You don't hear of houses blowing up all over the country. This is
because there are many interlocks and strength built into the system
to prevent ham handed fiddling that will result in a gas explosion.
Lots of unknowledgeable people do try to save themselves from price
gouging by people like you. The built in furnace safety features have
taken into account such amateur attempts at fixing.
There's nothing much in items the homeowner or the service guy can fix
anyway. Just the thermostat, the 24V transformer (correct voltage
output?), the integrity of the associated 24 V wiring and of course
the sticky valve thing. Other parts like the fan, the motor, etc. are
mechanical and any problems are obvious and non critical (ie no
linkage to a possible gas leak.
My advice is to try a few simple steps first. Its not always possible
to get a service guy to come promptly. And the ability to understand
how the furnace works and what one can do for oneself avoids a lot of
anxiety as to when to call the service guy and as to what is a
reasonable charge for the work involved.
>
>you need to buy a freakin lottery ticket ! your luck is
>amazing.
>
Don't forget to pray to your gods too.
anthony berry
A HVAC contractor advised me to bang on the valve and it worked for months as
he said it would. Now that doesn't work anymore and I need to replace the
valve now. P.S. I didn't blow myself or the house up by banging on the vallve.
--
for full context, visit http://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/sticking-gas-valve-in-furnace-267692-.htm
Jailor
I can see an issue where if the pilot light blows out in conjunction with the
gas valve sticking open the space might fill up with gas. Someone comes
along and lights a match and kaboom! Perhaps there is a double safety valve
that slams shut when the pilot goes out, and that would make sense. I will be
interested to research that.
--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/sticking-gas-valve-in-furnace-267692-.htm
trader_4
> replying to MitchS, anthony berry wrote:
> A HVAC contractor advised me to bang on the valve and it worked for months as
> he said it would. Now that doesn't work anymore and I need to replace the
> valve now. P.S. I didn't blow myself or the house up by banging on the vallve.
>
you would blow up from banging on the gas valve, but rather you might
get blown up from a sticking gas valve. A man closes his eyes, plugs his
ears and walks across fifth ave at noon. He didn't get run over, so
does that make that safe?
D. Bunker
Mitch is obviously an HVAC guy. Many of them like to use scare tactics to
generate business and justify their ridiculous fees.