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Old 04-23-2017, 08:14 AM   #1
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Furnace won't lite in wet weather

My heater doesn't come on in when it's raining. It doesn't seem to matter how hard it's raining, Friday's incident was a day of misty rain and it initially worked. Because of this, I'm guessing it has to do with RH. It works fine once the air dries out.

My unit is a '16 so I'm taking it in to the dealer to have it looked at in the hopes it's covered by warranty. Since this is an intermittent problem and I don't know much about heaters I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this or can explain how the system works so I am not at a disadvantage when the service department gets back to me with an explanation of the problem. I don't want to have to keep brining it back because I didn't take the time to get educated about the system and accepted a BS answer. Trust but verify.

Thanks
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Old 04-23-2017, 08:19 AM   #2
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I would look closely at the water heater prior to taking it in for repair. Sounds to me like you may have a spider web in the water heater they are notorious for causing you problems when it is damp or raining. The moisture collects on the web and will short out a sensor.
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Old 04-23-2017, 08:21 AM   #3
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I would look closely at the water heater prior to taking it in for repair. Sounds to me like you may have a spider web in the water heater they are notorious for causing you problems when it is damp or raining. The moisture collects on the web and will short out a sensor.
He is talking about his furnace.......
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Old 04-23-2017, 11:07 AM   #4
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Our new TracerAIR had a furnace issue, during a rain storm.
Found that the circuit board was soaked.
Got the DW's hair dryer out and dried it out.

Worked fine ever since.
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Old 04-23-2017, 12:25 PM   #5
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May be some shoot near the ignighter. When it gets damp, the spark won't jump. Blow out the area around the ignighter.
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Old 04-23-2017, 12:32 PM   #6
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We had the same year and model of Leprechaun with the same problem. If I tried two or three times it would light on the last try. Don't know what the problem is but I wasn't about to waste time at a dealer for repair.
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Old 04-23-2017, 12:49 PM   #7
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damp board, damp high voltage lead or incorrect ignitor to burned space.

I'd try WD 40 on the ignitpr cable first.
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Old 04-23-2017, 01:49 PM   #8
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Today it's nice and sunny and around 65. Furnace fires up the on the first try. I have to believe it's related to RH. BTW, the board was dry, at least no standing water anywhere, when I checked it Friday night. However, the air was extremely damp. I tried several times to get it lit. It would always try 3 times then shut down. It just wouldn't start. It did run fine when we first arrived for about 2 hours.

This also happened last November when we took a trip down south. It was a damp chilly morning much like this past Friday and I didn't think much of it at the time because it was on a travel day so we just headed on to our next destination. When we got to our destination that day, dry in the 30's, it worked.

I've got an appointment for Wednesday to have it looked at, I'll pass along anything I learn.

Thanks!
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Old 04-23-2017, 02:52 PM   #9
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I'm going to put my bet on the HT lead from the board to the ignitor probe. I bet the insulation is compromised and when it gets damp, it shorts to ground. It could be that the space between the tip of the ignitor and the burner is too wide as well.

The farther the spark has to jump, the greater chance for the juice to penetrate the wire insulation and go to ground.

You realize that they will most likely have to pull the furnace and bench test it?

Hope it's not CW. You might not get your unit back in one piece.
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Old 04-23-2017, 06:12 PM   #10
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Furnace issue...

I'm with sidecar on this one... I have worked on units (residential)that had same symptom... High tension lead with smallest leakage will send that spark to ground in a heartbeat... Add moisture into the mix and a sure-fire short exists.
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Old 04-23-2017, 09:21 PM   #11
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2x High voltage lead failed on my furnace last fall. fixed under warranty.

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Old 04-24-2017, 12:08 AM   #12
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Check the circuit board by taking off the outside panel. Ill bet it lays flat and water has dripped onto it thus shorting our when wet. Ours was fixed by the factory and now it is at an angle away from water source
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Old 04-24-2017, 12:46 AM   #13
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Check the circuit board by taking off the outside panel. Ill bet it lays flat and water has dripped onto it thus shorting our when wet. Ours was fixed by the factory and now it is at an angle away from water source
That's what happened to ours.
But it started working again, once I dried it out.
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Old 04-24-2017, 01:50 AM   #14
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Poor sealing around the cover and the board close to it. Water from water heater stopped right down on it.
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Old 04-24-2017, 07:17 AM   #15
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Furnace issue

Quote:
Originally Posted by bikendan View Post
Our new TracerAIR had a furnace issue, during a rain storm.
Found that the circuit board was soaked.
Got the DW's hair dryer out and dried it out.

Worked fine ever since.
X2. took cover off outside and found circuit board was wet on the bottom. I dried it off and it worked fine. If the furnace is the same as ours (an Atwood), the circuit board sits right on a plastic box. If moisture gets in between the board and the plastic it shorts the board and it is slow to dry. What I did was I added a couple spacers under the board so the board did not sit right on the plastic.
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Old 04-24-2017, 01:51 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoffwmn View Post
... it would light on the last try.
Taken out of context, alone this statement reminds of George Carlin's humor.
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