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Customers choose Goodman furnaces for many reasons, and the safety features are some to name. Goodman’s gas models come with an automatic ignition system, which eliminates the need for manual lighting of the pilot light.
The glow ignitor is the first to operate once the furnace lights, automatically igniting with the pilot light. When the ignitor turns on, but your furnace still doesn’t fire up, troubleshooting is requested.
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How should we address the ignition issues?
There are several things you can try when your Goodman furnace doesn’t ignite or anything similar. Should none of the following tips work, you will have to call the technician.
Start with checking the gas supply.
When you deal with a Goodman furnace ignition failure, the very first thing to do is to see if your furnace gets gas at all.
Natural gas users
Customers connect to the city gas line will have difficulties making this step, as even checking to see if gas gets to your furnace is a dangerous job. You will have to call the HVAC technician.
However, if you sense a gas smell around the furnace once you turn it on, you should check for another cause for your furnace not igniting. As it’s obvious, you don’t have a problem with the gas supply.
Propane/ LP gas customers
Should you use liquid propane on your furnace, it will be easier to see if the furnace gets gas or not. You should go outside to the gas storage tank and look for the fill valve. It’s essential that you discover the location of the gas pressure gauge. The pressure gauge reading of at least 25 shouldn’t worry you. When it’s lower than 25, you will have to contact the gas company for a fill-up. More often than not, it’s the reason for which your furnace wouldn’t startup.
It\s better to check the gas on your own; if you call the professional, you will have to pay him, even if the problem has an easy fix.
Ignition source
Two ways are typical for how the furnace ignites the gas-air mixture getting inside. The pilot light has been the primary type for more than three decades, and the electronic ignition system has replaced them. When they don’t work, the furnace won’t run either.
Pilot light
It’s a tiny flame burning continuously inside the furnace. It’s tiny, so it doesn’t use much gas. Check the bottom of the furnace for the tray where the burners are located. The pilot light should be to one side, right above it. When the light isn’t lit, you may use a long match to light it again. If you still don’t succeed, the problem is severe.
Electronic furnace ignition
Should the furnace have an electronic ignitor switch, the furnace is safe and doesn’t utilize the tiny amount of gas that a pilot light model would. The igniters should be in the same place where pilot light is found in older models. They’re made with lightweight metal alloy, getting very hot when the power goes throughout. It’s how they ignite the gas/air mixture that accumulates inside the furnace.
You should take a look under the furnace, making sure that the igniter is glowing as your furnace attempts to start up. A clicking noise means that the system is trying to run. Should the clicking repeat several times, the igniter isn’t coming on and running.
The solution isn’t complicated, and you may try to clean the igniter and the zone surrounding it. Keep in mind to always handle the igniter very gently as it’s very delicate. You can remove the carbon building up around the delicate ignition points, blocking the system from running.
Thermostats
As you’re turning on the heater and set the thermostat to a higher temperature, several things should happen and determine the furnace ignite. The furnace’s fan bringing air into it is the first sound you hear, which means that the burning process begins. The swoosh sound of the gas igniting should be the next sound. It will take only a couple of seconds until the hot air will come out of the vents inside your house.
When your Goodman furnace runs but won’t ignite, or anything similar, it means that the heating process isn’t running correctly. If the thermostat is broken, none of the sounds will happen because it didn’t inform the furnace that it should turn on. Everything around the gas furnace will be dead sound.
Luckily, the controls on your thermostat are relatively straightforward, and it’s quite easy to replace them. You only have to open the control box and see where it’s located. Take the thermostat out, and go to your local Goodman supplier to get a new matching unit. Installation of the new thermostat is also effortless, and you only have to reverse the process when taking out the broken part.
Take a look at the air filters.
Even if air filters are a common cause for ignition problems, many customers don’t check the air filters. The gas furnace has to burn a mixture of natural or LP gas and air. When the air isn’t flowing, the furnace won’t generate the air/gas mixture, so there will be no ignition.
More often than not, air not getting to the furnace’s ignitor because of some blockage is the reason for the problem. Dirty air filters may also block the airflow. You have to take a look at the filters when the furnace isn’t able to ignite when turning it on. If you’ve been using the air filters for more than a year, you should also replace them.
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