Learning All About Oil Furnace Maintenance and Repairs

Signs The Inducer Motor In Your Furnace Could Be Bad And How The Motor Is Replaced

The inducer motor is a part in a gas furnace that keeps air moving around the combustion area. The part operates a fan that draws carbon monoxide out of the furnace and reduces the amount of soot that settles in the burner area. The inducer motor is an important part of your furnace, but it can malfunction. Here's a look at what causes the motor to malfunction, signs there's a problem with the inducer motor, and the repairs that your furnace might need.

What Can Go Wrong With The Inducer Motor

The motor has a capacitor hooked up to it that gives the motor the extra power it needs to start up. The capacitor can fail and affect the operation of the motor, even though the motor is fine.

The control board of the furnace might even malfunction and cause the motor to stop working properly. The motor can also be affected by bad wiring, an electrical short, bad bearings, a clogged vent, or thermostat issues, and the motor itself can even burn out.

How To Tell If The Inducer Motor Is Bad

The motor may start making unusual noises when it starts to go bad. You may also notice the fan the motor controls doesn't come on like it's supposed to when the furnace kicks on. You might try turning the power off so you can feel the fan. If the fan is hot, or if you can't spin it, those could be signs the motor is bad.

Since it's a possibility carbon monoxide or soot could build up if the inducer fan isn't working, it's a good idea to call a residential heating repair service and have them send a technician to check your furnace right away. The technician can tell if the capacitor, wiring, or motor is bad by testing them with a multimeter.

How Repairs Might Be Done

Since several things could affect whether the inducer motor works properly, the repair technician has to determine the right way to fix the problem. They may need to replace thermostat wiring or put in a new control board. If the capacitor is the problem, the capacitor can be replaced. A capacitor is more affordable to replace than a motor, and a capacitor usually has a shorter life too, so it could be a likely culprit.

If the inducer motor is bad, the heating repair technician can replace it by finding the right replacement part and then taking out the old motor. The old motor is held in with screws, and it has wiring and other connections that have to be removed. Once the old motor is out, the new one is put in and the connections are attached in the same way they were removed.

The heating repair technician will probably run a test on your furnace after replacing the motor just to verify that was the only problem and that your furnace is working safely again.