Troubleshoot of the gas furnace inducer 

ive watched a lot of your furnace videos and your knowledge and efforts on this subject is unmatched. thank you for making these videos!

You are VERY good at explaining things! Thanks for taking the time to make these videos!

Have watched several of your videos now, and you really do a great job explaining everything. Thanks for taking the time to share your expertise!

That seems to be the story for many things these days cheaper made and not very universal,plastic and heat do not seem to get along so well,im not surprised they would crack so easy,i have not run across many plastics that will hold up to heat! thanks for the info,great video

Great video production and informative. Thank you.

Silicone. The replacement gasket of choice. Yes it is ok. Thanks for commenting. GFM

Thank you. This is the only logical explanation I have found so far to explain why these fail. Now I can shell out $150 every 10 years with less exasperation. Well done.

Good info! Thanks. My 80% inducer motor is screaming. It was impossible to tell where the sound was coming from and now I know it was the front bearing.

3000 rpm/ without a load. With the inducer wheel.many variables...good vid.thx.

I love watching this man explain systems....A no bullshit schooling and I always learn something....Thank you sir once again.

I have a Goodman furnace from the 90's or so I would guess since it has a shaded pole inducer motor. This week the igniter went out so I replaced that. Then a few days later the inducer motor wouldn't kick on at all. I checked the exhaust vent and pressure switch vacuum hose for blockages but everything was clean. Next I pulled the inducer motor itself and it also was clean as well as the port for the vacuum hose to the pressure switch. It also spun freely and the bearings all ran smoothly and with no play. I did notice that the gasket on the limitting plate had a lot of dry rot. So I put some high temp silicone on there to replace it thinking that the loss in pressure around the inducer housing may be just enough to not allow the pressure switch to function within range. I reinstalled it and it ran smoothly for a couple of days when it quit running again. This time when I powered the furnace on the inducer motor would flinch but not rotate all the way. Again this is a shaded pole motor and there is no capacitor for it. I checked the inducer motor for power and it was not getting any power. I checked for 24v from the thermostat to the control wire on the circuit board and that was good. It was about this time I noticed a small humming/buzzing noise coming from the control board which is still flashing the pressure switch failure code. Upon closer inspection the noise appeared to be a relay on the board very close to the power leg and common wire blade terminals feeding the inducer motor. I am ordering a new circuit board as this appears to be the issue that is preventing power from getting to the inducer motor. I probably could find the relay and replace it but I am not well practiced at desoldering and resoldering in small circuit board components also the circuit board is very corroded and is probably the original so there is no telling what may fail next. Circuit board component failure is definitely another cause of inducer motor failure. I didn't see this topic covered in the video but nonetheless your video(s) were very helpful in ruling out the other more common issues.

I think you did a good job on the video. keep them comming. I am looking at replacing a Coleman trailer house inducer motor assembly but it is nothing like theones in your video

thanks man, this helped me learn more about inducers. new apprentice so things are stressful when I don't know everything yet :/

Check the gas input. Sometimes if the furnace is overfired, the inducer overheats. Over fire will also damage the heat exchanger. Hope this helps. GFN

Actually they are quite simple to replace. Most have several screws and an electrical plug to remove. When installing the new one, if a new gasket is not included use high temp silicone to seal it to the heat exchanger. Good luck. GFM

Thanks for the info!

Is your part a factory replacement? Are you just replacing the motor? Inducers are not one of the parts I generally would use general replacement parts for. If you are replacing just the motor, balancing may be a problem. If the RPM is too low, the pressure switch may not make. As for problems down the road, I dont know. Let me know. GFM

Good vid !! As always.. what about restricter plates with btu's etc.

Great video GFM

What a bummer that one can not simply replace the plastic fan ring. Thanks to your videos, I recently found my problem. The fan split. I wired and JB welded it together, so it is running...but I guess I will have to replace the whole inducer assembly. For now, it got me out of a pinch. I can assume the all plastic inducer isn't cheap. Great videos! I have learned a lot.

Helpful video. I have the exact same inducer on the right side there. I repalced my last one myself due to grinding annoying sound at start up. 3 years later now, having a noise problems again. Is it possible for these bearings to be shot so quickly?

yes i have the same one and it just went out it was replaced 3 years ago!,sucks!

Hey Gary! Love your videos. Hey, I have a tempstar and I think I have figured out its the inducer. Nothing will turn when all calls for heat, just a click. The pressure switch worked when a sucked on it. Plugged the leads from the motor to electrical cord, just a hum - nothing else. Is there anything else I should check first? Nothing else works on the furnace, which makes sense.

Question: Should I be replacing the pressure switch at the same time I replace the inducer? Thanks!

Thanks Guy, you just saved me 625 dollars, I almost got ripped off..Thanks for the post

I guess I am fortunate. A few drops of Hoppe's gun oil and they run for years. Metal fan units.

I broke the plastic wheel similar to the one on the back side of the 80% furnace blower you have there. Are there replacements for that? Its a Tempstar Furnace Exhaust Inducer Motor.

Turns out the RPM's are the same. Fasco replaced part # 7021-10048 with part # A169. Their website says that the new part spins at 2800 RPM, but when the part arrived it says 3060 RPM on the motor-- just like the old one. Everything looks identical. I'm gonna go with it. As for the gasket... Just use red high temp silicone, right? Or do I need to pick up a gasket from a local supply house?

First time I needed the 80% furnace heard the inducer wind up and then heard a "klunk" and stopped. (HINT: always kill the power. Usually will find a switch near or on the furnace). Power off, could spin the inducer manually with a small rub sound. Took down the info off the old and googled it to make sure of the part & if I was running the latest version (always a good idea, as the manufacturer fixes issues). Found I had XXXXX-00 and they were up to XXXXX-04. Used Amazon so i could see customer feed back. Prices were anywhere from $90 to $250. Went with the $100 that was XXXXX-04 that had good reviews. When removed, the cage on the old one was destroyed (made out of sheet metal). The new one had a much better constructed cage and 4 screw install (be gentle with the vacuum hose. They are expensive and special) . Turned up the heat then went to furnace, flipped on the switch and have heat. Good Luck

thanks for this...

Ordered a replacement inducer. Everything about it is identical except the RPM's. The new one spins a few hundred slower. Friend of mine is an HVAC tech. He says it will work, but cause me problems down the road. However, I can't find one that is a closer match. Your advise?

In defense of the plastic inducers, they used to use galvanized and had rust problems. As is normal, the plastic wheels had a lot of problems, especially the first few years. I have not seen as many failures lately. It would be nice if proper testing for longevity were well done. Thanks GFM

Generally, no. The practice of replacing the press switch with the inducer is ok but usually not necessary. GFM

I have a Trane XE90 that is short-cycling... It DOES ignite--but only runs normally (fast-continuous flashes) for about 4 minutes or so... after which the burners cut off and I get an error code of 4 flashes (thermal protection device open) for about 2 minutes... It was also getting to where it would lock-out (2 flashes) intermittently, and cleaning the flame rod seems to have corrected that. (BTW, thanks for your video about that!!) Unfortunately the problem where burners are only staying on for 4-ish minutes at a time is still unresolved... Checked filters (clean)... registers (open/unobstructed)... Best I can tell the inducer motor is running; it's hot to the touch and I'm hearing a noise that's kind of rattle-y. (At least I'm *pretty* sure that's where the noise is coming from.) In the video above you mentioned oiling the older (80%) inducer, but not the 90% style like I have... Do you think oiling might help in this case? (If so, where would I add it?)

thanks again nice video

can the motor be replaced on the fan motor inducer ?

Unfortunately, it comes attached to a new inducer. I would run it without until it dies. Hope this helps. GFM

so where could i purchase one of the all metal type of inducer motors

helpful video

Hi Great Video! Thank you. Would a symptom of a failing induction motor be an increasing amount of time between the start of the induction motor and the start of the pilot/flame/ignition? It used to take about 20 seconds. Now with new heating season it can take as long as 4 minutes. It is not consistently the same amount of time. It varies from 50 sec to 4 min and seems to be getting longer. Thanks Much

good vid

Wow mine was getting power and humming so I took it off to look and found that a bird had made its way into the outlet and was killed by the inducer. Must have been like "ooh warm" and then "WTF! WTF!" lol

thanks for the info. quick question…i have an 80% type inducer. i have bought a new one off amazon. will it come with a new gasket or do i just need to add red silicone around the border and screw holes to seal it? thanks

Hello quick question I have a Duncane furnace its saying that pressure switch is stuck open. The inducer wont come or nothing. I replace the pressure switch in the hose. The inducer is getting 110 but wont come on.

I have the same furnace xv90 changed the board wasn't getting 120 to the inducer flashed 3 times which I have a new inducer aswell , but the igniter won't heat up. I can see in the flue there was a mice there and died I'm going to try to clean both pipes and see if that is the issue , and blow all the lines aswell

GFM - Out of curiosity on a 80% furnace do you know what is the average temperature at the burners and the average temp coming through the inducer (exhaust).

It should not. Does it have oilers? If so it should be oiled each season. If the furnace is overfired it may be overheating the inducer. You can check the furnace firing rate. check out this vid. "Service the 80% gas furnace. Check the firing rate by clocking the meter part 10" I cant give you the address because youtube wont let me put it in the response. GFM

Hi, I am Very thankful your posting and i wanna to ask that My furnace is working but the combustion air inducer seem like very very hot when the prowler is on. I am afraid that is abnormal or is fine? Do I need to change it?

I have an Older Dayton furnace with a bad inducer. The bad original inducer in the unit is a Fasco with an RPM of 3450. Many of the new inducer replacements for this old part have an RPM of 3350. Can I go with the new part with the lower RPM or will I have to find an older used duplicate with the same RPM? I was just wondering if the replacement part will generate enough CFM to trigger the pressure switches. Thank you for all of your great teaching efforts. Everything you do here is greatly appreciated.

I'm getting water in my pressure switch vacuum hose. What could be causing that?

I Just ordered the fasco A143 looks like the metal one in your vid. It does not come with a gasket and i was told by the company that i dont need one. I did scrape one off the old one. Do i need a gasket or can i use rtv or would it be fine with no gasket or sealant ?

will a inducer make a rollout switch kickoff if bad on a 90% furnace ?

Can the motor be disconnected from the fan to allow it to be replaced without replacing the entire unit?

I'm not an expert. But 10 years ago I got Central Air. Is that why my motors - inducers go out significantly quicker? And or should I get a new furnace with a motor accustomed to blowing near all year round? My furnace works, (the motor is the only thing that needed replacing) but is 30 years old.

Unfortunately, these are factory specific parts for most furnaces. I dont mean to discourage experimentation, but these are high liability parts. Use the factory part for this one. Most inducers should last 10 or more years. GFM

GFM, great video. Just subbed to your channel. I have an 80% inducer motor just like you had in your video. Can you suggest where to order another one? Mine is going out I'm afraid. Thanks in advance. Jeff

I have an American Standard aud080c936j1 furnace. My inducer motor won't run at all so i don't get any ignition. What would be the reason for this?

My inducer motor is leaking condensate on the seams of the black housing. Should inducer be replaced?

What kind of oil? My inducer is making horribke noises. Will take 2 days to get new one, so if i could keep this on goin hat long, it'd be swell.

Replacing a 80% inducer. There is a white thin gasket. Looks like wool or something. It is in bad shape. Can I take that out and use RTV or some high temp silicone instead?

motor on inducer is getting hot and not blowing as storng as it use to !

The motor on the left is cat 4 furnace and the one on the right is cat 1 furnace?

what is the purpose of the Gasket in between metal part of the fan

Cool

Can you replace only the blower wheel of the inducer if the motor is fine?

I got a blinking red light after it runs for about 5 minutes. The door panel says that it is a relay short . I checked the pressure switch, the eye probe , and small safety switches and everything seams to be working. I can't figure it out?

i have a question. my new inducer isn't creating enough vacuum to trigger the vac control switch. what can i do?

I just replaced my 80% inducer with a Fasco OEM. It didn’t come with gasket and when I removed the old inducer the original gasket near the exhaust was so brittle it just crumbled. Couldn’t have been doing much over the past few years. I installed the new one without the exhaust gasket...do you see any issues coming? What can I use as a replacement? Also the inducer assembly housing, not the motor, seems to be getting very warm. Is that usual? I’m guessing it is but any information on that for piece of mind?

Mine is starting to hum. Do you think that's a motor bearing issue or something else?

too bad you don't have a grease insert for the bearings.

I am very sorry to bother you, but I've ran across a few of your sites and thought it was worth a shot to ask you about something. Hopefully, you're willing and able to help. Earlier tonight, I told my husband that there was a tinking sound in the furnace fan. I didn't feel comfortable taking anything apart to look inside the fan, so I waited for him to get home. I told him about it, he went downstairs and a few minutes later when I got down there with him, he had disconnected the draft inducer by mistake! He put it back together and now all of a sudden we're getting the 3 flashing light that means pressure switch open with inducer on. We tried blowing and sucking into the hose. Worked for a few seconds, but then burners went out (safety feature) and error code came right back. As of right now, my husband sucked on the hose continuously, fired up the furnace and left that end of the hose off. We have heat again, but obviously we no longer have our important safety feature of the pressure switch function detecting the negative pressure. So my question is, how do we fix the pressure switch, when it only started acting up after my husband disconnected the draft inducer? I think it has to do with losing suction when he broke the seal, but I'm not an expert like you and am only guessing here. I appreciate your time and any help you can provide us with. Thank you very much. (Oh and the original problem with "tinking" sound was a piece of masking tape that somehow got in the fan.)

I was told what the inducer did and I was wondering why they keep running. I was under the impression that they only ran for a few moments.

My plastic Fabsco has a Small dia plastic "Flow Reducer"(Flat plastic with smaller hole) Plastic-riveted to the center, apparently to redirect/focus air flow over the Heat Exchanger. This is the part that failed on mine and I'm sure it happens often, It is not protected from the heat because it is so flimsy and "added-on." It disintegrated and took out the fan wheel(Irreparable). Then, it is not sold with the Fabsco, you have to purchase it separately, from a separate supplier, and back-ordered. MY fan arrived first, and furnace was out in cold weather so I tried it. Cycle is wrong and furnace ineffective, so I assume it's essential. Why wouldn't they make it out of stainless or something? ANYONE have any other ideas, we're cold.

Just replaced the flu assist on American Standard 90% was only 4 years old

I'm getting a loud buzz that starts 30-60 seconds before the main blower kicks on. Inducer shot? DIY replacement job or should I bite the bullet and call a tech? Thanks

The reason they went to draft motors is because they went from ribbon burners , to inshot burners , it had nothing to do with flue temp. Also the 90 % draft motor DOES NOT condense , condensation happens in the flue , then runs down the flue, past the draft motor, into a drain trap, condensation also happens in the secondary heat exchanger , and also drains into a drain trap .

An HVAC tech will try to charge you $2,000 to replace the inducer, pressure switches, flame sensor, and igniter. Watch these great vids and DIY all day folks.

👍🏼

I just had a tech leave my house and he said it's going to cost $501 to replace the inducer.

Thanks for your video! It helped me troubleshoot and repair my own furnace. Here's what my issue was (drainage block, code 31 as the pressure switch was fooled by the water condensation) and how I fixed it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-waozj5jUAsU.html