[HVAC] Gas furnace always sounds like it's running.
Alright, so my googlefu has failed me on this one.
This is a Duomatic Olsen Ultramax II furnace, my guess is, quite old.
I rent the bottom half of a house, we have a furnace in the basement that provides central heat(I guess you would call it that, through vents etc). Gas furnace.
Recently I've noticed that the furnace always sounds like it's running, when heat is required, it produces heat normally, blows normally etc.
I took the panel off there is a small white press/pull button that when pressed in(manual) runs the blower and it pushes un-heated air throughout the house. When pulled out(auto) no air is moved unless heat is required. This works normally.
As you can tell my experience is limited, however I don't 'think' that without the blower running, the furnace should sound like something is running? or am I mistaken in this?
If any other information would help, let me know and I'll get it, or do my best to try and get it :P
[HVAC] Re: Gas furnace always sounds like it's running.
I'm not sure I quite understand your description. You say when you pull the white button, the blower runs and when you push in the white button the blower doesn't run, right? So, if it's pushed in (like it should normally be), what is this sound you're hearing that makes you think the furnace is running?
I'm not sure I quite understand your description. You say when you pull the white button, the blower runs and when you push in the white button the blower doesn't run, right? So, if it's pushed in (like it should normally be), what is this sound you're hearing that makes you think the furnace is running?
It sounds like the blower is running, but a little more faint.
When I push the button in for manual, it gets a slight bit louder, and air is then pushed through the vents.
Would it help if I went downstairs and made a video so you can hear the sounds?
Edit, made a video showing what I mean. Waiting for google to process it now.
Man, I forgot to hold the phone the proper way. My apologies.
However you can tell there is quite a bit of noise when the furnace should be idle. The button was always pulled out(auto mode) so the blower should only come on when the heat is required. But you can really tell the difference at the end when I pull the button back out, from when I pushed it in, I almost think it's just the noise from the air movement, and the blowers always on but not moving air?
I dunno perhaps I'm crazy, but I wanted to check to see if this was normal.
Yes, it does sound like a fan is running continuously at low speed. Do you feel some air coming out of the vents? If not, it could be the 24V transformer or some relay buzzing.
Yes, it does sound like a fan is running continuously at low speed. Do you feel some air coming out of the vents? If not, it could be the 24V transformer or some relay buzzing.
P.S. The pilot flame only makes a hissing noise.
There is no air movement when the button is pulled out in auto mode(which is what it was in when I moved in)
Our furnace makes a noise like that for a few seconds after there's a call for heat before the blower fan kicks up.
*Edit*, Mackey beat me to it, LOL.
:)
Alright, well is there a way for someone that has very limited knowledge of anything furnace to verify this?
Ultimately I rent, so I can give the landlord a call, but he literally just replaced our water heater yesterday, because hot water could barely last a shower, so I would feel bad if something else went wrong
a) the relay which controls the draft inducer is faulty
OR
b) the relay is OK but some problem related to thermostat or 24V side is causing it to stay on
You can eliminate b) if the thermostat has not been changed recently.
Well, it's old, the previous tenants I believe was a group of kids that did god knows what(there were locks on the inside of the basement door, inside of every bedroom) etc. The landlord is really cool, but he can't fix things he doesn't know about. So I am going to assume it's probably A.
However, I appreciate the help greatly, I will be giving the landlord a call shortly, and when he gets someone out here to fix it, I will give an update as to exactly what it is if I remember.
Thank you again guys, you all are an invaluable resource for someone such as myself
So, I talked to my landlord, he said about 3 years ago they had the draft inducer replaced, and ever since then it's been running. So he said he thought that was how they set it up, to always run......Note he's a smart guy, he knew exactly what I meant when I said draft inducer, and he said he also thought it was supposed to turn on ~30 seconds before heating started, and run through the heating cycle. But that was how it was when it was replaced, so he thought the guy installed it to be always on.
Is that a possibility that it was installed to always run?
As far as the conditioned air, isn't it only moving air from the basement as the blower isn't actually running?
Ultimately it needs to balance the outflow with inflow. If it can't get enough through leaks/openings in the basement it will pull conditioned air under/around the door or any other opening.
Yup, seems to work normally now , Although I cannot be sure exactly what was fixed, 'a little black box' is girlfriend terminology, as I was at work :P