Signs Of A Burner Malfunction In Your Gas Furnace And How A Repair Technician Fixes The Problem

If your gas furnace isn't running properly, the issue might be with the burners. It's important for the burners to be clean or the burners may not ignite properly. This can keep your furnace from starting up. Here are some signs your gas burners might be malfunctioning and how a repair technician can clean them to fix the problem.

Signs Of Dirty Furnace Burners

If the burners are dirty, the flame might be weak and not able to produce enough heat to keep your home warm. You might also hear odd noises from your furnace or detect odd odors. Your furnace may start and then shut down right away.

This happens when the burners are clogged and can't transfer the flame to the flame sensor. If the sensor can't detect a flame, it shuts the furnace off. Also, if you feel comfortable looking inside your furnace, you can take a look to see the color of the flames. If the flames are yellow rather than blue, that's a sign the burners are dirty and need to be cleaned.

Ways To Clean Gas Burners

The method for cleaning the burners depends on the way the burners are installed in the furnace. The gas furnace repair technician might be able to clean the burners with a long brush while they're still mounted inside the furnace.

Other times, the technician might need to pull the burners out. This might be an easy or complicated job depending on the type of furnace you have. Some burners pull straight out and other furnaces require removing other parts first.

Once the burners are out, the repair technician can scrub them to get all the built-up materials off of the burners, out of the holes, and out of the flame gaps along the side. If you have your gas furnace cleaned every year, the buildup might not be too bad.

If your furnace hasn't been cleaned for a long time, there could be such a thick coating of dust, debris, rust, and soot that the flames can barely light and keep burning. All of the debris has to be scrubbed off with a brush, making sure the holes don't get plugged in the process.

Since the ignition flame flows from burner to burner, it's essential to clean the gaps along the sides of the burner where the flames spread.

Once each burner has been cleaned and then blown out with compressed air to get rid of loose bits of debris, the burners are ready to be put back in the furnace. Then the gas furnace repair technician can light the furnace and watch it function to make sure the problem is solved. 


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