Sta-rite heater. Either AFS or Blower?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
R

Reg

0
LifeTime Supporter
May 14, 2014
13
Bay Area, California
I got the "service heater" light and the AFS led is on.

The blower does not run at all and it seems that it is getting pretty warm.

When I turn on the heater it makes a low volume humming, nothing else.

I had a problem with rats and changed out all the wiring which I checked over several times.

Questions:
- Is the blower not running the source of the AFS led?
- Or is something else causing the AFS led and as a result the blower does not run?
- Or are they two separate issues?
- Any things to try to isolate the problem?

Thanks!

Edit: I just did the bypass of the AFS sensor, which removed the service light...but nothing else happened - no blower, no sounds, then the service light came on again. sounds like the blower? Or is there something else to check?
 
Last edited:
The blower has to come on and that is why you are getting that error code. If you can't spin the motor shaft with your finger, then the motor is seized up. If you can spin it, it could be a bad spot on the motors armature. Either way it sounds like you might need a blower motor replacement. One question, the air orifice attached to the blower motor, is it white or black?
 
ps0303 said:
One question, the air orifice attached to the blower motor, is it white or black?
Click to expand...

If by air orifice, you mean a plastic grate that is around 3-4 inches in diameter, that is black.

A bit of progress - it doesn't seem to be seizing up anymore - it spins freely.

It now seems to make all the right sounds and comes on for about a second, then stops and has the "service heater" light on. No LEDs in the control panel are on. And I could see that the blower was spinning (or at least that it was winding down from spinning).

Is that possibly a failed igniter?

I called a local person person and his first reaction was "probably need a new heater" - so I really want to diagnose more before I go that route.

Thanks!!
 
When it tries to light and doesn't, you should be able to smell gas coming out of the flu. If you don't smell gas, then you have a supply issue. Could be the gas valve is turned off or that you have a bad gas valve internally in the heater. If you smell gas, then the ignitor is not working or not getting power. It could also be the ignition control module. Look at the module and there is usually a LED light on it. Is it blinking? There is writing on the module that tells you what one blink, two blinks, three blinks, etc , mean.

You can also place your hand down near where the ignitor is after it fails to light and see if the metal is hot, careful it could be really hot. If it is hot, the ignitor is working. Also, if you have a volt meter, you can disconnect the ignitor and place the one probe from your meter in each connector and then turn the unit on. You should get a voltage reading. These old units are usually only 120v so you would get that reading from the meter.

The fact that you have the older unit with the black orifice on it, most places will tell you to just replace the unit. It is over 10 years old and you might be on that path of constant issues/repair.
 
Bound up blower motor and no ignition once the blower motor was freed up makes me think that you may have a hole in your exchanger. The motor may have frozen up due to water beginning to leak through it. and putting voltage to a wet igniter will kill it. You can check if your exchanger has a hole easy enough. Locate the water in/out header and then the ten bolts that hold it to the combustion chamber. Remove either of the bottom two bolts and see if water begins to flow from the bolt hole. You can also remove the igniter BEFORE you order one. This is because one will be included in an exchanger replacement kit if it comes to that. When you have the igniter in your hand, see if there is evidence that it had become wet (staining).

Note: a cracked igniter can look ok, a crack wont always be obvious . you may need to put an ohm meter on it.

And to add to what Paul said, a good igniter may not get hot if it isn't getting voltage (FENWAL). There could be issues upstream...
 
I have had several issues with these heaters and mice. I would start by making sure the ignitor insert (screen) and combustion chamber are clean.

These systems will most often fail from being full of nest materials.... that you can not see until you take it apart.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Thanks everyone! I will look more into the rats nest and check the gas.

One additional clue since it seems to be progressing.

When I turn on the heater, the LED for "HEATER" takes a long time to come on - like 10 seconds. When the unit worked, that light came on right away.

After that light comes on, the blower tries to spin up - then stops after a couple seconds and then the service light comes on.

Any ideas why that HEATER led takes so long to come on? That may mean something.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply