Central heat and air problem

The problem as she discribes it..... ..
You can light the pilot light in the normal way and it stays on. You turn on the thermostat and the pilot light gets bigger to heat the bulb so the gas will be turned on. The gas rack lights and after the warm up period the blower comes on. When the room tempature gets up the flame goes off and the blower continues for the cool down stage.
If you look into the furnace window you can see the pilot light has stayed lite during this entire time. Even after the gas rack has shut down and the blower is the only thing working.(cool down stage)
Everything seems to be working normal up until this point but the second the blower shuts down the pilot light goes off.
You can re-lite the pilot light and the heater will work normal until it tries to shut down again.
What seems odd to me is that the pilot light stays on after the heat rack has shut down. This shows me it is getting the gas but as soon as the blower shuts down the pilot light goes off. IT seems as if the electrical part that controls the blower is working the pilot light gas. I would not think they are connected but that is what it seems like.

Can anyone point me in the right direction on what to check; repair from here.

Marty

T_Bone

Is this an OLDER funnace with a STANDING pilot light, or a newer generation that has the ignitor on it?

Frustrating, isn't it? Cleaning the exterior of the pilot light orifice with something like a toothbrush, as per supergrumpy's suggestion, is something your mother could do herself. It is, after all, off after each heating cycle. Remind her to let it cool down first.

I have a couple of suggestions about where your time investigating this problem might be better spent. Since what is happening is very specific, you might be able to get the information you're after from an online site devoted to gas appliance problems or gas heating system problems. The other thing you might research is the reputation of repair companies in your mother's area. Since this kind of research is always done online and by phone, the 1200 miles between you and your mother is not necessarily a problem.

You might try calling stores which sell related gas appliances, but not heating systems, for a recommendation about who to go to for service. Two weeks ago I called a local stove store about a problem I was having with my gas fireplace insert. They didn't service my equipment but gave me the name of the small company who did. The technician who came to service it earlier this week was excellent---quick, careful, thorough, and not very expensive. He spent just over the 1 hour minimum (wasting no time whatsoever, as far as I could tell) and it cost me $120 total. More time than that would have been charged by the 1/4 hour.

I've had to have gas equipment professionally serviced about 6 or 7 times that I can remember, by that many different companies (different locations over the years.) In every single case I felt the the price was fair and the work was excellent.

Good luck, Stan

If you want to price out a control board just for an idea then go to this site...

• Furnace parts

back in the good old days I worked on lots of oil furnaces, the company refused to touch gas units due to liability concerns, oil may make a mess but gas can kill people

You have been very helpfull

When you consider the possiblity of death by carbon monoxide, burning the house down, etc, this is nothing for a do-it-yourselfer.

I recently hired a local plumber to replace a gas water heater in a rental house we own. I was perfectly capable of doing it myself, and I MIGHT have done it in my own house, but, from a liablity standpoint there was no way I was going to touch it in a rental.

Like this: the flame of the pilot light should be in contact with the thermocouple (probe) that keeps the main gas valve in operation. If the pilot light goes out for some reason, the whole furnace will shut down. The pilot light will be on even when the "burner-rack" is firing the furnace.

I would suspect the main gas valve should be the culprit. Or, the thermocouple is not work'N right.

I would replace the thermocouple that goes to the main gas valve. Cheap. $3-4. If'N that doesn't cure the problem, plan on a replacement GAS VALVE.

Hope this helps. John,PA

Now when you say main gas valve; you are talking about the valve on the front of the heater that the thermocoupler hooks to and has the knob you turn and push down to light the pilot light. Right.

I lived in a house once where once in a while the furnace would not work, freezing me out! Turns out, that when the door would open to the basement, just right, it would snuff out the pilot light. It may sound far fetched , but that is how it went for me.

SORRY, but I had to say it... the life you save may be your own!

My mom only asked if I had a idea of what it may be so she could be prepaired to know the cost effective outcome. Have you ever been a 75 year old woman and tried to deal with backstabing home repair people????? I think not!!!

The one thing my mom did teach me was.....
If you do not have something construtive to add to the conversation you just pass it by.

SORRY, but I had to say it...

1.) I know EXACTLY you mean about the elderly Mom thing. My Mom passed away only a few years ago, in her mid-80's, and I was an only child, so I dealt with EVERYTHING she needed, and the crap that folks try to pull on the elderly.

2.) I have workedin the gas furnace repair field, and have had quite a bit of training, and have seen and heard of what can happen when well-meaning (but untrained) folks try to repair these things themselves.

3.) You are yapping that YOU are NOT going to fix it, only want something to tell her, but in the same post state you HAVE been working on it!

4.) If you care about your Mom, and don't care to listen to MY advice, at least listen to Goose and LilFarmer... they are telling it like it is!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you, John!