A furnace is an essential appliance that ensures your home is comfortable during the winter. It provides conditioned, heated air to ensure that you and your family aren’t shivering under those cold winters and other cold spells. However, the furnace isn’t a single unit. It comprises several running components that work together to ensure that your home is adequately heated and comfortable. As a result, it is prone to breaking down and malfunctioning, necessitating the attention of an air conditioning service provider. One of the most critical components of the furnace is the inducer motor.

Determining If the Furnace Inducer Motor Is Getting Power

If the furnace blower motor spins freely but isn’t turning on, the part most likely has a power or electrical issue. Whenever this happens, you need to call an air conditioning service provider. The technician will determine whether your furnace inducer motor is getting power by:

Testing the Power Entering the Inducer Motor

The first step that the technician will undertake is to test whether power is entering the inducer motor. To do this, they will use the inducer motor. The technician will inspect the black and white wires. If the furnace is in heating mode, then the professional should get about 120C AC.

Check the Furnace Control Board

Should the technician not get that 120V AC is entering the inducer motor, then they will check the furnace control board, whether enough power is getting supplied to the unit. Again, they will use a multimeter for testing the 120V AC. However, the exact terminals to inspect or test differs depending on the furnace model. Looking at the line side (black and white wires) of the transformer link to the control board will help you choose which terminals to inspect. Ensure that your furnace is powered and that no circuit breakers have tripped if your furnace control board isn’t receiving 120 V AC.

They will verify whether the board is getting a request for heat. Using your multimeter, they will test the connection between the C and W terminals on the furnace control board. The air conditioning service provider in Flagstaff, AZ will measure the 24 V AC across these control board terminals.

If your thermostat isn’t sending a signal to the furnace to start heating for heat and you aren’t measuring 24V AC across the C and W terminals, there is a problem with your thermostat. You can always manually switch your furnace into the heating mode by using a wire to bridge the C and W terminals to bypass the thermostat, but you should let the technician do this instead.

Furnace Inducer Fan Motor Electrical Issues

After the air conditioning service provider checks the inducer motor and determines that it is getting enough power and isn’t starting, there could be another underlying issue. Below are some of the electrical issues that the furnace inducer could be having:

A Faulty Furnace Inducer Fan Motor Capacitor

The inducer motor capacitor gives the furnace motor the initial push to get your motor spinning. One of the signs that the inducer motor has a faulty capacitor is when the motor becomes hot before it starts or doesn’t start. Call a heating and air conditioning service for an inspection if the motor is overheating. Overheating means the power reaches the inducer motor, but the capacitor cannot give the motor the initial jolt of electrical power to start the inducer motor. If the furnace inducer fan motor has gotten faulty, you will need to have a technician replace it.

The Furnace Inducer Fan Motor Winding Might be Bad

Extreme temperatures can occasionally lead to the inducer motor’s windings burning out and degrading. The inducer motor may occasionally be burned out. For instance, if your inducer motor emits the well-known “burnt electrical smell,” it is likely that the motor needs to be replaced since it is burned out. The air conditioning service technician will follow the following steps to check the inducer motor windings:

1. They will cut the inducer motor’s power. Locate and unplug the inducer motor’s electrical harness. Typically, the inducer motor’s wiring harness has three or four white wires.
2. The technician will check the resistance of the inducer motor using a multimeter. They then will set the resistance mode on the multimeter. Using the two multimeter probes, they will test the hot (black or red wire), and the neutral (white wiring) pins on the furnace connector connecting to the inducer motor.
3. Your furnace inducer motor coils are damaged. If your multimeter displays an open line (OL) signal or even a high resistance reading, you will need to repair the inducer motor assembly. The furnace inducer fan’s motor connector typically has three or four wires and is white.

Faulty Furnace Control Board

If the inducer motor doesn’t get enough power, then there could be a problem with the furnace control board. This is the furnace component that turns on and also provides power to the inducer motor. Have an air conditioning service provider in Flagstaff, AZ inspect the furnace control board and perform the required repairs to ensure that the furnace inducer motor gets enough power.

Loose Connection in the Furnace Inducer Motor Fan

If the furnace inducer motor fan gets a partial voltage, it could probably have a loose connection. The other sign of a loose wiring connection is when an inducer fan keeps turning off and on. Whenever this happens, you should have an air conditioning service technician check the connections between your furnace control board and the inducer fan’s motor to ensure they are tight.

Routine heating and air conditioner services can detect and resolve all these electrical furnace issues to ensure that your home is adequately heated. Do you need a timely maintenance service? Call us at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Prescott, your reputable air conditioning service provider in Flagstaff, AZ.

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