Troubles with Furnace

[shaerbear]

We recently had our furance go out. We couldnt get it to turn on at all. We called in a repairman, they replaced the hot surface ignitor ( $250 for the part, i'm NOT impressed ) This happened 2 weeks ago. Now our furnace sounds like its warming up, then sounds like it is about to blow the air into the house, then stops, then tries to warm up again, then stops. Sometimes the air goes on, other times it wont and it will go cold and not turn on at all. It does that off and on.
I'm ticked and want to call the company back to tell them to fix it properly, but then again, I REALLY dont want to pay another $80 to have them out to my house.
Anyone have any ideas on what it might be? AND does anyone know what a hot surface ignitor actually costs? I think we got ripped off.
Thanks in advance for your help!

[HayZee518]

I went to one site for RUDD furnaces and saw ignitors from $21 up to about $35. This is a device made of silicon graphite and is very fragile. I had one go on my oven and got one for $22, that was like four years ago. When the ignitor goes bad its resistance changes that doesn't allow the main valve to open. If it's broken the valve won't open at all. There is no well maybe it'll open if I wait - either it opens or it doesn't. I agree with you a service call would get expensive if it was just a loose connection. check it your self - see if the push on quick disconnects are loose. seems odd that a hot surface ignitor would go that fast!

[KSever]

Was this $250 for just the part or was it $250 for the complete service call including the part? It depends what kind of furnace you have and what kind of ignitor you have.

I have several units at work that we work on (approximately 300 that is) and parts I know are not cheap. In fact, I just spent $475 on a Bell and Gossett pump seal (yes just the part, my suppliers cost was just over $400) and the pump is not that big (1 1/2") . If the pump was a different brand it would have been around $35 for that same size, but B&G has their own seals.

So in my thinking you didn't get ripped off, give that company a call and tell them what's it doing and ask if they waurantee their work. My refrigeration company I deal with waurantees all his work and sometimes I've had him back three times and only charged for the first time.

Not all parts are made the same and not all brands cost the same, you get what you pay for.

We recently had our furance go out. We couldnt get it to turn on at all. We called in a repairman, they replaced the hot surface ignitor ( $250 for the part, i'm NOT impressed ) This happened 2 weeks ago. Now our furnace sounds like its warming up, then sounds like it is about to blow the air into the house, then stops, then tries to warm up again, then stops. Sometimes the air goes on, other times it wont and it will go cold and not turn on at all. It does that off and on.
I'm ticked and want to call the company back to tell them to fix it properly, but then again, I REALLY dont want to pay another $80 to have them out to my house.
Anyone have any ideas on what it might be? AND does anyone know what a hot surface ignitor actually costs? I think we got ripped off.
Thanks in advance for your help!