I have an Intertherm furnace, in a manufactured home. The control card is by Nordyne, and has a single red LED. I know enough to be dangerous, but not really know what I'm doing. I just set the thermostat to give a little heat--first time since about May. When the thermostat kicked in, the startup sequence engaged immediately. The inducer (I think that's what it's called?) starts, and the igniter lights up. There is a big click, and I can feel it in the gas valve like it should be opening. But apparently no gas is being supplied, because it doesn't ignite. Nothing at all visible through the sight glass, other than the igniter shutting down shortly after. It goes through the cycle several times, and then the LED on the control card gives me 4 flashes.

Nordyne Control Card Part #: 624631-A
Intertherm Furnace Model: M3RL080A BW

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Andy

had a simular problem years ago (diffrent brand furnace). Your Ignightor probubley went out.

Can the igniter be bad if it glows? I replaced an igniter at my last place, but it was totally bad. I found one set of error codes that indicated four was an ignition fault, and to check the igniter.

This one lights up and glows during the startup sequence though.

My only input...

If you can get to the igniter, the metal that is connected is more than likey corroded. A bit of emery cloth can save you $80 plus dollars. Not knowing your exact setup, this is my only guess.

Mine needs it every year. Sometimes twice.

Tony

Interesting...it just started going through the cycle again on its own--it must wait a half hour, then try again if there is still a call for heat. First try had the same result, second try it fired up and now it's running. We primarily heat with wood (outdoor furnace) during the winter, but I'd still like to get to the bottom of this. We're at the point now where it's not worth having a fire going, but need occasional heat. The propane furnace also serves as backup during the winter, if the fire goes out.

Is it possible there was air in the lines?

quote Originally posted by Raydar: Is it possible there was air in the lines?

X2. Seems unlikely, but that would certainly be consistent with the reported symptoms. I wonder if the gas was, by chance, turned off at the meter sometime during the summer.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 09-15-2012).]

Gas is used by what? Stove? Water heater? etc...
If used by anything....
More likely gas solenoid valve has problems.

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quote Originally posted by theogre: Gas is used by what? Stove? Water heater? etc... If used by anything.... More likely gas solenoid valve has problems.

In this line of thinking; is there a sensor/thermocouple of any kind?

My boiler exhibits similar symptoms when the sensing system gets clogged. Soot builds up in a pipe that connects to a sensing device on the boiler. I disconnect the sensor then unscrew it from the pigtail, then I undo the pigtail from the boiler body. I run hot water and poke a cleaner through it until the water stops running black. At that point, I then reassemble it with teflon tape and plug everything back in.

I like to cycle anything at least once a month. I turn on my furnaces for a few minutes during the summer, run my mower, generator and weedeater in winter. I run all my cars with a/c a few minutes a month all winter, run my power tops and windows up and down a few times. I usually dont get surprises that way. I rarely let any single car set without a drive for more than a couple weeks.

quote Originally posted by Patrick's Dad: In this line of thinking; is there a sensor/thermocouple of any kind?

His unit uses non pilot ignition.
He had no gas to burn, "sensor" see no fire, system will reset and wait to clear then retry firing.
(wait to clear in case system has gas but still didn't fire, like ignitor or sensor w/ problem.)

Just remembered about this thread (saw Rodney's furnace thread) and wanted to post a follow-up. I did bring the igniter in and got a generic replacement. It cycled it a few times, and it seemed to work reliably. No long-term results to report, as I started the outdoor wood furnace not too long afterward, so the furnace hasn't been called upon to light up the gas ever since. Thanks again for the advice on the igniter. I love the wealth of knowledge here!

I was going to suggest checking the gas line valve that should be right near the furnace and make sure the gas line was on. I've had that problem before. Thought the gas was on but the furnace wouldn't fire. Start checking things and notice the gas valve was turned off. Now I always check those basics before going any further. We have an autistic son, and with the washer and dryer being in the same room as the furnace and water heater, alot of times he follows my wife in there. It's a knob, he has to turn it...