Equipment
- Gas furnace with an inducer (draft) motor, in a rental home
Gas furnace inducer motor and limit switch replacement in Fremont
Problem: The tenants in this Fremont rental hadn’t used the heater since they moved in. Then the weather turned cold, and it didn’t work. The gas furnace wouldn’t start or blow air, and the property manager asked us to find out why.
Diagnostics: Our technician found that a thermal safety switch had tripped and shut the furnace down. We pressed the reset, and the furnace started. That got the heat going, but we didn’t want to leave it there. The old inducer motor was humming a little as it ran. The inducer is the small blower that pushes combustion gases out the vent. The furnace won’t light its burners unless that blower runs right. We recommended a new inducer motor and a new limit switch.
Solution: We came back with the parts and replaced both. We took the inducer assembly off the furnace and unbolted the old motor from its mounting plate. The hub on the old blower wheel was rusted. The new motor came in a replacement kit, and that’s what went in. We replaced the limit switch too.
Result: The furnace now has a new inducer motor and a new limit switch, the two parts we flagged on the first visit. If your heater has sat unused for months, test it before the first cold night. That leaves time to fix it before you need it. A new hum, or a furnace that shuts itself off, is worth a call while it still runs. We repair gas furnaces in Fremont and across the East Bay.
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