furnace start up motor?

Brian_58

I have a forced air furnace, slightly undersized but it came with the house and it works (worked). There is an initial startup motor that kicks on, it runs for a few minutes to what i would define as "warm up", then the flame ignites, then the blower kicks on and it runs fine.

Whatever the initial start up is, it is dying. Normally it sounds like an engine revving up and gets to full RPM within seconds. Today the furnace kicked on but that motor almost didn't make it to full RPM, so it kept running and running until it did.

What the heck is that initial start up? Is it worth replacing or should I get a whole new unit?

Unknown

That intial start up thing is called a combustion blower assembly and provides the proper amount of air to support the burning of the fuel gas. It is replaceable so the age of the furnace is a factor you must look at in terms of how to repair it as well as if it is actually adequate to heat your house. The combustion blower is a crucial component of the system so I recommend you contact a local professional to straighten this out. It is certainly not anything an amateur should be trying to do.

Dale

inducer

What you are talking about is the inducer motor which is a very common repair part. It pulls the flue products through one or 2 heat exchangers depending on the furnace effeciency. What to do depends on what furnace you have, some of these motors will be $200 installed, some a lot more. It also depends on what else is rusted up and need of replacement. If I had a 15 year old direct vent furnace with a bad inducer I would confirm the heat exchanger is good and then make the fix or replace decision. If you have an 80% furnace and it's 6 years old, and the heat exchanger is good a repair would be cost effective.