Rheem Imperial Drum 90+ Problem

Glenn Harrison_2

If you look at the control board, near the thermostat connections if memory serves me. You should see 2 large resistors. If the board is badly discolored (browned) near these resistors, have the board replace. Every time I have had a Drum with shutdown problems, I would see this discoloration in conjunction, would replace the board, and unit would be fine.

Cary Alon

Rheem Imperial Drum 90+ Problem

Hi,

I have a Rheem Imperial Drum 90+ furnace, model RGED 1DERAUG. Worked great until sometime last night. This morning, it would not light. I checked the hot surfaceignitor, it didn't seem to be working (no glow). I checked voltage to the igniter, and got about 18 VAC until the vacuum switch engaged, then saw 110 VAC.

I shut the power, restarted the furnace, and it worked for one cycle.

I shut it off again, restarted, and it did not work. I tried this about 10 times, and the furnace lit only twice.

I called a service guy who came by, and confirmed that the igniter was bad. He brought back a new one, installed it, checked it,and was on his way.

Now the furnace lights, but does not stay lit until acheiving temperature. It runs for about 20 minutes, then the flame shuts off, but the fan continues to run. When I shut power and restore, the flame lights again for about 20 minutes.

I called the service guy - he can't get here until tomorrow.

I checked the LED's on the IFC (controller) board. The left one blinks regularly, the right is steady. I replaced the filter. I checked the condensate pump.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help.

Cary

Randy Tibbits

Check the intake air and make sure it's not frosted up. Also the igniter must be installed properly, if it got turned 180 degrees it moves the igniter away from the flame a bit and doesn't sense flame like it should.

Jon_2

Rheem Imperial Drum 90+

That furnace is one of the biggest mistakes Rheem ever made and they are trouble, and you should have been notified of the exchange program somewhere along the way. To trouble shoot that furnace and that problem you need a igniter test module and a good manometer. Hook the manometer on to the lines on the pressure switch and the igniter test module hooked up in series with the igniter and the voltmeter leads to a good dc voltmeter. Start the furnace and watch the manometer it should be reading 2.2 to 2.5 inches of water. After the AC light goes out on the igniter test module, push down on the momentary switch and read the DC volts, must be 0.8 or above to hold the gas valve open. Now back to the manometer as the furnace runs, does the draft decrease? If it drops below the setting on the pressure switch, it will shut off the gas valve. This is usually caused by a crack in the heat exchanger.
You may have a small crack in the heat exchanger and as it heats up the metal expands and the crack becomes larger and the draft inducer can no longer mantain min. pressure to prove draft and the pressue switch opens and it shuts the gas valve off. The drum furnaces are noted for cracked heat exchangers and are a P.O.S.. I bought the same models sold by Comfort-Aire and installed over 40 of them. Comfort-Aire bought them from Rheem and I have replaced each and every one of them also under the warrenty program with the Conquest 90 series which is a good furnace. In the last 9 years, I have not had a single service call on any of them.
If you want to know more contact me off forum. Jon

Jon_2

Rheem Imperial Drum 90+

Randy, the igniter is marked outside and has a metal flange on that side so you can't install it turned 180. If the new igniter was one of the older models you could install it incorrectly and not have a 5/16" gap between the ignitor and flame tube. If installed incorrectly, the flame would quit 7 seconds after the burner lights. His runs for 20 minutes

Cary Alon

Jon and Randy,

Thanks for your responses.

Jon, I sent you an email. Randy, I checked the intake - it's clear. The igniter is installed with the word "outside" facing the outside of the case, so I assume it's correct.

Thanks again. Any help is appreciated...

Cary

Cary Alon

Rheem Imperial Drum 90+ Problem

By the way, the troubleshooting flowchart that accompanies the furnace says replacing the IFC (integrated furnace controller) solves most of the problems on the chart.

Is this a viable solution?

I'm guessing that if the heat exchanger is cracked, the answer would be NO.

Thanks,

Cary

Randy Tibbits

I haven't woked on a rheem drum for several years. I do have fond memories of a rheem with nuisance lockouts that ended up being the igniter turned around. It was puzzling that the unit would run for quite a while. But it did.

Dave Yates (PAH)

The drum

will be riddled with pock marks - a few of which will be "rusted" through. Rheem offers credit for the heat exchanger when installing a new furnace. Not enough, but a little is better than nothing! We just changed out another one two weeks ago.

The pin holes throw off the pressure/vacuum switch and trip the unit off on safety.

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jim lockard

My solution

For the Rheem drum furnace and I have worked on enough of them including "an emergency no heat on Chrismas day 2002" which I remembered fondly is to replace them with American Standard 90 plus furnace. Since providing this repair option to the mostly tired of this thing owners we have not had any call backs.The most recent comes to mind is the local Friends meeting house where in the past they had the heat exchange replaced and a countless number of service calls by the installing contractor until they asked me to give it a shot--shot it right to the scraper Best Wishes J.Lockard

Randy Tibbits

Thankfuly

There were very few rheems sold around my area. The few that were have been replaced.