The exterior ground mounted natural gas combo exterior unit heater/air conditioner was installed end of 1999 and only repairs have been a capacitor was replaced. Problem started about a month ago. Heater failed to heat one night. Next morning I turned it off and on and it restarted and heated as normal. This (as usual) was erratic but has become more and more regular until now it rarely works. Had a friend look at it and he by-pasted the thermostat and it would not work. Not exactly sure everything that he looked at but eventually he sanded the tips of the ignition (spark things), it happened to work then, but he was not so sure he had fixed things because it just happened to work after he messed with it.

I have changed the thermostat just to be sure that was not the problem. However the problem persists and my buddy is out of town. I will call a regular repair man on Monday but would like any assistance so as not to be to ignorant when they (hopefully) figure the problem out. By the way my buddy thought that if it was not the thermostat acting up it was probably the printed control circuit board.

Added later: When I turn the thermostat off and back on (wait for a few minutes) I can hear what sounds like a blower in the distance through the cold air return which is next to the thermostat (not the regular blower) for a minute or so then it goes off. This happens when the unit is not working. If the unit happens to start working this noise is before the regular blower starts.

Anybody venture to throw some incite on this problem?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

rjallred1945

Could be a pressure switch issue, or a dirty flame sensor, but the tech that comes should know how to check things out. Lots of option here. All I can say is cross your fingers that the unit will fail while the tech is there. Hard to trouble shoot a working system. If he can't see the failure for himself, he is just guessing with the info you give him.

I was afraid of that. In fact been putting off calling somebody just for that reason. My buddy had the same problem, he is free but now I may be in $ hell just to get a diagnosis.

Appreciate the suggestions, makes me feel not so vulnerable.

Thank You

Wishing you the best of luck and please let me know how things work out.

Will Do

With it only happening in damp weather, I have to believe it's a control issue & possibly a grounding one. I'd start by checking all the wires for cracks, frays, corrosion, etc. with particular attention to the ground. I too will be watching.

Thank you, all suggestions will for sure be in my mind when the technician inspects the system. I am getting older and it is not easy for me to get down and dirty with the ohm meter etc. plus I really don't know the first thing about heater/air conditioners. Currently the system is not working at all so in away I hope it continues that way until the technician can inspect it.

I will keep the forum informed as things progress.

Again thanks to all that have offered suggestions and good will.

rjallred1945

As for mentioned the repairman came today, and as it inevitably would happen the heater was working perfectly. However I was very pleased to have a very knowledgeable and experienced serviceman. I had gotten a personal referral and checked out the company on "Angie's List". I was not disappointed. I told him the symptoms and what my friend had done and he right away told me that in his experience this model of Heater A/C it could be the control circuit board and that he could reproduce most problems, something my friend was not ready to do. After checking things out for a few minutes he told me that he had found three breaks in the printed circuit board.

He then proceeded to solder the repairs and told me the bill would be $65.00. He told me that it would probably last at least through the season and maybe for a lot longer. I elected to have him order a new one and install it later, $280.00 part plus labor.

I have renewed faith in the service industry with this kind or service. Having previously been disappointed so often by ill trained personnel. In fact talking to this man he, works with new personnel just out of training schools, advises them to look beyond the blinking light codes and make sure that something is not causing the failure code beyond the unit that is causing the code.

I am starting to ramble, but as some of you wanted know what the result was of my problem was. A crack in the printed circuit board at the solder points.

I would like to thank all that took the time and had the knowledge to venture a suggestion of the possible cause of my problem. It gave me a bit of backup knowledge to feel a little more confidence to deal with the repairman. Fortunately with this fellow I would not have to have been so skeptical.

Again thank you all that gave advice.

rjallred1945

Hey, thanks for the update. We always appreciate that. Glad you had a good experience. Not to often you find a tech that is willing to do soldering on a control board. We were always taught never to try repairing a damaged control board due to liability reasons. You certainly made the correct choice in having him order a new one. Take care.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my plea for help. Yes I was really fortunate that I had a repairman that made the temp repair and suggested a more permanent repair by a replacement of the board. The repairman took the time to explain that he had run across this problem with this unit many times before.

Who would have thunk that this was a more or less a common problem with a certain type of A/C Heater unit. Thank you for an experienced repairman. However Bob Gunn of Bailey's Heat and Air from Modesto, CA is the best in my opinion. He is there Lead Repair Technician for Bailey's.

He even had a neat little solder gun the size of a pen, that has the option of a solder tip or open flame tip and refillable butane. Pretty cool.

Enough said I'm getting windy again. Thanks All.

rjallred1945

I too am thrilled you found a good, honest service person. I, like Dad, was always taught never to repair a board for liability reasons. In this day & time with seemingly everybody being "suit crazy" I won't repair a board. I hope & pray Mr. Gunn has a long career in the trade.

Grady White


Thank you