[oldman87]

Hello everyone, thanks in advance for any help.

I have a GE BLU55E924B1 model furnace, two years ago the unit stopped working and the technician who showed up said the blower motor is dead, being a weekend car mechanic myself with plenty of tools, I decided to order the motor online and perform the installation myself, installation went well and the unit had worked flawlessly for two years.

Fast forward to now, I'm having the same problem again. I was certain it was the blower motor again because it doesn't turn on when I switch the control to on, instead of auto. I ordered another blower motor, FASCO D721, but the new motor didn't solve the problem. The old motor from two years ago still spins freely so I guess now I will have an extra motor on hand. I did some searching before posting this thread and found out that I should have replaced the capacitor two years ago along with the new motor. Here are my questions,

1. Can a defective capacitor cause the blower not to turn on? I have tried giving the blower a little push but it still didn't turn on, though this was done after I have removed the capacitor.

2. Where can I find the replacement capacitor locally? Does places like Home Depot carry them?

3. Are there any other causes besides the motor and capacitor that I may be overlooking?

Thanks again.

[coach chris]

1Yes a bad capacitor will cause a motor not to run. Sounds like the first time your motor seized up, which isn't the case this time. You can test your capacitor with a multimeter.
2 Look at the phone book for a electrical supplier, it's a very common capacitor probable 5uf and won't cost much $10-15 take the old one in with you and perhaps they will test it for you before you buy a new one
3-are you posivitive your motor is being supplied with a 120v. Again this can be tested with a multimeter. If it's and older furnace the wire can be traced back to junction box, newer furnaces have a speed tap right on the circuit board that says "heat" use your voltmeter for the hot to ground(or neutral wire) both will work. Also new furnaces termals on the board R W G Y C check voltage reading at the G terminal to ground(or C)to check if thermostat is actually sending voltage back to the circuit board to bring on fan. It should be 24volts when fan is switched to ON position. MAKE SURE THE POWER IS OFF AT THE FURNACE SWITCH OR BREAKER WHILE OPENING JUNCTION BOX AND PUTTING METER LEADS IN PLACE THEN HAVE SOMEONE TURN IT ON JUST FOR A QUICK TEST. Also door swith must be pushed in to do voltage checks
Good luck :cool:

[oldman87]

Thanks Chris for the quick reply. I do have a multimeter but I'm a little shy when it comes to electrical stuff, your answer to number 3 sort of went over my head. Since the capacitor is pretty cheap, I will get a replacement tomorrow and hope that it is the problem. If not, I will post back for more details on the circuit voltage check, I hope I won't have to because the breaker box is not labeled. :D

[oldman87]

Ok, the capacitor didn't solve the problem, a friend of mine who works for a contractor came over to help, turned out it was the fan relay. Hope this can be of help to others in the future. Thanks again Chris.