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rah1384 · Nov 2, 2007, 01:56 PM

I have a tempstar sp80 furnace. Last heating season I started having problems with the pilot not working. If I wiggle the ignition harness the pilot would light and stay on until the temperature matched the thermostat then would not turn back on when the temp dropped. Now when I wiggle the harness it lights for about five minutes then turns off. Can anyone help me?

hvac1000 · Nov 3, 2007, 08:32 AM

Yes fix the wiring problem or connector problem.

rah1384 · Nov 3, 2007, 03:44 PM

Should I start with the igniter harness? I have not changed any of the wiring at all. Or should I replace the igniter itself?

hvac1000 · Nov 3, 2007, 03:53 PM

I would check the wiring to make sure the problem is solved. Usually if you move or wiggle the harness it means that the wiring is loose or broken in the wire jacket or loose in the metal tabs in the plastic plug.

It is always good to have a extra ignitor in stock for your furnace since they seem to be trouble prone. So you may pick one up for that purpose.

Do what ever you have to do to get the loose connection fixed on the wiring first.

SPARKRL · Dec 17, 2007, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by rah1384

I have a tempstar sp80 furnace. Last heating season i started having problems with the pilot not working. If i wiggle the ignition harness the pilot would light and stay on until the temperature matched the thermostat then would not turn back on when the temp dropped. now when i wiggle the harness it lights for about five minutes then turns off. Can anyone help me??

I have two tempstar sp80's and one had the same problem. I replaced the ignitor and heat sensor with no effect. Don't waste ur money. If i wiggled the connection it would fire up. Oh by the way, while i was messing with that one, my other one started doing the same thing. The connection on both are faulty internally in the honeywell "SMARTVALVE". Went to the hvac supplier that i bought the ignitor from and he told me to "wedge a toothpick between the connector with the ignitor wires coming in and the "WEDGE A TOOTHPICK BETWEEN THE CONNECTOR WITH THE IGNITOR WIRES COMING IN AND THE " socket. I performed this task with a little success. Hey i'm an electrician and this ain't the way to do things. Bottom line... i think tempstar has a problem with their product. Both my units are 12 years old and their suppose to last probably twice that long. So i'm looking for an answer too. Good luck.

eschuen · Dec 17, 2007, 04:25 PM

If this ia a 9501 smart valve I'll bet you'll find it's the valve giving you the problem. I've replaced quite a few and none of the beginning symptoms would lead you to think it. Actually once I dropped a screwdriver and hit the valve and the unit ran. I thought nothing of it at the time, but the result was finding it was the valve. After that episode every 9500 series valve I run across "I hit it to save time"... and it has!

tsa7man · Dec 22, 2007, 05:56 PM

It is really "Honeywell's" on-going problem... NOT Tempstar ! Honeywell makes that smart gas valve. It is just like buying a Ford or Chevy and holding them to blame for your bad starter when that was manufactured by another company.

SPARKRL · Dec 23, 2007, 03:16 AM

I totally agree with tsa7man. This is definitely Honewells problem with the 9500 series Smart Valve. Like I mentioned in my first response, my second Tempstar SP80 went out the same period. When I barely moved the ignitor harness connector both of the units would fire up. I ended up wedging a toothpick between the harness connection and the gas valves' connection point on the housing and the darn thing works great. When I say "works great" I meaning that I can leave the t-stat on and after the temperature rises the valve will close. When the temp. drops the furnace will reignite. I really don't want to leave it this way ( a total stop gap measure) so I'm trying to find out from Honeywell if there's a low cost way of permanently resolving this problem that won't cost me $500 to replace both units.

tsa7man · Dec 23, 2007, 12:25 PM

The main problem gas valves were the Honeywell SV9500 and some of the SV9501's which is the replacement for the SV9500 series. ( this information is marked on the side of the gas valves) The only way to solve this problem is to really replace the "problem child" gas valve! Shimming the connector can work for a period, the actual problem is a crack on the gas valve circiut board where the connector is soldered on to the boards... Also to note... this valve was used by MANY different manufactures of water heaters, and furnaces... with tons of them still out in the field in homes and businesses.

hvac1000 · Dec 23, 2007, 12:52 PM

Honeywell should bring out a special shim for these. LOL