Fan Help

[superbettle]

Started my YORK heater the other day and ran into a problem that I can't figure out. When the controls at the t-stat are: heat ON and fan to AUTO heater kicks on, yet the huge fan at the bottom of the unit will not kick on, everything shuts down, and I get 4 red flashes which means "open limit" on my board.
Now, I shut down heater reset settings to the same as above and when heater kicks on I reach down into the motor and spin the shaft she goes without any problems and will run for days.
Now here is the tricky question. When I just simply put the fan to the ON position and the HEAT to the OFF position she kicks on and will run forever. This is an older heater possibly 12-14 years old. Model #p2mpd12no6401a. Thought maybe the motor needed to be oiled, yet owners manual said that this motor is sealed and does not require oil. Maybe capisator? $$ is tight and I don't want to go out and just buy things that are not going to work. Any information would be great, hope to hear something soon. Thanks in advance.

 

[glennjanie]

Welcome SuperBettle:
The least expensive way to solve the problem is to turn the fan to ON. It will keep a more even temperature in the house by mixing the air constantly.
Glenn

 

[superbettle]

Thank you, however this situtation is a bit of a pain and won't I burn out the motor in the long run? Thanks.

 

[glennjanie]

No, mine has been running for 10 years now. I use a geo-thermal heat pump and good circulation is critical for even temperatures.
Glenn

 

[superbettle]

Do you happen to know what "open limit" means on the board for trouble on my YORK?

 

[user 4883]

Your probably getting open limit switch (auto reset?) because the fan isn't turning and allowing the combustion chamber is building up too much heat. The issue seems to be with the blower motor and/or controls but, nothing comes to mind with the problem you've described. The only thing I can think of is that the T-stat is not sending power to turn the blower motor on. Check for 24V from chassis ground to green wire on the t-stat terminal strip inside the unit when it is set to Heat On & Fan Auto w/heat set to call. If you don't have power there,then you have a bad thermostat.

 

[user 4883]

As I reread your post, yes it seems that the capacitor for the blower motor is bad. There only a couple a bucks.