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So every year I would have a technician come out and service our furnace. I'm not sure what all it entails to service our furnace, aside from changing the filter, but last year I learned quite a bit about our furnace when I replaced the circuit board, inducer blower, and then the pressure switches. (full post here: Furnace keeps going into lockout)

Seems like after all that, servicing my furnace myself shouldn't be too bad. I took a look at some lists posted on different sites that detail everything that's done, such as this one: https://columbiahvac.net/tune-up

  • Blower – inspect assembly (?)
  • Clean or change filter (?)
  • Verify limit operations (?)
  • Measure and record delta T (?)
  • Clean flame sensor
  • Clean and cycle condensate pump (90% or better EF) (?)
  • Measure and record amp draw to blower (?)
  • Measure and record amp draw inducer (?)
  • Inspect flue pipe
  • Measure and verify ignition protocols (?)
  • Clean burners (?)
  • Tighten electrical connections
  • Clean and adjust pilot assembly (?)
  • Clean exterior
  • Measure and adjust gas pressure (?)
  • Brush and inspect heat exchanger (?)
  • Conduct bubble test for gas leaks
  • Vacuum burner compartment

Most of these things I've done, the ones with a (?) are the tasks I'm unfamiliar with. Some of the things I wonder about doing myself, like measuring output and all that, but it seems like a lot of it would be pretty simple.

Can anyone give guidance here? Or recommend any good online resources in particular that would be good to follow when self servicing a furnace?

Thanks!

DrMoishe Pippik
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klayman
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    Jeez, I just turn mine on. If the air gets warm, it's good to go. – Steve Wellens Dec 07 '21 at 05:36
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    Do you have all the tools to do this like the pressure gauge? – Solar Mike Dec 07 '21 at 10:05
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    Most of those (?) will be easy to do with the right equipment(some expensive) and knowledge of what to do. If a boo-boo is done, can look on youtube for house explosions for what might happen. A local college might have heating technician courses available. – crip659 Dec 07 '21 at 14:01
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    Depending on (1) your LAHJ and (2) the terms of your home insurance, having it done annually by a tech with a license to do so may be required, or may not be required. If you don't check ahead of time, you might only find out that your insurance required it when they refuse a claim becasue it wasn't done. – Ecnerwal Dec 07 '21 at 15:39
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    So you replaced the circuit board, inducer blower, and pressure switches but have a question mark next to "Clean or change filter (?)"??? Anyways, look up YouTube videos for each of those procedures and you should be able to perform 90% of those tasks. Some stuff like "Measure and record amp draw to blower" will require a multimeter and a general understanding of your specific furnace's circuitry. There's no one-size-fits-all blog on the Internet for this stuff. – MonkeyZeus Dec 07 '21 at 18:10
  • Even better than YoutUbe videos would be looking up how to change the filter in the owner's manual. Frankly, if you have to look that up, you probably shouldn't be doing the rest. (This doesn't apply to the OP who has obviously figured out how to do much more - it's a general statement.) – FreeMan Dec 08 '21 at 15:49
  • Sorry for the delayed response on this. Thanks for the advice, particularly on the insurance piece @Ecnerwal. I need to take a look into my insurance, I decided just to have the maintenance done on it this year because so much other stuff is going on, and we rely pretty heavily on our furnace during the winter.

    As for the (?) next to "Clean or change filter", sorry that was a mistake. That is definitely the first thing I learned to do and is more than simple.

    SolarMike I do not own a pressure gauge, to answer your question. That's one tool I would need. I do own a multimeter.

     – klayman Jan 17 '22 at 18:39

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