Do you need a furnace repair before the winter season comes? Call Georgia Air Cooling & Heating at (912) 756-0506 for fast and efficient HVAC care today.
Have you ever used an air conditioner or furnace while knowing it’s not exactly in top condition? Of course, we aren’t here to judge, but you should know that some systems may shut down to prevent continued use. To use it again, you may need to know how to reset the furnace control board.
Georgia Air Cooling & Heating technicians know how to resolve furnace lockouts as a leader for trusted furnace repair in Richmond Hill. Read more to learn what lockouts are and what you can do to get your furnace up and running again.
Explaining the Furnace Control Board
A control board works as the central control center for your furnace, sometimes for your entire HVAC system. The control board receives signals from different sensors in your system and processes the information to divvy out system commands:
- Opens and closes the gas valve
- Controls ignition based on flame sensors
- Determines the settings for your blower motor
- Connects to the thermostat for consistent temperature management
It essentially functions as the brain of your furnace. Older furnaces may have two control boards, one controlling ignition processes and the other controlling blower settings. They were more common in an old gas furnace, while newer gas, oil, and electric furnaces combine them.
What Are Furnace Lockouts?
A lockout refers to a furnace shutting down completely when you try to use it in unsafe conditions. Furnaces with poor maintenance upkeep tend to be more likely to lock out than ones with consistent maintenance.
A soft lockout means one of the several furnace sensors has detected an issue. The furnace control board receives the signal from the sensor and shuts down the furnace, often for a few minutes or hours. Then, it will try to resume the process without the previous error.
A hard lockout occurs after several soft lockouts, in which the system cannot resolve the error. Consecutive soft lockouts tend to point toward a severe system issue. The furnace completely shuts down and will not start up to prevent gas leaks, fires, and other dangerous circumstances.
You can only resolve a hard lockout if you know how to reset the furnace control board.
What Can Cause a Furnace Lockout?
Knowing how furnaces work can be instrumental in identifying what causes a lockout. Some of the most common reasons for a soft lockout relate to the ignition or gas release but can also come from faulty wiring or the following:
Poor Flame Sensing
Many furnaces use flame sensors to check for the presence of fire and measure the heat output. However, a faulty or dirty flame sensor will prevent the system from detecting the flame, even if one is present. The control panel processes the lack of information as a fault with the system and shuts it down.
This soft lock often turns into a hard lockout if the furnace fails to sense the flame after three attempts. After that, you need to know how to reset the furnace control board to move forward.
Poor Ignition
Furnaces have an ignitor, which differs depending on the type of furnace you have.
A gas furnace uses a pilot light that ignites further when the gas ports open. An oil furnace uses a fuel pump and burner to turn the oil into a spray, which mixes in the air of a combustion chamber. Electric furnaces use coils similar to those in a heat pump to heat the air instead of using oil, gas, or other ignition fuel.
In each case, poor ignition means something different. A gas furnace’s pilot light may fail, or the fuel pump might not send the oil to the combustion chamber as needed. Faulty electrical connections can lead to cold heating coils.
If the sensors do not pick up heat, they will soft lock and try again. After the third failed attempt, it usually does a hard lockout until you reset the board.
Control Board Failure
Of course, just as any other part of the furnace can fail, so can the control board. Technical issues may cause faulty signals, leading to unnecessary lockouts and hindering your ability to heat your property. Relay switches can get stuck, transistors can fail, and your control board’s condition can degrade over time.
Yearly furnace maintenance can help reduce the chances of a control board or any other furnace failure.
Limit Switch Closure
Furnaces use limit switches to ensure the system does not overheat, have fuel pressure that’s too low, or have poor airflow. If the system picks up signals of these conditions, it will often soft lockout. However, it may go immediately to a hard lockout, especially if the temperature changes too quickly and indicates imminent danger.
Excessive fuel use, gas pressure issues, and dirty air filters can cause the limit switch to flip. Modern furnaces often have status code lights that allow you to determine the cause of the lockout more easily.
Otherwise, don’t worry if you aren’t sure what happened. Rely on a trustworthy furnace repair specialist to diagnose and resolve your furnace issues so you and all other building occupants can stay safe.
Resetting Your Furnace Control Board: 5 Easy Steps
Even though you’ve noticed the potential issues with your furnace, that still doesn’t cause it to fix itself. Regardless, the furnace still won’t turn on because of the hard lockout. So what steps do you take to reset your furnace control board?
The following five steps can help you get your system back up and running without worry. Here’s how our team understands each step:
#1. Check the Codes
As noted, many modern systems have status code lights that pop up on the control board or somewhere near it. The light may flash in a code, like using a flashlight to send an S.O.S. Morse code alert.
If you have the furnace manual or an error code chart, you can learn what the system determined as the issue. If you don’t have the manual, you may be able to find it online, or you can contact a trustworthy HVAC specialist.
#2. Power Off
If you can read the code, understand the problem, and safely fix it, do so. However, fixing the issue won’t resolve the lockout on its own. You also need to turn off the furnace’s power if you haven’t already to address the furnace issue.
In many cases, the power switch looks like a light switch, but it may also look like a button. If you cannot find any power switch, find your circuit breaker and look for the section connected to your furnace.
Turn the circuit breaker off, and make sure the diagnostic light stays off. If it still has a signal, then you either haven’t resolved the furnace issue, still have power going to the furnace, or both.
#3. Press the Reset
Only move to this step after ensuring you or a certified technician has resolved the problem with the furnace.
Find the reset button once all diagnostic codes turn off or you don’t need to address them further. Of course, not all furnaces have one, and turning the power off may be the only option.
Double-check in these places to make sure that’s the case:
- Oil Furnace: Usually within the blower housing
- Gas Furnace: Usually in the same area as the control panel
- Electric Furnace: Often in the blower compartment next to the motor
If you find a reset button and confirm your furnace has no power, press and hold the reset for a few seconds. Check your manual for the amount of time you need to press the reset. The system will go through a recalibration process.
#4. Have Patience
Recalibrating takes some time depending on the furnace, from a few seconds to several minutes. You may hear different noises coming from your furnace, like clicking or blowing. You may also see the lights blink as it resets.
Once all the noises and lights finish, you shouldn’t see any light signal error codes. If you see some, refer to the error code chart or call a specialist to help.
#5. Test the System
If none of the error lights blink, you can turn the power back on. The furnace should work as usual, though some older gas furnaces require you to restart the pilot light.
If the furnace doesn’t turn on or the error lights begin to blink again, you’ll need to restart from the first step.
Call Us for Top-Quality Furnace Solutions
Do you know how to work your way around the furnace board on a modern furnace or how to reset the furnace control board? With Georgia Air Cooling & Heating on your side, you don’t need to know. Our licensed and insured HVAC specialists can quickly provide long-lasting furnace solutions to keep your Richmond Hill property warm.
Call (912) 756-0506 or visit our contact page for a free quote on furnace care in and around Richmond Hill today.