"So, my questions are:
- Is it common to have the furnace broken/to replace the igniter so often especially for a new furnace? What could have been wrong with the unit to cause this? Could we have gotten a faulty furnace unit?"

* Yes, you could have gotten a bad batch from the mfr. They are warranted for 5 or 10 years, part only. Installation labor is typically 1 to 2 years as you know.

- Is there anything we could do to to protect ourselves from having this happen and end up having to pay for the cost of repairing it on our own expenses in the near future if this keeps happening?

* Yes, you could get a 10 year parts and labor warranty from the mfr for additional $$. Should cover everything (ask what it doesn't).

- Also found that our Gibson a/c unit is making a loud noise/humming sound when it is running (i.e. air is blowing). Is that normal? It is bothering me because the units are on our deck right above our master bedroom.

* The location of the units is the problem. Gibson units are basic, builder's grade. You'll hear even the quietest condensers when they run at night where they are located.

" - When the a/c kicks in, I can hear a "sparks" like sound at the thermostat and also at the a/c unit at the start of the cycle - is that normal? I asked the contractor and the technician, they said it's normal but I have doubts."

- You are hearing the 24 volt contacts in the thermostat energize to turn your system on. You may here several clicks: 1 for the fan, 1 for the furnace or air conditioning.

"Anyway, I doubt we could get the developer to warrant or guarantee anything beyond 1 year given the "unusual" problems we have given a new furnace and a/c....I am sure the developer will not do much if anything because they will of course try not to incur more cost than they have to."

- You are dead wrong on this. You sound like you already lost. You need to get the developer, a/c contractor, and system manufacturer (all 3) to get involved and solve your problem. Anything less and your problem will never be solved, and you'll complain about it as long as you're in the house. It's a new home and needs to be right.

"I also just found out that our furnace units were not registered by the installer within 60 days after installation so we default to only 5 year manufacturer's warranty instead of 10 year warranty. Very very frustrated and upset about this!"

- Call the mfr and fight it. Happens all the time in new construction. It's up to you to get that warranty.

"Any advices will be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!"
- Start getting things done.
- Complain a lot less.

Good luck.

* Yes, you could have gotten a bad batch from the mfr. They are warranted for 5 or 10 years, part only. Installation labor is typically 1 to 2 years as you know.

-- Installation labor is 1 year for us.

* Yes, you could get a 10 year parts and labor warranty from the mfr for additional $$. Should cover everything (ask what it doesn't).

-- Not aware we could get labor warranty from the mfr. Will check it out. (We're first time homeowner.) Is it really worthy and advisable to get a 10 year parts and labor warranty for a Gibson furnace and a/c units?

* You are dead wrong on this. You sound like you already lost. You need to get the developer, a/c contractor, and system manufacturer (all 3) to get involved and solve your problem. Anything less and your problem will never be solved, and you'll complain about it as long as you're in the house. It's a new home and needs to be right.

-- I am usually pretty persistent. And believe me, after dealing with the developer for the past year to get our things fixed, we know how they are. But of course I am still going to fight for it at our 1-year inspection that is coming up because like you said, it's a new home and needs to be right.

* Call the mfr and fight it. Happens all the time in new construction. It's up to you to get that warranty.

-- I did try already. Spoke to the supervisor and even asked the supervisor to present my case to the management but the supervisor said no, the system won't let them do it past the 60-day, and also she had presented similar cases before and were all rejected. If you have other suggestions that might work, please share.

Thanks.

Is this problem happening with both furnaces and if not where is the affected furnace located attic or basement sounds like a possible moisture problem if you furnace is condensing or is installed in a moist area this can create hot spots on a hot surface igniter and cause premature failure also a technician who does not know to minimize skin contact during installation can, by touching the element create a hot spot and cause premature failure knowing Gibson manufacturing I guarantee you those elements are the cheapest made and are probably more easily damaged during installation

Here is a link that might be useful: Air Conditioning Repair made Easy

Hi miken_2008,

No, it is only happening with one of the furnaces. And the affected furnace is located on the 2nd floor (townhouse with ground floor, 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors) next to the water heater tank in a closet in the kitchen. The other furnace is on the 4th floor (loft) in a closet, no problem with that so far. Do you still think it could still be a possible moisture problem since it's next to the water heater tank?

I understand your point about hot spots.

When I called Nordyne tech and they confirmed that it's not normal that the igniter has to be replaced twice in the period of 4 months, they said that the problems could be due to:
- bad voltages
- poor connection of wire
- poor handling of igniter causing damage/hot spots on the igniter, just like you said

They suggest having the installer/technician call them so that they could talk through what was done and figure out the problems...but I don't trust the installer/technician that fixed our furnace because he was the one that said this was normal and that it could happen. And he even said that the warranty is only 1 year and not even aware of the 5 year manufacturer warranty....that's not a sign of a good technician to me. It may well be because of poor handling of the igniter because I think the technician held the igniter with his bare fingers....at least I saw that the second time the igniter was replaced. But I will never know because he took away the cracked igniter.....so I can't even examine it like it was suggested by a different service man I called.

The service man I called also said that it is not common
to have to replace the igniter so frequent. And our
problem could be due to (among other possible problems):
- duct work problem - incorrectly sized, cause
overheating of furnace and premature heating)
- blower speed
- did the installer replace the igniter with a Gibson
part or a universal part?

It would cost about $180 to have the service man come out just to check the furnace for possible problems for an hour.

Any advice on what I should do next besides presenting this to the developer? We will try to get the developer to pay for the furnace to be checked but I don't know if the developer will go fot it. And even if he agrees to do that, I will not be surprised if we are stuck with the original installer/technician the developer engaged and you know how much confidence I have in them!

Thanks!

Hi All,

I recently moved into my 4 1/2 year house with a Gibson furnace in it about 4 months ago. I noticed when I turn on my furnace the first thing it does is makes a grumbling noise but stops after the burners kick on and then those make a high pitch whistle noise. I had a repair man come over and he said that it could be the inducer motor going out and that the burners on the Gibson makes that kinda of sound and replacing them might not help and he said there was kind of a low reading on the gas valve intake that should be replaced. Any ideas of what could be wrong with my furnace which is still under warranty. Thanks.

SO I have yet o see anyone address the possibility of the ignitor being over heated. Years ago carrier had a problem with the hot surface ignition device and came out with a kit to move the ignitor a few centimeters further away from the burner. Has anyone addresed your gas pressure? Is the furnace propane or natural gas? If the induced draft blower motor is already failing, then I would definately look at high gas pressure, over heating, over firing, inadequate return air temperature and believe it or not even flame sensor problems. You might time the ignition cycle and see if the ignitor is shutting off imediately after the flame senor senses the flame, perhaps the ignitor is staying on all the time or even too long during the ignition cycle. Make sure that units temperature rise is within manufacture specifications, and that there is no rusting of the metal just below the ignitor, its possible that in certain poistions that water could make its way to the hot surface ignitor. Make sure the technician is testing the supply voltage to the ignitor and that the voltage is within manufacturer specifications.

Besure that the ignitor is actually cracked before they replace it, perhaps they are breaking the ignitor as they try to remove it and possibly the ignitor is not the problem, I mean if they don't test the ignotor with their meter before pulling it out you may have a technician problem.

Hi. My furnace is 3yrs old cleaned every year, filter changed every 3 mo. this morning i notice the blower starts. then the fire lights. It will run for a couple of mins. Then the furnace will stop. A coupke mins. later the cycle starts all over again.