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Trouble with Baso pilot safety switch Henry 06-20-2005
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Posted by Henry on June 20, 2005, 4:50 am
Very old forced air furnace has thermocouple sitting in continuously lit
pilot light. End of tcpl "wire" is screwed into a Baso pilot safety
switch, model 850. It appears that the current from the tcpl energizes
a small solenoid inside the Baso. I could not get the Baso to stay in
the on position so this evening I replaced the tcpl, eventually twice.
The first one worked for one cycle of the furnace, then the Baso tripped
and could not be reset to on. I then installed the second tcpl, and it
will occasionially let the burner gas come on for about a second, before
the Baso would trip.

I can think of four possibilities as to what's wrong.

1. The Baso needs replacing. The only reason I haven't done it is that
it is $90 and I can't see anything in it that could fail. It appears to
be extremely simple.

2. The pilot is under driving the tcpl. It gets the last 1/2" up to
medium red.

3. I have a bad connection where the tcpl is screwed into the Baso.

4. The pilot is overheating and killing the tcpl.

I would appreciate if you would please hold the comments that any
furnace with a pilot safety switch is an inefficient dinosaur and must
be replaced. It is in an area with extemely moderate weather and our
gas bill is less than $40 monthly in the middle of the winter, including
gas water heater and stove. Thus, the break-even date on a new more
efficient furnace would be... never. And, I like equipment that you can
fix with a large hammer.

Any ideas as to what's wrong?

Henry

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Posted by Stretch on June 20, 2005, 9:51 am
You are not burning out the thermocouple that fast, 4 is not the
answer. Do you have a millivolt tester. The thermocouple should be
putting out 30 mV if you huld down the reset button to keep the pilot
burning and test the baso end of the thrermocouple. 20 mV should be
enough, but thermocouples are rated 30 mV.

If you SNUG the conncetion at the BASO with a crescent wrench, you
should rule out #3

If you can adjust the plot flame to be a little bigger with the needle
valve, that will take care of #2

That leaves #1 and the possibility that you are buying cheap home
center thermocouples that will never be reliable.

If this does not help, call a compentent contractor or buy a honeywell
thermocouple tester to test the thermocouple. A digital meter won't do
it because it puts no load on the thermocouple. The analog Honeywell
meter will add some load to the circuit and give you a better answer.
Or call a competent contractor.

Stretch


Posted by HeatMan on June 20, 2005, 6:05 pm

> You are not burning out the thermocouple that fast, 4 is not the
> answer. Do you have a millivolt tester. The thermocouple should be
> putting out 30 mV if you huld down the reset button to keep the pilot
> burning and test the baso end of the thrermocouple. 20 mV should be
> enough, but thermocouples are rated 30 mV.
>
> If you SNUG the conncetion at the BASO with a crescent wrench, you
> should rule out #3
>
> If you can adjust the plot flame to be a little bigger with the needle
> valve, that will take care of #2
>
> That leaves #1 and the possibility that you are buying cheap home
> center thermocouples that will never be reliable.
>
> If this does not help, call a compentent contractor or buy a honeywell
> thermocouple tester to test the thermocouple. A digital meter won't do
> it because it puts no load on the thermocouple. The analog Honeywell
> meter will add some load to the circuit and give you a better answer.
> Or call a competent contractor.
>
> Stretch
>

Attaboy, Stretch...




Posted by ys751 on October 6, 2006, 9:48 pm




>Very old forced air furnace has thermocouple sitting in continuously lit
>pilot light. End of tcpl "wire" is screwed into a pilot safety
>, model 850. It appears that the current from the tcpl energizes
>a small solenoid inside the . I could not get the to stay in
>the on position so this evening I replaced the tcpl, eventually twice.
>The first one worked for one cycle of the furnace, then the tripped
>and could not be reset to on. I then installed the second tcpl, and it
>will occasionially let the burner gas come on for about a second, before
>the would trip.
>
>I can think of four possibilities as to what's wrong.
>
>1. The needs replacing. The only reason I haven't done it is that
>it is $90 and I can't see anything in it that could fail. It appears to
>be extremely simple.
>
>2. The pilot is under driving the tcpl. It gets the last 1/2" up to
>medium red.
>
>3. I have a bad connection where the tcpl is screwed into the .
>
>4. The pilot is overheating and killing the tcpl.
>
>I would appreciate if you would please hold the comments that any
>furnace with a pilot safety is an inefficient dinosaur and must
>be replaced. It is in an area with extemely moderate weather and our
>gas bill is less than $40 monthly in the middle of the winter, including
>gas water heater and stove. Thus, the break-even date on a new more
>efficient furnace would be... never. And, I like equipment that you can
>fix with a large hammer.
>
>Any ideas as to what's wrong?
>
>Henry

Posted by Tony Hwang on October 6, 2006, 10:35 pm


ys751 wrote:
>
>>Very old forced air furnace has thermocouple sitting in continuously lit
>>pilot light. End of tcpl "wire" is screwed into a pilot safety
>>, model 850. It appears that the current from the tcpl energizes
>>a small solenoid inside the . I could not get the to stay in
>>the on position so this evening I replaced the tcpl, eventually twice.
>>The first one worked for one cycle of the furnace, then the tripped
>>and could not be reset to on. I then installed the second tcpl, and it
>>will occasionially let the burner gas come on for about a second, before
>>the would trip.
>>
>>I can think of four possibilities as to what's wrong.
>>
>>1. The needs replacing. The only reason I haven't done it is that
>>it is $90 and I can't see anything in it that could fail. It appears to
>>be extremely simple.
>>
>>2. The pilot is under driving the tcpl. It gets the last 1/2" up to
>>medium red.
>>
>>3. I have a bad connection where the tcpl is screwed into the .
>>
>>4. The pilot is overheating and killing the tcpl.
>>
>>I would appreciate if you would please hold the comments that any
>>furnace with a pilot safety is an inefficient dinosaur and must
>>be replaced. It is in an area with extemely moderate weather and our
>>gas bill is less than $40 monthly in the middle of the winter, including
>>gas water heater and stove. Thus, the break-even date on a new more
>>efficient furnace would be... never. And, I like equipment that you can
>>fix with a large hammer.
>>
>>Any ideas as to what's wrong?
>>
>>Henry
Hi,
Thermocouple produces millivolt range of electricity. It shoulce make a
clean tight connection at the valve end. Also you can adnust pilot
flamer size. There must be a adj. screw hiddin upder a cap on the main
valve. If you have a meter, you can check the pilot driven solenoid coil.
Good luck.

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