Got a replacement blower #ECM#motor from northamericahvac.com - had to order from the States. Installed it, and ... furnace was still throwing an #error code meaning "incorrect #signal from ECM motor" once, then "no signal from ECM motor" forever after.
After double-checking, I saw the part number on the box didn't match what I'd ordered - but that turned out to be a red herring. The box number was for the unprogrammed motor.
They get the order, blow the correct #programming into it, and bam, now it's the part number you need. Yes, this is a huge scam enabled by #GE (ultimate owner of the company that makes these motors).
Ok, I said, so if it's the right motor, why does my furnace still think it's not?
They weren't interested. "We don't provide #support".
So I went out and bought a (not cheap) #testing#tool for these ECM motors. And surprise, the motor is #stone#dead. #DOA.
Contacted the seller again. "Hey, this motor you shipped me is DOA." They agreed to take it back and refund it. I wanted a replacement; they just said order another one.
But no, they won't pay the return #shipping on the dead one. #WTF? In what universe is it acceptable to make the customer eat the cost of your #mistake?
But my furnace was still down, so I sent it back at my #expense and ordered another one. If there had been another company selling them I'd have ordered elsewhere.
Did some digging and discovered the #coil in one of the #relays mounted on the furnace control board had apparently melted. I haven't mapped out the board to confirm this, but I suspect it was the relay that powers the draft #inducer motor. Without that spinning up, the furnace doesn't get the #exhaust draft [1], and so the pressure switch doesn't trigger.
The furnace refuses to light, rather than #kill you with exhaust gas leakage.
This furnace is 17 years old, and was built in a small window after some brand new #technology had come into #flower, and before it went #extinct shortly after.
A #genuine#replacement for the furnace board is unlikely. If I call the furnace guy, I know I'm going to get an answer that starts "Well, we'd have to put in a generic board, and you'd lose the <signature-feature> it has, and you should probably just replace the furnace anyway..."
So I dug around until I found a #current part that exceeds all the #specs of the old one. Of course it's a different size, and a completely #incompatible#pinout, so I'm going to have to #bodge it, but I half-expected that anyway.
Just getting a #datasheet for the old part, to figure out what specs it had to have, was surprisingly #difficult. What is it with some companies thinking the specs for the product they want you to buy are Top Secret?
The relays arrived today. I'm going to replace the 2 #electrolytic#reservoir#capactiors on the board as well - spending 17 years 20cm from a giant gas burner probably hasn't done them any favours. But those didn't arrive. I can't even tell if they've shipped.
Coda: got the #FedEx bill for tax & #customs clearance/#brokerage fees on the first motor today. $111.
Wanna bet northamericahvac.com didn't do the #paperwork on the 2nd motor right, and I get another #bill for that one?
@cazabon I had a furnace fail with the relay switching the blower motor stuck in the "on" position. It worked but ramped up to full speed in case there was no PWM signal (control board thought that the relay = fan is off). A 2nd hand control board was available for ~100€, so I did not bother to replace the stuck Omron relay. It worked 5 more years until the whole furnace was replaced.
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