How to Test a Furnace Blower Motor

Comfort Aire Inc offers the best furnace servicing to test the furnace blower motor. For more information, you can call (773) 406-7223

Are you concerned that your furnace’s blower motor is failing but unsure how to examine it? No need to look further! Symptoms of a malfunctioning furnace blower motor include a burning smell emanating from the vents (or the furnace itself) or hearing peculiar sounds emanating from your furnace (commonly characterized as a “humming” sound).

Perhaps your furnace operates infrequently, or maybe it runs constantly, yet the home remains cold!

Test Furnace Blower

What is a Blower Motor For a Furnace?

You will require the following supplies to inspect your furnace’s blower motor. How to determine the location of the blower motor in your furnace How to conduct a blower motor inspection (with and without a voltage meter) What You Should Know About Checking the Blower Motor on Your Furnace. What does a furnace repair cost?

What is a Blower Motor for a Furnace?

The blower motor in your furnace is responsible for circulating air around your home; it blows the hot air from your furnace through the vents to guarantee the home achieves the temperature set by the thermostat. The motor resembles a huge cylindrical electrical component enclosed in a metal bracket and connected to the blower wheel. In a strict sense, the blower wheel circulates the air, and the blower motor powers the wheel.

What You Will Need To Inspect Your Furnace Blower Motor

Voltage Tester Without Contact: This affordable and simple-to-use equipment enables you to quickly and safely ensure that all electricity to your furnace has been turned off.

Before touching any furnace’s electrical components, use the voltage tester (more information below). While there are various types of voltage testers, we recommend a non-contact tester for its safety and convenience of use.

Voltage Meter: The voltage meter is utilized to determine whether or not your blower motor is receiving power.

There are other techniques to tell if your blower motor fails (discussed further below), but using a meter is the only sure approach.

How to Inspect the Blower Motor on Your Furnace 

Step 1: Disconnect the furnace from all power sources

Before you can check your blower motor, you must first turn off your furnace’s power switch if you have one.

No power switch for the furnace? Disconnect power from your breaker box (be sure the gas is turned off before turning off the breaker).

Step- 2: Remove the Furnace Access Panels

The access panels (sometimes called “doors”) safeguard the furnace’s internal components. Your furnace may be secured in place with screws or may easily slide off. The furnace blower motor is often positioned in the furnace’s bottom compartment (behind the bottom door). You can get services from furnace repair near me.

Occasionally, the issue is the result of a rodent chewing on important circuitry.  In those instances find a rat exterminator chicago to help with that.

Step 3: Check the furnace with your voltage tester to ensure no electricity flows through it

Touch the end of your voltage tester lightly to each electrical wire in your furnace to ensure no electricity flows through it.

If this is your first time using a voltage tester or unfamiliar with how to use one, a fast test is to connect the tester to an electrical wire that you are sure has electricity.

If there is currently flowing through the wire, the light at the tester’s end will illuminate.

After running the tester over each line and confirming that all electricity has been turned off, proceed to the following step.

Step 4: Check to see if the area near the blower motor is hot

With the power turned off, feel around the back of the furnace compartment where the blower motor is located. Take care when doing this step, as the blower wheel’s blades can be pretty sharp.

Without a voltage meter, this is the most informed judgment you can make about if your blower motor is creating problems with your furnace.

Step 5: Disconnect the relevant fan wire from the main power supply

The control board is also located in the furnace compartment that houses the blower motor.

Because the control board is in charge of the furnace’s electrical activities, you’re likely to have 12 – 15 wires flowing throughout this section of the stove. Two (or maybe three) cables are connected from the control board to the blower motor. Locate those cables and note the location of their connectors on your control board. Determine which of those wires is related to cooling and which is connected to heating by inspecting the print on the circuit board.

Disconnect the wire linked with the same setting requested by the thermostat while the power is turned off (for example, if your thermostat is calling for heat, disconnect the wire connected to heating; if your thermostat is calling for cooling, disconnect that wire). Then, on your control panel, locate what is referred to as the standard wire.

While the specifics of the standard wire are irrelevant, you can often discover it by referring to the words on the control panel (search for “CIR,” “CIRC,” or “CIRCULATOR” on the control panel). Disconnect that wire while the electricity is turned off.

Step 6: Reconnect the furnace’s power supply.

To move to the following stage, use the voltage meter to verify that energy is reaching the blower motor; hence, power the furnace back on before advancing.

Step 7: Using your voltage meter, verify that your furnace blower receives power.

While the furnace is powered on, insert each end of the meter leads gently into the outlets for the wires you just removed. If electricity is supplied to the blower motor, your voltage meter should read 120 volts. If your meter reads 120 volts, but your blower motor has not started, it is quite probable that your blower motor is the culprit.  The motor should be a relatively quiet unit.

You should now have a solid concept of how to inspect your furnace motor blower and determine if it is the source of your furnace’s malfunction!