Rando
New User
- Location
- Willow grove pa USA
Trane XE-80 gas furnace will not run powered with a 5500 watt portable generator.
generator is 240/120 volt
generator is 240/120 volt
Rando
- Thread starter Rando
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
Are you asking a question? If so, I think we will need to have more information about the problem.
al hildenbrand
Senior Member
- Location
- Minnesota
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor, Electrical Consultant, Electrical Engineer
Welcome to the Forum.
Just guessing here, but, I bet, that if you call Trane's technical support while you have the make and model number of your generator in hand, along with the specifications page open, that you will be informed about your furnace.
Just guessing here, but, I bet, that if you call Trane's technical support while you have the make and model number of your generator in hand, along with the specifications page open, that you will be informed about your furnace.
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
My "best guess" is that because it uses an igniter, not a pilot light, any problem with grounding will likely result in the igniter not working and with no igniter, no heater. Igniters are very finicky about grounding...
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
Would GFCIs affect the igniter operation?
MAC702
Senior Member
- Location
- Clark County, NV
It uses a hot-surface ignitor, not a spark. It should not be affected by grounding issues.
Rando, do other loads work on this generator? Are other loads on it at the same time? Is the "5500" rating at peak or running power?
What brand generator? Many small generators produce "dirty" power and some electronics don't work on them. Furnaces like yours have electronic control boards. Have you tried running the furnace on grid power AFTER attempting to use it on the generator to verify it still works?
This furnace control also has a trouble indicator LED. Is it telling you anything? This includes confirming that it is seeing power.
Rando, do other loads work on this generator? Are other loads on it at the same time? Is the "5500" rating at peak or running power?
What brand generator? Many small generators produce "dirty" power and some electronics don't work on them. Furnaces like yours have electronic control boards. Have you tried running the furnace on grid power AFTER attempting to use it on the generator to verify it still works?
This furnace control also has a trouble indicator LED. Is it telling you anything? This includes confirming that it is seeing power.
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
I didn't say it was a spark...
In the limited experience I have had with different igniters, spark or otherwise, when they don't work it often comes down to improper or inconsistent grounding. If it works fine on utility power and doesn't work when on the generator, that's a reasonable place to start looking IMHO.
In the limited experience I have had with different igniters, spark or otherwise, when they don't work it often comes down to improper or inconsistent grounding. If it works fine on utility power and doesn't work when on the generator, that's a reasonable place to start looking IMHO.
MAC702
Senior Member
- Location
- Clark County, NV
Didn't mean to imply otherwise, just to clarify to all readers not to picture one. In my experience, these igniters are completely independent of any grounding issues.
But it's a very good brainstorm to bring up the GFCI possibility as a significant difference to grid power for most installations.
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