Hi Terry,
Emergency spares always sound good to me. I have not worked on a TV for
several years but they used to sell "High Voltage Putty" which could be
used to fix some flaws in the high voltage fly back transformer. I would
consider trying this product as well.
Be cautious when working with any gas appliance.
Best of growing,
Bob
SW Florida USA
1960 Tradewind
> Hey Guys,
>
> Last week my furnace igniter - that the thing with two stiff wires
> surrounded by ceramic sleeves and a third stiff wire attached to the
> face plate which then screws into the furnace housing -- was replaced
> with a new one.
>
> The sparking arc on the faulty igniter occurred between the ceramic
> posts instead of at the tip where the three wires converge. The burn
> mark on the center stiff wire - where there is no ceramic covering
> the wire - says to me the two ceramic posts are either cracked or
> loose or too fatigued to contain the electrical current and/or to
> guide it to the tips where it can light the furnace burner.
>
> Although the new igniter is installed (looks exactly like the old one
> but without the burn mark), I'm wondering if the old igniter can be
> salvaged.
>
> It's a simple device with no moving parts. If it can be repaired, I'd
> have a spare for next time when my new igniter crumps out and no
> Suburban Service Center is nearby.
>
> Here's my idea for salvaging/rehabilitating the old faulty igniter.
>
> I have several tiny plastic McDonald's coffee stirrers, two tubes of
> JB Weld and a new rubber gasket for between the igniter and the
> furnace box.
>
> I'd mix up a tiny amount of JB Weld; then with the coffee stirrers,
> I'd carefully coat the two ceramic posts where the electricity is
> escaping around the base of the posts; wait a day for the epoxy to
> dry and then connect the igniter wires and test it.
>
> With the igniter connected to the hot and ground wires from the
> furnace and laying it on the floor, I'd go into the bedroom area,
> turn on the thermostat and quickly walk back to furnace to see where
> the sparking arc is occurring. If the sparking arc happens at the tip
> of the three wires where it's supposed to spark, then I'm good to go
> (maybe).
>
> On the JB Weld package are the words "does not conduct electricity".
> This leads me to believe the epoxy coating will allow the spark to
> continue traveling the wire and end up at the tips the manufacturer
> intended.
>
> The coating will be applied thin enough for the gasket to fit tight
> against the furnace box.
>
> Or -- perhaps a thin coating won't do the job. In that case, I could
> snip an ordinary straw (1/4" long and same diameter as the ceramic
> post) around each of the two wires encased in their ceramic sleeves;
> then pack epoxy in the straws. After the epoxy starts to harden I'd
> slit the straws and remove them.
>
> End result, I'd have a similar (but longer) ceramic sleeve on each of
> the two stiff wires. A day later, I'd install the repaired igniter
> and test it out.
>
> To create this is simple and if it works, then it's a simple fix. But
> - sometimes things that seem simple and are simple to accomplish are
> only that way because I don't know enough to know that I've
> overlooked a critical variable.
>
> I'm looking for encouragement or a shot of insight before I proceed -
> or a "hell no" leave it alone.
>
>
> Terry