Clayton furnace cycling like crazy

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

3650

Minister of Fire
May 8, 2011
924
midwest
I have the pointers in the Honeywell set at 130 on and the off at 100.
It runs for 30 to 40 seconds then kicks off for about 60 - 90 seconds then kicks back on. It just repeats this constantly.
The stove temp is about 450-550. The return air is ducted out of the dining room. The blower is a three speed and the switch is set at its lowest setting.
Stove is in basement of course. It is a stand alone, no other furnace.

Any ideas how to get the blower to run longer?
 
Any ideas how to get the blower to run longer?
You need less air flow...close the duct dampers down some to restrict it...or close the registers some. A slightly more restrictive air filter can help too...but I personally don't like doing that because when the power goes out that filter keeps the air flow past the furnace to a minimum, so the gravity heating you would normally get (gravity cooling to the furnace) is limited...
Many wood furnaces call for 0.2" WC static pressure in the supply plenum
 
No dampers. I’m in the middle of a slight renovation in the kitchen and it adjoins the dining room. I had to take the cold air return grill off the wall to do some of the work. There is just a hole there at the moment. Or did you mean the hot air ducts?

I’ll have to measure the pressure and see what I have. I reckon I measure after the filter?

I don’t like like restrictive filters either because they are expensive...lol. I just buy the $2 poly filters.
 
Last edited:
There should be a way to close off the warm air registers somewhat.
You can buy cheaper white pleated filters that are not pricey, and still may slow things down a bit...more than the cheapy fiberglass ones for sure.
 
Ok thanks. I’ll get a more restrictive filter tomorrow. I’ll close the heat ducts down a bit tonight and see what that does.
I had a smaller hotblast last year and the blower ran nearly non stop. It was a smaller blower though. I had to get a bigger stove for longer burns this year so I bought this old Clayton. It’s doing a great job just need the blower to run longer.


update: I closed all the hot air vents but the one closest to cold air return. Still only running for 40 seconds
 
Last edited:
Maybe the temp probe getting to much air and cooling down? Whats temp of air coming out of vents?
 
Furthest from the stove is about 110.
It runs longer if the stove is over 600. It got up to 700 this morning and ran a good 10 minutes.
Another thing I noticed is there isn’t much difference in fan speed from low to medium. I hear an increase but I would think there would be more. There is a lot more between medium and high. Makes me wonder if the motor has a problem. Over speeding in low?
 
Another thing I noticed is there isn’t much difference in fan speed from low to medium. I hear an increase but I would think there would be more. There is a lot more between medium and high.
Pretty typical...
 
I'll let you in on a little trick...try one of these...

This will turn your blower into true variable speed and the control makes the blower speed follow the temp of the furnace...lots of heat, high speed, little heat, slow speed...and you can slow it down much more than it is now (the directions tell you how far you can go)
There's a whole bunch of us that have been running these for years, and they work great for this purpose!
I put one on my buddy's Clayton 1600 a few years ago and he is still gushing about it...he had the same on/off complaint as you do.
PM me if you have questions on hooking it up...pretty easy really.
 
Wow that looks like the ticket. I’ll see about getting one.
 
You can sometimes get them a little cheaper, but that's about the best deal I found with just a quick look for a complete kit...there are other models that are a bit cheaper, but they don't come with the built in power supply, easier and cleaner install with built in PS
 
Have you tried increasing the differential to maybe 145/100?
 
Yeh even went 150/90. Same thing.
 
One thing to look at, if someone rotates the dial while trying to adjust, it can damage the controls. Even if it's set at 90 off, it could be 110. I would watch the control when it comes on and off and see if it's those actual temps.