If your furnace is blowing cold air, it could be a multiple causes. It’s hard to give you advice without more information, but the most common cause is the ignitor. Try these easy Rheem Criterion ii ignitor fixes in an attempt to get your heating system up again.
On a call for heat, the thermostat sends a signal to the control module. The control module will indicate a call for heat with a light on the control either blinking or remain solid. The inducer (exhaust) blower will purge all gasses from the furnace and pressurize a pressure switch. Once the pressure switch tells the module to continue, the electronic ignition will energize and send energy to the igniter.
The Rheem Criterion ii ignitor will glow and you will be able to see it if viewed thru the small inspection port. Once the igniter gets hot enough, it sends a signal to the module opening up the gas valve. Either a pilot will come on or the burner tube will ignite then spread the flame to all burners.
Lastly a safety sensor will be looking for a certain temperature within a few seconds. The Rheem Criterion ii gas furnace will continue to operate and the room air blower will turn on in a minute or two.
Rheem Criterion II Ignitor Troubleshooting
When your Rheem Criterion ii furnace not ignite you will hear the clicking sound of the furnace about to come on, but then silence and no heat. This means the furnace has failed to ignite. The furnace’s igniter might either be cracked or faulty. A faulty or dirty ignition or sensor is a relatively easy fix, if cracks replace the igniter. If it isn’t cracked, use a volt meter to test the Rheem Criterion ii ignitor.
Rheem Furnace Ignitor Location
Rheem Criterion II Ignitor is located in about the same position as the pilot light as being. They are made of a very lightweight metal alloy that gets hot when an electric current goes through it and this ignites the gas coming into your furnace.
Follow these steps, and you may be able to solve the Rheem Criterion II furnace problem yourself.
- You will need a volt meter to check the voltage.
- Unplug the igniter (molex plastic connector) and place one probe of each lead from the meter into the connector supplying voltage to the igniter.
- Turn power off.
- Thermostat off.
- Then power back on (this allows board to reset).
- The thermostat to call for heat, watch meter.
- After 30 seconds the pressure switch should close and you should get 120 volts to the meter.
Rheem Criterion II Furnace Ignitor Price
If the igniter is cracked, you need to replace it. The igniter is available online or you can get at a local Rheem or Ruud Distributor. I hate to tell you to just start changing parts.
What could go wrong if the above Rheem Criterion II Furnace troubleshooting didn’t resolve your issue?
- The unit will not run if there is no signal from the thermostat (bad thermostat or broken wire)
- The control module does not sense a signal from the thermostat (bad control)
- The inducer does not energize (bad motor),
- The pressure switch does not close (blocked vent piping, bad switch, plugged condensate hose)
- The igniter does not energize (bad control, bad igniter)
- The gas valve does not open or there is no gas (bad gas valve, broken wire, no gas)
- The pilot does not light (dirty pilot)
- The burner does not light (bad burner, plugged orifice, not enough combustion air)
- The flame does not spread to each burner (bad flame spreader, dirty flame spreader, more bad burners)
- The flame safety sensor does not detect flame (dirty or bad flame spreader, bad flame sensor, broken wire, bad control)
- The room air blower does not energize (bad fan motor, bad control).
Furnaces have many parts, and a faulty furnance ignitor can result in a Rheem furnace doesn’t produce heat. If these troubleshooting does not correct your Rheem Criterion II problems, it’s time to call HVAC professional to schedule repair and maintenance. It’s important to take care of some maintenance tasks and be able to identify certain problems to make sure your furnace continues running efficiently and optimally.
