sol-aire Ignitor Pak

boybach

boybach

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2020
1,033
195
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Looking at the ignition pak on my old but hardly used solaire furnace, I was wondering if a faulty pak could be substituted using an automotive or
say, a smaller lawnmower coil? Theoretically of course :twisted:

Are they not both basically coils doing the same thing, operating a spark plug?

Asking for a friend

Larry
--
Larry - Victoria BC -

1977 Palm Beach VIN TZE167V101295 - 39,000 miles, PO said everything working but forgot the word NOT. New wiper blades!
 
You would need to measure the Ohms of the primary side of a know good Solaire coil and see if your replacement was similar. Actually you should have
some readings other than open across the primary and across the secondary of your old coil as a basic test.
However, I would examine your heat exchanger before doing anything else.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
That Sol Aire furnace is not safe, replace it. At least he very least, get a battery powered CO detector in the coach.

Sent from my iPhone

>
> You would need to measure the Ohms of the primary side of a know good Solaire coil and see if your replacement was similar. Actually you should have
> some readings other than open across the primary and across the secondary of your old coil as a basic test.
> However, I would examine your heat exchanger before doing anything else.
> --
> John Lebetski
> Woodstock, IL
> 77 Eleganza II
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
 
> You would need to measure the Ohms of the primary side of a known good Solaire coil and see if your replacement was similar. Actually you should
> have some readings other than open across the primary and across the secondary of your old coil as a basic test.
> However, I would examine your heat exchanger before doing anything else.

John, the furnace has very few hours on it and may still be in reasonable shape, it's just old like me.

The ignitor pak has 3 connections, pos/neg supply and the HT wire - how would I measure and differentiate between the primary and secondary? I'm
guessing between + and - for primary and - and HT for secondary?
A known good sol-aire ignitor pak would be hard to find IMO, most have been trashed by now.

Larry

--
Larry - Victoria BC -

1977 Palm Beach VIN TZE167V101295 - 39,000 miles, PO said everything working but forgot the word NOT. New wiper blades!
 
That is the one I used you can modify the spark plug wire to plug into the new spark igniter. Has worked every time for me.
--
Hager and Sissy
1975 Eleganza #5 of that year
Has a plaque on the glove box from GMC
Mostly stock with a few changes to the interior
Eagle rims and through the bumper hitch
Granite City Illinois
 
> That is the one I used you can modify the spark plug wire to plug into the new spark igniter. Has worked every time for me.

Just to be clear, you use the igniter coil pack in the Amazon link above with your Sol-aire?

Larry

--
Larry - Victoria BC -

1977 Palm Beach VIN TZE167V101295 - 39,000 miles, PO said everything working but forgot the word NOT. New wiper blades!
 
Yes same one, but I bought off of eBay. It is smaller than the original but it will still tighten down in the OE holder
--
Hager and Sissy
1975 Eleganza #5 of that year
Has a plaque on the glove box from GMC
Mostly stock with Renogy charging system and a few changes to the interior
Eagle rims and through the bumper hitch
Granite City Illinois
 
Although the burner has been used sparingly, it's 45 years old. Old mild steel rusts, albeit more slowly than when it's hot.

I suggest replacing it.

--johnny
--
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
 
> Yes same one, but I bought off of eBay. It is smaller than the original but it will still tighten down in the OE holder

Picked one up myself ..arrived yesterday, installed today - furnace works again!

thanks for the link!

Larry

--
Larry - Victoria BC -

1977 Palm Beach VIN TZE167V101295 - 39,000 miles, PO said everything working but forgot the word NOT. New wiper blades, New SS exhaust system ..
 
> > Yes same one, but I bought off of eBay. It is smaller than the original but it will still tighten down in the OE holder
>
> Picked one up myself ..arrived yesterday, installed today - furnace works again!
>
> thanks for the link!
>
> Larry

I might have to do that myself. My furnace won't light. No clickety-click.
--
Burl Vibert
Kingston, Ontario
1976 GMC 26 foot, Sheridan reno, don't know original model
 
These things will make it click again for ten bucks or so!

Pull the sparker out and have a look at it. My HVAC guy said these ceramic units never go, if you've got 12v coming in when you turn up the stat and
no spark when you hold it close to the furnace sheetmetal, your ignitor pak is shot. The new one (which is smaller than OEM) will fit in the holder
clamp if you put a piece of 3/4" ply wood under it.
Cut the HT lead and put an end on it to fit the tang on the new ignitor pak. Hook up the red and black retaining the ceramic resistor in the line (if
you have one; I did, so I kept it.)

All hooked up, get somebody to turn up the stat. You'll see continuous blue sparks.

I was expecting to hear clicking when I reinstalled everything but I heard nothing (maybe I'm a bit deaf?) we only knew it was working because the fan
kept running and when we looked through the inspection window there was the blue flame.

Larry
--
Larry - Victoria BC -

1977 Palm Beach VIN TZE167V101295 - 39,000 miles, PO said everything working but forgot the word NOT. New wiper blades, New SS exhaust system ..
 
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