# Carrier 58PAV



## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

Your limit control is blown. Caused by poor airflow. Dirty filter, plugged underside of A/C coil, dirty ductwork or dampers not all open etc.


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## KenP (Nov 21, 2009)

The unit is reporting error code 31. It was installed in 2001 and nothing has recently changed. The filter has a few hundred hours on it.


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

Is it a counter/reverse flow unit with the fan on top of the furnace and the air blowing down to ducts under the house? If so there may an auxilliary limit switch with a manual reset button on it on top or behind the fan. That will trip if the fan stops. Find the error code on the sticker.


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## KenP (Nov 21, 2009)

No, its the updraft version of the 58PAV. According to the sticker error code 31 could be any of the following:

<pre>
Excessive wind
Proper vent sizing
low inducer voltage
inadequate combustion air supply
disconnected or obstructed pressure tubing
low inlet gas pressure
restricted vent
defective inducer motor
defective pressure switch
</pre>

My guess is its probably one of the last two. Is there a way to figure out which one?


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

Try reset the power to the furnace and see if the ventor fan(to the chimney) runs. Does your main fan normally run all the time. If no then it should not be running now and an open limit will cause that to happen. On the side of the ventor fan is a spill switch with a manual reset button. Try press it. That will only trip if the chimney is blocked,strong downdraft down chimney or a bird got stuck in the top of the ventor fan.


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## KenP (Nov 21, 2009)

I powered down the unit completely and ventor fan never comes on. The blower runs in auto mode. I checked the vent and its clean. I now get a error 33. I also replaced the limit switch p/n *HH12ZB170 *last winter.


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## KenP (Nov 21, 2009)

Yuri, I hardwired the limit switch connections to test the limit switch and everything worked. So its the limit switch. Since I replaced it last December this makes me think I may have another problem.


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

Poor airflow. Most likely a dirty A/C coil. The furnace fan motor may be slowing down due to a weak capacitor and dying motor. Try the capacitor ($8 Graingers) and check for airflow problems. Those 170 degF limits fail a LOT as they are a very low temp and easy to overheat.


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## ohman (Jun 23, 2009)

Did some Google'ing and found this old thread. Thanks for yuri's replies and those are very helpful information. We had a similar situation here. The house is in San Francisco, and the Carrier 58PAV furnace is installed underground in the crawl space (thus could be a bit humid). I found the user manual online, and here is what it says about code 31 (direct copy & paste):

*31 PRESSURE, DRAFT SAFEGUARD, OR AUXILIARY LIMIT (when used) SWITCH DID NOT CLOSE OR REOPENED* - If open longer than five minutes, inducer shuts off for 15 minutes before retry. Check for:

- Proper vent sizing and condensate pitch. - Inadequate combustion air supply.
- Vent restriction or high winds. - Low inducer voltage.
- Defective inducer motor or start capacitor.
- Defective pressure switch or connections. If it opens after trial for ignition period, blower will come on for 90 second recycle delay.
- Disconnected or obstructed pressure tubing.

We have a contractor friend who took a look at it, although he is not a HVAC Pro, but he knows the general mechanics about heaters. He did some quick testing, it seems that if we manually try to turn on the furnace, the blower runs continiously and the burner never comes on (exactly the same behavior like KenP's). Some questions:

1. KenP (if you are still around in this forum), did you remember how you finally fixed the issue? Was it a weak capacitor or dying motor??
2. For yuri, do you have the part# of the $8 Graingers capacitor. When google'ing around, I found there are many $8 Graingers capacitor, which one should I get?? Is this a possible DIY project?
3. Our contractor friend told us that it might be the circuit board that need to be replaced, and the board itself will cost about $200 (only parts, labor not included). Does it worth it to replace the board right away? How can we narrow down whether the issue is caused by a weak capacitor, a dying motor, or the whole circuit board need to be replaced??

Many many thanks!


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## ohman (Jun 23, 2009)

I found this from another forum:

CArrier PAV and WAV furnaces are having a real bad time with cracked heat exchangers! The upper front dimples are were you will find the crack. Try taking out the high limit, use a flashlight or put your finger in their and feel. If you have an edge it's cracked. The other place to check is the outside front dimples meaning which ever your first and last burners.
Sometimes the crack will open up enough when the furnace heats up and the pressure switch drops out.

I will confirm and report back whether this is the issue, just a quick FYI


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## ohman (Jun 23, 2009)

OK here is the report. The professional HAVC technician came, in and out within 3 minutes (no kidding) and replaced the circuit board (part# carrier 325878-751), and everything is fixed. He charged us close to $480 for the labor and parts (labor $96/hour + tax, and part $280 + tax).

After he left, I google'd it and found out amazon has the exact item for sale, only $169.99 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013NXAQY/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=6874918887&ref=pd_sl_2ixeacpdht_b).

The technician probably felt a little bit bad, so he showed me that the old board has two bad resistors that just need to be replace, but for warranty reasons, they have to replace the whole circuit board, thus $480.

He also mentioned that Carrior identified this issue, and they did some revision to the "new" boards so that it will be more reliable. Can any HAVC professional confirm about this? Is the recently revisioned circuit board #325878-751 really got improved in terms of reliability? Thanks!


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## frank3.frank (Aug 30, 2013)

*carrier 58pav air condition water leak*

Good Morning All,

Just found out my air condition water leak, I know the drain hole was partially plugged causing it to overflow, but I check the hvac on top of carrier, there is no access to the drain pan, there is a screw on top and there are four different piece of metal connect to each other to make a square, but I dont know how did they connect to each other, I am afraid to use flat screw driver to apply a little force to break on one side? any idea?

Thanks

Frank


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## frank3.frank (Aug 30, 2013)

as you can see, there is no access door to access drain pan, or do I need to take the whole thing apart?


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## firedawgsatx (Jul 15, 2013)

You should start a new thread on your problem as this one is way old. There is no access panel on the opposite side of the drain pipe? That pvc pipe is the primary drain for the condensate (water). Do you have a secondary drain pipe with a catch pan or with a condensate shutoff switch? Where does this pipe drain to?

If it is leaking that normally indicates that the primary drain is clogged up. Is the water leaking from the hole in the "tee" in the pvc pipe? That opening in the pipe is where a person can add hot water or bleach every season to remove algae and gunk and keep the condensate (water) flowing. Most of the time there is a short piece of pipe sticking up from that hole with a removable cap. What I suggest you do is get a shop vac and remove the filter. Use the shop vac to suck the water/gunk out of that pipe at the opening in the tee.


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## duket1 (Nov 22, 2016)

Having trouble with my Carrier 58PAV. The inducer motor works. When I connect the COM24 to Test terminal it cycles through and everything works (assume the control board is ok). When I turn it on, the inducer motor kicks in and after sometime I get error code 31. Inducer motor runs for sometime and shuts off. I don't know where the manual reset switch is - can someone post an image? Any suggestions?


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