Furnace igniter fault codes by manufacturer
Igniter codes and grounding codes overlap on several brands, because the control cannot always tell a failed igniter from a bad ground. The codes below show which brands conflate them.
What the hot surface igniter does
A hot surface igniter is a silicon carbide or silicon nitride element that the control energises for a set warm-up period before opening the gas valve. It glows bright orange at temperature. Silicon carbide igniters are brittle and fail open, often from thermal cycling or from being touched during handling — skin oils create a hot spot.
Why one part produces several different codes
Where a manufacturer reports an igniter circuit fault, the control is reporting that it did not measure the current it expected through the igniter. That is an open igniter most of the time, but a poor chassis ground or reversed line voltage polarity produces the same reading on several brands, which is why Goodman, Trane and York all pair the two causes in a single code.
Every hot surface igniter code on this site
7 codes across 6 control families. The meaning is the manufacturer's, from the document listed at the foot of each code page.
| Brand | Code | What it reports |
|---|---|---|
| Goodman | 8 flashes | Igniter circuit fault, most often caused by poor grounding |
| Goodman | rapid flashing | Reversed 115 volt polarity, a grounding problem, or an open igniter circuit |
| Goodman | E7 | Igniter fault or improper grounding |
| Goodman | 12 red flashes | Ignitor relay failure |
| Lennox | Alert code 207 | Hot surface igniter sensed open |
| Trane | 9 flashes | Ignitor circuit problem, or low voltage between neutral and 24 volt common |
| York | 12 red flashes | Open hot surface igniter |
Before you work on it
Checking line voltage polarity and ground means working inside a live furnace cabinet. If that is not familiar work, it is a technician call.
Other parts
- Furnace pressure switch codes on every brand
- Furnace high limit switch codes by brand
- Furnace flame sensor codes on every brand
- Furnace rollout switch codes: why it tripped
- Furnace inducer motor fault codes by brand
- Furnace gas valve fault codes by manufacturer
- Furnace grounding and reversed polarity codes
Sources
Every code meaning above comes from the manufacturer document behind its code page:
- Goodman Technical Services Service Bulletin SF-024 — Missing Identification of Eight (8) Flash Fault Code, 3 November 2008
- Goodman Manufacturing — Diagnostic Code Identification System (model-specific fault code lookup)
- Lennox Residential Communicating Systems Alert Code Guide, document 100017, March 2023 — Table 2, Alert Codes and Troubleshooting
- Trane Installer's Guide 18-CD29D1-14-EN — Table 21, Integrated Furnace Control Error Flash Codes
- Johnson Controls Unitary Products technical service letter ST-045-09 — York UTEC furnace boards, fault code tables and retrieval procedure