Furnace Electronic Air Cleaner

[Tom]

I have an electronic air cleaner on my furnace circa 1971, that doesn't
work. When you turn it on - nothing happens.

I have an elementary knowledge of electronics (mechanical engineer). Parts
are no longer available for this, but my guess is that it is a fairly simple
device electronically. What parts are likely to fail just from age? It has
two large capacitors and a transformer in the schematic that I have for it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions for trouble shooting.

 

[whit3rd]

On Mar 12, 8:21 am, "Tom" <travelover48...@hotmail.com> wrote:

I have an electronic air cleaner on my furnace circa 1971, that doesn't
work. When you turn it on - nothing happens.

The usual circuit has a transformer, some kind of voltage-tripler
(like a Cockcroft-Walton) rectifier, and sometimes
a pilot lamp. There's also an interlock switch, so it turns off
when the door to clean/change the filters is open.

Not much can go wrong, except dirty switch, shorted plates,
or broken corona wires. The output voltage and impedance
are beyond most electrical testers' capabilities, though.
Clean up any dirt, check for applied power, and if the
plates and filters get dirty again, it IS working.