The Honeywell electronic air cleaner constantly "snaps" even though it is clean. I have inspected the wires and fins, clean and spaced properly. Any suggestions?

I would use hot melt glue to hold everything in place. The air cleaner works by charging the air particle at the front and there is high voltage on the plates. The polarity of the plate alternates where the first plate is positive, the second is negative, the third is positive, forth is negative, etc .
With first wire in front charging the dust particle, the plate attract the charged dust particle to the plate to capture it.

If it was wired to the return air it will have a flag switch to let it know the blower is on, sometimes the flag comes off and it wont operate, sometimes it is wired directly to the computer board on terminals EAC that stands for electronic air cleaner and the board turns the air cleaner on when the blower is running, if you have a meter you can check voltage in both places to see which one is the problem. let me know. thanks wally

Yes you can run the furnace with out the electronic air cleaner for awhile.... It you are in a very dusty conditions than I would not run it very long a day or two....because you will not have any protection for dirty getting stuck on the evaporator coil or if you have a 90% gas furnace the secondary heat exchanger...and restricting air flow.... You can put in a 1" pleated air filter the same size as the total of the two cells in place of the cells till you can get the electronic working..... Sounds like either something big is caught across the cell plate or they are still wet and have not dryed out completely. Hope this helps.

It is normal to hear occasional snapping from your Electronic Air Cleaner. This occurs when larger particles are caught by the ionizer wires. Continuous snapping is not normal however, and should be investigated as outlined below: Please note that the metal electronic cells may have some sharp edges; use care when handling the cells. Wear gloves to protect your hands from being cut if needed. Remove both electronic cells. Make sure that there is no hair, dirt, sand or any debris on the bottom inside the Electronic air cleaner. If there is, remove what you can by hand. If a lot of debris is left in bottom of the Air Cleaner, you may want to use a vacuum attachment to see if you can vacuum up what you can. Do not vacuum the Pre-filter or Post filter this may damage it. Close the access door, and then turn on the Electronic Air Cleaner and the system fan. If the snapping continues with the cells removed, contact your heating and cooling contractor for service on the unit and turn off the Electronic Air Cleaner’s power. If snapping does not continue, make sure the electronic cells are clean, dry and properly installed. Inspect the electronic cells for bent collector plates, broken wires between the plates, dirt on the insulators, and damaged collector contact tabs located on the top of the cells. Make sure the pre-filters are in good condition and are in the cabinet slot farthest from the furnace (The order of the Electronic Air Cleaner Filters are from the return duct to the furnace is: Pre-Filter, electronic cell, and then Post filter, if your Electronic Air Cleaner has one). If the snapping persists and you are unable to locate any physical cause, please contact your heating and cooling contractor for service on the unit and turn off power to the Electronic Air Cleaner.

Make sure the furnace or air conditioner blower is running.

Make sure the access door is firmly closed and latched. If door is not closed properly, an interlock keeps the air cleaner off.

Continuous snapping is not normal .Remove both electronic cells. Make sure that there is no hair, dirt, sand or any debris on the bottom inside the Electronic air cleaner. If there is, remove what you can by hand. If a lot of debris is left in bottom of the Air Cleaner, you may want to use a vacuum attachment to see if you can vacuum up what you can.

The presence of “white dust” is actually an indicator that your Electronic Air Cleaner is working properly. The Electronic Air Cleaner can only filter the particles that are passing through your system’s duct work. The staining particulate is generally lighter, and more able to be drawn through the return registers in your home, leaving the heavier, non-staining particulate behind. This heavier, non-staining particulate settles out of the air and is left behind on your furniture: because it is more visible, it may appear as though there is actually more dust in your home than there was prior to installing the air cleaner. To ensure that more particulate is able to reach the Electronic Air Cleaner to be filtered, you should make sure that the return registers are clean and not blocked by furniture.

MAKE SURE THAT YOUR CELL(S) ARE CLEAN ... CLOSELY INSPECT TO SEE THAT THERE ARE NO BROKEN IONIZING WIRES (THE SMAAL STAINLESS-STEEL WIRES THAT ARE BETWEEN THE COLLECTOR PLATES). MAKE SURE POWER GOING INTO UNIT TO IS "OFF"!!! ... NOT JUST THE SWITCH ON THE UNIT. THEN TRY THE FOLLOWING: THIS AIR-CLEANER THAS A AIR-FLOW SENSOR THAT SOMETIMES GETS CLOGGED ... IT IS INSIDE THE TOP CONTROL PANEL. THERE SHOULD BE A DIAGRAM UNDER THE CONTROL BOX COVER PLATE TO ASSIST YOU LOCATING THAT SENSOR. MAKE SURE IT IS CLEAN. THE HIGH-VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER BEING BAD USEUALLY WILL SMELL LIKE BURNT WIRING. AND WILL LOOK BURNT. MAKE SURE YOU SEE NO LOSE WIRES ... SOME TIMES THE SPARK-PLUG LOOKING WIRE GOING TO THE CELL(S) CAN BURN OFF ITS CONNECTOR. YOU CAN CHECK THE DOOR SAFETY SWITCH TO MAKE SURE IT IS MAKING CONTACT WHEN HANDLE IS PROPERLY CLOSED. GOOD LUCK ... HOPE YOU HERE THAT ZAPPING SOON ... BY THE WAY ... IF YOU GET A POWER LIT ON ... GIVE THE RETURN-AIR DUCT A SLIGHT BANG ... IF IT IS WORHING IT SHOULD SNAP CRACKLE AND POP FOR A FEW SECONDS. MAKE SURE YOU SEE NOTHING (HAIR?) LYING ACROSS THE PLATES OR IOMIZING WIRES ON EACH CELL IF YOURS HAS TWO. ELECTRIC AIR CLEANERS ARE ONLY GOOD WHEN THEY ARE KEPT CLEAN ... PET HAIR IS A CONSTANT MAITENCE PROBLEM AND CELLS SHOULD BE LEANED EVERY TWO WEEKS. FOR BEST PERFOMANCE. Joe_Rex 40+ years Hvac Contractor (retired)

I had the same problem.

We could put one cell in and it worked with out clicking. Putting the second one in solo however, it was clicking.

I looked closely at the second cell and discovered that two of the vanes on the side with the wires were bent at about 20 degrees off. Adjusting this and reinserting reduced the clicking but not completely. I pulled the cell and focused on the same two vanes and discover one was also bent in, gently pulled it back and no more clicking!

My wife had cleaned the filters and my 6 yr old and 4 year old had to help. I wonder how they got bent?!

We have had the cleaner for about 6 yrs and no problems until this last cleaning.

Be very careful in adjusting the cells. Aluminum does not like being bent and weakens each time it is moved, like pulling a tab off a beer can (of course the cells are made from much thicker and higher grade aluminum)!