Filtering intake air on a modcon

Charlie from wmass

Ray boilers use such a filter. I have not seen an after market yet. I was talking with a patent lawyer about going to the bother of getting a patent on one but he is now doing jail time for unrelated matters, perhaps I should find a different lawyer?

Rob Blair

Filtering intake air on a modcon

Okay, we have discussed it but I haven't seen any pictures of one.

Ideas, or pictures of completed intake filters? The boilers I just cleaned could really use a filter. I have some ideas but I thought I could check with you guys.

Thanks,

Rob

don_185

I would

I would think you would be asking for more trouble then its worth.

Like...the filter create to much pressure drop for the combustion blower to over come.

We all know what happens with not enough o2.

Whos going to make sure the filter is being change.

We have condensing furnaces in the field for years and never
had issue that you guys are seeing with a mod/con boiler.

I wonder if these are issue only with side wall mounted
intake close to the ground and the lawn care person.

Rob Blair

No, this is at a commercial building where they sandblast and paint. Intake is 150 ft from exhaust of blasting booth but the dust is definitely blowing around.

Yes I thought about the pressure drop.

Rob

Larry C_13

Filter concept

Obviously I am not a heating professional, and to make it worse, I am an engineer.

what do you think of this idea to provide clean air and not significantly alter combustion.

Use a fan to pressurize a filter housing and use a properly adjusted chimney damper to bleed off the excess pressure? One could add a low pressure (Magnehelic) delta P gauge to provide safety shutdowns in case the filter needs to be replaced or the filter is missing.

The fan would come on when the furnace gets a call for heat, and the delta p switch could be on a time delay to allow the system to settle down before being enabled.

Larry C

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Here's an idea that wouldn't require an actual filter. Presuming it's done in standard PVC, could you increase the pipe size to say 4" or 6" in one section the makes a "U" shape? The include a cleanout tee (facing down) in the bottom of the "U". I'd definitely check with the mfgr, but the larger pipe (and fittings) shouldn't add much restriction, but velocity will drop and heavy particles like sand should fall out inside the "U".

Mike T., Swampeast MO

One other thing. Some mod-cons have pretty loose cases that allow quite a bit of room air to enter. If this is the case, you might want to tighten up the cabinet joints considerably. I'd used closed-cell adhesive foam rubber.

I believe it was Hot Rod who had a Muchkin in an Amish store or factory of some sort. They were almost obsessive about sweeping the floors and he was pretty sure excess dirt in the boiler was coming through the jacket, so he tightened it up nicely.

joel_19

glowcore

glowcore had a filter years ago if it starts plugging up your going to have combustion problems. What about a big box with an Aprill air 2120 incorporated into it should be big enough to not load too quick and cause pressure drop poblems.