Interesting question today relative to flooding

Tim McElwain

I got a call this afternoon about a wall hung "Sealed Combustion" boiler vented to outdoors. It was in a basement which had water up to the top step in the basement. It has an indirect for DHW. The tech who called me had tested it all out now that water has gone down and it is fine and the indirect is fine. All of the circulators on this unit and zone valves were above water and are working fine. There was absolutely no water in the unit.



FEMA inspector along with local mechancial inspector stated that it all must be replaced.



What do you think? I would really like to hear from manufacturers on this one. FEMA tends to follow recommendations of GAMA (Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association) which state that any appliances under water should be replaced.



I guess my question is on these new units is how water tight are they?

Big Ed_4

Tested for Air

Good Question ... My thoughts .. I cant see the manufacture paying for design , manufacture cost , testing and approval for water rising up... Maybe in a marine application . My guess they are all walking away from the liability ... You really can't blame them ...

Tim McElwain

Sorry for the double posting on this,

here is the answer:



I do agree by the way that any equipment that is flooded should be replaced. When I was with the gas company this was our policy. I have seen some real horror stories when only repairs were done on submerged equipment. 

 

The manufacturer of this unit stated that if it was left in they would not cover the warranty and they recommend complete replacement. They also advised that it has been their experience that insurance companies will often cover full replacement but not repair.

 

So no matter what it must be replaced.