Alpine condensate

laxman

I have a year old Alpine  and the condensate in the neutralizer tube is rusty.  Is this normal or a concern>?

j a_2

service time

Its normal to see it….But that just means boiler has not been serviced…Time to have it serviced….Dont wait till it doesn’t work…The manf. gives specific service requirements…My guess a dirty heat exchanger….

Roscoe

Similar issue - not draining

I also have an Alpine with a condensate problem.

When the unit runs, most (but not all) of the water leaks from the exhaust air 3" or 4" pvc pipe on the back of the unit. 

Inside the unit, the HEX drains to a small plastic bowl with a tube that leaves the unit.  The bowl is discolored (a bit rusty?) but the water is clear.  The tube from the bowl exits the Alpine on the side, and I disconnected the tube at the first elbow to place a pan underneath.

After a day of use, the pan under the HEX bowl tube has 1-2 oz of water in it.  Sometimes overnight it is completely dry.

The pan under the 3" exhaust pipe has a pint (or more) of water in it.

Note that the HEX, fan, and electronics were all replaced in July - so the unit is practically brand new.  The leaking problem was there before replacing all of these parts, and still remains.

Any ideas?

Thanks

ced48

I Don't Think -

it's rust, but a product of the highly acidic condensate. I also don't believe there is reason for concern.

Roscoe

My orig post was not clear...

I should have clarified in my orig post - the condensate is not dripping from the end of the exhaust pipe (which I agree - I wouldn't be concerned about) but instead leaks from directly behind the unit - and onto the floor in the basement. 



The leak is at the transition from an aluminum clad 3" pipe that exits the unit to 3" pvc.  Is it simply a matter of the connection not being water (and therefore air) tight?  I suppose this also means that I have carbon monoxide leaking from the pipe into the house as well...



I thought that perhaps the unit wasn't draining properly, and water was backing up into the exhaust line and ultimately leaking out.  Perhaps water in the pipe is normal, and the problem is that the transition is not properly sealed.



Make sense?

0smoke

alpine condensate

Might be incorrect venting.if intake isnt far enough away from the exhaust. You may be pulling condensation from the exhaust termination. Which would explain the water around the metal coller at the back of the boiler, which is the fresh air intake side.

Roscoe

Great point...

Whenj the Burnham rep was here (for another problem) he did mention that they were close together, and suggested I rotate them away from eachother.  When there is less snow on the ground - maybe next weekend - I will make the piping mods and see if that helps.  He did think that exhaust was being pulled back into the unit - but there is a lot of water for this to be the entire issue.  Since it's been "on my list" I'll do it anyway next week and repost if there's a change.



Thanks

Roscoe

Unit not draining

I checked this weekend and confirmed that the water is dripping from the exhaust line - not the air supply line.  The water is dripping directly behind the unit: a 3" aluminum-clad pipe exits the unit horizontally, connects to pvc, has a 90-deg elbow, approx. 3-ft verticle riser, another 90 and then through the wall.  It is leaking from the point where the aluminum-clad pipe is connected to the pvc.



Inside the Alpine, the drum drains into a small bowl with a sensor, and then exits the unit.  Water is NOT draining from this exit point.  I disconnected it approx. 2 weeks ago, and there is about 2 oz of water in a small pan I placed there.  During the same time, there's been 5 gallons or more leaking from the pvc exhaust pipe,



I've checked the pitch of the unit - it is level.



The unit is approx. 6 months old.  What would prevent it from draining?



Thanks

Hydro

Alpine condensate

I have seen this problem before, and it is a factory leak at the exhaust joint, inside the jacket, on the transition fitting, which can be hard to see. Once the unit is installed you cannot tighten this without taking the unit off the wall. Turn off the boiler, dry it off, and using a mirror, you can see the joint, and apply some RTV high temp silicone, let it dry before you fire the boiler up again ans it will be fine.