Trane Heat Exchanger

carmeljacques

I have a 7 year old horizontally mounted Trane TV90 high efficiency

furnace that recently started leaking condensate.  The contractor who

installed the unit dispatched a technician who decided that the heat

exchanger was faulty and should be replaced.  He removed all the parts

mounted to a panel in the compartment housing the heat exchanger and

tried to remove the remaining assembly but was unable to - he called

Trane tech support and was told it should simply "slide out."  At that point he gave up and told me I needed a new furnace.



This

morning I tried my hand at removing the heat exchanger.  I removed all

the screws on the panel and removed it.  Behing the panel were 5

U-shaped tubes and something that looked like a miniature car radiator.



I

have a different contractor coming on Monday, but in the meantime, I

have a few questions:  (1) is the heat exchanger composed of the panel,

the tubes and the "radiator" or just a subset of those items.  (2) There

are 2 metal guides along the bottom and one side of the cabinet and the

panel, etc. was behind those.  If the heat exchanger is one assembly

consisting of the panel, etc. it seems it would be hard to get it into

place behind these guides.  Can one open the end of the cabinet and

slide it in that way?   (3) The heat exchanger has a 20 year warranty.  How good is Trane at honoring that warranty and how does it work.



Thanks for your help.

Tim McElwain

Your furnace has two heat

exchangers one which is the primary which is the tube shaped, the other that looks like a car radiator is the secondary heat exchanger. The secondary is the one most likely to leak condensate as it is the one which cause condensing to take place. Trane is a reputable company and I am sure will make good on the exchanger. Your issue is going to be the labor incurred by the first company and then labor from the new company coming to finish the job. Getting reimbursed from Trane could get tricky.



The fact that this is a horizontally mounted unit and condensing is it located in an attic? If so it is susceptible to having the condensate freeze which could damage the secondary HE.

carmeljacques

Trane Heat Exchanger

Thank you very much for your reply.  That helps a great deal.  The furnace is located in a crawl space under the house but frost is not an issue as I live on the Central Coast of California.

Tim McElwain

Do you have

air conditioning? If so does the conditioned air pass directly through the horizontal furnace or does it go through a bypass duct system around the furnace?



Moisture and condensate from AC can cause damage to heat exchangers especially if you are subject to very humid conditions.

carmeljacques

Trane Heat Exchanger

I do not have air conditioning as it rarely exceeds 75 degrees where I live.



A follow up question about Trane, however.  There is no Trane Dealer in my area; the closest one is in Santa Cruz, 45 miles away.  I called them and was told they do not provide service in my area because it is not economical.  If Trane provides a replacement heat exchanger and I ultimately decide not to repair my current furnace, is there a market for the heat exchanger?  I understand they sell for about $1200 which would help with the purchase of a new furnace (even if I only got a percentage of the $1200).  Trane would discount a new Trane furnace by $360 if I decided to go that route but, with no local dealers and my experience with my current furnace, that's a non-starter.