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Leak below new high efficiency furnace

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TomGan
TomGan Member Posts: 15
in Gas Heating
Hello all. I have a brand new Heil propane furnace in a new home. I noticed water under the furnace in the pan. My builder had the furnace installers come back and they said it was the condensate pump and they replaced it. However, I noticed a few days later it was still leaking. Basically the leaks are slow, but in multiple locations around the base of the furnace bottom. They had put Hardcast foil grip tape around the bottom of the furnace and the water appears to be leaking around the tape also. I'm meeting with my builder later this week and would appreciate any advice. I'm an accountant and know very little about these matters. Thank you all.

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  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,544
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    High efficiency furnaces condense water out of the flue gas. It's normal to drain that into a condensate pump and pump it to a drain. Condensate from you air conditioning coil will drain there as well (if you have ac).

    Hard to say what is wrong without pictures. Some things to watch for that may cause issues are "double trapping" this is where they use a trap (similar to a sink trap but smaller) but then they don't pitch the pipe correctly and it sags and collects water making a double trap which water will not drain through.

    Don't pay the last bill until they fix it
    bucksnort
  • TomGan
    TomGan Member Posts: 15
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    Thank you EBEBRATT. Sorry, I just realized I could attach photos. I just attached two. Hopefully they came through okay.
  • TomGan
    TomGan Member Posts: 15
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    One more photo attached
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,544
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    @TomGan

    Is the leak coming from the piping shown in the picture? Or is something leaking inside the furnace?

    What I can see looks ok. Looks like the AC drain and the furnace drain both come down into the pump and they have the condensate neutralizer on there which is good. Should be a simple fix. Find the leak and fix the leak
  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,376
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    The clear plastic device is a condensate neutralizer. The way they've installed it, it's formed a secondary (double) trap which is undesirable as Ed warned. This may or may not be causing the water leak, but if it causes the drain to become blocked, the furnace will shut down.
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,861
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    That style should have a bypass on it that can act as a vent

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.supplyhouse.com/product_files/Nortiz-NC-1S-User-Guide.pdf
    bucksnort
  • TomGan
    TomGan Member Posts: 15
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    I don't see any leaks coming from the piping. It appears to be coming from inside the furnace.
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,861
    edited February 2021
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    TomGan said:

    I don't see any leaks coming from the piping. It appears to be coming from inside the furnace.

    As @Ironman said the way that neutralizer is piped could be the issue. Drains cant be double trapped without a vent between
  • DZoro
    DZoro Member Posts: 1,048
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    Immediately coming out of the furnace should be a tee, then drop down to the drain system. The way it is now will cause the condensate to not drain and probably is filling up the inside of the furnace. Open the top door and pretty sure you will find the condensate sitting there.
    bucksnort
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,062
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    Is that neutralizer installed backwards?
    Is there a directional arrow on it?

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