cracked heat exchanger

nerski

I used to work for a gas company and we would always redtag and render inoperable any appliance with a saftey problem including and especially cracked heat exchangers. I now work for an HVAC company and my employer and fellow workmates have told me that with oil it is the customer's call wether or not to replace and they won't redtag a cracked heat exchanger on an oil fired furnace, because oil should not be producing CO. Any thoughts?

Alan R. Mercurio

Nerski, No disrespect to your company but they are 100% Wrong and I would be happy to discuss this with them. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to enlighten them to the danger they are exposing their customers to and the liability they leaving themselves open to.

Yikes this is scary but unfortunately not the first time I have heard this.

Your friend in the industry,
Alan R. Mercurio

Oil Tech Talk

John G. Merritt

Heat exchangers & CO

Nerski:

Your comany management is terribly wrong!!!

John

Larry_7

Maybe a lawyer

will weigh in on this one. In my opinion, not only will your Co. likely be found liable in the event of catastrophe, but why would the lawyer stop at the deep pockets? I believe we are also personally responsible for our actions which is to say we aren't exempt from lawsuits stemming from knowingly leaving an appliance operating in an unsafe manner.

I've been blessed out more than once for tagging equipment. I think I'm averaging about two per day recently. What really sounds screwy about your company's philosophy is disregarding the fact that in the customer's eyes, although you may be the villain for condemning the equipment, you are also in the position to be the hero by offering a replacement system. Stick to your guns and trust the instincts your previous employer apparently hammered into you. Then go home and sleep like a baby. A new furnace changeout is usually cheaper than a funeral.

Larry

nerski

replies

Thanks all!

Jim Davis

I think it was back in 1983 my customer had a 90%+ oil furnace(Yukon) that kept sooting up but when it was set up the smoke was always les than a trace or zero. Don't even know why I decided to do a CO test on it, but the CO readings were in excess of 5000ppm. Even sent my tester back to the factory for verification. From that day on I knew that CO testing oil was critical and over time learned that a smokeless oil furnace was more dangerous than one that smoked.

Alan R. Mercurio

Amen to that Jim.

Your friend in the industry,
Alan R. Mercurio

Oil Tech Talk

tim from Reed Wright

wrooooooooooooong