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Condensing furnaces in the snow

Wayco Wayne
Wayco Wayne Member Posts: 615
in THE MAIN WALL
As I mentioned on another post I've had numerous customers with condensing furnaces whose terminations were covered with the snow. On a lot of these the furnace ran long enough to suck in some snow which then melted and then the water sucked into the combustion box. I was geting a lot of air proving switch failures and yesterday I found out why. I had just replaced the air switch on a Bryant 350MAV when I noticed a drop of water coming out of the top tube connection of the old air switch. I turned the switch upside down and proceeded to dump about a half cup of water out of the device. The air tube connects the air switch to the combustion box where the combustion air is drawn in and in this case the melted snow. Just mentioning this observation in case others run into it. It may save you a trip to the supply house if you can suck out the water and re-use the switch.

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Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    Just a thought...

    if the device had water in it, it's warranty (if any) is probably void, and you are now the last person to work on it and hold all responsibility for any future failures. I'd empty it out and reuse it in a temporairy pinch, but recommend complete replacement ASAP. I'd also look for a way to avoid sucking snow into the system.

    Hopefully the manufacturers are being made aware of this condition...

    I recently had a customer who complained of falling ice cicles from his vent terminus. Said he was glad he didn't happen to be standing on his porch at the time it fell cause it probably would have knocked him down. Said he thought an airliner had dropped a chunk of blue ice on his patio. Anyone else experience this? It's a Buderus G 124 set up with sealed combustion.

    Strange what extreme weather does to heating appliances eh...

    Stress brings the best (and worst) out in most systems.

    ME
  • Wayco Wayne
    Wayco Wayne Member Posts: 615
    Yeah Mark

    I agree on replacing the part. During the large storm though I ran out of pressure switches and the supply houses had not dug out and opened yet. If it's a matter of getting the heat going I'll try the switch after emptying it of water. Yikes about the large icicle dropping. What could prevent this though. I know some manufacturers say not to vent over walkways but I had no idea that could be why. I thought it was to prevent droplets from the vent causing ice on the sidewalk itself. WW

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  • Glenn Harrison
    Glenn Harrison Member Posts: 405
    I don't remember which manufacturer it is but...

    one of the manufacuters had a service bulletin about this exact situation. The pressure switch port was mounted flush with the bottom of the intake box, and any condensation that may have gotten in the burner box could run down the tube. The fix was to build a "dam" around the port with silicone caulk to prevent small amounts of condensation from getting in the tube port. Maybe you can do this to prevent the problem again if there aren't other things you can do first, like raise the terminations.

    Glenn Harrison, Residential Service Tech

    Althoff Industries Inc. Mechanical and Electrical Services

    Crystal Lake, Illinois

    Althoff Industries website
  • Glenn Harrison
    Glenn Harrison Member Posts: 405
    I just had a customer a couple of weeks ago...

    That had a mound of ice the size of a BASKETBALL built up under the exhaust termination. The ice had built up so bad that the exhaust opening had been paritlly blocked off causing a pressure switch shut down. Wound up chisiling the ice away and everything was fine.

    I see units all the time with icicles dripping from the terminations. Fortunatly they are all at ground level two to three feet off the ground. Your case was bad planning on somebodies part by putting the pipe in the air over a porch. Yikes!

  • Wayco Wayne_2
    Wayco Wayne_2 Member Posts: 2,479
    These furnaces

    were Bryant 350mav's. I called the factory and found the furnaces have an optional port on the opposite side of the combustion air connection that you can drill out and run a 3/8 vinyl(sp?) tube with a loop down to your drain to protect against water build up in the combustion box. He said it's in the installation instructions but hardly anyone does it. I was incredulous. Read the instruction!???Real men don't read no stinking instructions. :) WW

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  • Glenn Harrison
    Glenn Harrison Member Posts: 405
    I knew there was something I forgot.

    I forgot about that port being there. Since I switched employers 7 years ago I don't see many Carrier's/Bryant's anymore. So my memory on these is getting rusty. I don't remember seing that drain port ever being used either.

    Glenn Harrison, Residential Service Tech

    Althoff Industries Inc. Mechanical and Electrical Services

    Crystal Lake, Illinois

    Althoff Industries website
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