Floor furnace and floods

Joe_5

Has anybody ever heard of a fire caused by slow rising flood waters which then affected the main burners but not the pilot on a natural gas-fired floor furnace? Reasonable logic says to get the floor furnace up and out of the location if it floods once in a while but I don't see why and how this could happen. Sure, all of the gas components must be replaced after the flood but how does a fire start under the house during the flood???? Thanks for any input on this, Joe

Unknown

Floods with Floor Furnaces

As the water rises it will cause the floor furnace to lift. Many furnaces in fact have a pan around the bottom so that in the event of flooding it will somewhat protect the heater from water. If the flooding is severe enough it can cause the burners if not attched to be lifted out of place. The pilot may be secured by its connection to the gas control and will rise up with the heater and not be put out. When the unit calls for heat we now have burners disengaged and gas escaping and eventually lighting from the pilot. I have actually witnessed this happening in a summer beach house many years ago.

By the way when equipment is flooded it should be completely replaced not repaired. This is stongly stated in a letter posted on the GAMA web site. You can call Mike Blevins at GAMA on 703-525-7060 ext 235 or mblevins@gamanet.org for more information.

Unknown

It sure DOES happen!!!!!

I was in a room with a water heater that had a similar cast iron burner set-up.

I was called to the house (I was a gas co. serviceman) for an odor of gas. Since the gas test meter needle moved at the front door, I moved the three people outdoors. I opened the basement door, and could hear the gas bubbling through water. I could see the gas cock and meter.

I had 4% at the top of the stairs.

Two more steps was all I got. It blew every window out of the basement. I didn't have any other drawers to change into, either. The people outside never heard it, it was rush hour in the city.

The handy landlord had bought a tall water heater for a short basement. He dug a hole to put it in. The hole was just deep enough to fill the cast iron burner with the orifice OUTSIDE the water heater, with water. It wasn't deep enough to cover the lit pilot INSIDE the water heater.

The whole time it took me to get there, and longer, that water heater had been filling the basement with gas with a lit pilot a foot away.

ANY standing pilot device will have the orifice lower than the pilot. It's how they are built. If you slowly flood one of these appliances, without shutting it down, you WILL have problems. Every time.

Noel

Jeff Lawrence_24

Many years ago

When I was a helper, the company I worked for sent us out to a house just after a major rainstorm had passed. The compalint was 'no heat.' Lewis opened the crawlspace door and we looked at the floating flames in the crawl. As Timmie and Noel said, the pilot was still lit and the gas valve was open. The flames were igniting as the surfaced. Happily, the house was not in immediate danger of burning down.

We got the crawl space pumped out, set a sump pump, and replaced the furnace.

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