House furnace question!

[bullnerd]

Need help with the house furnace.

No one else to ask except you guys,hope you can shed some light.

I have a Heil NG furnace that is about 6 or 7 years old.Never had a problem.

Question is,where is my furnace getting water from?

I went to take a look after getting power back from Sandy,I heard a gurgling sound from inside.Pull the cover,can hear it even louder,pull the drain hose going from the draft start fan housing(not a heating guy guessing here) to the condensate pump,a little bit of water poured out.

Where the EFF does this thing get water from!?The line/valve for the humidifier is shut off.

Is it possible,and I'm really guessing here,that there is extra moisture in the NG line coming into the house?Can this be a result of the storm?

The house doesnt seem to get up to the temp set on the thermo until I drained the little bit of water,then right up.I'm guessing there is a sensor that is seeing the water and keeping it from running?

Dang,thats a lot of guessing!

I can add pics if any one wants to see them.

OK hit me!

Thanks for ANY advice guys.

 

[Mike007]

Sounds like you have a condensing furnace. Does it vent with pvc?

 

[bullnerd]

Yes Sir.

 

[hydramatic]

not code..is the area where the furnace is, vented ??

 

[koditten]

So the condensation pump was without power as well? The pump most likely had to get rid of the water before the furnace would go to full fire.

The new furnaces make lots of water. Water is a byproduct of natural gas. The water is slightly acidic, the furnace was protecting itself.

 

[brihvac]

A little condensate was in the inducer. Is the drain house you pulled off blocked? Blow into it. Water should not sit in that inducer housing.

 

[Alchymist]

Water is condensing out from the exhaust. Normally there is a drain tube from the exhaust blower housing/piping to take care of this. Do you have a drain line or condensate pump on it? Usual problem is dirt or mold buildup, especially in a trap causing the condensate not to drain. Something like this:

 

[Alchymist]

brihvac - did you have a question?

 

[bullnerd]

WOW!Awesome guys thanks for taking the time to help me out.

YES,furnace is vented,PVC intake and exhaust to the outside of house.(through basement wall).Also furnace is sitting in fully open 24 by 30 basement, plenty of circulation.
I did not know about the water by product thing,that sounds like the problem.And yes the entire furnace was without power for a week during the storm.
Condensate hoses(internal) are pretty short to a small plastic "block" mouted on the outside of furnace,then pvc drain drops straight down into seperate condensate pump with hose to the sink.

OK,Ill check to make sure hoses are not blocked,they look like new.
So after all this excess water is dried up I should be good?
Is there any possible damage to the "inducer" that could be preventing it from operating correctly?

Getting pounded by very wet snow right now,might not be able to check until tomorrow.I could here the trees cracking outside while shoveling snow!

 

[bullnerd]

Well....power went out last night at about 930.

At work now,so have to wait to further diagnose my problem.

 

[bullnerd]

I hope this helps,I'll be back later to ask more awesome questions.

 

[RECox286]

Ask me why I really preferred the "standing pilot" old school heaters.

These new fangled high efficiency models with their whole set of

problems make heater service a PITA to be blunt.

Oh, well, I've got one too.

Uncle Bob

 

[philjafo]

The rubber coupling between the inducer and the PVC pipe is supposed to catch any condensation from the exhaust pipe, if the line attached to that is blocked or got overwhelmed by too much water there is a chance the inducer is filled halfway with water and won't let it spin fast enough. There is no drain on the bottom of the inducer so if its got water in it loosen the coupling and pull the four bolts around its perimeter. Then you can turn it to let the water out, the old gaskit will probably need to be replaced too. Just clean the old one off really well and use some high temprature rtv sillcon in place of the foam gaskit. Before you put it all back together make sure all of the drain lines are clear or it will just fill with water again.

 

[bullnerd]

Dang still dont have time!

Thanks Phil,that is what it sounds like is the problem.
I pulled the hose and blew through it,seems clear.
The black "box" behind the inducer will not drain while the fan is running but when it stop and I pull the hose it drains.
If I drain it a couple times ,the furnace starts to operate correctly and comes up to temp.
I think I had excess water again today because the power was out again last night.
Questions: Why is there excess water in there?
How is it affected by the power being off?
Thanks again guys.

 

[philjafo]

The hose in the lower corner of the black box needs to drain into a trap, or the fan will pull air in through that hose and keep it from draining. It's not in the pic is there something wrong with it, cracked or leaking? It should fill with water and drain correctly after the first time the furnace stops.

 

[bullnerd]

Thanks again Phil,
I'll take a look.Did not know it was a trap.I blew into the hose and water drained out of the trap,so it should be clear.
Definately not cracked,looks new.

So,I drained the "box"(pulled the hose),a few times last night and it seemed to run good the rest of the night and all day today.

So,where/why does it have excess water in it after being off for a short time?

 

[philjafo]

Good question. With the power off the furnace won't run and therefore isn't producing condensation, so could there be some other source? Rain or snow coming in the exhaust pipe, a humidifier leaking where it shouldn't. Is the condensate pump sealed or if it were to be unplugged (electricly) would it overflow and leak on the ground? Has anything changed at all since the problem started, even if it seems unrelated?

 

[bullnerd]

Exhaust pipe is angled down.
Humidifier is shut off at the valve.(I originally thought that was the problem).
C-pump not sealed it seems to be pumping ok.I lower it off the discharge pipe so I could see when water was running into it.
Nothing changed other than the power going out.
It seems to be working fine now.I'll keep an eye on it and just check it out whenever the power goes out.
Thnanks for the tips everyone.