Cracked Oil Furnace Heat Exchanger

Remove it from the furnace and examine it in the light.

Cracked oil furnace heat exchanger.

The heat exchanger on a furnace is the section that keeps the combustion chamber and the breathing air separate 3. When a heat exchanger becomes damaged and the combustion fumes and gases mix with the clean air. Before you can do any repairs you should make sure that you check over your furnace heat exchanger thoroughly. Potential dangers of a cracked heat exchanger.

Proper diagnosis of a failed or cracked heat exchanger. In some cases owners discover they have a cracked heat exchanger because the furnace shut down. Step 1 check the furnace heat exchanger. Diagnosis of a heat exchanger crack typically starts with a no heat service call.

A cracked heat exchanger allows air from the furnace blower to interfere with the flame causing it to flutter or even roll out. A heat exchanger is made of thin metal and as it heats up from the combustion of the furnace it transfers the heat to the air being distributed through the house by the blower 3. Consequently air temperature becomes hotter. If a heat exchanger becomes cracked then your heating system will not perform as it should.

If the flames come outside the proper area like in the video above the flame rollout limit switch senses it and shuts the furnace down to protect itself. A damaged heat exchanger in a gas furnace is potentially dangerous to a home s occupants and should not be ignored. There are certain signs to look for to determine if the heat exchanger has been. Look for signs that the metal has been overheated or symptoms of long term metal fatigue.

Combustion gasses and carbin monoxide can be. If your gas furnace is about that age the chances are high that the heat exchanger can crack. This trips a safety switch and shuts down the furnace. The combustible gas will become hotter as it accumulates in the exchanger.

Even though your furnace may look and seem fine dangerous gases could leak into your home and seriously affect even kill your family members. So you need to get a replacement ready to avoid inconveniences if it breaks. Operating a furnace with a cracked heat exchanger can be very dangerous. Signs your furnace has a cracked heat exchanger.

Here is a video of a crack in a heat exchanger we found during a oil furnace cleaning and tune up in yardley pa. Broken and leaking heat exchangers are responsible for about 1 500 deaths per year in the united states and many more people are poisoned by exposure to toxic gasses that go unfiltered by defective heat exchangers.