HydroPulse Wilderness...


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Old 03-04-07, 08:14 AM
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HydroPulse Wilderness...

OK, boiler experts, I need your help. I live in a part of Iowa where for a time, long ago, somebody sold HydroPulse boiler systems for home heating. That somebody is long gone, and the only guy who will work on them (mine) is the son of the guy who used to work on them. And he ain't gettin' any younger OR more interested in servicing these rare beasts. So I'm casting my net further out for advice.

My system uses an A-100 natural gas boiler to heat a closed loop of water that goes through a series of copper tube coils in what would be the burner area of what looks like a furnace. Air blows over them and then throughout ducts in the house. the hot water also travels to a water heater/storage tank, where it goes through another heat exchanger to heat water.

Suddenly last week, (coincidentally with the ice-storm power-outage I think) the boiler went on the fritz. It fires up with the "spark-plug stage" and runs for about 20 seconds. But, crucially, it fails to go into "pulse mode" and shuts off, only to begin the purge/ignite thing all over again.

So it is still making some heat, but probably very inefficiently, and the system obviously wasn't designed for constant start/stop cycles.

Back to my service guy. He says that the heat exchanger in the boiler is "clogged with minerals," and that the ol' man used to have a trick for flushing the crap out (Lime-Away Enema?) but that he doesn't know how to do it. So of course he is writing a bid for a new furnace and water heater.

So, first, does this diagnosis sound plausible? Or is there another explanation, like a bad valve or compression leak of some sort? And what about getting another boiler to drop in my system, HydroTherm or otherwise. I have all the piping etc, and it seems wasteful to tear it all out if a new boiler would bring it back to life. I have tried to call the # on the HydroTherm website, but haven't heard back from anyone yet.

Thanks!
 
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Old 03-04-07, 08:40 AM
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HydroTherm Pulse

Thankfully, all of these nightmares in my area are gone. Take your heating guy's advise & replace it. Instead of using separate boiler & water heater, I & most others suggest using a boiler & indirect water heater. There is a lot of good equipment on the market. A complete & proper heat loss calculation is a must in order to size the equipment to match it to your heating & hot water needs.
 
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Old 03-04-07, 09:30 AM
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Thanks for the reply.

I don't know where you got "seperate boiler and water heater." My boiler heats one loop which travels through both the water-to-air thing in the air control portion, and then through the water-to-water exchanger in the water storage tank. Isn't THAT an "indirect water heater?"

And the HVAC guy is bidding for a gas furnace (NOT a boiler) and an electric water heater.

As to my main question, does the diagnosis sound correct, and the prognosis?

The system hasn't been a "nightmare." It works quite well. And I am simply wondering if I couldn't just get a new boiler,( if this one is truly dead) instead of a whole tear-out and re-do.

Also, this all happened on THE day I put in an offer on another house. In other words, I will be moving, and want to put this house on the market soon. No deception is intended, but I don't want to sink a ton of money in it if it isn't necessary.
 
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Old 03-04-07, 10:17 AM
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Get a better HVAC person! One that can fix it.
 
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Old 03-04-07, 10:42 AM
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Boiler/Water Heater

I got the idea of a separate boiler & water heater from the contractors bid but did not realize he was quoting on a warm air furnace. You are correct in that your existing system uses an indirect.
Not being all that familiar (only somewhat) with the boiler I don't know for sure if the heat exchanger is plugged or not. As I recall, this system does use a flow sensor of some type as well as a temperature control to verify there is water flowing before it will allow the burner to go into the pulse mode and shutting the burner down when the water reaches the set temperature. A clogged heat exchager would cause reduced flow but the problem could also be the flow sensor or something else. It should not be difficult to flush the heat exchanger with an acid solution to help clean out the clog if that is indeed the problem. Again I am taxing my memory but as I remember, it was not a big deal to hook up an external flowmeter to measure the flow thru the boiler. Knowing the flow & the required flow would tell the servicer if the sensor was the problem or if the boiler were actually clogged.
 
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Old 03-04-07, 11:10 AM
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Thanks again. I'll focus on that whole "flow sensor" area.

I guess I need to look around for other qualified "boiler-dudes." It's not like this thing is some mysterious magical box.
 
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Old 03-04-07, 11:15 AM
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Mysterious Magical Box

Magical no but mysterious to most not familiar with them. The HydroPulse is far from your typical boiler. Good luck & let us know how things go.
 
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Old 03-04-07, 11:46 AM
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Well, Grady, you have me curious.

Is "pulse" operation some HydroPulse proprietary thing? I could swear I hear other people's homes making that lovely "moped riding around the basement" sound.

Also, do you have any thoughts about putting a different boiler into the system? Or a new HP? I think it would beat the hell out of tearing out all this equipment and starting over.

The thing has run darned near perfectly for the 13 years I've had the house, and was installed long before I bought it, so I guess I don't fit with the folks who think these things are a horror show.

Muchas Gracias again...
 
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Old 03-04-07, 12:28 PM
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Pulse Technology

The Hydro Pulse & Lennox's Pulse warm air furnaces are the only pieces of equipment I know of which operate with a pulsing flame. Most heater guys hate to work on them simply because they are not familiar with the technology, myself included. As a former boss used to say; "You can't figure out what is wrong if you don't know how it is supposed to work." Sometimes we get sent on service calls for equipment completely foreign to us & there is no manual.
I would not be in any hurry to replace the boiler without trying to find someone to work on it. Keep pestering the manufacturer.
 
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Old 05-16-07, 07:47 AM
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Talking HydroPulse answers

Here is what you do:

1. Turn off power and gas
2. Remove the top sheet metal and insulation
3. Take off top steel plate
4. Inspect air chamber and mop out any water
5. Remove ignition cable and spark plug
6. Disconnect tubes from the can mounted in the bottom of chamber
7. Remove the nuts and split ring retainer holding can in place
8. You now can see a metal "screen" about 1/2 thick which according to
Hydrotherm you can pull out by grabbing the ring in the center of it. If
it does not move - you had best get a new one and knock out the center
and bend it out of the hole. Parts are available in Iowa through Plumb
Supply.
9. Disconnect exhaust pipe
10. Get a Fernco test cap and plug the exhaust
11. Pour an acid solution into the heat exchanger and wait. MAKE SURE
THE ROOM IS WELL VENTILATED. ADD SOLUTION SLOWLY.
12. Empty acid solution into plastic bucket
13. Recap exhaust port
14. Fill with water
15. Empty water
16. Allow system to dry out
17. Reassemble boiler using of antiseize on all parts to allow future access

I don't have the exact ratio of acid to water at the moment. If you still need to do this, repost and I will dig for it
 
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Old 05-16-07, 07:51 AM
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Oh and you might not have to clean it...

With your symptoms you might not actually have to clean the heat exchanger. Have you had the flappers on the bottom of the can in the air chamber looked at in a while? If these start to stick, the problem that you explained can occur.
 
 

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