Furnace condensate line trap?


  #1  
Old 02-25-03, 01:18 PM
Bartj
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Furnace condensate line trap?

Hi, I have a Rheem high efficiency propane fired hot air furnace. It is a duel system with the heat pump suppling heat when the outside temp is above 40. It is a nice system. Two years ago the burners would not fire. The technician said the burners were rusty and cleaned them. Worked fine. It did it again the beginning of this season and he said the same thing. He could not tell me why they were rusting! This is a weekend place and this past weekend I discovered no heat in the morning. When I opened up the furnace closet door I saw water on the floor. I took off the panel and saw water dripping from induced fan housing right on to the burners! It was raining heavily. I concluded that the trap on the condensate line was glogged and water was backing up into the fan. I could not find a way to take off the trap and clean it. The 1/2" pvc line from the trap and out the unit and through the floor was all cemented. So, I disconnected the flex line from the exhaust to the trap and cut the 1/2" pvc line coming out from the trap and removed the trap. I washed out a bunch of gunk from the trap. Used a coupling to reconnect the 1/2" line and put the trap back into place. I am thinking of replacing the coupling with a union so I can remove the trap once a year in clean it. Am I missing something about keeping the trap clean and/or cleaning it?
 
  #2  
Old 02-25-03, 02:47 PM
fjrachel
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Yes you should clean the condinsate trap yearly, but I do not believe it was the cause of your induce fan housing to leak water onto the burners. Your unit would go out on an exhaust safety, such as a roll out switch or exhaust pressure switch.
The induced housing moisture is more than likely coming from your PVC exhaust. Do you have an exhaust condisate trap on your exhaust pipe? Propane is a very wet fuel compared to natural gas, and due to the low exhaust temperature of high eff. units, propane creates alot more moisture in the exhaust pipe. The exhaust is pitched down towards the furnace and settles in the induced blower housing. Plus during summer months while using A/C, esp. if your oversized, you are creating some moisture on the inside of your heat exchanger and burners which causes the burner rust.
 
  #3  
Old 02-25-03, 06:01 PM
Bartj
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Yes, it was the exhaust pipe

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. It was the trap on the exhaust pipe. I guess I should have not referred to it as the "Condensation" trap. I am putting both the condensate and exhaust traps and lines on a seasonal PM. Thanks for the info on the natural vs. propane. That is interesting. You would think the would design the layout of the exhaust trap to make it easier to clean.
 
  #4  
Old 02-26-03, 01:33 PM
fjrachel
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If they made it easy, most of us would be out of a job. LOL
 
  #5  
Old 02-26-03, 05:21 PM
Bartj
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Nah, as long as there are...

...home owners, you guys (and gals) will have jobs. Thanks for the hep.
 
 

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