We have a Payne furnace that seems to function and heat the house ok. However I've noticed that when the furnace is running there seems to be a bunch of air getting forced out somewhere on the furnace itself. I say somewhere because in our installation, the entire top portion of the furnace (heat exchanger?) seems to have been covered in some sort of padded metallic (insulating?) covering and sealed with metallic tape along all the edges.

When the heater runs, this padding buldges out on all four sides away from the metal walls of the unit. It seems this hot air pressure is causing the tape along the corners to fail, and let hot air get pushed out where the furnace is sitting.

You can see pictures of the buldging and where the tape is failing and air is escaping in the pictures I put here-> http://home.pacbell.net/ggladsto/furnace

Should I bother having a professional come investigate this? Or is this normal?

Thanks for any opinions!

 

You are going to get some leakage, but if you are getting a "Ballon" affect, i'd question that if the joints on the duct are sealed?

I don't know if this is ductboard or duct foil wrapping? I don't see it aorund here much.

It does seems like you have a lot of flex from the furnace, it it may be back pressure?

 

I don't know the difference between ductboard and duct foil wrapping, but this stuff is relatively thick (1/4") and is basically what looks like a sheet of plastic bubble packing material sandwiched between two foil sheets. The foil it's between makes it of medium flexibility. Is leaking enough for something like this to balloon all that abnormal?

Are the holes where the ducts attach pre-cut when you install a furnace like this- or are they cut by the installer as needed? Do you think it's safe for an average homeowner to unscrew the plates where the ducts attach and take a look for obvious problems?

Thanks for the response- it's really valuable to hear from people with more knowledge on this stuff!

 

You can buy foil tape at home centers.. Just cut down where the seams are (Leaky area) and look into it.. But was this just put in?

 

It was put in in 1997, we've been in the house for just under 1 year.