American Standard Freedom 80 - Burner Flames Extend Beyond Proper Perimeter

When I put the louvered cover back on the burner side of my American Standard Freedom 80 furnace, the flames extend 2-3" beyond where they should. As a result the insulation on the HSI wires has partly burned.

If I remove the cover, the flames immediately retreat to the proper confined area.

Does anyone have an idea as to how to resolve this? I am leaving the cover off for the present so that the flames do not over-extend.

 

Look in the heat exchanger where the burners are an look for evidence of black soot on on the burners or the bottom of the heat exchanger.


I'd have this checked out by a competent repairman. It could well be evidence of a cracked heat exchanger, heat exchanger plugged with soot, defective pressure switch or other serious problem.

Keep using it and you may fire damage some parts that will be expensive to replace.

 

Thanks for the reply SeattlePioneer.

I'll follow your advice and check for the soot tomorrow. I'm only using the furnace on a limited basis.

I agree, it looks like I'm going to need a pro to check it out. The hard part is finding someone who's competent and honest.

 

I've discovered something rather interesting. I went into the attic just a few minutes ago to watch the flames after the heat came on. The louvered cover has been off for a couple of days and I've been running the heat intermittently. I don't run it at night because of my fear of a fire.

Anyway, I put the louvered cover back on and the flames immediately crept out to the sides of the holes in the heat exchanger. So, I removed it, again.

I've owned this house for 3 years, and this is the first time I've had trouble with the heat. I've been putting the cover back on the way it came off each time. The reason I know I've put it back on the same way is because there's a sticker on the top of it that has the name of a local HVAC company.

Anyway, just for the heck of it, I tried rotating the cover 180 degrees and putting it back on. Well, guess what....the flames are staying confined to the holes in the heat exchanger. There is no flame creeping out the sides now. The only difference is that the louvers are angled opposite of what they were before. The HVAC company's sticker is now upside down and at the bottom.

So, does this make any sense? Does the direction of the louvers make a difference? The louvered cover has been in the other position for at least 3 years.

 

No, it doesn't make sense.

However, lots of strange and odd symptoms can occur in the operation of a furnace.

It sounds to me like you have something strange going on, and strange isn't good with a furnace. You may have a combustion problem that could be causing a hazardous condition --- producing carbon monoxide and soot.

It can be fairly easy for a DIYer to identify and replace a bad part --- and replacing a bad part is likely to cause the furnace to operate as safley as it was before.

But odd conditions are where the experience and judgment of a good repairman are in order, in my opinion. I'd have a good repairman inspect the furnace for any problems.

 

Thanks for your comments, SeattlePioneer. Your point is well taken, and I intend to get someone out to look at it. As you said, I can replace parts, but I don't have the experience to diagnose the cause of this problem.