Contents
What are the four causes of a cracked heat exchanger?
What are the Causes of a Cracked Heat Exchanger in a Gas Furnace?
- Years of normal wear and tear. Believe it or not, cracks can develop in most furnaces after years of normal use.
- Poor airflow.
- Incomplete combustion.
- Oversized furnace.
- Undersized furnace.
How do you prevent a heat exchanger from failing?
Failures due to thermal expansion of fluids are most common in steam-heated exchangers. To help prevent failure due to thermal expansion and cycling, relief valves can be installed in the heated fluid system. It also is advisable to provide some means to absorb fluid expansion.
What happens if your furnace heat exchanger is bad?
A furnace creating CO is a symptom of bad combustion in a furnace because unlike a car, CO is not a regular by-product of the furnace combustion process. Therefore, a heat exchanger can be breached and if the furnace is not producing carbon monoxide the breach will remain undetected.
What does it mean if your heat exchanger is cracked?
However, if the furnace produces a yellow flame, it can mean that your burner is dirty or your heat exchanger has cracked. But if the flame is yellow and also flickers, the chances are high that there are more damages in the furnace.
What does it mean when your heat exchanger is blue?
A typical furnace flame should be blue. If your furnace produces a steady blue flame, it’s clear that the furnace’s heat exchanger is functioning efficiently, and there’s nothing to worry about. However, if the furnace produces a yellow flame, it can mean that your burner is dirty or your heat exchanger has cracked.
What causes the flame to roll out of a heat exchanger?
Flame roll out (left burner) due to hole in heat exchanger. A heat exchanger crack in a residential furnace large enough to cause trouble usually upsets a steady flame or causes the burner flames to roll out the front of the burner openings.