Oil Fired Furnace

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jrprusak

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Service man tuned my garage highboy oil furnace in the garage today and noticed the exchanger is cracked...

I keep the temperature around 40 degrees, he said it probably cracked from sucking in the colder air...does this sound real?? 20 years old...

anyways what is a good replacement furnace with a good exchanger?

It is not connected to any living area, and is just a stand alone unit.
 

NHmaster

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The cold air had nothing to do with it. Don't buy the cheapest and don't buy the most expensive unless you can afford it.
 

hj

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furnace

From his explanation, I might want a second opinion, unless you can verify that it is cracked yourself. It is not unheard of for technicians to make a diagnosis, if it is hard for the customer to verify it himself, when there is no real problem, other than that the technician has a car payment coming up and needs the money. I had a similar situation yesterday with regards to a customer's sewer problem. Only part of what he had been told was true.
 

NHmaster

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A Rigid mini is a great way to actually see if there is a crack in the exchanger. Another way is to start the furnace and open the inspection door. wait for the blower to come on. If the fire leaps out of the inspection door you have a crack. Soot in the ductwork is also a good indicator. An oxygen reading before blower runs and after blower runs is a great indicator.
 

jrprusak

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The service guy said the cold air hitting the hot exchanger is why it cracked, not sure about that…I keep the garage around 38-45 degrees during the winter…

I looked down into the heat exchanger and saw that one wall inside the section the fan blows through is in fact bellied out about 1 inch and has a tight crack about 8†long. I do not have any idea how long it has been like this…

It still runs fine, and since it is not connected to any living area, it is not a real crises, but I am going to replace…no soot….I’ll do the other test you mentioned waiting for the fan to kik on…..

I found a Williamson furnace with Beckett burner, life warranty on the heat exchanger..

The old unit is a Olsen, and may even have a life warranty on the exchanger, I’m looking for the paperwork…
 
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