What to Look for When Doing Heat Exchanger Inspection
A leaky heat exchanger is one of the most common causes for carbon monoxide in living environments. While you can't rely on any one method alone, combining several of the methods of detecting leaks during a
heat exchanger inspection greatly increases your chances of detecting dangerous gas and carbon monoxide leaks.
There are several commonly used techniques used when doing a heat
exchanger inspection. What do you see? The visual inspection includes checking for rust holes, damaged or crimped rings, cracks, missing or loose screws on the cells, missing welds on seams, and how much rusting away of the exchanger walls has occurred. When you clean out the port gaskets, are they missing or leaky?
Once the visual inspection is done, you need to test for leaks. There are several ways of accomplishing this:
The flame test involves holding a burner flame near the unit and watching for movement when the blower starts. This allows you to detect non-visible cracks or leaks in rusted walls.
The flashlight test involves holding a high candlepower flashlight and watching for light leakage through a wall or seam.
The water spray test involves removal of the blower assembly and fan to prevent damage to these parts. Then spray the exterior with a water/soap mixture either with
a spray bottle or garden sprayer. Use a mirror and flashlight on the interior to check for water leakage inside. In some cases, you may need to pull the unit and fill it with water to be thorough.
The CO test checks for the level of CO and O2 in the flue gases before and after the blower runs. If there is a change in the level, it indicates there is a leak as long as CO levels exist in the flue gas.
The AGA test using nitrogen/methane gas in the burner chamber calls for plugging of the outlet and checking for leakage with a combustible gas detector on the outside of the unit.
The Magnehelic gauge test involves taping close the burner segment openings and flue outlet. Connect the gauge to the pressure sensing port and turning on the blower. If the gauge needle moves, you have a leak.
These are a few of the ways one can check for leaks during a heat
exchanger inspection. It's important to use more than one. When combined with working carbon monoxide detectors, the chances of detecting dangerous gas and CO leaks increases greatly.
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