Articles - Getting Hot After Heating Systems

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HomePro
Systems, Inc.
2841 Hartland Rd
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Falls Church, VA 22043
(703) 560-4663
(800) HOMEPRO (800) 966-4555

Home Pro Inspection
Systems Inc.
969 Eldon Road
Oakwood, Ontario
K0M-2M0
800-832-0519

Getting Hot After Heating Systems:

Cold weather always gets here before you know it so invest a little time in checking your heating equipment before you become totally dependent on it. Do not attempt to adjust or repair anything unless you are absolutely certain you know exactly what you are doing. Looking and checking is one thing, adjusting or repairing is quite another. Most homeowners should leave adjustments and repairs to professionals.
What Kind of System Do You Have? If your house has grilles in the walls or floors you have an air system with a furnace. If you have radiators or baseboards, you have a water system with a boiler. (Furnaces heat air while boilers heat water.) The vast majority of air or water systems are fueled with gas.

Gas Furnace/Boiler: Make sure the appliance is deactivated prior to any examination. Turn off the service switch attached to the furnace or boiler or in its absence, turn off the circuit breaker or take out the fuse controlling the furnace. Next remove the access covers. There are usually two for furnaces and just one for boilers. (They can usually be lifted slightly and then pulled straight off.) Once the access covers are out of the way trace the gas pipe into the front of the boiler/furnace and observe where several other pipes tee off this pipe and extend horizontally back into the furnace itself. These are the flame tubes. Shine a flashlight along them to see if any rust is covering the little holes where the gas comes out. A little rust is expected but if there is enough to clog gas ports or cover a burner, it will need to be vacuumed out. You can do this yourself but you will have to turn out the pilot light and relight it when you are done, following manufacturer's instructions. Naturally you will choose a relatively warm afternoon and avoid working until the furnace has cooled down.

WARNING: Significant quantities of rust over burners can prevent the gas exiting the flame tubes from quickly igniting at the pilot and in severe cases can cause a minor explosion when a gas buildup finally reaches the pilot light. If in doubt at all, call a professional serviceman.
Air Handlers: The air handler is usually behind the lower panel. If it is beltdriven by an outside motor, push on the belt with your finger. You should get about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of play. A significant difference either way merits an adjustment (usually with a screw on the motor housing or on the motor pulley.) Look for cracking or shiny sides of the belt, indicating wear and age. Replace the belt if either symptom appears. Look for little cap covered tubes on each end of the motor and the air handler. These are lubrication cups and each cup should receive 2 or 3 drops of 20 weight machine oil about every 3 months of operation.

Circulating Pumps: Boilers often have circulating pumps which serve to help the water quickly flow through the boiler and around the house. These usually are red or green in color and look like motors nosing up against the pipe that enters the bottom of the boiler. These need to be lubricated during the heating season. Use 20 weight machine oil (3 or 4 drops) in each lube cup. You will find one on each end of the drive motor and one on the pump itself.

Check The Flames: Next observe the burners in operation. (Be sure to replace the air handler access door on furnaces first.) Turn up the thermostat and reactivate the service switch or circuit breaker or fuse. The furnace should quickly light along the flame tubes and within minutes, the air handler should come on in furnaces. Once this has happened, observe the flames on the flame tubes. Flame should be coming from all of the gas ports and it should be blue in color. Yellow flames indicates an excess of air (the appliance will operate inefficiently) and an adjustment is called for. (A little yellow at the tips of flames is quite common but a lot of yellow in the flame body indicates a very inefficient burn which will release larger quantities of toxic gasses.) A glowing reddishorange color along the flame tubes indicates remaining rust accumulations which should be vacuumed out.
Major Trouble: In furnaces with the air handler operating, a fluttering of the flames along a flame tube accompanied by large amounts of yellow coloring can mean a crack or hole in a heat exchanger. This is major trouble and should be verified by a professional. Call the gas company. Be prepared for them to turn the gas off to your furnace if they discover a defective heat exchanger. Younger furnaces should have the heat exchanger itself replaced while those 15 years and older are good candidates for complete replacement. You can double check the yellowing by observing the flames when the burners first come on without the air handler yet in operation.

The Flue: With the furnace or boiler operating, place your hand several inches from the vent hood. (The flue pipe on gas appliances is not a solid connection. It usually has a cone shape where it joins the top of the boiler/ furnace or an access where it joins the top of the boiler/furnace or an access slot under the flue pipe on the forward part of furnaces. This opening is intended to allow air into the chimney to cool it somewhat and to allow the occasional down drafts in the chimney to escape outside the appliance without extinguishing the pilot light.) If heat is pouring from this area, it usually means that the flue or chimney is not drawing properly. You may have a birds nest or loose brick down in the chimney. In any case, the appliance should not be operated like this since toxic combustion fumes are pouring into the house. Call a serviceman.

Gas: If you smell gas around the furnace/boiler, especially if the pilot is lit, call the gas company.

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