Said it before and I'll say it again, it is a real joy to watch true troubleshooting Technicians step through sensible troubleshooting steps. Reminds me of my non-HVAC troubleshooting days. Hope you have SERIOUS apprentices training with you...BEFORE you decide to hang up your tool pack. I seek a similarly skilled tech in Central Virginia to upgrade and help keep my HVAC in good shape. Kudos guy.
God Bless You looking out for the customers , had a cousin years ago that had a brand new furnace installed , they died less than a week later from asphyxiation due to a faulty installation. I always enjoy Your videos.
WDYM? The Waterfront properties up there aren't pricey enough? One difference is that Ted's area has a fair amount of developments and modern stuff from the past 40 years or so. SL's area has lots of early and mid century structures, and few the same.
@@Jeff_S... This is South Carolina so sliding down a driveway from snow or ice is very rare. I guess they own so many cars not enough driveway space available !
Great evaluation me as well look forward to catching your videos . I’m a hvac tech as well down here in Athens ga. Area and I have use many of your tips and advice on troubleshooting procedures. I thank you for taking us along with you and sharing what you encounter in the hvac world, take care and I will be on the lookout for the new video..
I normally fire up my combustion analyzer to see if I need to dig into the unit to look at the HX, but on that age range of those units, I'll just go ahead and pop the cover off to verify what I already know I'll find.
Anyone who'd leave that unit operational and not condemn a heat exchanger like that is going to get someone sickened or killed! It's just a matter of time... It's even worse that the other companies didn't find or suspect it...
Checking that heat exchangers the absolute most important thing we do as a service person. It's nice to know people don't check them... if I was blind death and stupid 🤦🏻
I like for the inspector to be strict.he is doing his job.meeting code is the bare minimum,a lot of times you can do better.i know taken the screws out is not code but it’s looking out for the guy who has to have access like you needed today.old guy sounded like a good inspector to me.
I've noticed that the PSC blower units like the YCC and YCP had a lot of issues like that, but the variable blower units like the YCY and YCX are much less prone to heat exchanger failure.
Alway good to look if the unit is over 5 years old. (Heat exchanger) Thanks again for the videos "BiG TeD". 🥃🥃🍺🍺🍺🎯🏌🏻♀️ Stay safe. Retired (werk'n)keyboard super tech. Wear your safety glasses!
Your tips and tricks are inspirational. Im a 2 year tech and have gotten the opportunity to work on what we call the "hot opp team" essentially the 15-20+ equipment we run into. The answer always isn't replacement. If it's not financially viable for the customer i push repairs... in this case with a failed heat exchanger of this age I would recommend replacement, what are your thoughts and what did they go with?
You're right. I go out to folks who have 40 plus year old equipment and just want me to check it out. All original parts (commonly) and still going. If the heat exchanger is failed, only then is it time for a new system. If it is a refrigerant leak in the coil... on a 20 year system, time for a new system. 10-15 maybe just replace the coil. To repair a leak in a coil at that age, you will be back to repair the next leak soon. I'm a fix it guy over replace if it makes sense.
When I find a cracked heat exchanger I try to link it to other issues. Usually there is an undersized return. Also the evap coil could be caked and causing static pressure. Etc.
really, on that type of setup, negative pressure induced draft on heat exchanger and positive pressure indoor blower, the CO gas(any leakage) would be very minimal to none, right until major roll-out occurs, which would trip safeties/thermal fuses. them cooking on gas/propane stovetop or broken dryer venting would cause far more CO gas. now on indoor furnaces, slight roll-out that isn't enough to trigger safeties can be a nasty CO producer and fill a home up pretty fast. I won't even delve into the stupid "positive pressure" induced draft units, like MANY mobile/trailer homes had in the past and many still do. HX issue on those = lots of CO pushed in before indoor blower come son and stops it.
Yeesh! Are these more prone to rusting out because the whole unit is outside? I'm not an hvac guy, but I do find this interesting. I don't believe that these packaged units are all that popular up north here
I worked for a company years ago and went to a job that the heat exchanger was like Swiss cheese I disabled the gas valve and shut. Off the gas when I got back to the shop the boss told me to go back to turn it back on the customer wanted it operating I wanted to refuse he told me to go do it I told him if anyone died it was on him
Yeah and your boss would’ve thrown you under the bus so fast so that if anybody came knocking at his place he would’ve told them that he never told you to turn it back on and you would’ve been the one in trouble. If I were you, two things… 1) I would’ve had the bosses sign some paperwork to say to turn it back on and then 2) I would not have turned it back on! Edward H. “Integrity Plumbing, Septic, Heating and Drain“ in Clinton, CT
One thing I will do is shut off the gas and then show the customer where it is located. That way the customer cannot complain that I left them without heat, and it requires deliberate action to turn the furnace on. I usually also have them sign a form, indicating that they understand the furnace is not safe to operate. So far, that has covered all the bases
I find them all the time, I'm actually replacing a heat exchanger on Friday. My climate is dry and relatively warm. The biggest factor in failed heat exchangers seems to be airflow issues.
I have a question. Why does it seem like all the houses you go to have multiple Furnaces/ACs and/or Heat Pumps? It seems like it is always 2-4 units. I don’t know if it is a climate thing or what as I live in Iowa and almost every house only has one furnace/AC and that is on 2 story houses with a basement. Is it because of the different weather conditions or what?
My My Parent's Trane Did that about 2 years ago and I bypassed the safety switch and made it run, but The Guy that installed their New Unit said that if that switch is bad, it is time to replace it!!!!
It doesn't matter if the unit is a package unit or a split unit with the furnace in the house. That style of heat exchanger will fail on the weld joint almost all the time. The only one I saw that rusted through in a different area was because some idiot drilled a hole in the top of the unit for the electrical connection and water was dripping into the unit and running onto the heat exchanger.
Even when I'm doing an AC service I put my eyes on the heat exchanger if possible if the unit is older. Save the customer money long term -why throw a few thousand in AC repair when you'll find a bad exchanger come winter? Also I get angry asked all the time, "Your guys were out here in the summer, why didn't they see this?"
As a homeowner at least that one looked almost modular are the heat exchanger tubes able to be replaced at all or basicly once they break the units garbage
Yes , entire heat exchanger assembly can be replaced not individual tubes if that’s what you are asking. Twenty year old unit not worth the parts and labor.
You can replace a heat exchanger in just about any furnace and sometimes the part would be provided under warranty. However, the labor almost always won't be covered...so now you've sunk in the considerable labor cost of changing the heat exchanger and you have an old furnace where something else could fail. Of course, the manufacturer still has to be in business or the successor company willing to honor previous warranties. There's usually also fine print restricting any long term warranty to the original owner, provided they registered it.
Request for the owner of this RU-vid channel: Any possibility of changing your titles of your videos? I would rather have the title be what the initial call is instead of the title being your diagnosis. I want to watch you go through the call and diagnose the issue without already knowing the end diagnosis.
ANTI DIY HVAC,TED,HELLO,that heat exchanger, is par for the course,with that brand and age , reminds me of a CARRIER ROOF TOP H/C UNIT, NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED, BUT CUSTOMER CALLED THE UTILITY. PSE&G. ( NJ ) So they shut off the gas, = NO HEAT, so I was sent there, spoke to the customer,and went onto the roof via my ladder, my god you should have seen this one, they were smelling gas , is how it happened, ,I did NOT even need to turn on the gas to see what happened, THEY WANTED ME TO TURN IT ON ,I SAID NO, YOU COULD DIE FROM THIS,,and I could go to jail! These were an ASIAN COUPLE, but did not really understand. , THEY NEEDED A NEW UNIT ., IT WAS SO BAD I COULD SEE INTO THE STORE ! Stay well be safe, 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Just a homeowner dummy here. I totally accept what Ted said, especially given the age. But Just curious. Is there something about a heat exchanger that makes it expensive? To the naive eye, it doesn't look like it, and while fixing anything on an old unit probably doesn't make sense, people replace blower motors, or what not, all the time. So I'm assuming this heat exchanger is more than just a bunch of bent pipes that causes it be more than other stuff that gets replaced?
Heat exchangers are important because that is where you get your heat from. When your thermostat energizes the heat circuit on your furnace it kicks the gas valve on which the igniter ignites your gas coming from the gas valve then it goes through the burner assembly and into the heat exchanger. While this is all happening your induced draft motor is exhausting those combustion gases from your heat exchanger out to the open atmosphere. Your blower motor also blows the radiant heat coming off the heat exchanger into the supply ducts. If you have a cracked heat exchanger it is dangerous to the home dweller because the combustion gases can seep through the cracks of the heat exchanger and into a living quarter through your supply duct. Those combustion gases are primarily carbon monoxide which can kill you or poison you. Heat exchangers can be replaced just like a blower motor or any wear and tear part inside an HVAC system but depending on the age of the unit you maybe better off replacing the system due to cost of a heat exchanger is as much as a new unit. I think what makes them expensive is how they are manufactured. I don’t really have an answer for that lol sorry.
Because it's tantamount to giving a patient a heart transplant while they're in kidney failure. Once a unit gets that far past it's designed obsolescence, it's just going to be one thing after the other until it's replaced. And yes, there's more than you could see by just looking down into the unit. Dozens of rusty screws and old wiring to dig though and potentially cause more issues to bloom.
Dave, I'm just a homeowner too and was wondering the same thing, but since the two responses thus far--describing how a furnace works, or stressing how central/important a heat exchanger is to a system--don't directly address your question of *why the part itself* is expensive, I poked around and found what seems to be a more fitting answer. Apparently, the fabrication process is more than just bending and connecting tubes (or in some cases, joining pressed/punched sheet metal). To make sure that heat is distributed evenly and does not leak at the connecting points, manufacturers use special procedures to ensure that the thickness of the metal is consistent (not the case with conventional bending) and the joints are stronger/more airtight. These techniques ensure that heat radiates evenly without leaks or hotspots, which in turn helps the unit to meet or exceed state and/or federal standards for heating efficiency. It's probably safe to assume that even this more complicated manufacturing process doesn't entirely explain the part's $1,000-$1,500 sticker price (as scarcity/supply & demand likely play a significant role), but regardless, an exchanger is much, much more expensive than a blower motor; the part alone is around 1/3 to 1/2 the cost an uninstalled package HVAC unit (as opposed to around 5% for a motor). Add in a significantly higher amount of time/labor required to remove and replace the heat exchanger vs. a fan or blower motor swap, and the "repair vs. replace" decision gets pretty clear.
@@sirrebral cant seem to get straight answers these days?,,,maybe relate it to your car.....thats rotted to hell,so you need a engine but the frame is shot....i give up...sorry
@@sirrebral you read my mind with your comments. I think the best answer to the question at hand is "because they can" and "because they want you to buy a new one". Similar to the weak battery situation on an iPhone.
I would’ve just gone in the house and put my handheld carbon monoxide detector right on the register, that would’ve shown the people how dangerous it was when the thing started showing a high reading of CO!
