Heat Exchanger at 8 Years.

[Bill Kibbel]

I thought sharing this might be helpful. Primary heat exchanger tube on a Nordyne furnace, manufactured in 2003. I think it's aluminized steel. Two fingers fit in the hole.

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[kurt]

Good shot. What's spooky for me is on the few of these I open up, every one of them has some type of hole. Every one.

[Jim Katen]

Was this a horizontal mount?

That is, were the holes in a place where condensate could accumulate in the tubes?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[emalernee]

Bill,

How did you take the pictures, was there a vent on the plenum that allowed you to get your camera into and snap the shots?

[Bill Kibbel]

Was this a horizontal mount?

That is, were the holes in a place where condensate could accumulate in the tubes?

No - upflow. There was clear evidence of a humidifier was likely located above the area of corrosion. Just one tube had a hole.

Bill,

How did you take the pictures, was there a vent on the plenum that allowed you to get your camera into and snap the shots?

This was a multiple building complex that took a few days. It was dismantled by an HVAC tech the day after I discovered a major problem with the flame entering the tube that had the hole. The other 3 burner flames didn't look right either. I suspected that a proper draft couldn't be induced if there was a large crack, hole or separation in one of the heat exchangers. I made a big stink about it and they called the company that installed it to come out and fix it.

The AC coil had been removed by the tech for a good look at the heat exchanger. The rest of the primary and the secondary still looked brand new. It seems that Nordyne might replace the exchanger assembly, but not pay for labor or shipping. I don't know that anyone mentioned to the manufacturer the possibility of a humidifier contributing to the failure.

[kurt]

I've seen several of those where the tubes were horizontal. The burn out where the flame starts to "turn the corner".