How To Replace Your Heat Exchanger When Its Not Performing Up To Par?

Answer 1

The heat exchanger is very important to the operation of your boiler or furnace system within your home. This is the part that takes the heat and disperses it into the air or water for distribution of your home. If your current heat exchanger is not performing correctly, here is a simple guide to help you install a new one on your boiler or furnace unit.

Step 1. When you are planning on installing a new heat exchanger, the first thing that you should consider is safety. Working with boilers and furnaces can be extremely dangerous. Little accidents, such as punctured hoses or disconnecting the wrong pipes that carry steam could cause you to get seriously burned. You should also wear protective work gloves because there is the potential of getting cut on sharp edges that may be present. Power to these appliances should be turned off at the main electrical circuit breaker. Since the furnace will be turned off, you should do this type of project in warmer weather conditions. Give these appliances enough time to cool down before proceeding.

Step 2. If you are replacing an existing heat exchanger, you will first need to remove the old one. This is located behind a panel on your boiler or furnace appliance. Remove the panels located on the front of your furnace or boiler with a screwdriver. These panels can be extremely sharp and cause you injuries. To identify the heat exchanger, you will be looking for pipes and tubing coming off of what looks to be a bulky metal panel. You will need to write down where each of the pipes, clamps, hoses, or other part that is connected to the heat exchanger goes for easier re-connection. If it is possible to get a camera in there, you can also take a picture of the heat exchanger and its connections for future referencing. Remove all of the fittings that connect to the heat exchanger so that it can be removed from the furnace.

Step 3. Reconnecting your new heat exchanger is very simple if you took good notes on the connection placements or took pictures of the old heat exchanger set up. If your heat exchanger kit has new fitting that need to be installed, you can replace the old ones with the new fittings. If the set up and fitting are the same, you can just replace the hoses, clamps, pipes and other hardware on your new heat exchanger. You will need to let your furnace sit for a few hours before you can replace the panels and turn the power back on to the furnace.