brianross

An update: We now have heat. Found a good HVAC guy and he confirmed that furnace exhaust blowing out the top of your hot water heat vent is not a good way to raise a healthy family. Long story short is that the furnace flue was not chock full of squirrels, birds or other foreign matter (we checked it from the bottom up and from the roof down). However, the roofers had installed a cosmetically nice vent cap which was preventing the flue to draft. Image Insert: 44.86 KB For now there is no vent cap and plenty of good draft. My HVAC guy noted that over half of my neighbors have the same vent cap (same roofing company replaced most of the roofs after a May storm) and wondered aloud if most people would even notice anything like I did. Thoughts on this? I could see this being somewhat common - most roofing crews aren't considering proper venting while they are slapping down the hot tar up there. Roofer actually called back and said he would be right over. Must have gotten in an accident or something because he never made it. I hope he is OK! I still need to rule out a leak at the storm collar and will keep on the roofer (not to mention I would like to cap the flue before I actually have birds in there), but I think my main intention for this post is resolved so I probably will not update further unless there is interest. Again, thanks to all on this site. I found it fun and informative to interact with you guys. B

Jim Thanks for the reply. I can't tell all of you how cool this journal page is. I've been reading a lot of the other forums. I do have a carbon monoxide detector plugged in right under the furnace. It didn't leave 0 but I didn't leave the furnace on very long. Again - many thanks. B

So I spend most of my day at my job thinking about my next move. I decide I need to get on the roof to look down the vent. Hopefully my mother in law who disappeared a few weeks ago is down there and I solve two problems at the same time. Sharon if you're reading this, I kid. I kid. The need to get at least one thing done at work today so I get home late and then I can't pass up the nice taco dinner waiting for me. The fact that its freezing rain may have played into me changing plans and deciding to not get on the roof tonight. But the rain allows me to dig further. The attic has a few clues but I'm not sure if its a roof leak yet or condensation (or both). There appears to be signs of water being absorbed into the insulation around the point where the flue enters the attic (first pic below). However, there is evidence of the galvanic reaction present at every joint as you travel up the flue towards the roof. There is more white powder at the base (where the slow moving hot exhaust first hits a cold pipe). The attic is quite cold so at least one thing in the house works right. The hole in the roof looks bigger than I expected to see and it appears felt is folded over the hole and runs up the pipe. Its raining and I can see small streams of water running down the outside of the pipe. The furnace still doesn't turn on and the hot water heater hasn't run for a few hours so I'm pretty sure that rain water is coming in. I decide that its possible I have 2 problems at the same time (leak at the roof joint AND condensation due to low exhaust flow) but cannot tell until I get up on the roof and look down the vent and/or find an HVAC guy that is willing to take a look at this. Image Insert: 80.1 KB Image Insert: 70.69 KB Image Insert: 103.54 KB Image Insert: 92.43 KB Still puzzled by why the furnace won't turn on, I decide to have some fun. No luck today trying to find an HVAC guy who can do more than a "fall tuneup" on my furnace... I removed the draft inducer fan praying that a gallon of water wasn't going to come running out of it. There is quite a bit of scale but no water. I clean it all out and hook everything back up. Furnace still doesn't start. I give a couple of snaps to the pressure sensor with my index finger and thumb and the furnace fires up. Image Insert: 94.82 KB OK. One part is solved. Guess I better put a Tridelta FS6111-504 pressure switch on my christmas list. I turn off the furnace and disassemble some of the exhaust vents so I can look inside for pieces of squirrel. There is some evidence of galvanic reaction but it isn't even half of what I see on the outside of the flue (tried but couldn't get a decent picture - sorry). I reassemble and turn on the furnace to heat the house a bit. I don't like what I see or hear. There is a lot of hot air coming out of the slots in the top of the furnace. I am also getting hot air forced out the vent at the top of the water heater. The top surface of the water heater has a puddle of water forming. I run outside with a flashlight and the exhaust is coming out of the flue at the top of the house but it doesn't look normal to me. It looks like its just barely leaking out. I let it run for a few minutes and decide I'm not in the mood to deal with a flaming squirrel family crashing down the flue into my basement. I shut everything down and decide I could be paranoid and everything is OK but I really want to make sure nothing is occluding the flue. I duct tape the dogs to my legs so I can keep warm as I decide one more cold night isn't all that bad and I head to bed. I really need to get a look into the flue from on top the roof tomorrow. I totally shocked that my roofing guy didn't call me right back today. I am thinking I would like to go up there with him so someone can call for help after I fall. I am also thinking I want someone to actually measure the flow rate of my draft and I should get a new pressure switch - once they start to stick its only a matter of time before they stick again. My only real concern is all the galvanic reaction on the flue in the attic. I don't want to have to replace all of it... Thanks for all the help and feedback. This is actually quite fun. Would be nice to solve this tomorrow. B

Mike. The hot water heater does share flue, which means my original thought that water was coming in from a bad sealant around the storm collar on the roof is most likely wrong. What I tell the guys I work with is 2 degrees in engineering means I knew how to read books and take tests, not actually fix problems! I was too focused on the furnace and knew it wasn't running so I couldn't figure out how anything could be condensing. I missed the hot water heater. The point of me mentioning the A/C was just to let you know that there was NO residue in the spring (it was the last time I was down there) so this buildup has developed over the past ~4months. Sorry if this confused the situation. It turns out that the guy I called to come on Friday doesn't know a lot about this and was just going to look at the furnace. Can anyone here recommend a good HVAC guy in Minneapolis?

Hi Mike. I'm new in here and have been reading your posts. Very good. The funny thing about my issue is that the furnace has not run at all since I was down there in the spring after I shut it off and checked all the Air Conditioner connections. Its hard to see but I replaced all the putty that was sealing off the AC lines (dark grey circles on left side of first picture) at the time because the old stuff was all dried out. None of this residue was present at the time (~4 months ago). Am I missing something from your post when you refer to "ignition process"? Thanks again! Brian

More info: Furnace is Amana Air Command 80 Controller is White Rodgers Emerson Electric Model50E47-170 Although I said nothing obvious seemed wrong in my original post, all of this white reside inside the furnace, particularly on several of the electrical connection points, may be the reason the furnace is not firing up. HVAC guy comes Friday but I hate waiting. Image Insert: 71.42 KB Image Insert: 45.04 KB Image Insert: 72.1 KB Image Insert: 80.13 KB Image Insert: 116.45 KB Image Insert: 36.63 KB Its not too cold yet, but the fleece advice is well taken. Thanks.

Hello. Looking for help on a quick question. Had my roof replaced this summer and have not run the furnace since. As it is fall, I went down to fire up the furnace but noticed a small puddle of water surrounded by white powder on the floor where the furnace vent pipe comes down from the roof. The vent goes into an elbow before it elbows again into the furnace (travelling from roof down to furnace). The section before the first elbow is nearly 80% covered with a white powdery substance that is distributed in a manner that it looks like its left over from water running down it and evaporating. The puddle is directly below this first elbow. I have lived in this house for >10 years and never seen this issue in summer or winter. Is this definitely a case of poor sealant around the storm collar at the roof allowing water to run in, which is reacting with the galvanized coating on the flue? If so, should I have the exhaust flue inspected for damage/holes before I run the furnace? The house is 17 years old. My concern is that my roofing company may just come out and improve the seal at the storm collar but damage may already be done. By the way, the controller is not allowing the furnace to turn on. This may be relevant but it also may not be. It could be a problem in the furnace somewhere else but I checked it out and couldn't find anything obvious. I think the furnace controller has a sensor to make sure it is getting an appropriate draft up the flue, but am not sure. Can provide more info if it helps. Right now I have turned everything off and have called an HVAC guy and my roofing company. I just want to make sure all bases are covered and I am being fair in terms of what I am going to request is done. Worried in MN...