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Troubleshoot
air supply for gas water heater |
 Image of Bradford white air intake Buy: Bradford White water heaters |
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to 14 things for troubleshooting water heater 1) Incoming air supply Water heater must have enough air to support combustion.Signs of restricted air flow are yellow flames, pilot outage, sooting, or unstable flame. Well-insulated house or closed doors can prevent adequate air from reaching water heater. Very hot attic will cause oxygen molecules to spread too far apart to support combustion. AO Smith and 3-legged water heaters have air intake located on bottom of heater (install heater on 3 bricks to elevate space under heater), Bradford White (pictured) has air intake on side. Solution: Do not install gas water heater in small contained area, use louvered doors, do not pile belongings around water heater. Get fresh air to water heater and see if problem is resolved. |
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 Air supply..''gas burning appliance requires the oxygen contained in 12.5 cubic feet of air (at sea level) for every 1000 BTU of heat that is generated. If your water heater has a BTU per hour input of 40,000 BTU then a minimum of 500 (40 times 12.5) cubic feet of clean air must be available. This oxygen will mix with the gas for a clean, blue flame in the burner chamber and provide dilution air for flue products.'' ''Lack of Oxygen: If a sufficient supply of oxygen (air) is not available for combustion and dilution, the result will be: • Pilot outage  •
Yellow burner flame• Sooting water heater • Possible carbon monoxide • Smell of burnt gas in the room'' • Slow hot water recovery ''1. Turn on every appliance and fan that exhausts air from the utility room and/or house. Make sure all windows and doors are closed, as well as chimney dampers. 2. Open a hot water faucet so that the main burner will ignite 3. Remove the outer door of the water heater – not the inner door 4. Monitor the flame characteristics for several minutes If the flame begins to “yellow” open a door or window, to the outdoors, to see if additional air corrects this back to blue. If it does, the room needs more air supply. Perform draft test at drafthood of water heater with match or smoke source to verify.'' |
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 How to test water heater draft up
the ventLet main burner operate for 5 minutes. Then put match near vent hood. Smoke from match should get sucked into vent See if smoke drafts immediately upward. The smoke should not linger. It should draw upwards quickly. If vent does not have draft or if furnace vent is blowing out of water heater vent each time furnace turns on, then vent pipes must be repaired. Turn on all vent fans, and blowers going to outside, including gas furnace, whole house vent fans, bath fan, range hood fan, etc, and recheck the vent pipe draft. Bad water heater draft can cause backdraft where toxic byproducts travel down vent pipe, entering home ... this causes poison CO gas to enter house (instead of poisoning the air outside) ... symptoms of vent problem can be soot on top of old heater, soot on burner of old heater, frequent pilot outage, lazy yellow flame, headaches that go away when leaving house, and death of occupants. Immediately contact plumber to solve the backdraft problem. Power direct vent water heater might be required if proper venting is not possible. All gas appliances must vent out of house to avoid CO poisoning. Remove affected people from house, lay people on side and never on back, call for emergency assistance. Resources Read checking the draft Water heater vent test/ pdf Checking the draft Read more at Tank |
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| "UNCONFINED SPACE
is space whose volume
is not less than 50 cubic feet per 1,000 Btu per hour (4.8 cubic meters
per kW) of the aggregate input rating of all appliances installed in
that space. Rooms communicating directly with the space in which the
appliances are installed, through openings not furnished with doors,
are considered a part of the unconfined space. In unconfined spaces in buildings, infiltration may be adequate to provide air for combustion, ventilation and dilution of flue gases. However, in buildings of tight construction (for example, weather stripping, heavily insulated, caulked, vapor barrier, etc.), additional air may need to be provided. CONFINED SPACE is a space whose volume is less than 50 cubic feet per 1,000 Btu per hour (4.8 cm per kW) of the aggregate input rating of all appliances installed in that space. Confined space shall be provided with two permanent openings communicating directly with an additional room(s) of sufficient volume so that the combined volume of all spaces meets the criteria for an unconfined space. The total input of all gas utilization equipment installed in the combined space shall be considered in making this determination. Each opening shall have a minimum free area of one square inch per 1,000 Btu per hour (22 cm2/kW) of the total input rating of all gas utilization equipment in the confined space, but not less than 100 square inches (645 cm2). One opening shall commence within 12 inches (31 cm) of the top and one commencing within 12 inches (31 cm) of the bottom of the enclosures." |
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| Negative
inside air pressure, Negative pressure Backdraft: Is your furnace causing water heater to malfunction? Furnace, kitchen-bath bent fans etc can affect vent draft on water heater. Called negative pressure. Is there evidence of rusting etc on top of heater, next to the draft hood? Is the furnace room particularly cold or wet? This is evidence of backdraft. Here is a simple test. When the water heater first fires up, a little heat will spill from the draft hood. It should only spill for a second or two under normal circumstances. So, with the furnace off, turn the temperature on your water heater up to cause it to fire up (make a mark on thermostat dial so it can be put back to the same place). Quickly, put the back of your hand to the draft hood to feel any heat spilling out. Count the seconds. Return the heater to normal temperature. Now wait a bit and fire up the furnace. Feel for any spillage at the water heater draft hood with the water heater off. Count seconds. Now fire up the water heater (furnace running) and check for spillage again. If furnace and water heater both vent into same chimney, the draft might not work properly. Water heater should have dedicated vent. For example a chimney vent pipe is eight inch, but the two vents (from furnace and water heater) going to it are both four inch. That bigger vent might be oversized and hard to warm properly for good drafting. If the furnace is power vent, then power vent will overpower natural draft, and cause backdraft through water heater vent. Having the furnace and water heater vents combined will cause problems. Likely the right fix is to run two, separate vents. |
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 AO Smith air intake on bottom of heater shown |
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to 14 things for troubleshooting water heater 2) Air supply getting to burner Air intake must be clean. If intake is blocked, the combustion flame is yellow and lazy instead of crisp and blue. Water heater might not stay lit. See manual for location of air intake. Do not install water heater in dusty environment. Avoid dusty environment that will clog air intake, cause unburned fuel, and create fire hazard. Some FV designs can trip if the air intake is clogged. |
 Avoid dust and dirt. Dirty, dusty environments pose hazards for all gas appliances. Water heater air intake will clog, and shut down burner or cause FV lockout. FV lockout |
 Larger image showing filter accessory surrounding base of heater Location of AO Smith/ American/ Kenmore/Whirlpool 3-legged water heater with arrestor screen that will clog with dust. If screen is clogged or restricted, the unit might go into lockout. First sign of trouble might water heater that will not light, Reset TCO thermal cut off located on front of unit and check color of flame. Lazy yellow flame indicates poor incoming air supply, or poor venting. Get adequate fresh air to unit and clean vent screen located on bottom of AO Smith products. If water heater will not light, then do steps above and continue troubleshoot using 14 steps listed below. |
 Inspect and Clean air intake flame trap) on AO Smith, State, American, Reliance, Whirlpool water heaters using feather duster or compressed air. Set 3-legged water heater on bricks so air intake is easily accessed. The purpose of the screen/flame trap is to prevent any ignition of flammable vapors from accelerating back into the room causing a flashover, injury, death, explosion, fire. This is the basic function of any flammable vapor system. Each manufacturer has developrf a different system, with Rheem/ Richmond/ GE to be the hardest to repair. AO Smith the easiest. Buy: Flame trap inspection mirror at Amazon Resources: Check the vent Reset TCO thermal cut off |
 Larger image Bradford White air intake Bradford White, Rheem, Richmond, Ruud, GE heaters require removal of combustion parts to clean arrestor screen located inside unit. Resources: How to clean combustion chamber How to troubleshoot FV lockout |
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Flame
should burn clear blue Lazy yellow flame indicates one or more of following: -Poor incoming air supply. -Inadequate venting. Vent clogged or obstructed. Troubleshoot vent -Dirty combustion parts. Clean combustion chamber -Low gas pressure. High gas pressure How to check gas pressure -Loose manifold tube between gas valve and burner -Wrong orifice -Bad gas control valve Troubleshoot by type of gas control |
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 Very hot attic causes oxygen molecules to spread too far apart to support pilot light. Increase ventilation to water heater Resource: Attic ventilation/ pilot outage pdf |
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Avoid
Corrosive environments Exposure to corrosive environments such as pool chemicals, process chemicals, bleach can damage burner parts. Air is drawn into water heater, and if air contains trace amounts of chemical, or chemicals are burned in the flame, this will damage water heaters over time, and shorten life of water heater. "Chemical vapor corrosion of the flue and vent system may occur if air for combustion contains certain chemical vapors. Spray can propellants, cleaning solvents, refrigerator and air conditioner refrigerants, swimming pool chemicals, calcium and sodium chloride, waxes, bleach and process chemicals are typical compounds which are potentially corrosive." Remove chemicals from same room as water heater. -Chemicals that will corrode water heater parts and vent pipe include: 'Spray propellants, cleaning solvents, refrigerants, swimming pool chemicals, calcium and sodium chloride, household bleach, waxes and process chemicals ... all these chemicals are corrosive at very low levels with no odor." Chemicals can damage burner parts Do not expose water heater to stored chemicals, swimming pool chemicals, laundry equipment Remove chemicals from same room as water heater. -Chemicals corrode water heater parts and vent pipe. 'Spray propellants, cleaning solvents, refrigerants, swimming pool chemicals, calcium and sodium chloride, household bleach, waxes and process chemicals are corrosive at very low levels with no odor." Poor venting can damage parts When there is inadequate draw, the water vapor cools and condenses on inside wall of vent pipe. This condensation water is acidic (pH 3-5) and corrosive. It will corrode steel metals and other materials. Improper venting causes water to drip down vent into combustion chamber of gas water heater. Parts inside combustion chamber rust. Holes develop in bottom of water heater. Inspect combustion chamber for rust and water. Avoid corrosive atmospheres / pdf Read Bradford White Pdf pg2-8 Read Rheem pdf Avoid corrosive atmospheres |
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| 14 things needed for gas water heater & .pdf resources | |
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What you need for
operation of gas water heater. General troubleshoot 1) Basic parts and operation 2) Adequate incoming air supply ... issues: closed doors, tightly insulated house, very hot attic. 3) Adequate air supply getting to burner... issues: dirty vent screen, dirty environment, maintenance. 4) Thermal cutoff ... TCO ... issues: failed part, maintenance, vent. 5) Flammable vapor lockout .... issues: exposure to vapors, bad FV sensor, failed FV system, 6) Fuel supply to gas valve thermostat ... natural gas and propane are different ... issues: wrong gas, low pressure, moisture in pipe, undersized gas meter, supply line too small for BTU rating. 7) Gas valve thermostat regulates fuel supply ... issues: not enough gas, failed thermostat, failed gas control valve. 8) Fuel supply from thermostat to burner ... issues: maintenance, thermocouple-thermopile, gas control valve. 15) How to install gas water heater 16) How to maintain water heater ... issue: periodic maintenance requires burner inspection, cleaning, and possible replacement 10) Functioning thermopile-thermocouple-pilot light ... issues: misalignment, failure of part. 11) Ignition of fuel supply by pilot light or hot surface igniter ... issues: pilot light, piezo igniter, electrode. 12) Power vent water heater troubleshoot ... issues: pressure switch, blower, blower sequence from gas control, outlet polarity 13) Venting combustion byproduct .... issues: vent in disrepair, other vents in house drawing air 14) Misc troubleshoot manuals 15) How to install gas water heater 16) How to maintain water heater |
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