[davidburns]

Hi all,

Enjoying this blizzard in Delaware at the moment but have lost heat. We have a heat pump for anything above 35 and then below it kick in aux heat which is LP. Seems our unit worked all last night till this morning. Codes 14 for not lighting so I cycle power and it goes through to the point where it ignites and then flames out. Then I get water pouring down the front of the unit right under where the 'flame box' is for a few moments. After quickly shutting power and placing a heater in front to dry things out I am left to wonder what my next step is.

Before I realized all this had gone on this morning the first thing I did was shovel all the snow away from the in/out snorkels behind the house. The exhaust was good but of course the inlet was buried in the snow unfortunately. So now it seems as though I have a unit full of water or condensate :gah:.

Any ideas on where I could start to maybe help myself? I will certainly call in the experts after the blizzard on Monday but am stuck for now with a wife, infant, and 2 kids all looking at me to do something. Is there a way for me to at least drain the water out somehow?

Thanks for any help anyone can throw my way.

Carrier Infinity 96 LP
upflow unit

 

[roughneck]

Take the intake apart and clean out the snow, or take the burner front cover off to see if it'll light.
BTW, where are you from? I live in Dover

 

[jeepgrady]

Why don't you switch back over to the hp?

 

[davidburns]

I wanted to let it dry a bit so water would not drip onto any of the boards and cause bigger problems. It must have been a cup of water that rained down so I was being cautious.

I live just outside Newark. I always ask friends at work that do HVAC if I should get a 'service' done but they always tell me the techs will come out and start telling me everything is bad so they can replace it. I did have a local company come out 2 years ago and their tech told me my ECM blower was bad and immediately wrote up a quote for 2 thousand to replace it. He did this right after he told me he had no tools to diagnose it but he has a lot of experience. I said no and 2 years later it is still running fine. You probably know the company by reputation, H***z*n.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[yuri]

You MUST dry it VERY thoroughly or expensive damage will occur if any wiring or the board or motors get wet. Use a hair dryer and fan if you have them.

If the intake pipe is not glued to the furnace but clamped on with a rubber coupling then remove it and blow air backwards into the pipe and it will also drain it. If not then cut it and do the same. You can get a coupling later and reglue it on. It is not dangerous on the intake and some guys use a rubber MJ plumbing coupling. Some brands have a rubber coupling there and it meets code. May have the same problem in the future. You can run it w/o the intake pipe on safely also temporarily. You can but the two pipes and wrap the joint with duct tape temporarily.

 

[davidburns]

Thanks a lot Yuri! I went ahead and pulled the inlet since there was just a single set screw. I had placed a towel underneath prior which really saved me since about 2 cups of water and some leaves poured out! I now have the fan circulating and a small heater and fan in front of the unit drying out the heater area. I will give the gas a try in an hour or so and see if she is happy again. Thanks to everyone for all the help!!! :biggrin2:

 

[yuri]

If it is going to be a chronic problem then there are ways to gooseneck and extend the pipes above the highest expected average snow level. Can be ugly to look at and in my area the exhaust needs insulating and they MUST carefully follow the manufacturers guide for that or the exhaust could recirc into the intake and cause damage. Check the install manual venting pics for more info.