Servicing Water Heater and Furnace

[OldForester]

We don't have Hydro-Hot/Aqua Hot and have the propane/electric water heater and the propane furnace, in in addition to the Dometic propane/electric refer.

I am familiar with cleaning the burner on the refer, along with the exhaust stack for annual service, but have not touched the propane burners on the furnace and the water heater.

Is the procedure the same,e.g., clean the orifice and blow out the burner area with compressed, and the frequency of cleaning the same as the refer, or is there something that needs to be done differently?

[Ray,IN]

You are right about frequency, annual cleaning is required by the mfgr. to keep the warranty valid. I just cleaned our Suburban water heater. I removed the burner head and igniter (both on the same bracket) and used a shop-vac to clean out the combustion chamber. The gas part of the refrigerator is cleaned as you described.

[Old Rv'er]

Do not clean the orifice in the furnace or water heater. The orifice is an “Industrial Ruby pressed in device" and putting a “cleanout” wire into that hole will destroy the ruby (yeah that real expensive stone they sell in jewelry) and then you are buying a new nozzle.

Water heater service: Blow out the combustion tube with compressed air not having more than about 40-45psi pressure. Wear safety glasses and stand to the side of the exhaust port, or all that scale will be in your face. You can get a cheap flue brush at Harbor Freight to push down that tube if you really want to get stuff out of it prior to the air treatment. Flush the water heater tank, and using a (purchase one at CW) water clean out tool on the end of the hose, clean out the minerals and sludge.

Furnace: If the exhaust and intake pipes are open and clean by blowing them out, that should be all you need to do to the furnace.

I would run both monthly for about 30-60 minutes each to keep the bearings in the motors and solenoid gas valves operational. Running the furnace burns off the dust which accumulates in the combustion chamber.

Hopes this helps in time before you mess up the orifices.

[OldForester]

Monty,

Thanks for the tips. I have cleaned the tank with the water clean out tool every year on the water heater. Just never did the combustion tube. Did not know about the ruby in the orifice on the heater or the furnace and glad you commented. I haven't touched them and won't now for sure.

I always run both monthly so they're working but was didn't know that piece of info on the cleaning of the burners-- thanks.

[Old Rv'er]

OF - FWIW - The hydro hot is nice when it works, when it does not it bleeds cash like it's a kid. I am fortunate that I know how to fix them, so all it takes is parts, some of those however are like a kid too, bleeds money. And like everything else, it needs to be run monthly or sometimes the stir pumps don’t want to work correctly.

And your welcome this is the best place to learn about Alpine's and motorhomes as well.