How to physically remove a heater ...

[Randy Bishop]

Would you be willing to sell the old furnace?? I'm looking at re-installing the ones missing out of 2 Trilliums I own and really would like to buy yours it looks just like the ones in my other Trilliums....

[freddo411]

Gina,
I ended up pounding the hell out of mine with various hammers to help yank it out.

If I remember correctly, the inner, smaller outside vent must come out (or be destroyed) first.

Use the side access by the door, and use a pipe or 2x4 to apply heavy pounding blows to the outside vent piece.

When I finished, I pounded the remains for good measure.

Attached is a pict of the interior furnace cutout, with work in progress. You can see that I have cut out a bit more on the bottom, and I've patched the right side and the power converter holes. I've backed the edges with wood which is held in place temporarily with screws. Once the fiberglass sets up, I'll remove the screws, bondo it smooth, and refinish with paint.

The new heater is a 3000 watt radiant heater. It will mount on hinges outside of the closet, one the bed side.

The new power center is going in the side access cutout.

Originally Posted by Gina D.

I am having the same issue with a Hydroflame! I have been tugging on it for 3 hours, assuming it was a compression fit. I decided to ask here to see if I was wrong or insane.

I do not intend to re use the furnace as it started billowing smoke out the vent and flame out the front, so I don't really care about damaging it.

I have enough room in the wall try to get a wedge and pound the outter tube into submission..I'll let you know the results. LOL.

[Spanke]

Heres a quick and fairly easy solution to remove the furnace if you have a dremel tools and a cut off disc. Slice the outer shield as shown in the first pictures. This leaves a little flange on either side to reattach another piece of sheet metal on reinstall. Then use your dremel toll to cut the inner pipe from the inside leaving a small piece of pipe to attach a sleeve and slip back over the pipe when you put it back together. The furnace will then pull out easily from the inside and the outer pipe will pull out from the outside. No beating or solvents needed!

Spanke

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Spanke

Heres a quick and fairly easy solution to remove the furnace if you have a dremel tools and a cut off disc. Slice the outer shield as shown in the first pictures. This leaves a little flange on either side to reattach another piece of sheet metal on reinstall. Then use your dremel toll to cut the inner pipe from the inside leaving a small piece of pipe to attach a sleeve and slip back over the pipe when you put it back together. The furnace will then pull out easily from the inside and the outer pipe will pull out from the outside. No beating or solvents needed!

Spanke

The problem is that if you want to remove the burner it is necessary to get the fire box out of the housing. The two pieces of the exhaust tube will not slide out of the housing. The smaller tube is welded to the fire box. and the hole in the housing that it fits trough is too small for the outer piece. It is still necessary to separate the two telescoping pieces of the exhaust tube to get the burner out.

[itlives]

David- in post #9 you show the burner pretty good. Is that all that lights up on these. I used mine a few weeks ago and might as well have sleeping outside. I could see the flame through the little hole I lit it with. I couldn't see if the whole row was lit or not, though.
Do these heaters work pretty good in a 13' Trillium when it's 23 F outside- assuming they work as designed?

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by itlives

David- in post #9 you show the burner pretty good. Is that all that lights up on these. I used mine a few weeks ago and might as well have sleeping outside. I could see the flame through the little hole I lit it with. I couldn't see if the whole row was lit or not, though.
Do these heaters work pretty good in a 13' Trillium when it's 23 F outside- assuming they work as designed?

The test I did involved a 1500W electric heater, or about 5000 BTU, (1 KW = 3414 BTU). And my 8200 BTU heater, (more then I thought).

At -13C (9 F), with just the furnace, I froze. I could see the pilot through the same hole you describe. There was some heat coming from the furnace, as much came out the exhaust. With the electric heater running at 900W, (3100 BTU) I was comfortable. With the furnace off, and the electric heater at 1500 W, it was about the same as 900W with the furnace on. By my estimate, the furnace was producing at best, 600W, (2000 BTU). Since the burner looked good, it was my conclusion that the gas valve was defective, (what else could it be?). The heater is rated at 8200 BTU. The folks at Outback / Trillium tell me that the heater should be able to cook me, even at -13 C.

Since I spent a bunch of cash at Trillium / Outback, Jo Thoen offered to get it going for me. That was a couple of weeks ago. I think I will give him a call and see how it is going.

I did not try this, but on my home furnace, before we changed it, sometimes it would not come on. If I tapped the gas valve with the handle of a butter knife, I would hear the familiar whoosh of ignition. Maybe give that a try.

[itlives]

Thanks for the info. I'll try "fiddlin" with it before I change it.

[Spanke]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

The problem is that if you want to remove the burner it is necessary to get the fire box out of the housing. The two pieces of the exhaust tube will not slide out of the housing. The smaller tube is welded to the fire box. and the hole in the housing that it fits trough is too small for the outer piece. It is still necessary to separate the two telescoping pieces of the exhaust tube to get the burner out.

You don't have to remove the fire box or the exhaust tube to remove the burner.

In Pic.1 the Burner Stud as marked holds the burner in place. Remove the nut on the stud along with the nuts labeled 1,2,3,4 Behind and the sheet metal shield.

Slide the pilot and control valve assembly out and set aside. The burner will remain inside Pic.2

Slide the burner out through the same hole Pic.3

You can then clean/test etc. outside the fire box.

This furnace is a Duo-Therm 65810-2. Yours may be different.

Does anyone know what to use in place of the existing asbestos gaskets?

Spanke

[itlives]

Thanks spanke! That's easy enough to remember.

[Gina D.]

Spanke, thank you. As a geek, I always think of the most complicated scenerio...

how simple. Yes, I have Dremel and cut off wheel..

from the inside out.. simple! It pays to think outside the box..er, inside the tube..er...

sigh.. now I have tonites project.

I don't even have to consider rebuild.. this will be noisy..but easy. I will leave the outer tube as a passive fresh air intake. I heat with unvented heaters (I bought a Buddy heater yesterday as a stop gap until I get this out and the Blue Flame in) and the passive ventilation gives me a safety comfort point.

I did this with the guts from my 13 foot Burro Cat heater and it worked out well.

[David Tilston]

I went over to talk to Joe Thoen at Outback/Trillium yesterday. He got the tubes apart, but he had to remove the outer fresh air duct by drilling out the spot welds, then lots of heat with a torch and work it with a pipe wrench to get the exhaust tubes to telescope again. He tells me that he has a high temp anti seize compound on it so it will not be a problem in the future.

I also told him of the problems I was having with it not producing enough heat. He is testing it to see if it is the valve.

[David Tilston]

Yes it was the valve. Very pricey touch. I went looking online and the valve is at least $250 plus shipping to Canada, which according to UPS apparently near the moon. Joe at Outback / Trillium installed a new valve for $450, including the valve. Not bad seeing as he spent hours getting the exhaust apart. I think he gave me a deal.

Yeah, that's allot of cash for a rusty, 34 year old furnace. But, before I discovered all the other great things about a Trillium 4500, I really liked the idea of a gravity furnace. And especially the one on a 4500. And I likely would have spent more on a new one, that I don't like as much. Other then the valve, not much to go wrong. The burner and all other steal shows just a thin and spotty layer of rust.

A question for those in the know. Do I paint the burner and or fire box with anything, or just leave it alone?

Attached are pictures of the vent re-build. Or, as I like to call it, the Fannkin Vent. Notice that I still have the same problem with fit that I had before. The top of the vent is about an 1/8" out from the bottom. The top row of hole go into the bottom of the closet. Otherwise I would do what I am going to do with the rest of the holes, which is using a stainless steel bar, 1/16" thick or so, and 1/2" wide. Use it as a large washer for stainless nyloc nuts on stainless counter sunk bolts.


I tried to pound the vent with a pry bar and a hammer, (yes I wore safety glasses). But I just don't have the knack for metal bashing. I can live with the damage I did to the vent. Now I am thinking gasket. Any recommendations?

[RRJR]

I would just leave and not paint those item. As you note the item (new) was not painted then either. Probally OK to paint the exhaust and intake pipe tho.

Ron

[RRJR]

Forgot to ask. What are you using to replace the asbestos gaskets??

Ron

[David Tilston]

I did not paint the fire box, but I did paint the burner. It was so rusty that I worried that it would not last another 30 years. I used black high heat paint on the parts that were not stainless steel. I taped off the air intake. I also painted the cold air connection on the back of the fire box with the same paint. It was just as rusty as the burner.

As for the asbestos gasket replacement, Joe Thoen at Outback / Trillium put a silicone gasket in. I just talked to him. He can sell you what he uses. His phone # is (403) two seven two - 3929. You should have a sketch of the gasket that you require.

It should be noted that I did not use the Frankin vent either. Since I purchased a spare furnace, I used the vent from that. I kept the Frankin vent for a spare.