Guys,
I wanted to post an interesting update.
What happened to me, really frustrates me, but I guess buyer beware.
As I have learned from this group. Here is my heating system:
I have a hydro-air system with 1 boiler located in basement, supplying radiators in both the upstairs and downstairs blower units. Each blower unit also contains a cooling coil for the AC. 1 duct in basement goes to attic duct work in attic for upstairs and other duct work in basement goes to downstairs.
Original problem.
I have a service contract with my heating oil contractor. I noticed a water leak. He stated that I had 2 leaks. One leak was from a draining valve located on the bottom of the boiler. All he had to do was to hand tighten the valve and that would stop this leak. This leak split into 2 areas. One area was leaking onto the left side of my boiler and the other leak dripped on the right side of my burner to the duct work that fed the downstairs unit.
Immediately, on that visit, the first thing the repairman (that I had a service agreement with), immediately said that the coil in the downstairs ductwork had a leak and would have to be replaced. The company faxed me a price of $970 to replace.
I of course mentioned that since the valve he tightened showed a direct path to the duct work that was leaking and that he now stopped the drop leak, that maybe the duct work was not a problem. He emphatically stated that the duct work coil would have to be replaced.
I having heard of the $970 price for fixing this, had stated that since the valve that was leaking showed a direct path to the duct work, that maybe there is no coil problem in the duct work. He disagreed. In addition, when I asked for the faxed estimate from the oil company (Petro/Reliance), they seemed peeved that I actually wanted a written price.
After I sopped up the water at the duct work in quesiton, there was a water puddle the next day. Seemingly suggesting I still had a problem.
Well, here is the mind blower. Since I was interested in understanding and possibly fixing the problem myself. I cut away the duct insulation to get a better look at my duct, I had to cut away the bottom 6 inches on the bottom of the duct insultation because it was sopping wet. I also opened up the duct insulation to expose the metal duct to air.
Unbelievable, that once I cut the 6 inches of duct insulation that was sopping wet, I noticed that there was no insulation wet above the 6 inches.
Now, after a couple of days, there has been no leak whatsovever, So problem was solved by just having the service rep, tighting a drain valve that was located on the bottom of the burner and then removing the wet duct insulation that was attached to the bottom of the duct.
Everything now works fine, including the fact, that I did not spend $970. In addition, my local plumbing supply has told me that the coil that I would need replaced would cost $175 plus any labor from a contractor.
What a ripoff that I almost succumbed to.
Now, it took a number of posts on this forum to acquire a basic knowledge of my system.
I am grateful to all of you guys. You saved me a lot of money.
Thank you for your help.
Much appreicated.
Lawrence M. Seldin, CMC, CPC
Contributing writer for FUTURES Magazine Author of RECRUITSOURCE PEOPLESOFT EXAM and RECRUITSOURCE SAP/R3 EXAM Author of POWER TIPS FOR THE APPLE NEWTON and INTRODUCTION TO CSP
NOTE: To send me an email, remove TAKEOUT from my email address: snipped-for-privacy@seldin.net
NOTE: My web home page: