Electronic air clean furnace wire broken

[morenuf]

I have been cleaning the removable grid units from my furnace electronic air cleaner for 11 years now and cleaning them in the dishwasher. I have not had any problems doing this for 11 years.

I cleaned them again 10 days ago and just found a wire loose in the bottom of the dishwasher. It msut have came off the grid unit (1 of 2).

Inspected the grid unit and yes it did come off the larger unit. Very thin gage stiff wire, one end had a metal crimp wedge shaped on it, and the other (judging from the remaining ones on other grids-- 5-7 more of them on the same larger unit) end was missing and seemed to have just broken off. Broken wire short by an inch or so.

I had no other wire to match it, but found the closest I could, spliced it in by stripping it & twisting and reconnected it. Not entirely sure it will hold permanently but seems okay.

Electonic air cleaner control lights come on, and a few clicks & pops when dirt is captured and static charge is released can be heard when blower is running.

Unit seems okay, no shorts other grids & wires remaining all okay.

Is this okay to have done this?

I banged on my ducts and it did seem to release some dirt and unit clicked away but I really can't believe my 11 year old ducts are that clean. But unit seems to be running albeit quietly.

Thanks in advance.

Morenuf

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Guitar string comes to mind. I have been cleaning it in dish washer too last 10 years. No problem so far. Tony

[SJF]

I assembled a Heathkit electrostatic air cleaner for my furnace a number of years ago. As I recall, the grid wires were tungsten to resist the corona induced erosion that would eventually eat away a softer metal such as iron. Seems like you'd need to contact the manufacturer for exact replacements.

The wire diameter is also critical. The corona effect that releases ions to the passing dust particles is diminished with larger diameter wires. This would reduce the effectiveness of the filter.

Quite likely, the only available replacement will be the entire removable filter unit. However, consider this -- if only 10% of the wires are missing, the effect is that 10% of the air is not being filtered. The fine dust being removed electrostatically is now 90% of that entering the filter. That's still pretty good filtering for home purposes. Hence, loss of one, or a relatively few, wires may not justify replacement, depending on elements of cost and convenience, of course.

SJF

[Dr. Hardcrab]

It may be O.K. You didn't say what brand it was. You may be able to Google it and find some place that has replacement parts. I know Honeywell does....

[Duane Bozarth]

As does Bryant--I replaced several on a 20+ (dare I use that again, DJ? :) ) yr old unit a couple of years ago.

Speaking of which, the HV supply has died on mine, unfortunately and there are no OEM replacements available. Anybody know of a supply for them? (4-6 kV/3 mA, iirc).

[morenuf]

thanks for comments guys, most informative.

I will search for parts on Goggle. The short piece of temporary wire will probably work in the interim.

My furnace and Electronic Air Cleaner are Carrier brand.

Incidentally, a friend 8+ years ago had to find parts for his then new Bryant furnace and discovered or was told that Carrier makes (owns? or Bryant relabels Carrier made products?) Bryant. He got his parts from Carrier. (this info 8+ years ago).

Morenuf

[Duane Bozarth]

...

...

If you find a source, let us know. I've had no luck that way. Got replacement discharge/corona wires from local HVAC guy, but he had no luck on the HV supply. They weren't expensive as I recall--something like maybe a dollar apiece. Came in packages of a half-dozen, iirc, already preformed and of proper length--convenience, personified. :)

What's the dimensions of your unit? I dearly miss the one not functioning here but no room for anything larger than presently installed and found nothing else to fit the current opening (roughly 12" thickness).

[Dr. Hardcrab]

12"??!! Most are about 4". I know you can buy the 4" pleated "box" filters that can go in the same space as the grids. If the grids go completely south you can always use them as an alternative. A little pricey, but they do a good job.......

[Duane Bozarth]

Not the grids is the problem...the HV supply is dead...

[morenuf]

No luck at all finding parts for the Carrier Electronic Air Cleaner. The broken wire is not to be found online.

Sigh.

I will have to buy a replacement wire through my local HVAC repair service company I guess.

I will let it run in the interim with the scrap wire (about an inch) splice in place. It may corrode as some suggested.

My unit Carrier 31KAX016100 model is about 12 years old and is the 4 inch width as most others reported. Unit seems to be working fine.

Thanks to al for input. Morenuf

[RogerAtl]

There are a few online locations to get your corona wires. Try

for a 6 pack at $57.90 as of this writing. Several others selling single wires for $12 or so. Good luck.