Hardy furnace

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sspence205

New Member
Jan 1, 2012
1
southwest mo
I have a hardy furnace, I think that the domestic hot water side has gotten some sediment in it. The water pressure, only on the hot water in the house is much less than the cold and less that what it has been in the past. I can shut off a valve so I'm not feeding my hot water tank with it and the pressure is like it has been in the past. How can I drain/get the sediment out the the domestic hot water tank on the hardy. It doesn't look like it has a drain spigot and both the intake and exit are at the same height. Could I disconnect both intake and exit and blow it out with compressed air? Thanks Shane
 
Can u call your local Hardy rep or the company ? I havn't had to drain mine so I can't tell u how.
 
You will have to pipe in a couple access points, one each on supply and return that will allow you to chemically clean out the heat exchanger, which is simply copper tube if I remember right. Blowing it out with compressed air will likely do nothing because you are dealing with mineral buildup which has bonded to the inner wall of the copper.
The sequence of things is as follows:
In the incoming water line install a shutoff valve then a tee with a boiler drain before the water flow gets to your Hardy.
In the line coming back to your house, install first a tee with boiler drain and then a shut off valve after the line leaves you Hardy and before it reaches ANYTHING else.
If this means installing all this in the back of the Hardy then that is simply where it must be done. You are going to chemically clean the heat exchanger with some nasty stuff that you absolutely do not want in your water supply.

After everything is installed, you will need a small pump of some kind, a couple hoses to attach the pump to the boiler drains, a bucket and some heat exchanger cleaner from a plumbing supply house. (you could possibly try it with straight distilled vinegar or something like CLR)
The idea is to circulate the cleaning fluid through the HX until it is cleaned out. sometimes it can be saved sometimes not.
 
sspence205 said:
I have a hardy furnace, I think that the domestic hot water side has gotten some sediment in it. The water pressure, only on the hot water in the house is much less than the cold and less that what it has been in the past. I can shut off a valve so I'm not feeding my hot water tank with it and the pressure is like it has been in the past. How can I drain/get the sediment out the the domestic hot water tank on the hardy. It doesn't look like it has a drain spigot and both the intake and exit are at the same height. Could I disconnect both intake and exit and blow it out with compressed air? Thanks Shane

If you have a lot of calcium in your water, the build up can occur at the first fitting to the coil, not in the entire coil. i.e. where the cold water first meets the hot water.

I have a large storage tank with an internal heat exchanger and the build up occurs at the first fitting passing through the tank wall.
 
sspence205 said:
I have a hardy furnace, I think that the domestic hot water side has gotten some sediment in it. The water pressure, only on the hot water in the house is much less than the cold and less that what it has been in the past. I can shut off a valve so I'm not feeding my hot water tank with it and the pressure is like it has been in the past. How can I drain/get the sediment out the the domestic hot water tank on the hardy. It doesn't look like it has a drain spigot and both the intake and exit are at the same height. Could I disconnect both intake and exit and blow it out with compressed air? Thanks Shane

Just wondering if you tried anything or had any luck.
 
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