Hurricane spare parts

[barbhalsell]

We have the Hurricane out and will be doing the recommended maintenance. The Hurricane manual lists spare parts to have on hand. What are the most common parts that should probably be replaced in our 12 year old system? What spare parts should we actually have in back up? And the most important question, where do I buy the parts from?
Barb

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Barb,

I would keep a spare nozzle and a spare fuel filter.  Others may have more suggestions.  I have bought all my stuff from ITR.  I keep a small bottle with a screw cap in the bay so when I need to bleed the system I have a receptacle.

The fuel filter I buy at napa.

Good luck Tom

[Joel Weiss]

FWIW, I'm planning on taking my Hurricane to the factory in WA later this year. ITR has a variety of "refurbishment" plans up to and including one which even provides a "new" product warranty.  Although I doubt I'll probably go that far (that plan is ~$2.2k), there are a variety of options as to how far we go with replacement parts.  I'll probably have the circulating pump replaced and a few other things.  

[Gerald Farris]

Barb,
A new nozzle is not a bad idea, however the nozzle can be easily disassembled and cleaned. So if you clean the nozzle yourself, you should have a few nozzle "O"rings to replace the old "O"ring when you clean the nozzle. The other spare Hurricane part that some of us carry is the igniter.

Gerald

[barbhalsell]

Talked to ITR this morning. They have a 5 year replacement parts/maintenance kit that includes flame sensor,nozzle with oring and 1 extra oring,ignitor,fuel filter,air filter,and nozzle filter. There might have been something else in there but Kevin talks REAL FAST! I had a hard time trying to make a list. Anyway, the kit runs $295.00 and he did mention he could do a %10 discount off of that.
What do you think? Is this a good deal?
Barb

[Dick Simonis]

I've been following this discussion and thinking along the same lines.

Personally, I am viewing the Hurricane as convienant but not essential system as the hot water heater is a seperate unit and unaffected by any problems with the system.  I'm probably not going to bother carrying many spare parts since they would be available in a couple of days anyway.  From the readings, it would appear that few components would cause a catastopic failure.  I'm thinking the o-rings would be adaquate for my purposes.

If my travel plans take me to an area where my electric baseboard heater and portable heater are inadaquate for heat, I may stock up on couple of things.  Plus I'm going to get a portable propane heater to supplement the electrics since I'm already plumbed with an outlet in the kitchen.

When we lived on our 50' sailboat I was alway getting spare parts none of which were never needed...always something else died, and 99% were inherited by the new owner.  Fastners, o-rings, and fluids much were the high usage items.

I think I could have bought a new boat for the price of the spares.

[Joel Weiss]

Talked to ITR this morning. They have a 5 year replacement parts/maintenance kit that includes flame sensor,nozzle with oring and 1 extra oring,ignitor,fuel filter,air filter,and nozzle filter. There might have been something else in there but Kevin talks REAL FAST! I had a hard time trying to make a list. Anyway, the kit runs $295.00 and he did mention he could do a %10 discount off of that.
What do you think? Is this a good deal?
Barb

Barb:

I'd ask what the difference is between this parts package and the one that is used with the $2200 "full rebuild" package.  The latter probably includes the circulating pump and other stuff.  That way you can make a decision as to how much you want to purchase in advance.  My Hurricane is 12 yrs old and has almost 2,000 hours.

Joel

[Gerald Farris]

 Barb,
I normally only carry spare nozzle "O"rings. I replaced the igniter a few years back because of some corrosion, so I carry the old igniter as a spare since it still works. Other than that the most commonly replaced parts (fuel filter,air filter. and fuel pump) can be purchased a any Napa store, so why carry them?

Gerald

[Glenn Perkins]

In addition to Gerald's comment, I would add that a fuel pump replacement is easy ... NAPA's standard electric pump works just fine as an easy replacement for the ITR pump and can be mounted outside the Hurricane casing.  Thanks to Mike Flowerday's suggestion, this workaround saved me saved me a lot of downtime, cold temps and several dollars when the ITR fuel pump failed while in Las Vegas over the Christmas holidays a few years ago.

Glenn

[barbhalsell]

I really appreciate all the opinions and info. The Hurricane could certainly c-note us to death if we let it!

[Dick Simonis]

In addition to Gerald's comment, I would add that a fuel pump replacement is easy ... NAPA's standard electric pump works just fine as an easy replacement for the ITR pump and can be mounted outside the Hurricane casing.  Thanks to Mike Flowerday's suggestion, this workaround saved me saved me a lot of downtime, cold temps and several dollars when the ITR fuel pump failed while in Las Vegas over the Christmas holidays a few years ago.

Glenn

Glenn, do you happen to recall the flow/pressure specs of the Napa pump that you used???  Anything external to the "box" would be a boon as it's not real easy to remove.  Also, thinking that an external inline fuel filter might also be handy.

[Gerald Farris]

When my ITR fuel pump failed, I replaced it with the standard  4 lbs fuel pump from Napa. However, I was able to mount it inside the case were the original pump was mounted with the use of a few extra pieces of brass pipe and elbows.

Regardless of were you mount the replacement fuel pump, if your original one fails, the Napa fuel pump, fuel filter, and air filter work as good as the ITR parts for half the price, and they are readily available almost everywhere. However, the igniter and nozzle are only available from ITR.

The bottom line is that the unit can be maintained inexpensively, if you are willing to put in the effort to overcome the learning curve and get your hands dirty occasionally.

Gerald  

[barbhalsell]

 

"The bottom line is that the unit can be maintained inexpensively, if you are willing to put in the effort to overcome the learning curve and get your hands dirty occasionally. "

Gerald   [/quote]

And that we are!

[barbhalsell]

So, I think a few o-rings and maybe the ignitor are on the must have now list.
Another idea to improve the system. What do you think of the idea of installing  3/4 inline brass shut-off valves incoming and outgoing on the water/coolant pump to prevent having to drain the system, should you need to remove the pump or work on the system?

[Gerald Farris]

Barb,
I do not think that installing the valves would be worth the time and expense. Circulating pump failures are rare, and you would be creating another possible location for a leak.

Gerald