Hurricane Furnace Exhaust

[Dick Simonis]

When I was getting my comfort hot installed by Jim Rixon he mentioned something about the original elbow installed by Beaver was a bit of a problem in that soot tended to clog them.  He was offering a replacement with has more of a sweep I believe.  This was a passing comment and I might not recall it exactly but it might be worth a call.  Jim was the original supplier of Hurricanes to the RV industry before ITR....know Beaver installation as well as anyone.

[Jeremy Parrett]

FYI.  I changed my mind about using a copper elbow .I bought a thick wall stainless 1 1/2 inch elbow that is an exact radius match to the copper original.  It is 1 1/2 OD so, I made sleeves to fit over the ends of the elbow where it joins the furnace and the muffler. I cut splits in the sleeves (1 1/2 inch ID muffler pipe) to facilitate fitting. I had to trim 1/4 inch off the SS elbow both ends and 1/4 inch off the sleeves.  Using some persuasion..lol.....I got the elbow in place and moved the sleeves to middle the joints and then double clamped both ends. I intend to make 2 thin wall 1 1/2 inch ID stainless steel sleeves to replace the muffler steel ones and have them welded to the elbow.
 This will reduce the clamps to 2 and make the unit look more presentable .It  isnt a priority right now.
The furnace seems to run more smoothly.  

[Joel Ashley]

Great job, Jeremy, and thanks for providing pix.  It is evident already that that elbow absorbs a great deal of heat in the bend, accelerating deterioration right at that point.

It's been 9 or 10 years, but when I had to replace the leaky/noisy header to exhaust tube fittings on our old Pace Arrow, I had a devil of a time getting the nuts and bolts removed.  One or two bolts had broken from heat expansion, and the others had nuts that had to be cut or cracked off when penetrating fluid wouldn't work.

Countless heating and cooling cycles and corrosion can even affect stainless fasteners and components.  You don't want these fittings to leak toxic gases, but they have to be made of composites that won't get brittle and crack over time, and flex to maintain the seal.  Memory fades, but seems like before remounting the replacement couplers, a muffler shop clued me into coating the bolt threads with something to facilitate future removal, basically high temp Anti-sieze Lubricant.  I think I got it at NAPA.

Joel

[Jeremy Parrett]

Hi Joel,
  you are correct. The elbows very tight radius  absorbs an incredible amount of heat.
    I could swear it actually glows !!
  The original  copper elbow is a definite weak link . The thick wall stainless steel elbow I used is made in Israel and available on line.  
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-5-Stainless-90-Elbow-Mandrel-Bend-Exhaust-pipe-tubing-304-New/181329613867?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222006%26algo%3DSIC.FITP%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D19852%26meid%3D5040090781720496060%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D8938%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D171239845891
 A good Dremel tool made removing the old copper part and clamps a breeze . The Hurricane exhaust is made of a hard bronze like metal. I had to trim 1/4 inch off   the Hurricane exhaust ,the muffler, and both ends of the elbow for a good tight  fit.