Orange/blue Flame

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mark hansen
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 2:40 pm

I have an older Presidential II furnace in my seasonal mobile Home near Michigans upper peninsula.
It has been converted from Natural to LP Gas.
I recently had the gas valve replaced and the tech told me that the flame in the furnace was burning a little to orange.
He told me that it looked okay but that the furnace would need to be replaced soon.
He also told me to make sure that I had carbon monoxide alarms just to be safe.
The furnace is used only two weeks maximum per year and the pilot is off when I'm not there.
Today I talked to a Mobile Home technician that does just about everything, Heating, Plumbing, Roofing etc.. we were not at the M.H. so I could not actually show him the furnace.
He told me that the Flame should be blue with orange tips.
He also said that it would be shame to spend a couple grand on a furnace that is hardly ever used.
My Question is, How much of an orange flame is acceptable?
The furnace seems to run just fine and like I said, I hardly ever use the furnace except during Deer Hunting and then I shut down the M.H. for he winter.
I look forward to all of your replies.
Thanks!
mark hansen
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 2:40 pm

I should add, when the Hvac tech replaced the gas valve and lit the furnace, he watched the flame for several minutes through the pilot hole to see if the flame danced around which would have indicated a crack in the heat exchanger.
He did not see or notice anything unusual and that's when he told me that the furnace should be okay.
jpingram5
Posts: 205
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 5:34 pm
Location: Orefield, PA
Contact:

Maybe it just needs some adjustment. Converting should have been pretty simple. Perhaps something was done incorrectly? Either way to me it would be worth it to just have a tech come out and make sure it is properly setup.

If your flame is looking "Orange", then it is not burning correctly and there is a problem. If it's the heat exchanger cracking/leaking that could become a very dangerous situation. It wouldn't be safe for us to toss around if it's safe or not without seeing this furnace. You should spend a few bucks and let a tech just check. Here's something to reference by:

This is what the flame should like
Image


This shows a few flames but as you see they get weaker 4 to 1. 1 being what you want.
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2009 Skyline Sunwood Premier 14 x 80
DaleM
Posts: 385
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:07 am

The flame should be mostly blue with orange tips. It should be blue as it wraps around the target/deflector then where it rolls up the blue will have orange tips. You can check to see if he converted the valve properly to LP gas. Directions for the conversion should be plainly posted on the furnace.
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