fish house furnace vent trouble

[Ryan_V]

I have a "Heil quaker" direct vent furnace in my permanent fish house on Mille Lacs. The shack is new to us and we got it out this weekend. The furnace works great, but the wind kept blowing out the piolet light. When I set up a piece of plywood blocking the wind from the vent, it stayed lit, before I did that, I couldn't even get the piolet re lit because of the wind. Looking at the vent on the outside i notice it's open. I'm thinking there is a piece like a baffle or something missing that would block wind, but allow proper venting. I looked online, but can't find anything. I might just have to "design and build" some sort of "box" to go over the vent with holes in the outside of it to allow venting but block wind. Anyone know where I might look to find something that is missing from my vent??? Again, the furnace is "Heil Quaker" and the model is "DVG20ALP". I would guess the furnace is from the 80's. Thanks in advance, heading back up next weekend, would like to have something to fix this!!

[Weissguy]

Ryan,

Does it have combination intake & exhaust tubes (3" and 5") one inside the other? If so maybe you can use an empire style vent cap like this.

Good luck

[Ryan_V]

I don't think it has the tubes like you described I don't have a picture, but it's rectangle shaped. The dimensions are at home, I can post them later

[blue_healer_guy]

a friend of mine gave me a good tip. the reason your pilot is going out is becuz your heater i assume is mounted directly to your wall. if you read the directions most say min. wall thickness is 4in or so. build a base on the inside of your house and then mount your heater to that. the more length you have lessens the chance of your pilot getting blown out from the outside.

[Ryan_V]

Blue, I believe it's installed properly, I looked at los of vents on houses on the lake, they are all protected, mine is wide open. I did a web search today and can't find squat. Called my plumber, he was going to check for me as well.

[blue_healer_guy]

so if i read what you have, its just a hole(pipe) sticking out of your wall? you definately have to have some kind of vent over that to protect from conditions.

[Ryan_V]

It's a vent, it just is not protected from the wind at all. I had it moved about 30 miles, I'm thinking something flew off in transport. I'm just hoping to find a part for it, instead of rigging something myself!

[Surface Tension]

Sounds like your missing the termination cap.

Question is to you have the combination combustion air and exhaust or just exhaust.

An RV service center might have the info for your furnace but should aleast have the correct replacement.

[Ryan_V]

Alright.... termination cap.... now I have the correct terminology, just need to find the part! That is proving to be the hard part! Thanks S.T.!

[delcecchi]

Also seems to be called vent cap sometimes. Just for fun I googled for it. Found several but with no pictures...

Did find this about the brand...

Quote:

HEIL-QUAKER: Purchased by Inter City Gas, Toronto, from Whirlpool Corp. in late 80s. Tempstar name added to replace Whirlpool name. HVAC division called Inter City Products, later International Comfort Products. In 1999, ICP was purchased by Carrier.

Sounds like it might be pretty old. Maybe this link and a few phone calls might help

http://www.heil-hvac.com/

[Ryan_V]

Thanks del! I saw that web site, but it didn't help. This is way more difficult than I thought it would be! Looks like I'll be making a home made box with holes to go over the darn thing!

[Surface Tension]

I'll have to take this time to say, be careful of what you put over the exhaust.

Post a picture and measure the dia of the hole. Just to be sure, this furnace doesn't require a battery and isn't power exhaust correct?

[Ryan_V]

Correct, no power or battery, just an old fish house furnace. Works great, except for the pilot being blown out!

[delcecchi]

I agree. The heil HSOforum basically is just a brochure, and "find a dealer". And the people selling parts don't have pictures or anything other than part numbers...

Maybe a dealer has some documentation. How old is the heater?

[Down Deep]

Call a local heating and cooling company. Vent caps are very common and the pipe has standard sizes. If it is an old furnace, for safety sake you might want to have a pro check it over.

[3pronghook]

have you checked the thermocouple? it may need to be adjusted so it stays in the flame so to say...not sure how to describe it. I have a longvie dv heater and had to adjust it so it stayed in the flame. its a probe like apparatus that sets close to pilot. was worse when furnace was first lit. would run wide open and then id hear a click and everything including the pilot would be out. was worse on windy days. I think it took awhile for the flume to heat up and create a good venturi but I did tweak its placement with a pliers relative to the pilot and ive gone a few years now without an issue?

[Ryan_V]

Was up this weekend. I put a "shroud" over the vent open on the top and bottom for venting, but blocked the wind from the front. It most definitely helped, but the furnace did go out once. The thermocouple seems to be in the proper place. I have pictures of the vent, but can't post them from my phone for some reason.

[Ryan_V]

Got it! But they are turned sideways