I’ve got a 2011 Trane XR 95 furnace (propane). About a month ago, when firing it up after the first cold spell, I noticed some wet spots on the floor near it. Took off the fan cover, and I could see corrosion on the blower motor housing and staining on the bottom of the blower area. I poured some water down the intake vent, and it started dripping out on the bottom. Sure enough, a heat exchanger leak. I called my Trane dealer out to take a look, and they confirmed it.
Since the heat exchanger for this furnace is under lifetime warranty, the part itself was replaced under warranty. Unfortunately, that doesn’t include the labor.
I just wanted to ask the “experts” on this board, if this type of failure is common. I mean—shouldn’t the heat exchanger be the LAST thing to fail on a furnace?
Especially on a brand like Trane, which was listed in the latest Consumer Reports as “most reliable” of HVAC brands? (It’s certainly one of the more expensive brands).
I asked the HVAC tech, and he says they have seen these exchangers fail. But it seems to be increasing more lately.
It’s fortunate I found it early enough. Something like this, leaking corrosive and acidic fluid all over—who knows the damage it can cause. There doesn’t appear to be too much damage as far as the tech is saying. Thing is, this is a component in an area of the furnace where most consumers usually don’t go into. I’ve seen pictures of these Tranes with the insides almost completely rotted out from this leakage.
I asked the tech what could have caused this ordinarily reliable part to fail. He said when he took out the old exchanger, it appeared to be slightly “skewed” in the mounting area. He suspects that at the factory, the unit was forced into the furnace housing not quite square. This put torsional stresses on the assembly, making it vulnerable to a crack. That’s his theory, at least.
I’m glad the part was at least under warranty. But I still have to pay for the labor. They had two techs working about half a day on it, so it won’t be cheap. As I said above—the heat exchanger should be the LAST thing to give out on a furnace. My previous furnace lasted 40 years with no issues like this.
I’ve attached some pictures of the rusted areas in the blower housing. As well as some pics of the removed exchanger.
How often do heat exchangers fail? And how reliable has Trane been, in your experience?
Thoughts? Opinions?