Safe secondary HX?

[mme121]

I've been informed by a tech that the "coating" is gone on my '86 Bryant secondary HX. An unusual sound (intermittent louder humming/vibration) brought the problem to my attention which the tech thought had to do with the moisture accummulation. It's out of recall range and obviously due for replacement. I'm looking for a new furnace, which I also have questions about for another thread, but need to know if it's safe to run the furnace in the meantime. The tech said it would probably shut down before CO is a problem and only one of four estimates so far have voiced any real concern about it. Please advise.

[qwerty hvac]

Did these contractors check for CO? Did they verify it is leaking at the HX? Did they actually inspect it?

[mme121]

Don't know if the service call tech actually checked, as he didn't say anything specific about CO. I should have clarified that the estimates after this initial "service" were for a new furnace and they didn't inspect the HX, only gave estimate for new. I'm call the tech back today who is from Consumers Energy here in Mich. to get a better explanation. He thought the HX was under the recall for Bryant and Consumers doesn't fix them under the service plan I have.

[qwerty hvac]

Gotcha. If it is under recall then I would suggest a replacement.

[mme121]

The recall doesn't include '86 only '89 and up so wondering if it's safe to run furnace until soon replaced.

[qwerty hvac]

The only way to tell is to check CO level. If you do not know your CO level then I would suggest not to run it. I also suggest not to run it if it is putting off any CO at all.

[mme121]

Thanks. If I find it's not leaking then I have more time to shop for a new one. Fun! More about that later.