PVC caps help put a lid on potential furnace problems
Crystal Toenjes - Staff Writer 
A simple ventilation cap invented by a Tinker mechanical contractor has the potential to save base housing residents lots of headaches and the Air Force thousands of dollars.
“It’s a simple solution for a large problem,” said Kenneth J. Brown, heating, ventilation and air conditioning maintenance technician.
Mr. Brown, a contractor from KIRA, the military Family Housing Maintenance contractor, invented the E-Cap (the “E” stands for efficiency) which has been placed on all base housing units.
“You look at a PVC pipe up on your roof and wouldn’t think anything could get in it, but it does,” Mr. Brown said.
The PVC pipe is a simple vent installed on new high-efficient furnaces that lets unburned gasses escape. But the initial installation of the vent pipe did not consider that moisture and debris could get down the pipe and into the furnace. Mr. Brown’s invention provides a quick, easy and economical solution.
KIRA contract Project Manager Tim Ridings explained that the E-Cap is an easy way to reduce some maintenance problems including pressure switch failure, clogged reservoirs and draft inducer motor rust by keeping out the debris, moisture and small animals.
For years most homes on base had systems requiring metal ventilation pipes with metal caps that were not as energy efficient or as effective at keeping out debris. The government installed the 90 percent efficient furnaces in base housing in an effort to become more energy efficient and save money. When this was done the metal pipes were replaced with PVC pipes. However, because there was no cap available which fit them properly the pipes were either covered with caps that didn’t fit or nothing at all.
“What happens is they have problems with these pressure switches and inducer motors failing due to excessive water and environmental elements getting into the system,” Mr. Brown said.
Tinker is the first location anywhere to have the caps installed, and they hope to share it with other bases which could help the Air Force save thousands of dollars.
“We’ve got the potential to save anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 on materials alone each year,” Mr. Ridings said.
The clogs can cause leaks in the home, damage the unit and also become a safety issue when they cause the mechanisms to rust allowing carbon monoxide to escape.
“There’s a health and safety issue as well in addition to the cost of the failed units,” said Richard Hedges, quality assurance evaluator.
According to Mr. Brown, a base the size of Tinker with 730 units should only lose about 10-15 motors each year, but in the past year he personally installed about 40 motors. He said he couldn’t keep track of the number of pressure switches he had replaced.
“If you’re having that much of a problem at Tinker, when you look at those bases up north with more moisture and rainfall, their problems are probably magnified,” he said.
The E-cap is manufactured with General Electric’s “GELOY® Resin.” The resin is more flexible and made with a sunscreen so it is more resistant to chipping and cracking than other materials. According to the engineers the caps should last 10-20 years.
The cap is manufactured to fit 1.5 inch, 2 inch and 3 inch PVC pipes and installs easily in just a few minutes with standard PVC glue.
“Climbing the ladder is the hardest part,” Mr. Brown said.
The E-Cap is effective when installed on both vertical and horizontal pipes and can be used on both the intake and exhaust pipes.
“It will fit any of your major sized pipes for your home,” he explained. “Due to the design it keeps the debris out, and allows 28 to 78 percent greater air volume to escape than the actual pipe size.”
He added that major manufacturers have known there was a problem for a few years, but no one had a solution until now.
“I wanted to develop something simple that would be reasonable to make and that would do the job,” Mr. Brown said. “Yet my main focus wasn’t to invent a cap, but to find a cap out there to save the federal government money.”
(July 23, 2004)