Water heater blower leakage detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11079139-B2
Application number	US-201816141585-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2018
Priority date	Sep 25, 2018
Publication date	Aug 3, 2021
Grant date	Aug 3, 2021

Abstract

Methods and systems for determining a possible leak within a gas water heater. One system is a gas water heater including a blower and an electronic processor. The electronic processor is configured to activate the blower for a predetermined amount of time, receive, during the predetermined amount of time, a measurement of a characteristic of the blower, perform a comparison between the measurement and a predetermined characteristic threshold, and determine, based on the comparison, that a blockage is present within the water heater. The electronic processor is further configured to output a notification in response to determining the blockage is present.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A gas water heater comprising:
a blower; and
an electronic processor configured to
activate the blower for a predetermined amount of time between a first heating cycle and a second heating cycle of the gas water heater,
receive, during the predetermined amount of time, a measurement of a characteristic of the blower,
perform a comparison between the measurement and a predetermined characteristic threshold,
determine, based on the comparison, that a blockage is present within the water heater, and
output a notification in response to determining the blockage is present

wherein
the measurement is a minimum electrical characteristic measurement of the blower measured during the predetermined amount of time,
the predetermined characteristic threshold is a minimum electrical characteristic threshold, and
wherein the electronic processor is further configured to output the notification when the minimum electrical characteristic measurement fails to exceed the characteristic threshold.

2. The gas water heater of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to an electrical load that the blower would experience when there is a particular amount or more of condensate within a tube coupled to the blower.

3. The gas water heater of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to a particular amount of condensate.

4. The gas water heater of claim 1 , wherein the blockage is indicative of a leak within the water heater.

5. A gas water heater comprising:
a blower; and
an electronic processor configured to
activate the blower for a predetermined amount of time between a first heating cycle and a second heating cycle of the gas water heater,
receive, during the predetermined amount of time, a measurement of a characteristic of the blower,
perform a comparison between the measurement and a predetermined characteristic threshold,
determine, based on the comparison, that a blockage is present within the water heater, and
output a notification in response to determining the blockage is present,

wherein the electronic processor is further configured to determine, based on the measurement, an approximate amount of blockage; and
adjust a period between purge cycles of the water heater based on the approximate amount of blockage.

6. The gas water heater of claim 5 , wherein the measurement is an air pressure measurement from a pressure sensor configured to measure an air pressure proximate to the blower and the predetermined characteristic threshold is a maximum pressure threshold.

7. The gas water heater of claim 6 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to receive, from the pressure sensor, a series of pressure measurements of an airflow within the blower over the predetermined amount of time, and wherein the comparison further includes analyzing, when the measurement exceeds the predetermined characteristic threshold, a plurality of pressure measurements over at least a portion of the predetermined amount of time to determine whether the measured pressure over time is approximately constant, and wherein the electronic processor is further configured to output the notification when the measured pressure over time is determined to be approximately constant.

8. The gas water heater of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to an electrical load that the blower would experience when there is a particular amount or more of condensate within a tube coupled to the blower.

9. The gas water heater of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to a particular amount of condensate.

10. The gas water heater of claim 5 , wherein the blockage is indicative of a leak within the water heater.

11. A method of determining a leak within a water heater based on a characteristic of a blower of the water heater, the method comprising:
activating the blower for a predetermined amount of time between a first heating cycle and a second heating cycle of the water heater,
receiving, during the predetermined amount of time, a measurement of a characteristic of the blower,
performing a comparison between the measurement and a predetermined characteristic threshold,
determining, based on the comparison, that a blockage is present within the water heater, and
outputting a notification in response to determining the blockage is present,

wherein the measurement is a minimum electrical characteristic measurement of the blower measured during the predetermined amount of time,
the predetermined characteristic threshold is a minimum electrical characteristic threshold, and wherein the method further comprises outputting the notification when the minimum electrical characteristic measurement fails to exceed the characteristic threshold.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to an electrical load that the blower would experience when there is a particular amount or more of condensate within a tube coupled to the blower.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to a particular amount of condensate.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the blockage is a result of a leak within the water heater.

15. A method of determining a leak within a water heater based on a characteristic of a blower of the water heater, the method comprising:
activating the blower for a predetermined amount of time between a first heating cycle and a second heating cycle of the water heater,
receiving, during the predetermined amount of time, a measurement of a characteristic of the blower,
performing a comparison between the measurement and a predetermined characteristic threshold,
determining, based on the comparison, that a blockage is present within the water heater,
outputting a notification in response to determining the blockage is present,
determining, based on the measurement, an approximate amount of blockage, and adjusting a period between purge cycles of the water heater based on the approximate amount of blockage.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the measurement is an air pressure measurement from a pressure sensor configured to measure an air pressure proximate to the blower and the predetermined characteristic threshold is a maximum pressure threshold.

17. The method of claim 16 , the method further comprising
receiving, from the pressure sensor, a series of pressure measurements of an airflow within the blower over the predetermined amount of time,
analyzing, when the measurement exceeds the predetermined characteristic threshold, a plurality of pressure measurements over at least a portion of the predetermined amount of time to determine whether the measured pressure over time is approximately constant, and
outputting the notification when the measured pressure over time is determined to be approximately constant.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to an electrical load that the blower would experience when there is a particular amount or more of condensate within a tube coupled to the blower.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the predetermined characteristic threshold corresponds to a particular amount of condensate.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the blockage is a result of a leak within the water heater.

Assignees

• Smith Corp A O

Inventors

• Branecky Brian Thomas

Classifications

• F24H15/116

  Disabling the heating means in response thereto · CPC title

• F24H15/112

  Preventing or detecting blocked flues · CPC title

• Y02B30/00

  Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC] · CPC title

• G01M3/3272

  for verifying the internal pressure of closed containers · CPC title

• F24H8/006

  Means for removing condensate from the heater · CPC title