Tools for Natural-Gas Furnaces

Drill

• A handheld drill is one of the most common tools used by contractors from all trades. With furnace installations, you can use it to attach various components of the furnace to each other or other surfaces, or you can use it to drill for bolt and screw installation. A drill also has attachments that can be used for the tightening of the mechanical fasteners for the duct work.

Brazening Tools

• Brazening is similar to soldering in that it utilizes a torch and metal to join two pipes together, but unlike solder, where flux is used, brazening uses a filler metal as the binding agent. The combinations of metal that brazes can be formed from will vary, depending on the target pipe being brazened, but copper, nickel and aluminum are the most common. The filler metal is held above the joined section and the metal heated to just near liquid state and coated over the joint.

Vacuum Pump

• For the pipes to be clean enough to use the brazening method, a vacuum pump is used to purify the gas lines of any oxides or other contaminates so the metal can bond purely and cleanly. Nitrogen is flooded through the pipes with the pump during the brazening stage, and is also used to remove moisture and air from the gas lines prior to their use.

Pressure Gauges

• No furnace can be installed without the use of a pressure gauge. The gauge checks the level of gas pressure in the gas line and allows the installer to adjust things as necessary to ensure that the furnace is getting just the right amount and pressure of gas. While anyone can use the tools, the knowledge of pressure gauges only comes with experience in the HVAC field.