Wednesday night I had what I call a unscheduled water change opportunity, although my wife insist I call it a flood from the hose coming off my return pump in my sump. After cutting power and scrambling to use every available towel and the wet-dry vac to clean up the flood upstairs where the tank is located against an outside wall, I checked out the basement underneath the tank. Water had leaked down from above and the basement carpet and pad were wet. The water had also run along the sill on top of the foundation, and the ends of the basement ceiling insulation (the joists run perpendicular to the wall where the tank is located) touching the sill were wet for about 6 of the joists. I pulled the ends of the insulation to let it hang and dry, wet vac'd the floor, and folded the rug and pad up to expose the wet areas to air and set up the dehumidifier to dry things out.
Thursday night I noticed dripping from a seam in the insulation around a hot-air duct about 8 feet into the basement from the wall where the tank is located above, so I put a bucket underneath to collect the drips. My tank stand actually sits on top and mostly blocks a duct on my forced hot air system, so I assumed some of the water had entered the six inch round metal supply duct and had leaked out wetting the fiberglass insulation (which was trapped by the standard grey, plastic waterproof outerlayer) wrapped around the ductwork. Last night it was still dripping, so I cut and removed all the wet duct insulation (a total of about 12 feet back from where it goes to the floor duct upstairs). However, the bare metal duct was still dripping at a seam. I drilled a hole on the bottom side of the metal duct, and had quite a steady stream of water, and wound up collecting about another quart of water that had been inside the air duct!
My question is if the residue from the saltwater in the duct enough to cause a long-term corrosion problem? Or is there not enough salt to cause more than a surface corrosion issue inside the duct? I have the heating system fan on to dry it out now, but I know salt can absorb water on standing, so I can't guarantee it will stay bone dry during the summer months when the heating system isn't running. It would not be an easy job to remove the duct work and clean the insides out to remove any salt residue, so I would prefer not to do that unless absolutely necessary. Would appreciate any expert advice.
Thursday night I noticed dripping from a seam in the insulation around a hot-air duct about 8 feet into the basement from the wall where the tank is located above, so I put a bucket underneath to collect the drips. My tank stand actually sits on top and mostly blocks a duct on my forced hot air system, so I assumed some of the water had entered the six inch round metal supply duct and had leaked out wetting the fiberglass insulation (which was trapped by the standard grey, plastic waterproof outerlayer) wrapped around the ductwork. Last night it was still dripping, so I cut and removed all the wet duct insulation (a total of about 12 feet back from where it goes to the floor duct upstairs). However, the bare metal duct was still dripping at a seam. I drilled a hole on the bottom side of the metal duct, and had quite a steady stream of water, and wound up collecting about another quart of water that had been inside the air duct!
My question is if the residue from the saltwater in the duct enough to cause a long-term corrosion problem? Or is there not enough salt to cause more than a surface corrosion issue inside the duct? I have the heating system fan on to dry it out now, but I know salt can absorb water on standing, so I can't guarantee it will stay bone dry during the summer months when the heating system isn't running. It would not be an easy job to remove the duct work and clean the insides out to remove any salt residue, so I would prefer not to do that unless absolutely necessary. Would appreciate any expert advice.
