Propane boiler / home heating system question

Factual Questions
1

Hi all

I wonder if anyone here can give some advice about a propane boiler / hot water heater. We have a Burnham brand system which provides hot water and house heating (hot water radiators) in our New England home.

We’re changing propane suppliers. A guy from the new company was here last week to inspect things. I wasn’t here but he turned the gas off for about 15 minutes and then back on and decided all was well.

On Friday night I noticed that the system was running for much longer than it normally does. I didn’t do anything but noticed that the water was getting cool when I took a shower on Saturday morning and the system was still running. By “running” I mean the loud noise which I think is the blower fan for the exhaust. I have a desk here in the basement so I’m quite familar with the sounds it makes. I recognize the little tick-tick-tick-tick sound when the ignition is spark repeatedly is trying to ignite the flame shortly after the motor starts.

I took the front cover off the big box and there was no flame. Then the igniter spark started. I got down low and could see the little spark trying for about a minute but no flame. The sparking gives up and stops after about a minute but seems to try again every ten minutes or so.

Every so often, maybe once in a couple of hours, the spark was successful, the flame started, and every worked correctly. It burned with good strong flames for maybe ten minutes, the water came up to temperature and then it shut down as it should.

I kept an eye on it over the weekend and discovered just on a hunch that if I blew some air at the ignition spark as it was trying to ignite then that would make it work. I think the flame has started successfully every time I’ve done that but usually fails to work if I don’t blow on it.

My partner called the propane company. They also do repairs. I’m not sure if my observations were relayed accurately. The guy really only heard “hot water problem” and decided that the aquastat and the whole hot water cylinder tank needs replacing.

Here’s my questions. Is it reasonable to conclude that the immediate problem is just an ignition problem? I don’t know what it is but I guess either the spark is weak or not positioned properly or not enough gas is flowing at that point or something. The aquastat seems to be working fine. It successfully tells the system to try to start when the water is cool enough and shuts it down when it gets hot enough.

The aquastat does look kind of corroded and messy on the side of the tank so I’m willing to accept that maybe it needs replacing even if it’s not the cause of the immediate problem but I’m not convinced that the whole tank needs replacing. It’s 13 years old. We are the original owners so the tank is apparently under “lifetime” warranty but there is still quite a bit of labor cost.

What would be wrong with the tank that would make it need to be replaced? Outwardly it looks fine to me although I guess I don’t know what it’s like inside. Is it possible to replace the aquatstat without replacing the tank?

They haven’t really done anything yet and we haven’t paid or signed anything. There’s been a few missed phone calls etc. They’re going to call me first thing tomorrow morning to schedule the work, hopefully to be done tomorrow.

I don’t want to come across as the nerdly know-it-all but I understand basic feedback loops and I’m pretty sure that the aquastat was doing its job just fine and was not the cause of the problem.

Thanks for any advice.

2

Anyone who hears that there is a hot water problem and assumes that they know what parts need replacing should be replaced. Without seeing the unit I can not even guess what is wrong. But from what you have said I would doubt the problem is the Aquastat.

Be sure to get more than one bid.

3

You definitely have an ignition problem. You may have other problems that are about to happen but I would definitely get a 2nd or even 3rd opinion from a qualified technician.

4

Bolding and underlining is mine.

This. Do not hire the work done by someone who has not even seen your system.

Bolding is mine.

Yes , no one can know exactly what is wrong from descriptions over the phone from a homeowner. A good service rep MAY be able to give it a good GUESS, but they do not know. That being said, here is my GUESS. If they replaced or adjusted your regulator while changing over to the new supplier, then I would GUESS that the regulator is now set at to low of pressure. An adjustment may be needed, easy and cheep, just labor.

BTW, why did you change suppliers? Cost? sometimes it is worth a little more money to get a service rep who has a clue. I do not think that anyone can diagnose this problem over the phone. It seems to me that this service rep that your partner talked to is a “parts re-placer” not a true service tech. A"parts re-placer" is one who replaces parts until they find the “defective” part. This gets expensive in a hurry! If all you need is the regulator readjusted, they will eventually replace the good one with a new one and then adjust it. Problem solved! You are out big bucks, but it is working again. Not what I like to see.

IHTH, 48.

5

Or the regulator conked out when it was depressurized. Or the pressure’s fine and the new regulator, if there is one, is just plain too small. Certainly. I’d look to the tank before worrying about the boiler.

Actually, the first thing Id do is make sure that the cutoff valve is really open all the way. :smiley:

Is there a gas range/stove/cooktop in the kitchen? If so, any problems there?

6

Thanks for the replies. You’ve basically confirmed my thinking but … we’re going ahead with the tank replacement in a few days. I met a supervisor / technician’s boss from the company here yesterday because the technician who was here earlier had made the decision that the system was unsafe and had switched it off. He was worried about the aquastat getting stuck on. The supervisor guy yesterday made some adjustments and turned it back on so we at least have some hot water until Saturday.

He seemed to be in no doubt at all that the tank needs replacing as soon as he saw it. He said parts of it are rotted or something. I still don’t quite understand how he knows because it doesn’t look too bad to me from the outside but … I’m feeling reasonably comfortable with them. This is a local company that has been in business around here for about 50 years so … maybe I’m naive but they’re probably okay. I know that a second or third opinion would be nice but that’s not so easy when someone needs to take time off work to be here etc. I’m confident that they’re not just blindly replacing things until the problem is fixed.

They understand the ignition problem and that the tank and aquastat is not necessarily the cause of the immediate problem. It seems to be lighting better by itself now.