mod-con heat ex. cleaning

Unknown

a local installer I have near infinite respect for has been installing munchkins for years, and has never cleaned one, nor had it shut down.

however, we all err. I look forward to your pictures mark!

Big Will

looked at a munchkin today

the heat exchanger had not been cleaned in many moons. To the point were it would periodically shut off. Some gas buildup was causing ignition thump that was what got the customer to call. So I went after the heat exchanger with a wire brush and vacuum. I got it clean enough to run but the deposits are very hard and the spaces in these heat exchangers are narrow. I am tempted to use a coil cleaning chemical to dissolve solids and then rinse it real well. It was an after hours call or I would have called HTP to get some input on using chemicals. What do you guys use beside a brush and vacuum?

Big Will

I looked in the manual on line

said to use CLR or another chem I am not familiar with.

[Deleted User]

Protect the target wall....

You don't want it to get wet or it will disintegrate. Use a metal clean out cap as a protector. And flush the living (and dead) crap out of the condensate collection system or your condensate will back up on you later.

I'm getting ready to tear down my intentionally neglected (5 years) Munchie soon. Pictures will be taken.

ME

hot_rod

Use a stiff plastic bristle brush

I don't think a steel wire brush is good for the HX? Same with stainless steel flue pipes used on wood stoves, etc. Steel brushes may scratch the stainless and cause deposits to cling more readily.

Pet supply shop usually have a good supply of various shaped stiff brushes.

hr

Paul Pollets

Proper Cleaning

Never use a metal brush, it will damage the HX. Soak the HX with CitriSolv, which we heat up before putting in the spray bottle at a 1:4 dilution rate. We also use an expired credit card cut at a diaginal, to remove the sediment between the sections. As Mark said, watch the target wall and flush the condensate line and trap!!

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)_11

we use

paper soup bowls that, oddly enough, form a nice tight fit over the target wall. If the target wall has a tide-water mark on it from pooled condensate, it must be replaced to restore its non-heat-transfer for maintaining peak eff.

We use gas-grill brass brushes.

Also - squeeze the trap to 'feel' for accumulated deposits.

CLR in a quart-bottle plant-type sprayer and water in a second sprayer for rinsing.

Toss away the soup bowl, replace gaskets as req'd & combustion test.

Steve Gates_3

how did you get it to run 5 years? I've never had a munchkin last 2 years without a cleaning before shutting down. I missed one on the schedule last year.

Jed_2

Lessons Learned

So, Ya'll gonna put in Mestek 200i Ray's from now on? These "throw-a way's" gonna irritate the American public's
ire. That includes the big "V", too.

[Deleted User]

Throw aways???

I've not thrown away any of the mod cons I've used in the last 9 years.

You know something I don't, or are you conjecting?

That's how rumours get started. People conjecting.

ME

[Deleted User]

I dunno Steve...

I had my ace mechanic pull apart a Lochinvar Knight KBN 500 that had been operating almost continuously during the winter months heating a swimming pool/water feature, and he said the inside of the boiler looked brand new.

I can see my HXer through the fire eye, and it doesn't really look all that bad. I suspect a lot of it has to do with "environmental considerations".

ME

Big Will

Brass brush was ok

per the manuel. I ordered a new refractory and ignitor and flame sensor. This boiler has not had maintenance since its installation in 1999. minor external control repairs up to this point. That's pretty good for a throw away. Not to discount the good things about a cast iron but I do a lot of coastal work and stainless steel really has appeal. Also the decision has a lot to do with local representation. I can get parts for my Knights in three different woolsey wholesalers in the area. The munchkins are even easier for parts and both have great tech support.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Yep! Plastic or nylon brushes only. Metal brushes will scratch the HX which will only lead to more rapid accumulation of gunk and more difficult cleaning.

Unknown

t

back

Kal Row

i have many kinghts over 1.5 years running clean..

and they are running heavy - maybe it depends on the gas in the area and how much condensing you are doing - cause I aint touching mine - unless Lochinvar tells me that it's easier to do a quick brush once a year than remove encrusted stuff after 5 - I just don’t want to break the preformed front insulation - I took it apart at the Lochinvar factory training and it's real fragile - you know the saying "if it aint broke..."

Steve Ebels_3

Cleaning

A huge issue that greatly affects how often these boilers have to be cleaned is the initial burner set up. They HAVE to be dialed in with a combustion analyzer. Next on the list is environmental contamination as ME has said. One of my customer lives next to a farm and due to the amount of airborne dust in the combustion air, his Vitodens must be cleaned once or twice a year. I have others that are looked at annually but are a clean as a whistle.

That being said, the irregular spacing on the Giannoni(sp) HX used on the Mucnhie and Knight make cleaning a bit more difficult. I'll ditto what was said about the target wall. If it has been flooded, replace it.

Unknown

I use green scotch bright to clean the stubborn deposits.

I don't see any reason to believe that a maintained stainless heat exchanger will not have a decent service life. I would imagine that a condensing cast iron design would be sacrificing some iron and have service life issues of it's own.

The way things are going.. in ten or twenty years the price and availability of the fuels we are using may make these systems obsolete before they expire mechanically. Given the realities of our fossil energy landscape, high efficiency may be more important than equipment longevity. What good is a boiler that lasts 50 years if we can't afford the fuel.