trouble with heat maker 2

dannyboy141

I have a heat maker 2 . Yesterday that boiler was running through all cycles , purge , flame, ingition etc then would fire up for like 6 seconds and then would shut down and try to start again couple times then would lock out and i would have to reset boiler. I noticed when the boiler would start it would rumble i would here water and air trickling around in cumbustion chamber then would shut down. I noticed as this happened the pressure and temp would go up high and would bounce up and down. As this happened i opened the vent for the coil in combustion section and i got lots of air and steam. I then realized that there was no circulation within the boiler itself which was causing the water that was in coil to quickly heat up and flash to steam and build pressure and temp which is why boiler quickly locks out. I then realized that the small taco circulator that is within the cabinet of the boiler was not working. I confirmed this by phyically taking pump out and seeing if it circulates when boiler is going through cycles. I quickly discovered that was not running . I then put a plug on the pump bypassing the controls complety and plugged pump into wall. This seemed to work at first, Boiler fired and stayed running for a while but then started banging and popping .. backfiring.. It was kind of scary ..! My thought is that maybe there is a combustion air problem or problem with gas valve which is the reason the circulator is not coming on.. Like maybe the controller is not getting signal to send 120 volts for a reason and thats why that pump is not running. I know there are safetys for combustion air etc.. I am a pipe fitter but im lacking in electrical knowledge..  Are these boilers reputable? I have never seen one before. Was thinking of junking it and putting in little weil mcclain. This one has domestic heat exchanger by the way. Anyones advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks

Steve Whitbeck

Turn it OFF

Turn the boiler OFF NOW - DO NOT atempt to restart it.

You are on the verge of melting the heat exchanger.

You have a water pressure / circulation problem.

CALL A SERVICE COMPANY NOW

do not try anything.

icesailor

Heatmaker 2:

Does it have a tank or is it a stand alone boiler?

They were good units in their time. Youre must be long in the tooth and could be replaced. Its not easy to get parts. Often parts are salvaged.

There's a pressure switch that is supposed to keep it from running if there isn't any pressure in it.

You need someone that knows about them.

Steve Whitbeck

NO

No pressure switch - It has a flow switch that is notorous for going bad.

dannyboy141

tough spot

You think a bad pressure switch is the problem? It seems i have a couple of issues here.. I wish i could find someone familiar with these units. I just looked at pdf on this model and used the flow chart for trouble shooting and its telling me i need a new control board part #2400-224 which is$ 270.. I dont know if i should just rip it out put nice little weil mcclain boiler in which is much easier to work on. the boiler was installed in 94... have to make a choice because its a rental prperty and i have a tenent living there.. luckily hes cool and has been staying at his girlfriends but thinking by the time i have someone look at it , get parts etc i could have the new one installed and know that i will not have problems with it for years to come... what do you guys think?

dannyboy141

tough spot

You think a bad pressure switch is the problem? It seems i have a couple of issues here.. I wish i could find someone familiar with these units. I just looked at pdf on this model and used the flow chart for trouble shooting and its telling me i need a new control board part #2400-224 which is$ 270.. I dont know if i should just rip it out put nice little weil mcclain boiler in which is much easier to work on. the boiler was installed in 94... have to make a choice because its a rental prperty and i have a tenent living there.. luckily hes cool and has been staying at his girlfriends but thinking by the time i have someone look at it , get parts etc i could have the new one installed and know that i will not have problems with it for years to come... what do you guys think?

dannyboy141

tough spot

You think a bad pressure switch is the problem? It seems i have a couple of issues here.. I wish i could find someone familiar with these units. I just looked at pdf on this model and used the flow chart for trouble shooting and its telling me i need a new control board part #2400-224 which is$ 270.. I dont know if i should just rip it out put nice little weil mcclain boiler in which is much easier to work on. the boiler was installed in 94... have to make a choice because its a rental prperty and i have a tenent living there.. luckily hes cool and has been staying at his girlfriends but thinking by the time i have someone look at it , get parts etc i could have the new one installed and know that i will not have problems with it for years to come... what do you guys think?

dannyboy141

tough spot

You think a bad pressure switch is the problem? It seems i have a couple of issues here.. I wish i could find someone familiar with these units. I just looked at pdf on this model and used the flow chart for trouble shooting and its telling me i need a new control board part #2400-224 which is$ 270.. I dont know if i should just rip it out put nice little weil mcclain boiler in which is much easier to work on. the boiler was installed in 94... have to make a choice because its a rental prperty and i have a tenent living there.. luckily hes cool and has been staying at his girlfriends but thinking by the time i have someone look at it , get parts etc i could have the new one installed and know that i will not have problems with it for years to come... what do you guys think?

Paul S_3

Heat maker

Call a reputable service company....any good company would be able to diagnose the problem....as Steve said DO NOT attempt to service this system yourself....where are you located???

Steve Whitbeck

new boiler

Rather than put big $ into this old boiler that will fail sooner than later.

Replace it with a good boiler - Weil McLain CGa is a good choice if You are going to install it yourself. Don't install a high efficient unless a QUALIFIED professional is doing the install. High eff. boilers are NOT like installing a cast iron boiler. Even if the install manuall makes it look easy - it isn't. There is a LOT more to it that isn't in the book.