Help!

FranklinD

So now that my Burnham ESC4 is out of warranty, and it's -8 outside, it's acting up. Of course.

The circ comes on, it goes thru it's normal ignition steps, lights, runs for anywhere from 5-30 seconds, then shuts off and begins to recycle.

Going down to check for fault codes now.

Any idea?

Thanks!

Ironman

Has it been cleaned and serviced? What type of fuel, LP or natural?

FranklinD

Natural gas. It was new in the mid-winter of 2013, and it was serviced at the start of this season (mid-September).

It sounds odd. That's the best symptom I can come up with. There are no fault codes displayed on the IQ Control.

So if I raise the Tstat, circ comes on, the boiler runs thru prepurge and the usual, and when the draft fan is running, it doesn't sound like usual. Almost like a little bit of a rattle. Then when the main burners hit, it sounds like a 'PLUMPFF'. Then it may run for 5 seconds on up to 30 seconds, no rhyme or reason to the length. Then it shuts down and starts to retry about 30 seconds later.

I swear that I can hear a very minute 'click' just the second before the burners shut off. Not from the gas valve...that thing clicks very loudly.

I spend a lot of time in my basement workshop, 15 feet away, and have become very familiar with it's startup sequence sound-wise.

I'm going to head out into the wind and cold to make sure some critter didn't decide to bear-hug the exhaust terminal to stay warm.

Ironman

Make sure that regulator vent at your gas meter isn't iced over.

FranklinD

Well. I suppose I have to get used to life with a 'sealed combustion' boiler. I never even thought about the air INTAKE.

The wind must have been just right to blow some exhaust back onto the air intake thimble, where it promptly froze into a big frosty snowball. I cleaned it off, ran a coat hanger thru the thimble to make sure it was clear, restarted the boiler, and it fired, is running, and the fan and burners sound normal again. (Face palm!)

I guess I will have to keep an eye on that. I wasn't worried initially because they're 3-4 feet apart. But we had some pretty wicked winds last night...windchill was -30 and ambient now is -8.

And I had wondered why anyone would want to install a sealed combustion boiler just using inside makeup air! Ha. Lesson learned for today.

Ironman

Is the exhaust at least 12" higher than the intake? Got a pic?

FranklinD

No pic at the moment. The intake and exhaust are the minimum shown in the book: 12" apart, but level with each other. I was concerned about that (reversion) at the time of installation and watched it several times while running, and the exhaust always either plumed straight up or toward the front of the house (away from the intake thimble).

Early this morning, it was -19 with gusty winds, and the plume was sticking close to the house (the terminals are on a side of the house, in an area about 25' wide between houses). There's also a fence there that does odd things to the wind. I've been watching it all day and no frost has formed again...maybe a one time thing (I hope?).

The terminal end for the exhaust supplied by Burnham makes the exhaust shoot almost 90* straight down from the pipe that comes straight out the side of the house. I get the feeling that if it was blowing straight out of the pipe, there would be a much smaller chance of the 'plume' being blown back to the house.

I'm on my phone at the moment. I'll take a few pics and get on my desktop tonight.

Thanks for the response!

FranklinD

Here's a picture from over the summer...it's the best I can do at the moment. The plastic pipe on the far left is the exhaust for the power vent hot water heater.

Come next summer, we intend to install an Indirect HWH...at that time it may be prudent for us to move the boiler exhaust over that way. Spring/Summer will also be time to fully rebuild that old window area (I have several sheets of stainless steel I intend to use for the majority of that area).

The total length of the vent (and intake) are each 8 feet with one 90* bend. The boiler and HWH are directly on the other side of the foundation wall in the basement.

I personally believe that they're all too close together, but it's not something I can rectify at -20 outside. This is also the first time this has happened... Yay winter!

Ironman

You may have to extend the exhaust upward as shown in figure B-5 on page 47 of the I&O manual.

FranklinD

I agree. They used Z-Vent, I think it's called. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the pipe (compared to what was on the old boiler). Would I bring it up, say, a 3 foot length? It says 7 foot maximum on that diagram, so I suppose that would be okay. There is a non-opening window 6 feet above that area.

FranklinD

Just checked the intake again before heading to work, no frost buildup. I should be okay until warmer weather when I can modify the vent. It is about -12 with stiff winds, but now from the ENE instead of due North.

Should be fun at work today...frozen air lines, brakes, blown hydraulic hoses, and so on. At least we started all the outside equipment to let them idle thru the weekend this time.

Thanks for all the advice!

Ironman

I would go up at least two feet, more if you think it necessary and can tolerate the astetics.

Your weather is coming our way. It's supposed to be about 5* here Wednesday night.

My daughter is in SD and she's experiencing the same weather as you. Makes me glad I'm in VA this time of year.