Brand New Burnham ES2 won't light, Error 64 "Internal Failure", looking for help

alheim

Hi Folks,

So this year, my 1-year old Burnham ES2 won't light (see my post below for the full story - 1 year old to me, manufactured 2011, newly installed last winter, but never before tested nor fired due to gas supply issues with the local gas utility). Over the summer we moved the gas meter to a new location outside, and the gas company dropped in the new meter on Friday. I purged the air out past the union to the Honeywell gas valve in the boiler, and cycled the call for heat dozens of times.

The boiler tries to light (I see and hear sparks at the pilot), then the control gives an Error 64, "Internal Failure" and goes into a Soft Lockout until I reset and try again. I've tried:

- Cycling power & call for heat
- Purged air up to the Honeywell gas valve
- Confirmed 24v at the gas valve: right before the pilot ignitor sparks, I see 24v across PV and MV/PV at the gas valve - but only for a second! Is that right? Note: I never have smelled gas when the pilot attempts to light. Should I?
- I never hear anything at the gas valve. When it opens & shuts the pilot valve, would I hear anything?
- I confirmed 24v out at the transformer.
- Pilot assembly & wiring looks nice, new, and proper.
- LWCO is not cutting power.
- Damper opens all the way, it gives no other errors related to the damper etc.
- Circ is running.

Is there a better way to purge air all the way to the pilot? Jump 24v to the gas valve?

I heard that problems with these controls aren't unusual, but I don't want to just throw parts at this. Similarly, I've heard of people having trouble with the pilot assemblies.

Cheers

alheim

Happily ... how? Keep cycling power to reset the lockout and to repeat the call for heat? I must have done that 40 times already.

alheim

The boiler attempts to light the pilot (sparks for 2 seconds max), then immediately goes into Error/Lockout. Shouldn't the control have to wait at least a few more seconds for a sensor to heat up to verify flame? Or is that a nearly instant process.

alheim

Thanks, but indeed I purged all air that way from the beginning. Hmm.

alheim

About 20" from union to gas valve.

On the Honeywell gas valve, there is an access hole with a set-screw type access port right near the gas inlet. I opened this set screw and purged until I smelled gas, and re-tightened. That leaves only the valve itself plus the small pilot tubing to purge.



Just got off the phone with Burnham support; they said the last thing to check before replacing the control is the pilot assembly. Possibly there is a crack in the pilot ceramics or similar, causing the fault.

To check, they advised pulling the pilot spark ignitor wire from the control and repeating the call for heat. If the Error goes away while disconnected, the pilot is faulty. If it persists, then replace the control.

alheim

Yes, I did purge the line at the union. Only after trying to getting the pilot to light 50 times did I purge all the way to the valve.

alheim

Hatteras, that makes good sense. I will test the pilot assembly per the above, purge further, and advise.

alheim

Last thing: would I hear any noise from the gas valve as it opens for the pilot? A thump or click? I hear nothing.

John Mills_5

It only tries sparking for 2 seconds?

alheim

Yes. It sparks maybe 7 times in VERY fast succession, then a very brief pause, then ~7 more fast sparks, and it's done. 1-2 seconds total, max.

(Update: after replacing the control, which fixed the issue, the pilot ignitor will properly fire in fast bursts until the pilot lights. The behavior I was seeing was not correct.)

alheim

Update:

- I purged air from the gas line until I was blue in the face, a couple cubic feet according to the meter. This is ~8x more than the volume of the supply piping (~50 feet of 1" black pipe).
- Upon pulling the pilot wire and cycling power, the Error 64 persists.
- Therefore, I will be picking up and installing a new control tonight and will advise.

Thanks to all so far.

jonny88

I forget the error codes but go through the steps until you come to FLA it must be above 12 if it drops below 9 you will be in trouble.ES2 had a recall on pilot assemblies but I believe issue was fixed.

alheim

Success!

Installed a new control last night and she fired right up - for the first time, ever. Here’s the whole story:

- The boiler was 1 year old to me, newly installed, and never fired until yesterday.
- The boiler was manufactured in 2011.
- I bought the boiler in 2014 as ‘New Old Stock’ at a steep discount through my company. We are a plumbing contractor in NYC – after Hurricane Sandy, we installed hundreds of boilers as part of the city’s emergency repair programs (a nightmare job). Come fall of 2014, we had a lot of extra boilers. I paid about 40% of retail.
- I also bought a Sandy-damaged property in 2014. Nothing was salvageable from the old heating system. While the house sat vacant, thieves stole all of the copper, and also the heavy, old cast-iron radiators.
- The boiler was installed last December by myself and by a couple of our skilled Local 1 Plumbers. I came up with the final design & schematic from help I received here.
- It is a home-run system from a manifold: ½” PEX to 9 panel radiators, from Hydronic Alternatives: hydronicalternatives.com/ (I had a great purchasing experience with these guys.)
- The system was carefully sized using a variety of heat-loss software. It is a 70k boiler (the ES2-3) for a ~1,500 SF house. Design temp was 160 or 170 degrees for a 0 degree design day. It’s funny, every plumber who has seen the boiler confidently states that it is undersized. I don’t think so. We did the math. I think this will be really efficient.
- SO: upon completion of the new installation: we realized there was no gas to the house! Ahh. After the hurricane, the utility installed a new high-pressure gas main in the street, but didn’t tie in my house, which was abandoned following the storm.
- Basically, I had to go back and file everything after the fact with the city, in order to get authorization for the utility to install the new gas line. A pain and big expense, but it’s nice to be legit. That took almost a year.
- It wasn’t until Friday that I really got to try to fire the boiler, and got my Error 64.

Thank you to Mike of US Boiler/Burnham ( @Mike_at_USB ) who messaged me here offering to help. We’ll see if they’ll cover the cost of the new control. I don’t really expect it, but it was brand-new, never previously installed or used. I question the reliability of these electronics and I wish I had the newer revision of the board, but I was advised to stick with the old revision for my replacement.

No thanks to the 3 local Burnham/US Boiler contractors who I called about this issue – none of them have returned my calls or messages yet to set a date. Thank God that I was able to handle this myself. Not sure what I’d do if I have another problem in the middle of February. I found the 3 contractor’s via US Boiler’s “Find A Contractor” web feature: usboiler.net/find-us-boiler-contractor.html

I will eventually start another thread where you can critique my whole system. Cheers!

alheim

Almost a week later, I have not heard back from my 3 nearest local licensed professional Burnham / US Boiler contractors, that I found using their "Find A Contractor” website: usboiler.net/find-us-boiler-contractor.html

With each I spoke to their secretary, who advised that they would call me back once they spoke with a tech.

Is this normal for the industry?

SWEI

At this time of year, I would not take it personally. Anyone who is any good is booked solid 6+ days a week.

alheim

That crossed my mind. Still, if I'm trying to pay a premium to get a manufacturer-licensed guy, and hear no response, what are my options, start to call plumbers on Craigslist?

Regardless, overall I am happy with my ES2. Nice unit.