Knight Lochinvar Boiler Problems!

lbaxter

I bought my first home a month ago. The inspector said it was new with new pipes and looked good. When it was first turned on, I had HOT heat for the first couple of days and it faded. Within 3 days, the fluid leaked out th valve on the top which ruined the circuit board. I had that replaced, a ne valve on top, and a thing put in place so that won't happen again. This took 2 weeks and I was without heat and hot water. I then had another person come out and we worked on the system with the manual and entered the installer code to change things. The glycol feeder was low, so I filled that. It kept giving too much and I would have to empty some. I installed a new expansion tank today. The pressure isn't fluctuating back and forth like it was. However, I am still not getting great heat. The max it will go is to 71. I'm in Utah and it gets cold. I've paid 4 different companies and it still isn't fixed great. One of the companies is supposedly an official rep for the company. I know there is something in the manual about it needing to run greate than 50% and it doesn't usually go above 35%. As this is my first home, I wasn't expecting this much expense immediately. I don't know if is worth continuing to pay more money for people that really don't know how to fix it. Is is wort just taking out a cc to put in a furnace and water heater and take out all the pipes and radiant heaters. Every day has been super stressful and just costing more and more money.

JohnNY

Why do you have a glycol feeder? Are you using a snow melting system or something else outside the home? Can you post a few pictures of your system? I work on Lochinvar Knight boilers quite a bit.

Gordy

Don't be afraid of something you may not understand. Give @JohnNY the details he asks for. You will be in the best hands.

Take pictures of boiler room, and piping different views, and type of base board heaters. I assume they are base boards by your discription.

lbaxter

Here are the pictures...someone said maybe there is air in the system somewhere and I should have it bled out. I've had 4 different people with 4 different companies. The pressure is finally stable with the new expansion tank. Still just sent pushing out great heat.

The percentage today says 24% and the manual says it shouldn't be lower than 50%, but I don't know what to do there. The cap at the bottom of the system, clean out and add water?

lbaxter

Here are what the adiant heaters in the house look like.

Gordy

First off as John asked why is the system using glycol? I see the boiler is in the garage. Is this a vacation home, or full time residence? Is there power grid issues where power goes out for long periods on a frequent basis?

lbaxter

Um, as to why is there a feeder....I was just told if the system gets low, it automatically adds it in. The house was built in 1954. It has an old furnace in the crawl space and all ducts are in the rooms. The original owner had a different boiler and liked it enough that upgraded to this a little while ago. This is my home, no power issues at all. Just not getting super great heat. I'm guessing they put this in the garage when they built the garage instead of having it in the crawl space...no other place it could have been placed.

Gordy

First off unless,there are leaks the system should never get low once purged of air, and up and running. Look for sources of leaks I see a couple valves, and fittings at the boiler with a lot of lime (blue crud) build up that's a leak. Check all baseboard connections, and all piping. They may not drip fluid because it's slow, and evaporates. Look for lime.

Gordy

Are you using the furnace also? Or is it for ac?

lbaxter

I think those are old, I've checked it everyday for a month and no active leaks

JohnNY

Your pictures are too close to really determine how your system is piped, and piping is very likely where your issues lie. I don't want to give you more work to do but it would be much better if you could stand back, square up with the boiler and get a wide shot of the unit and the piping.
I"m guessing you'll have to pull the car out.
And your heaters aren't the "radiant" type. You can just call them baseboard heaters.

JUGHNE

Did they put heating tubes in the floor of the new garage or in the outside driveway?

lbaxter

I will have to pull the car out. I, with family now, I'll take a picture and post tomorrow. The heating runs underneath in the crawl space to all the rooms.

Mark Eatherton

I noticed in the picture that the curtains are placed in front of the convectors. Pull the curtains up so that the convector is allowed to send its heated air into the room, instead of into the window well and it should make some difference in your comfort levels. If you have the same situation in any other rooms, correct it by raising the drapes.

ME