Have I got bad gas? (propane and TT Prestige Elite)

flitchplate

I have a strange pattern of failing to ignite. I turn the thermostat down 3 or 4 degrees, we leave for the day, when heat is called for, ignition fails.

Soft lock out code: E02 (failed ignition after 5 attempts).

Reset and the restart may take one try or up to 8 tries.

This is not the only time I get ignition failure. In windy or cold weather we can wake up to a stalled boiler.

I cleared a path through the snow to my buried 1000 gal tank last weekend (before the recent thaw in western New York) and there was a build up of heavy frost on the surface of the lawn over the tank.

The failure to ignite pattern is not reserved to winter, it also occurred a couple of times in the fall, although not as frequently, and then it also seem to coincide with the stat turn down.

I am getting different opinions. I upped the 2nd stage regulator pressure from 11WCI to 12.5 WCI this weekend on the recommendation of my propane supplier. It did not solve the problem which recurred Sunday.

Do I need to recondition my in-ground tank or would this be a boiler problem, not a gas problem?

Henry

Flame sensor perhaps just like my natural gas hot water tank, it only does it once in a while and I am too lazy right now to replace it.

Harvey Ramer

I hear Pepto-Bismol helps with bad gas.

No seriously, Henry is probably right. A dirty flame sensor will act that way. They are easy to clean. Only takes a few minutes. Tell your tech to try that.

Ironman

''Have I got bad gas?"

Might wanna ask your wife.

Rrey

I've installed my lp units. Boilers, furnaces, pool heaters etc and the varnish buildup on the flame sensor is a common issue. If you pull the sensor and clean it up with a file or coarse grit cloth it should correct the issue. I have a couple that need it twice a year.
Note that many will look as clean as when it was new and still fail to sense.
As a side note it's almost never a natural gas unit, always the lp ones.

lchmb

How old is the unit? They had an issue with ignitors not sensing and swapped to a different ignitor and and control board....As far as increasing pressure..is the line sized properly to the unit? Was the unit set up properly and has it been serviced to include using a digital analyzer to test efficiency?
on a side note..it's recommended to use something softer than a file to clean the sensor. You dont want to damage the surface...

oak

The unit is 4 years old. Was serviced with TT trained tech using gas analyzer in fall of 2015; he installed new gas valve and new ignitor.

Same mis-firing problem was happening prior to the service and new parts except that things improved for a while until cold weather arrived.

The issue definitely corresponds mostly (but not always) with turning the T-stats down to leave the house. The firing cycle lengthens and then refuses to start. I can cause it to recur when I am home.

I was wondering it moisture in my 1000 gal tank might be an issue although the tank is 4 years ok and the problem is only one year old.

njtommy

At this rate I would pull the burner out and check It along draft motor for wear and tear.

bennyboy

I too have this error and condition on my tt prestige 110 unit about a month ago. I cleaned and checked the gap on the igniter and checked for gas flow. I was ready for a call to tt the next morning when the unit finally fired up. This was on 3 week old new install btw.
I did notice the weather had gotten colder the night of the problem. As there was no way I could check the water height of gas or the actual less than 1/4 psi reading I surmised it might have been an overall reduction of gas available for me as my whole neighborhood was using more gas to heat with. I did confirm with a neighbor that he lost heating that night too.
I call my gas company ad sought confirmation but they didn't confirm such.
Go figure but the problem hasn't happened again.

flitchplate

My Prestige Excellence is the last model before they brought out the TriMax control system. It ran like a dream for 3 years before the misfires started.

Last fall we put in a new flame sensor, new igniter and new gas valve. The misfiring was reduced but seemed to convert to a pattern of refusing to start up after a temp turn-down (when leaving the house for the day). After the parts change, cleaning and tune-up I had the periodic misfires return. I notice also that high winds seem to affect refiring (roof vented set up).

Our place is pretty well insulated/air-sealed, so when we turn the temp down 6 to 8 degree, it will take more than 1/2 day on a cold windy day for the indoor temp to fall from 73 F to 65 F. That is when it refuses to restart. This refusal occurs on weekends too, if we go away for a couple of days I turn temp to 60 F and come home Sunday night to the soft lockout.

We also bent the igniter and that made big difference but did not eliminate the problem. Not much engineering to that trick, maybe there is an optimum amount of bend (i.e. distance across the gap).

Several suggestions have been offered to explain the misfire:

1. Flame sensor is dirty.
2. Pressure or temp sensor is faulty.
3. Water/moisture content in the LP tank causing valve freeze.

Sometime I notice a diluted (unburned) raw LP smell outdoors ... rolling off the roof below the exhaust.

Ironman

How about posting some pics of the boiler, the venting and its termination?