Burnham ES2 "soft lockout" Status code=13

EricPeterson

I have a Burnham ES2 boiler.
I went down to the basement and noticed that the pump was running but the boiler was not firing, and the pipes were not hot.
The gauges showed a water temperature well below the setpoint of 180F.
I took off the panel and found that the Status was "13" which corresponds to a "soft lockout".
Also the water temperature was 114F.
No other information was available.
I looked up the code in the manual and found the following:

• When a soft lockout occurs, boiler will shut down. Boiler automatically restarts once condition that caused the lockout is corrected and the one-hour time delay is completed. Boiler can be restarted sooner than the time delay
  by using Adjustment Mode function and manually resetting boiler (see Adjustment Mode instructions).
  

Has anyone seen this before? This is a new problem for me. Apparently the boiler did not "shut down" completely as the pump was still running.

I just went back down to reset the lockout, and found that the boiler was now firing normally and that status was 8 (Running).
So apparently whatever condition caused the lockout must have just cleared on its own after the one-hour time delay.
I would sure like to know what was that condition. But I do not think there is any way to retrieve that information from the boiler.

Thoughts?
Eric Peterson

EricPeterson

A couple of more comments.
In these days of intelligent devices and internet connectivity, it sure would be nice if Burnham provided a more sophisticated user interface to their control boards.
As it stands today, I can discern the status only by removing the front panel of the boiler and watching the LCD display on the control board.
More detailed diagnostics and a remote interface would help greatly in a situation like this.

Ironman

You may have had an ignition failure.

EricPeterson

Ironman said:

You may have had an ignition failure.

Perhaps. But it does not seem likely based on the manual.
Further reading in the manual yielded the following in section 6:
"6. Circulator is On, Damper is Open But Boiler Fails to Start":

• When a soft lockout occurs, boiler will shut down. Boiler automatically restarts once condition that caused the lockout is corrected and the one-hour time delay is completed. Boiler can be restarted sooner than the time delay by using Adjustment Mode and selecting the reset button (see Adjustment Mode instructions) or by cycling power. Soft Lockout is caused by one of the following:
  - Err 63, Maximum Recycles Exceeded – The burner lost flame during running mode, “StA 8” six times in a row. Refer to recommended corrective actions on next page to help
  determine the cause of the problem.
  - Err 64, Internal Failure, refer to Error code listing for recommended corrective action.
  - Err 23, Flame sensed during post-purge (before gas valve signaled open). Check the gas valve for proper operation. Replace gas valve is problem persists.
  

I did not check if the damper was open, but presume it was.
So the issue now is given the above description, how can I determine the corresponding error code if it was not displayed on the control board? This narrows it down, but I cannot proceed on guessing what may have been the error.
This section of the manual goes on to apparently list four additional potential causes - but it seems that they apply only when two different statuses (StA 10 and StA 13) are alternately displaying. The manual is not clear on this point.
I sure wish that Burnham would answer my questions on this topic - but they will not.

Ironman

Loosing flame may be low gas pressure or possibly a defective gas valve dropping out.

Check all of your ground connections from the burner back to the electric panel.