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Buderus boiler red buildup and failing to ignite?

jtzako
jtzako Member Posts: 2
edited March 2021 in Radiant Heating
I have a Buderus GB142 boiler which is using propane and am having some problems with it. The boiler is used for baseboard heating only, not for house hot water supply.

Recently I noticed it was producing more water than it had been and then the condensate trap filled up with red muck.
It continued to work for a couple of weeks after the red muck first appeared but then today it failed with a 6A code (failing to ignite).
I opened the lower metal panel and that area was quite a mess with the red muck. I checked the upper panel where the igniter is and that area looked fine aside from some white buildup on the right side (opposite side from the igniter).

After cleaning out all the red muck from the lower panel area and the condensate trap I put everything back together and fired it up and it is working again. However, I still dont know what the cause of the issue might be and where the red muck is coming from.

Any ideas what to look for here?

Comments

  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    Is it a GB 142?
    Those require regular cleanings or they tend to plug up. Most of the work involves cleaning the heat exchanger, not just the trap.
    Has a combustion analysis been done. Poor combustion contributes to the problem.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • jtzako
    jtzako Member Posts: 2
    edited March 2021
    Zman said:

    Is it a GB 142?
    Those require regular cleanings or they tend to plug up. Most of the work involves cleaning the heat exchanger, not just the trap.
    Has a combustion analysis been done. Poor combustion contributes to the problem.

    Thanks, Ill look into what it takes to clean the heat exchanger. As for combustion analysis: I have no idea if/when that might have been done. (definitely not since I bought the house in November)

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