what problems *can't* i see? which can be fixed?

SlowYourRoll

i just had a boiler installed. there are some issues, namely the plumbing of the Hartford loop, and also they very clearly didn't skim it.  I think the installer said he was unfamiliar with skim ports. (you can see my other thread about those issues, but I think this question would be useful for other homeowners so I broke it out in a new thread.)

while I get them out here to hopefully fix the Hartford loop and skim the boiler, I started wondering what they could have done (or not done) inside the boiler that I should ask about. it would be especially helpful to know which things are fixable at this point, or which things I'm stuck with. We don't need to list every possible thing, cuz that could be an infinite list, but if you've got a top three or top five list of things you see when repairing or disassembling other people's installs, that's sort of what I'm looking for. especially helpful are the things I can get them to fix when they come out. actually, I guess the ones I want to hear about the most are the things that are potentially dangerous. those should probably be top priority for me to ask about. thanks in advance. Y'all are great. Merry Christmas, happy holidays!

mattmia2

Combustion, vent, and draft.

Keeping water seals below the water line.

Protection against condensation in a ci hot water boiler.

Long Beach Ed

Check the configuration of the near boiler piping around the header against the manufacturer's installation instructions. It should be very similar to the diagram.

EBEBRATT-Ed

And have them give you a printed combustion test report, also what @Long Beach Ed said the piping is very important. look in the boiler manual it will show the piping

SlowYourRoll

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

And have them give you a printed combustion test report, also what @Long Beach Ed said the piping is very important. look in the boiler manual it will show the piping

yeah some people helped me spot a problem with near boiler piping already so I'll def be going through that. the rest looks okay from afar but i need to get in there to fully inspect. a big complication is that my ex is currently living there and has been trying to limit my access to the boiler. but those are all things that can be seen from the outside. What I'm worried about is if they screwed up any of the assembly stuff that I can't see. just trying to get an idea what I should ask them about to make sure that stuff got done right.

SlowYourRoll

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

And have them give you a printed combustion test report, also what @Long Beach Ed said the piping is very important. look in the boiler manual it will show the piping

are they going to know what that is? is that basically checking to see that all CO and CO2 in bad stuff goes up the chimney and not into the house? or is there other stuff, like calibrating the burners and getting them set to the optimal values and stuff? I think I might be getting someone else to do that if it's not something this company has done before.

ScottSecor

I am making a heck of assumption with this, but here goes....

Here in NJ I would be willing to bet less than one third of boiler "installers" own combustion analyzers.   Out of these installers that own the analyzers,  I would guess about half of their trucks carry analyzers.   My point is many boilers are installed daily that are never tested ot dialed in.  Yes, this includes condensing boilers, oil boilers, commercial,  etc.

Besides combustion gases,  I'd suggest skimming, drain and flush,  add rust inhibitor.   Replace and old drains while system is drained.

SlowYourRoll

ScottSecor said:

I am making a heck of assumption with this, but here goes....

Here in NJ I would be willing to bet less than one third of boiler "installers" own combustion analyzers.   Out of these installers that own the analyzers,  I would guess about half of their trucks carry analyzers.   My point is many boilers are installed daily that are never tested ot dialed in.  Yes, this includes condensing boilers, oil boilers, commercial,  etc.

Besides combustion gases,  I'd suggest skimming, drain and flush,  add rust inhibitor.   Replace and old drains while system is drained.

i'll probably get Frank and Gordo out there at some point before I move back in 2025 to do the combustion analysis. based on how things are going i suspect this company is in the "don't have analyzer" category, probably in the "what is combustion analysis?" subcategory