Teledyne-Laars Hydronic Boiler - False Flame

Boatster

Our 1898 Victorian has a wonderful gas-fired Teledyne-Laars Mini-Therm hydronic boiler (Model JVS-225H), installed in the mid 1980s. It keeps 19 radiators on three floors toasty warm all winter long. In the last three years, however, it has been failing to cycle on anywhere from four to seven times a month, and requires me to reset it. The diagnostic code on the White-Rodgers ignition control module (Model 50D50-843) is always the same: False Flame. I’ve had technicians from several companies come try and fix it, but no luck. They all want me to replace the boiler, which I’m unlikely to do short of a cracked heat exchanger. I thought maybe someone here could decipher what’s going on and how I might be able to fix it. Typically it requires resetting regardless of the outside temperature (27F to 45F in my neck of the woods). The one time it seemed to last longer between resets is when I set the pressure in the system a bit higher (26PSI vs 20 PSI). Not sure that has anything to do with it, but thought I would mention it. Ideas? Theories? Fixes?

kcopp

Has the controller been replaced?

Boatster

Yes but it was a long time ago. I got a quote of $1,200 to replace the controller more recently, but am hoping to avoid replacing it.