DS Stoves SB200

Bossman

Brand new rice coal boiler in October 2023. Ran through 8 ton coal already. 2nd delivery was dec9th and ran out Jan 14th. On 3rd delivery now..Boiler replaced an AA260. 7 zones 7000 sqft. DS can't keep up and runs at 110-120°. Tech installed additional aquastat to turn off pumps till Boiler could get back up to 170° but all that is doing is short cycling pumps . Even 2 zones is too much for it to keep up today was 40°.  SB200 is supposed to be able to put out up to 259,000 BTU. 

Have a Burnham V8 pil Boiler in parallel that has no issues heating all 7 zones just isn't big enough was only installed before we bought house to keep pipes from freezing etc.

How do I get the seller to admit it isn't adequate and exchange/refund/replace this thing. 

Manufacturer suggested an additional 80 gallon hot rock tank?  But says it most likely wouldn't help with  excessive coal consumption.

leonz

The only way is to threaten to sue them Gene, and if they waffle send them legal notice of your
intent to sue the next day.

They made a huge number of plumbing mistakes with your installation, as I described to you in
and others the coal forum.

You should replace it with an identical AA-260M, and have the steel compression tanks of 130 gallon capacity replaced and rehung in the basement joists and you need a licensed plumber to do this right and have heat and hot water that will last you for many more years.

There are many people here that will help you.

Leon

Bossman

Images

Steamhead

That clipped-off ground wire tells me all I need to know about the installer.

Bossman

leonz said:

The only way is to threaten to sue them Gene, and if they waffle send them legal notice of your intent to sue the next day. They made a huge number of plumbing mistakes with your installation, as I described to you in and others the coal forum. You should replace it with an identical AA-260M, and have the steel compression tanks of 130 gallon capacity replaced and rehung in the basement joists and you need a licensed plumber to do this right and have heat and hot water that will last you for many more years. There are many people here that will help you. Leon

I dont know. It all works fine with the oil running. Since your email to DS they won't talk to me about it now. I'm left with either a bad boiler or bad coal and I doubt any resolution soon. 

leonz

THIS IS NOT MY FAULT.

You do not have bad coal, you have a bad installation and a poorly designed pot stoker/tuyere.
The DS stoker design is nothing like the EFM, VanWert or other pot stokers.

The only legal recourse "You" have is to sue the installer, the DS Machine dealer (the retailer) and DS Machine in your counties court for damages because of the following things and many others.

They are deflecting the blame for this installation saying they are not responsible for the problems WHEN THEY CREATED THEM by the doing the following items and not following the installation manual directions and not using a State of Pennsylvania licensed plumber, a State of Pennsylvania licensed electrician and a National Fireplace Installer certified installer.

(1) the steel compression tanks were removed when they should have been left in the basement ceiling joists and reconnected to the system.

a. The replacement expansion tank was not correctly installed or placed correctly in the pressure flow and not sized correctly for a 7,000 square foot residence which requires a minimum of 77 gallons of capacity.
b. a manometer with a probe was not provided and installed to monitor the water gauge pressure (Hg.) created by the forced draft flue gas pressure.

(2) two of the four 2 inch plumbing tappings on the boiler were "reduced in size" and not properly used/sized for 2 inch N.P.T. piping and 2 of them were left plugged which will not allow proper flow of hot water to the circulator header and cooler return water to the boiler sump return header

(3) the heating system is wired incorrectly and would not pass a code inspection
(a) wire numbers were not used to provide an adequate useable legend for wire tracing.
(b) an unused ground wire was cut and not connected to a useable ground
(c) there does not appear to be a Low Water Cut Off installed.

You need to have an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Pennsylvania, a State of Pennsylvania licensed plumber with a steam license and a State of Pennsylvania Licensed electrician involved in this to obtain legal recourse and remove the existing system, refund your money to be made whole and enable you to install either a replacement Axeman-Anderson 260M rolling fire grate coal stoker with its proven induced draft combustion system that is properly plumbed with a Low water cut off switch and wired and passes both plumbing and electrical code inspection or an EFM DF520 underfed tuyere/pot coal stoker with its forced draft combustion system that is properly plumbed with a Low Water Cut Off switch properly wired and passes both the National Plumbing Code inspection and the National Electrical Code inspection
that is properly wired and plumbed to work correctly.

You previously stated the 1990 Axeman Anderson 260M coal stoker boiler worked perfectly before this.

Again, this is not my fault.

The blame lays with DS machine, the DS MACHINE reseller and the unlicensed installer who you said is a vocational instructor.

You have been taken advantage of. There are plenty of licensed plumbers here to help you as I said earlier.

The rest of this is up to you.

Speaking as a layperson, I think you need a very large law firm to help you now to be made whole for legal fees, and a properly installed coal stoker boiler for your 7,000 square foot home.

In my layperson opinion, they, being DS MACHINE, the DS MACHINE reseller and the unlicensed installer wronged you, I did not.

I am sorry they did this to you.

This is not my fault.

leonz

Gene if you visit the find a contractor page you can find a licensed plumber in your area that will come and look at your installation and write down everything that is wrong with your new boiler and you can take this to small claims court.

leonz

I am glad that you are finally seeking to have
the bad boiler and installation removed after
6 months.
You still need legal representation for this issue.