Buderus GB142 spare parts and EM10 replacement or?

Tiptoptune

I have researched here and other on this boiler and my questions but need more advice on spares and what can I replace the EM10 with if it fails. I know some love this boiler (I do) and some hate it. Mine has been in service 18 years, I do heat exchanger cleaning yearly, test water, flushed and refilled glycol once and only issues have been sensor, flame rod/ignitor. I am getting nervous of its age and of heat exchanger or other large part failing and having to replace boiler. I am at the max venting length and concerned a new boiler may require less length which would be tough in my home. Its running fine, no signs of heat exchanger leaking. Planning to live in this house another 10 years and be nice to not to have to replumb a new boiler.

EM10 - is not available. Is there some other module to produce error codes? Or how would i troubleshoot?

My EM10 did fail 8 -10 years ago when house hit by lightning. I was able to get new one then.

Spares i thinking - heat exchanger, seals, fan, sensors, flame rod, ignitor. Should I consider the UBA3 and the main control board and KIM? Even with good pricing all that be $2,500 +/-. Or tell me i crazy and if you know, recommend a easy replacement boiler model.

My set up

GB142-24, 2,500 sf at 10k elevation in mountains of Colorado (had to get special KIM chip when installed to extend timeframe for control to see heat across hx), 3 zones of in floor heat, 80 gal triangle tube indirect domestic hot water heat. EM10 error detection, Tekmar 420 reset, Tekmar 335 zone mgr, Net 4 thermostats, slab and outdoor sensor. Pretty simple system to me and one i can troubleshoot and fix thus far.

Thanks for any advice and if know of a good replacement, I all ears.

plumbworker

I’m generally not a fan of aluminum heat exchangers, but from what I’ve seen, the Buderus GB series is a decent boiler and easy to service.The hot surface igniter and flame rod are common wear parts and need regular replacement. I would keep hx gaskets and hot surface igniter/flame rod. The plastic condensate traps have been know to disintegrate i keep one of those handy. With aluminum boilers, the heat exchanger tends to build up a lot of deposits on the fire side when running in condensing mode, which shortens their lifespan.

I’m not sure which generation of GB you have, but it’s likely near the end of its life especially with controls possibly being hard to find?. You mentioned being at 10,000 ft above sea level and possibly maxed out on venting length—what’s the total exhaust and intake length including fittings and material?

There are several good stainless steel mod-con boilers that would be solid replacement options.

psb75

I like the GB142. I'm keeping a 17-18 y.o. model going for a client. You are doing the best you can by cleaning the heating side of the heat-x yearly. You can probably still find ignition parts by searching far and wide. I had to replace a fan about 3 years ago, successfully. The venturi and black plastic intake parts get brittle. I replaced those too with the fan. I'm planning on replacing this boiler now, with a top quality mod con of similar size. Viessmann or Lochinvar likely. This should be a fairly straight forward "swap" in terms of installation. Finding an EM10…?? Finding something like this or a heat-x would get you "well into" the price of a new, replacement boiler of another model.

Karl Reynolds

There is a post under "Buy, Sell, Barter" about half way down the first page with someone offering GB-142 parts. It's from 2022, but it may be worth a shot.