Buderus GB142 ingesting exhaust and locking itself out of

highoctane

Hello, I have a 14 year old Buderus GB142-30 that is giving a 6A error approx every 2 days. I have replaced the ignitor and ionization rod. Burner was cleaned in the last month with mineral oil and I replaced the top gasket on burner. At this time I also replaced the condensate trap as mine was cracked. The unit has had regular yearly maintenance but I have to replace ignitor and rod at least once a year for the past 5 years or more.

A technician was brought in and they tested for CO2 - showed 35ppm within the boiler casing. They have assessed that unit is ingesting its exhaust, causing the flame rod and ignitor to get wet from exhaust moisture, causing unit to lock out. Unit always fires up upon hitting reset button. I am told that this is because the rod and ignitor have time to dry, which makes sense.

The two solutions offered by the plumbing company are

1) doing a soap test, and

2) full boiler replacement, of course.

I should note that my exhaust and intake pipes are separated by a wall and have 15 feet of separation.

I plan to look into doing a soap test, was wondering if anyone has done this with the GB142 or if they have any advice moving forward. I am aware that this is an older boiler with a reputation for being temperamental, its just hard to stomach doing a full replacement after dropping so much money into this unit. This company also has a reputation for recommending "full replacements" on older units as opposed to taking the time to fix the problem.

Big Ed_4

Run the unit , then search around the boiler with a mirror . It will fog up.

You can also smell a leak.

highoctane

Thanks thats a great tip