Opinions on Trianco Heatmaker

tim smith_2

We have worked on these units for 10+ years now. They actually run quite well until some odd problems crop up. The tank I think really holds about 10 gals. and is circulated up through the coils in the seperate combustion chamber above. A common problem was the pump inside would overload mainly due to the high temps the heatmaker runs at. Also slight build up would cause the boiler to moan from excessive heat. Had to boil a few out with vinegar to get this to stop. But finally got it. Definately igniters are the #| item. also cracks would occur around the igniter entrance into combustion chamber. Hope this is some help.

Ken C.

In my neck of the woods, I occasionally run into a Heatmaker, and our vans are stocked with a service parts kit for these units. I'm curious what some of you long-timers think of these, i.e., general reliability, common trouble spots, design flaws or even pluses. Also, why the need for two circulators (one inside the unit, and one outside)? I guess the Heatmaker was considered advanced in its. Some guys I know say these are easy to work on, and others are intimidated by them (myself included, since I've only worked on two so far, but I was considerably less intimated on the second one :-)

Dave_8

Ahh, the trianco--

First of all, when they work they work well. But, they are prone to eat ignitors, develop leaks around the combustion blower boltup area, plug up internally, unless they are vented in stainless they will eat the venting. I have seen very few of them that were vented by the book when they were installed and this makes the problem worse. A lot of them have a thermostat inside of a union on the supply piping and these give a lot of trouble at times and we have found that a lot of them were just removed. This will make the boiler run cool and condense and as a general rule they won't live more than two years doing that!
About five years ago I knew of at least thirty of them in this general area. At this point there are only two of them left. Both of them are Mark II's and have given very little trouble for some reason. Maybe because they were installed "by the book" and have very short venting systems.

Mark Hunt

Trianco \"widow\"maker


LAARS industries bought them up a few years ago.

Now they have the "Endurance" which is supposed to be an improved version of the Heatmaker.

A company I worked for installed about 200 of the Endurance boilers and as far as I know they did not have any major problems.

Like anything else, proper piping is a must. Talk about low content, I believe they held one quart of water.

Opinion: There are better options available.

Mark H

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Mark Eatherton1

The HateMaker...

only experienced them once. That was all I could afford at the time:-)


I have no formal opinion on what Joneys people are doing with the product. They're trying, I'll give'em that.

I met the patent holder on that boiler once. John Blackadar if memorie serves me correctly. The original concpet was to have the boiler generate steam for use in a steam powered automobile. He developed the combustion/heat exchanger with DOT funding if I'm not mistaken.

Funny how things come around full circle sometimes. 20 or 30 years ago when these concepts were first being thought up, they were poopooed by the American boiler manufacturers as "throw away" boilers. That they are. If the HX goes on them, you might as well replace the boiler. Water and the combustion process don't work together sometimes (excludes Fulton and certain Burnham boilers). Same goes for Muchies and Viessmans. They can only handle so much H20 before they become problematic.

But when it coems down to where the tires meet the road, these little boilers have a lot on the cast iton and steel behemoths. It

It's simple physics.

The HateMaker. A concept well before its time...

ME

Unknown

I have been involved with Heatmaker

from the beginning. It was developed in its early stages at MIT if memory serves me, I may be wrong about that. It went from there to BGP Products (Boston Gas). Most recently Trianco and now Laars. There are two guys at Laars who used to work for Trianco and are now at Laars who really know a lot about them. Jim McKinney and Bert Walters.

I have had a lot of experience on them and agree with most everyones postings. If installed correctly and with proper venting they work great. The early problems got pretty much solved by the Mark II series.

I actually was involved with modifying the "H" model to fit as a replacement for the Paloma Pak wall hung or chimney hung unit. They took my reconfiguration and devloped it at the Trainco factory and sold them as the "HP" model to replace Paloma Paks.

I have a lot of literature on these units which I always have to review before I go look at one. Just too many pieces of equipment in this old head I guess.

I know that going to their factory school was a real plus in then being able to service them.

Most of them in our area are still running and work pretty good. The local gas company guys had a lot of training on them and do a pretty good job.

Tony_8

usually

problems were installation related. I was an authorized service contractor, which means I got to see the problems after a few other guys had been there. Usually something simple and overlooked. PB tubing really messed with them. Biggest fault was non-venting combustion coil. The Endurance addresses all the faults of the Heatmaker and adds modulating burner. The worst part about the installation is the concentric SS vent, although better now.

none

heatmaker boiler

I am in Boston and have a heatmaker that was worked on this summer.($1400) Now every couple weeks the system will fail.A piercing "screeching" noise is made and the system goes off.I believe that this is a problem with combustion as when a service person comes out the next day everything works fine.Do you have any thoughts on how to rectify this problem?
Thanks Martin Rooney

Unknown

Needs a tune up

and a good cleaning. Heat transfer module has to be taken apart and cleaned and then flushed. When doing this have them check the impellar on the internal circulator. The noise you are having sounds like it may be kettling (flashing to steam). This may be a failure of the high limit. It sounds like this unit needs some real service.

I would suggest getting in touch with the gents mentioned further up in this post. The phone number is 800-900-9276.

Steve Miller

Heatmaker

> problems were installation related. I was an

> authorized service contractor, which means I got

> to see the problems after a few other guys had

> been there. Usually something simple and

> overlooked. PB tubing really messed with them.

> Biggest fault was non-venting combustion coil.

> The Endurance addresses all the faults of the

> Heatmaker and adds modulating burner. The worst

> part about the installation is the concentric SS

> vent, although better now.

Steve Miller

Heatmaker

I've been working with Heatmakers, installing and servicing them for 15 years now with currently around 400 of 'em in service. They worked great for electric to gas conversions because they fit where the electric water heaters stood. I've run miles of pipe and baseboard in existing houses with very limited pipe exposure all while using Heatmakers.

The Mark II are way better than the early ones. They also made a non ferrous model that worked when we found radiant jobs with poly tubing in the floors. They have their own built in buffer tanks, an idea kinda ahead of it's time. They do tend to short cycle on the DHW, which is a coil thats submersed in the 20 gal. (buffer) tank. The venting was much improved in their final pre Laars days with the SafeT stainless telescopic venting. A lot of the problems were from bad venting, the old High temp plastic stuff they used for nat. gas, would crack. I've found it vented with it pitched toward the boiler and condensate would drain toward the boiler.

Anyway, I could go on and on about Heatmakers. My overall opinion is that they're good boilers, installed correctly. I've dealt with a couple of lemons but not bad considering I've dealt with so many. If anyone is ever stumped with a problem, gimme an e-mail.

Steve Miller

Heatmaker's -good!

I've been working with Heatmakers, installing and servicing them for 15 years now with currently around 400 of 'em in service. They worked great for electric to gas conversions because they fit where the electric water heaters stood. I've run miles of pipe and baseboard in existing houses with very limited pipe exposure, all while using Heatmakers.

The Mark II are way better than the early ones. They also made a non ferrous model that worked when we found radiant jobs with poly tubing in the floors. They have their own built in buffer tanks, an idea kinda ahead of it's time. They do tend to short cycle on the DHW, which is a coil thats submersed in the 20 gal. (buffer) tank. There's ways of dealing with that problem tho. The venting was much improved in their final pre Laars days with the SafeT stainless telescopic venting. A lot of the problems were from bad venting, the old High temp plastic stuff they used for nat. gas, would crack. I've found the 3" vented with a rise and not pitched down toward the termination so the condensate can drain out properly. Also, setting the combustion correctly was key, if you didn't, the heat exchanger would clog from improper combustion and overheat and pop the coil.

Anyway, I could go on and on about Heatmakers. My overall opinion is that they're good boilers, installed correctly. All of the parts are still available and fairly reasonable. High Valley Supply in Denver CO. is the place to go, they are really knowledgeable and will ship you the parts. I've dealt with a couple of lemons but not bad considering I've dealt with so many. If anyone is ever stumped with a problem, gimme an e-mail.

Steve M

tim smith_2

squeeling and shut down

One thing i found on these is the thermal overload gets weak on internal pump, then the pump shuts off and the squeeling is when it gets near boiling point and then shuts off on high temp. This was very common. I think the internal pump is a Grundfos ups 15-42f. Good luck. Tim

bigbang

homeowner

I have a 16 year old Trianco Heatmaker Mark II in New Hampshire that has started to make a loud banging noise most noticable at early morning when I'm sleeping! It sounds like someone dropped a pallet of cinder blocks on my deck.  I've sat and waited for the sound, it doesn't do it every combustion cycle.  Purge comes on, igniter turns on, gas/flame comes on and runs for a time.  Then a big bang which seems like it comes from the flame holder area, gas/flame turns off, then purge light, then igniter and gas/flame until it reaches the top temp.  Then purge and shut down.  Any ideas?



Johnpfeifer71@comcast.net

bigbang

homeowner

I have a 16 year old Trianco Heatmaker Mark II in New Hampshire that has started to make a loud banging noise most noticable at early morning when I'm sleeping! It sounds like someone dropped a pallet of cinder blocks on my deck.  I've sat and waited for the sound, it doesn't do it every combustion cycle.  Purge comes on, igniter turns on, gas/flame comes on and runs for a time.  Then a big bang which seems like it comes from the flame holder area, gas/flame turns off, then purge light, then igniter and gas/flame until it reaches the top temp.  Then purge and shut down.  Any ideas?



Johnpfeifer71@comcast.net

kcopp

I had that....

problem w/ a boiler on Kittery, ME. 2 yrs. ago. I ended up replacing it soon after.

Sounds like the combustion flameholder is partially plugged up and it pop everyonce and a while. Needs to be cleaned out. kpc

Diana

runaway furance

My 1997 Trianco Heat Maker, Mark 11 furnace stays on even when the thermostats is turned down or off. Any ideas on what the cause might be? (Relay switch and thermostats have been replaced.) I appreciate any thoughts! Thanks in advance.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

They had the allure

of a busty blonde and no doubt, the brain child of a brilliant engineer.  A combi boiler! And I was taken in by all of those that tried.  Remember the Burnham Minuteman?



I had about two dozen of them on my route and still carry parts on my truck.  They were a valiant try for something small.  All those 10,000 square foot homes that could only spare a 5' x 5' space for the mechanical room.



After dealing with so many combi failures, it took me many years to warm up to anything made in America, but now am an advocate of the Prestige Excellence.

kcopp

Sounds like there.....

is a short in a t-stat wire... causing the endswitch to be on all the time.. What happens if you pull the t -stat wire off the boiler?

Slimpickins

check

The strap on Low Limit is probably bad or there is a short in the wires to it. It may also be wired wrong if you messed with it. The low limit senses the temp of the buffer tank which maintains a 140 temp to prioritize the DHW demand. Or it could be what Kcoop said, you can disconnect the red and white wire which leads to the zone valve end switches and see if that stops the boiler. That connection is on the right hand side junction box where the main power switch is.

wearylandlord

Trianco Troubles

My Heatmaker MK II has been acting up lately.  Once it fires it makes a long "groaning noise".  also, it seems to be short cycling? It'll fire, bring it up to 210 and then 5 minutes later, its back down to 160 and it fires up again. Granted it's 16 degrees out today, but is this normal operation? The pressure fluctuates between 10 and 20psi but that's because the xpansion tank is blown. will fix that manana.  Its original problem was that it was blowing the pressure relief so I replaced that. also, The solenoid in the gas pump buzzes.  Any input is much appreciated. Thx Shane

Steve Whitbeck

circuit boards

The early Endurance had a bad circuit board. ( bad design - Tech support admitted  it to me - OH and there isn't anything better for a replacement.) Have one that needs a new board every few years. ( in a customers house )

Trianco's are junk - First costly repair - replace them with a new style fire tube boiler and indirect.