Thoughts on Burnham's LE

singh

what are your likes and dislikes.
I have installed LE before,however this install may use the LE-1 natural draft, and is not rated as high as the DV models.

Unknown

LE-1

I hope you don't mind, but I thought I'd jump in before anyone else voiced their opinion. You need to understand that the LE-1 is a real low water content (6.1 gallons) scotch marine style boiler that requires a system bypass in almost all situations. The firing rate is only .60 gph and due to this it is strongly advisable to use a secondary fine micron filter. These seem to be the issues that I see overlooked more often than not in the field that are likely to cause difficulties later on. If the installation manual is followed to the letter "T" then operation will remain smooth, extremely quiet and efficient. Thanks!

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

www.burnham.com

singh

Thanks for the info!
I was going to change the components for the higher firing rate of 1.00 gph. I know i'll lose some efficiency,but I'm considering the LE-1 mainly for price. My choice would be a V83 but H.O is trying to get price as low a possible about $400 difference.
I did not consider bypass before, the last LE I installed had some radiant, so I guess the mixing valve acted as bypass.
I was also concern with boiler on/off cycles ,because of its small water content.

Mark Hunt

We use them


and we have NEVER had a problem with them.

P/S piping is a must, or a by-pass as Glenn said.

Now if I could just get my supplier to keep a few with Riello burners..............

The LEDV is one quiet boiler. And because they weigh 325 pounds, handling them is much easier than a cast boiler.

The LE is a product that Burnham should be proud of!

Mark H

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DaveGateway

Hey Glenn

Is the LE offered with Riello or Carlin EZ-1 burners? I don't see it in on the on-line literature. The New Yorker twin, the Microtek3 mentions a Riello option. I think both DV and nat draft versions have the same efficency ratings.
I might team one up with a reverse indirect to give the system some buffering.

Mike Barth

LE problems

We will not install another LE or a LE DV. A conventional boiler install normally results in 0 call backs. We have installed one LE and two LE DV boilers. We had several call backs on each install. On the one installation our Burham rep came out twice. The second visit a rep from Beckett came with him. The kind of problems we were having were mostly ignition failures caused by only slightly fouled nozzles and electrodes. The solution was to fire the boiler at a higher rate even though we had a micro filter on the system. Beckett also installed a different pin on the nozzle assembly. This pin is kind of a depth gauge that sets the depth of the nozzle assembly in the tube. They also had us installed an intermitant ignition primary control. I think everything is working now, but time will tell. The other problem we had with another install was condensation running out of the boiler. Yes we did have a bypass on the boiler. This install was a one zone system so the solution was to run the circulator off of an aquastat on the supply side. Even with the aquastat set to turn on the circulator at 160* there was still a very small amount of condensation dripping from the boiler every now and then. On the plus side the boilers are extrmely quiet and burn very clean. As usual Burnham was very helpful in helping us but I still think we've installed our last LE.

LancePL

LE is a neat little unit that demands certain requirements. On lower firing rates, a Garber filter, must have a positive over the fire draft which sometimes requires baffling the flue above the boiler. A FULL SIZE bypass with a valve is a must. Do these things and add a Riello or Beckett N/X burner and thats the ticket! The LEDV with the Beckett AFII has a tendency to have issues especially at low firing rates.

Murph'_5

y

Unknown

I'd be curious

to know where the circulators were on these installations that you had condensation issues with. We call for a "System Bypass" on this model which would have the circulator between the boiler and the bypass on either the supply or return. More often than not, we see them on the system side of the bypass which would instead make it a "Boiler Bypass" and yes the boiler may condense with that type of piping arrangement.

As far as the AFII is concerned on the LEDV, most of these boilers end up on the 1st floor level with very short (5' or less) flexible vent distances. We find that by increasing the flex vent length to 10' and shaping it into an exagerated letter "P" the fire and flame becomes much more stable possibly due to the back pressure of the longer pipe. Another absolute must with the LEDV is utilizing the outdoor air connection to the burner. Thanks.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

www.burnham.com

Unknown

Joe

Both the LE and LEDV are available with a Riello burner by special order and a moderate adder to the price. The standard is Beckett and no Carlin at this point in time.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

www.burnham.com

Mark Hunt

Burnham

well well well.........did you actually come here to brag about how inept you are? You want to bag a product because it didn;t work for you, but show no proof that you are capable of installing it.
Burnham should be glad to be done with you. You're thr guy that gives whatever boiler a bad name due to your inability.
"We had to replace everything but it wasn;t our fault"!!

Your company probably still thinks a t87 is top shelf cutting edge tecnology.