what's so bad about crown?

what's so bad about the Crown boiler co.? my new house owner sister and brother-in-law decicided to bight the bullet after his losing his eyebrows and most of his leg hair relighting his 40 year old National boiler co. gas boiler. they have zero money to spend so I call around and lite on a Crown boiler made of cast iron in thier btu range for $1000.00 I had zoned the heat as a house warming gift last year so all the near boiler stuff was new. installed the boiler monday. now all I hear from my compatriots is, "Crown? your own sister? how could you? I say again even though it was my first one what's so bad about Crown?

Ford...Chevy...its definately one or the other

The crown freeport oil boiler is a decent 3 pass design for the money. It makes more sense to me to invest a little more and go with a geman (Buderus or Viessmann) boiler thats better quality.



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Norm, you should find out who makes the freeport before stating that B & V are better designs!

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What I don't like about Crown boilers is their basic design. I don't like a boiler that is ordered with *either* a hot water or steam control kit. Looking at their boilers, it is evident that they are selling their hot water units to make steam. I like to know there are two different designs for either application as is the case with Burnham's Independence versus Series 2 lines.

It also has no internal jacket space. Every part of the boiler is exposed including the electrical wiring to the gas valve and the thermostat terminals. All it takes is for a metal object to fall against the boiler or a spill from something near by or a drip from above to short out the electronics. Nearly every other boiler manufacturer encases those connections inside a removable cover or junction box.

During trade events, technical consultations and customer support issues, Crown seems to be unavailable. The whole rest of the boiler-making world has service agents in the field ready to blame you for all of their product failures you encounter. While this doesn't seem like it would be helpful, it makes a world of difference when you need parts replaced or a warranty honored.

As for perception being the issue: That's also true. In my service area, every single copper-headered, crappy good for nothing installation I come across involves a Crown (or Utica) boiler.
Sometimes it seems the company sells almost exclusively to DIYers over hardware store counters.

If you want a boiler, stick with the major players.



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Crown

I have been using Crown boilers, or more specifically the Crown Freeport, and the FW series for years and I put them up against just about any "Brand Name".

These blocks as Ken was alluding to are cast by Viessmann and sent to Philadelphia where Crown installs their boiler jacket and controls. They may not offer the fancy computerized controls like Buderus or Viessmann, but what you do get is a great basic boiler that I will apples to apples against all other brands of three pass cast iron boilers. I have never had a push nipple leak, or had parts missing from the crate. Crown offers a solid boiler line. I also like the CSC series sealed combustion cast iron gas boilers. Easy to maintain, and very reliable.

I have never had a problem contacting tech support when I needed them, and when I go back to service they are just as clean after a year of service as any Buderus, or Viessmann Vitorond I have cleaned.

I would not hesitate installing this boiler in my sister's house, my house, or even my parents house.

Lets not forget the old mantra, it is not so much the Brand you are installing as much as "WHO" installs it.


Cosmo