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EK E130 errors

HeatingHelp
HeatingHelp Administrator Posts: 687
in Oil Heating
This discussion was created from comments split from: ENERGY KINETICS REVIEW.

Comments

  • mrcoder
    mrcoder Member Posts: 14

    I would like to add a perspective from a customer who had this system ( Resolute rt) for a bit longer than 3 years. Before pulling the trigger on one of these, look into who will be servicing your unit, and what is their
    hourly rate.

    Here in Southern MA we have exactly one dealer/EK certified service provider. They happen to be pretty expensive. True, some parts have a lifetime warranty, but many common parts ( pump, igniter, solenoid, Air inducer and the like) are only covered for 3 years. My Resolute worked like a dream for the first 3 years. If you asked me a year ago, I would have given it a 5 start review. Quiet, clean. efficient. I did not even know it had a reset button.

    A couple of months ago started having trouble with sporadic "ho flame" lockouts. 3 service visits later the Solenoid was diagnosed to be faulty, and replaced to the tune of $580. This did not fix the sporadic lockouts, but made them less frequent. To this day, it has never been definitively diagnosed what causes these.

    I notice a couple of days ago the air inducer become loud, makes a sound like a bearing screech. Likely will have to be replaced, the part is about $400. I am getting an estimate tomorrow on labor. The return temp gets unreasonably hot, to the point that the unit throws E130 errors (seen 3 in the last 3 months). Maybe it is related to the air inducer. maybe some sensor…


    My impression is that it works great when it works, but the maintenance can be a problem. It sounds like an attractive proposition, but the repair costs in the past couple of month will likely wipe out any savings I may have achieved due to the high efficiency. Plus there is an extra premium up front.

    Perhaps there is something to be said about a less efficient, common, simpler system, that any average burner tech can work on, at some reasonable hourly rate. Knowing what I know now, I would probably not chose an EK system again.

    Greening
  • Roger
    Roger Member Posts: 385

    Thank you for your post, @mrcoder .

    Please PM me or contact us with your location so we can connect you with our territory manager in your area to help you can get support and a quick resolution. We’d like to find out more about your specific circumstances and what is happening with your system. For reference, the E130 diagnostic code is often a circulator issue, and, like the solenoid valve you mentioned, both parts are industry standard and not unique to the system.

    Thank you,

    Roger

    President
    Energy Kinetics, Inc.
    Greening
  • mrcoder
    mrcoder Member Posts: 14
    edited January 7

    I have my EK dealer tech coming out tomorrow ( actually it is today now) to look at the Air Inducer issue. Let's see how that goes. How fast does EK typically ship out a replacement part? That Air inducer sounds pretty bad.

    Greening
  • Roger
    Roger Member Posts: 385

    We keep a deep inventory of parts and ship the same day if the order comes in time for UPS pickup. If the inducer is making noise, we will want to get it back from your tech to run a failure analysis.

    President
    Energy Kinetics, Inc.
    HVACNUTGreening
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 5,512
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1832489#Comment_1832489

    Its not the manufacture but the people servicing the equipment.

    SuperTechGreening
  • bbick
    bbick Member Posts: 1

    where are you located & who is your heating contractor

    Greening
  • HeatingHelp.com
    HeatingHelp.com Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 92

    @mrcoder, we've started a new discussion for you here so that your questions don't get lost at the bottom of an older discussion. This will help avoid confusion as we help resolve any issues with your system.

    Forum Moderator

    jringelIntplm.pecmsgGreening
  • mrcoder
    mrcoder Member Posts: 14

    Kudos to EK for their outstanding customer support, and standing behind their product.

    The Air inducer was replaced, and the Taco 007E circulator was proactively replaced by a simpler, more robust model. My EK territory manager Brian came on-site with my service provider to give a hand with the Air Inducer upgrade. The new an improved Air inducer looks good, quiet as a mouse.


    Brian noticed my high return temperature, and he immediately replaced the return temp heat sensor. The burner now shuts off if it goes over 170 -180, as it should. It is likely the sensor was the reason for the E130 errors.

    Just an FYI, about 8 days ago I added a couple of oil rated check valves at the oil exit point at the tanks. This was recommended by Carlin. This is also recommended by Roth. It did not make an apparent difference. Just for yucks I checked the 4 nuts on the 2 flex lines to the Tigerloop. These all seemed a bit loose, I was able to turn them about 1/4 turn without putting a lot of torque on them.

    It is unclear why these came loose, as they worked fine for the first 3 years.. The bottom line: I did not have a single lockout since I tightened these nuts, going on now for a week.

    szwedjGreening

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