What is your longest running Combi Boiler without ever needing Service - excluding maintenance.
I am a data guy and want to get statistics on the longest running combi boiler without ever needing service - excluding maintenance.
Not necessarily your favorite combi boiler but a combi boiler that just worked and just kept going and going.
Comments
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i think this is the reinforcing the parts of the plane that don't have bullet holes problem.
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I don't think Munchkin made combis but there seems to be some of them hanging around. Parts I think are getting scarce for them.
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I had a Bosch service call recently , The customer mentioned first call in 11 years..The electrodes walked and I believe were the original .. I was amazed ..
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I think I had a Viessmann once that was 8 years old before it needed a replacement flow sensor. Combis don't fare well in my area due to the water quality. Most of them will definitely require a replacement flame rectification rod or spark electrode in the first five years. Not sure if you consider that maintenance or a repair.
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Good point. I’d consider this a repair if the manufacturer doesn’t specifically state it should be maintained after a specific amount of time like a igniter etc.
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sounds like it is spark rather than hsi
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I wonder how many folks would admit to running a boiler or combi 5, 10, 15 years without service?
With a combi, water quality and how many gallons has passed through. So that would not be as easy as tracking a boiler maintenance.
Many boilers and combis have data loggers on them, it would show whenever service hours was cleared off, perhaps.
Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream0 -
if i knew what level of cleaning it needed before i had it apart i would be a lot more likely to do it.
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The Bosch uses a spark ignition , The electrodes over time will bend downward .. The bad ones have to be walked out :)
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This is easy for me and unbelievable. Baxi. I hate to say it but its true, I have had more than a few go 10 + years without touching them. I got a call from what I thought was a former customer because I never heard from them. He let me know, that they hadn't called because there was no need. Maintenance conversation aside, I went over and found it running great. Needed a cleaning, and a flame rod and igniter. Here's the pic. I dont understand it, this thing was on LP, and only did radiant and hot water. It sees the hours, and should need more love. Baxi… I dont like them, but man they have held up for me, so I dont even know why I dont like them.
Tom
Montpelier Vt
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2006 Buderus GB142/45 Combi still running 4-Zone. Plenty of service calls, and replaced parts, now getting harder to find electrical components, but still working albeit, my fins in the HX are showing their age.
Will need to replace soon.😒
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As much as I hate to admit this, I recently serviced a Navien combi that was installed in 2013 and had never been touched. Family of 6 using DHW and a 4 loop radiant floor in the basement. Flushed the HX and it showed almost no signs of buildup, then replaced the pressure switch after a long talk with tech support. All better
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I had a Laars Mascot, the early ones were Baxi 330 relabeled. It was cleaned twice in 16 years. Maybe 6 years on it before it was first opened. An lp version that was at my in-laws home on our property. New gaskets and flame rods as a precaution.
Never had a single issue with it and it cycled a lot for their dhw use,
If I were a betting man, I would guess many if not most mod con combis get neglected , serviced only when something fails
Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream0 -
I have a number of Cosmogas/ Embassy Axia boilers still out there.
Installed 2005-2007.
They are an atmospheric set up. Pretty bulletproof. Igniters and the occasional need to top off water is about all they get.
A complete service/ teardown would not be fun… day long process.
I have done a few the really issue is parts are very hard to find.
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Not a combi, but my neighbor has a on demand hot water heater buried behind a shelf units. He’s been the house 9 years and no maintenance. Unit seems to be running along.
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Now we need to make a reverse thread. Shortest unit run time, before needing service. Or maybe most service calls within the first year, two, five.....
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That's simple for me…
Embassy Onex. (Cosmogas) It was their intro into the condensing market. This was a pain to dial in Especially on LP gas.
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Can't know the exact date of install because there was no record, but they only made this serial between 03-09 viessmann wb2 little combi. customer went out to it after an ice storm left our area without power for a week or more. Must have taken a surge or something when the power came back on because the board was toasted. I've seen a lot make it 10 years with no issue, the problem is most of the time when you show up to those they actually haven't even had annual service to the burner in those 10 years and the problems begin stacking up. Good brands that are installed well and don't get hit by dirty power can safely last 10 years not being touched at all, 15+ with some annual service (or a great deal of luck). Probably the most common early parts to "fail" are those little Grundfos flow sensors in many brands, usually its just debris in there causing the thing to not read correctly, a filter helps mitigate this. In my experience the primary problems I have with combis have to do with customer expectations not parts failures. There's a bad habit of swapping out a tank for a tankless or combi and the customer doesn't like waiting for hot water, so you build a recirc for them and the thing short cycles itself to an early death because they never call for maintenance.
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I’m a homeowner and I installed an IBC HC 13-50 combo unit myself, been running since Jan 2019 almost flawlessly.
I’ve cleaned the combustion chamber once a few years ago, wasn’t too bad. Been meaning to do it again just haven’t found time. Doesn’t look horrible through the viewport. Otherwise only issue is a pressure sensor went bad which I easily fixed. I keep an extra ignitor and pressure sensor on hand now.
No complaints here for a $1600 unit. Probably helps I’m not using it for DHW and I must have been somewhat right on sizing as I’ve never noticed it short cycling.
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Home owner here. Had my Weil McClain ultra installed Oct. 4, 2004 and believe I have only had one service repair call since original install date. Of course the maintenance schedule has been followed, which has been every other year. Is my Weil McClane Ultra living on borrowed time????? Combi meaning DHW and heating, correct?
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I installed a Weil-McLain Ultra 380 in 2009 and other than 3 year exchanger klinker clean and igniter change out it runs great. It replaced a 6 section coal boiler that was converted to oil with the burner installed through door. Gravity system with 3 inch mains in the boiler room upgraded to B&G 100 on the secondary loop. 17 years and running fine.
I wish I had taken better care of my Buderus GB 142; here's the admission you sought. I did no maintenance on this boiler for 11 years, yup that's the truth. It developed a hx leak but I'm gonna seal it up and see what happens.
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GB 142 isn't a combi as far as I know. Nut then I could becerong
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20+ years is an impressive amount of time for a combi. I can't say that it's past it's expiration date but I would be concerned about the age of it.
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WHY?
The clearly states to have it checked and serviced annually!
Don’t change the oil in your car what’s gonna happen!
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I have had many Ultras hold up like that… but I dont think I would call them Combi's. The ones we put in 20 years ago are now getting swapped.
Tom
Montpelier Vt0 -
14 yrs and counting 150 NTI. Heating a 1910 CI Radiator house of 2600 sq ft. Single zone circ pump w/primary/secondary circuit. 3 yr combustion chamber clean and one time replacement of igniter. Takes a lickin, keeps on ticking!
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yes both heat and HW. 21 years is very respectable
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I installed a Rinnai R75 in 2009 and a Peerless Purefire 50 in 2010. I checked the inlet screen on the Rinnai twice (it was clean) and cleaned the trap on the Peerless once a long time ago when I replaced the crappy plastic hose clamps that were leaking with regular hose clamps. That’s it. Knock on wood! I do have a water softener.
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Homeowner, had a very old Weil McClain boiler replaced with a Navien condensing combi unit 8yrs ago. I do annual flushing of the heat exchangers and replacing the condensate neutralizer when needed, using ph paper to measure condensate in the pump before it's pumped to a sink in the garage. Main water line on the block were replaced 2-3 years ago and I was concerned about sediment entering my combi unit. Evidence? The condensate neutralizer slowly turned rusty brown instead of seeing plain condensate. Sure enough, the flow sensor became clogged (metal mesh filter never mentioned in service manual). The error code wasn't specific. Called plumber and two visits later, the flow sensor was replaced when I was able to examine what failed. The solenoid was most likely fine but the mesh strainer was blocked from the NYC contractor upgrading the main water line feeding around 40-50 homes on both sides of the block. I don't remember if this included another block east. I have no idea if boilers up and down the block were damaged from this project.
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The condensate that comes out of your unit should never interact in any way with the water flowing through the unit, and if it does you have a hole in your heat exchanger.
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