Repair or Replace Aging Heating System with Gas Conversion Gun?

mcryp123 · June 20

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice regarding my home heating system in long island, New York.

When I bought my house back in 2016, I inherited a system that had gone through a gas conversion in 2014. The previous homeowner took the quick route—he kept the original oil boiler and indirect water heater (both from 2004), and simply installed a Carlin gas conversion burner onto the old oil boiler to run it on natural gas.

This setup has worked reasonably well until recently. Over the past month or so, the Carlin burner has been acting up. The red signal light on the primary control comes on and shuts down the burner, stopping hot water supply. I’ve been able to get it running again by hitting the reset button, but now it's happening every 2–3 days.

Here’s the system age breakdown:

Carlin gas conversion burner: ~11 years old

Original oil boiler: ~21 years old

Indirect water heater: ~21 years old

My house is about 2,000 sq ft, has 3 heating zones, and 3 bathrooms.

I’m trying to figure out:

1. What might be causing the red light/frequent shutdowns?

2. Is it worth spending money to repair the current setup?

3. Or is it time to replace the entire system?

If replacement makes more sense, I’d really appreciate brand/model recommendations for indirect water heater and gas boiler. I’m looking for something reliable, durable, low-maintenance, and not costly to repair down the road.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Whole System:

INDIRECT DHW:

OIL BOILER:

CARLIN GAS CONVERSION GUN:

Red light above causes shut down, green light above turns back on whenever I press the reset button.

mattmia2 · June 20

Nothing wrong with replacing an oil burner with a gas power burner, especially on a boiler that is only 10 years old. When was the last time a gas tech cleaned and adjusted the power burner? You need a tech to clean and adjust it. Someone needs to make sure the boiler isn't leaking, it could be at 20 years but 30-50 years is more typical of that type of boiler. Someone needs to fix the leaks in that piping, the fresh water will damage the boiler over time. @EzzyT, @clammy, @JohnNY, and a few others are in your area.

like with an oil burner the boiler, the burner, and the vent all act together to control combustion, it isn't like most atmospheric boilers where the draft hood decouples the boiler from the vent. It needs to be set up y a tech with a combustion analyzer that knows how to use it. It could be that a part is failing on the power burner but that burner looks like it hasn't been touched by a tech in a long time so it should be cleaned and tested by a gas tech regardless of if there is bad part as well.

Steamhead · June 20

The primary control, shown in the last pic, is failing. One of the components in the flame-detection circuit has become unstable. We have a bunch of these burners in our customer base, and generally replacing that control with the current version solves the problem. The new version also has some diagnostic capability that can tell you why it locked out, can display the flame signal etc.

These burners run very well in W-M Gold boilers when properly set up, and I see no need to completely replace them.

I'd have a pro come in and replace the control, do a combustion test to make sure it's running properly, fix the leak on the fill valve or pipe above the measuring cup, check the expansion tank for proper air charge etc.

IIRC, the indirect tank is a re-branded Triangle Tube unit. The corrosion is coming from bad joints above the tank. Have them replaced and you should be OK.

mcryp123 · 3:52AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1858243#Comment_1858243

Hi @mattmia2,

Thanks so much for the detailed response — I really appreciate the insight. It makes sense that the burner needs proper cleaning and setup, which probably hasn’t been done in quite a while.

If the boiler isn't leaking and a good tech services the burner and piping leaks, do you think it’s reasonable to expect several more years of reliable use out of this setup? The boiler and indirect tank are both about 21 years old, and the gas burner is around 11.

I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth investing in repairs and cleaning, or if I'm just delaying the inevitable and should start planning for full replacement soon. Curious what your experience says about how much more life I can reasonably squeeze out of these components.

Thanks again!

HVACNUT · 4:00AM

The draft regulator is not in the correct location. Get it serviced. Get a combustion report. Upgrade the primary control.

mattmia2 · 4:03AM

the pipe leaks are just bad workmanship, as long as a lot of fresh water hasn't been added to the boiler they have nothing to do with the life of the boiler. usually boiler leaks start out small so you have time to schedule a replacement before it is so big that it affects operation.

EBEBRATT-Ed · 4:20AM

Fix what you have get some quotes for new and start saivng

psb75 · 12:28PM

Triangle Tube indirect tank is a tank-in-tank style. Internal tank is the dhw. There is no drain valve for that. Generally a good tank. Can still get aquastat controls for that from Supplyhouse. I noticed that your tank doesn't seem to have a TP relief valve. Did it ever have one?

Repair or Replace Aging Heating System with Gas Conversion Gun?

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