3 year solution to replace failed boiler? No heat, no hot water.

onaheater · January 14

My Triangle Tube boiler started emitting CO over the weekend and got red-tagged. Due to the Triangle Tube company shutting down everyone I calls does not recommend repairing it, saying it will take a while to source all the necessary parts, aside from the actual recall kit itself.

The issue is the home is likely to be demo'ed for new construction, or undergo a significant remodel within the next three years. I don't want to sink a bunch of money into a replacement boiler and have it obsolete in a few years (I edited out the price but I'm in a Colorado mountain town so I probably got quoted more than you think). And I don't know enough about what the new construction/remodel will look like to try and size the new boiler to be reusable in that house. Install of a new boiler would be end of next week at the soonest, probably the following week.

In the meantime the house is without heat (via hydronic baseboard heaters) or hot water, and we're in the mountains looking at temps between 20-40 degrees for the next week. Lots of space heaters running...

I'm looking for alternatives, ideally less money and/or modular in some way that makes them easier to reuse or sell later. For context the house has about 3,600 sq ft of heated area, it's moderately insulated (built in the 1970s), and includes a main unit and a basement ADU. A few ideas I had:

1. A gas-powered tankless water heater + mini-splits or window units for heat.

2. A 50-gallon gas water tank + mini-splits or window units for heat

3. Gas-powered tankless water heater that ties into the hydronics -- not sure if this is even a thing

I would really appreciate any reactions to the above ideas or recommendations for other options to consider.

Last thing, regarding maintenance. I keep up with regular inspections and service calls, so something like a tankless water heater that I understand should be regularly maintained doesn't scare me off. The boiler that just failed is inspected annually, including a couple months ago. Last year I was told it was in "remarkably good shape for its age" and in October the tech who inspected the unit recommended replacing a pump and auto-fill valve for the hydronics (all completed) but said the boiler itself looked good and was running well. This is a separate issue and I'll likely be looking for a new contractor going forward!

Location: Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado

Steamhead · January 14

@onaheater we do not discuss pricing on this site. You need to edit the prices out. Now.

See: https://heatinghelp.com/forum-user-manual

EBEBRATT-Ed · January 14

You may not need any parts. Co could be just a combustion adjustment.

Unfortunately, everyone just wants to sell new. I would call around and look for a technician that is actually a technician instead of someone who just wants to sell new equipment. You can by a new car for the $$ they quoted you. We can't talk price here however.

Post your city and check 'find a contractor" on this site.

Someone may see this post and know a contractor who could help.

hot_rod · January 14

least expensive is to limp the TT along. So determine exactly what it needs to fix.

If the HX is burned through, that may be a tough fix, unless you find a donor boiler somewhere.

If it is in fact done, buying a name brand, Lochinvar, Viessmann, NTI or others common in your area at least you have parts and service, and a boiler for the remodel or new build.

I think you need 100K or more, so a tank water heater would not supply the heat.

109A_5 · January 14

What model is it, and what is actually wrong with it, what parts did they say it needs ?

How was the CO issue detected ?

psb75 · January 14

There are still plenty of TT parts out there and people who know those boilers. They were/are good, long-running boilers. Find out what's really wrong and fix it.

onaheater · January 14

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1882212#Comment_1882212

CO was detected by a CO monitor in the next room over, the first lived-in space. The gas company came that night and measured 135ppm so not lethal but glad we caught it when we did!

It's a Prestige Solo 175 model. The tech listed off some of the things that would need to be replaced, which I jotted down as he went but didn't catch all of it. I'm still waiting to get the written report from them. His list included (in addition to the recall repair kit):

Top gasket on site glass needs replaced
1.25” air separator
supply loop redone due to leaking
each sensor corroded
each inlet and outlet corroded
exhaust outlet corroded

Said it's one of the worst he's seen… these are my photos below so I'm not sure if I'm photographing the relevant part:

hot_rod · January 14

Does this system have glycol in it? Those leaks all look like the fiber washers, which can be replaced

These are all water side leaks and would not cause a CO issue?

GGross · January 14

yeah the water leaks have nothing to do with the CO. the exhaust outlet you mention as the last item to be fixed is the one causing the unsafe condition. I would ask your contractor which recall kit they are trying to procure, there were possibly multiple depending on the boiler, one that had to do with CO leaking, which is a 5 minute repair for a DIY, and one that was an ignition update which would be not needed if just runing the boiler for a few months until demo. leaking water is less than ideal, but if the whole house is getting demo'd soon just patch where necessary, find and fix the source of CO, and handhold the thing through its final months. IF you buy a new boiler now you will spend a ton of money to fix everything, and then rip it all right out and re-do it again, if you re-use the new boiler it will technically not have any warranty if it's not in its original installation.

PeteA · January 14

is it possible the CO is blowing right out of the bottom of where the heat exchanger meets the plastic looking exhaust base? If you click on the photo provided and zoomin to the bottom where the stainless meets the plastic its pretty dark which to me looks a little like heat was blowing out there. I assume this has never been taken apart and I am not familiar with this device but it looks like there would have been a gasket or some other seal at this spot and it would have been thick enough to isolate the plastic from the steel. This thing may be really dirty inside and the heat has found a weakspot at the bottom and is exhausting some of the CO inside.

PeteA · January 14

even the lining looks like it's deformed and bubbling off on the left hand side of the heat exchanger. This thing needs a teardown and a deep cleaning at the very minimum but I think there is more going on here than just one or washers, this thing looks like it got really hot inside the cabinet.

HomerJSmith · January 14

I would see if the nuts on top plate where the fan is are loose. Make sure that the rubber gasket is compressed. There is a gasket between the fan and the top plate, too. Clean every thing up as best you can.

Maybe an IR camera could pinpoint the leak. Look for a heat signature.

As far as lethal CO, it's concentration + exposed time.

mattmia2 · January 14

That kind of co concentration is like undiluted products of combustion if the appliance isn't burning very well so whatever failed is likely more or less causing it to completely vent inside. If the intake is from the inside of the cabinet, firing it with the products of combustion will cause it to burn poorly. It is likely just one part that is failed causing the exhaust leak.

I would be concerned about 10 ppm over an extended period, 100+ ppm is a only visit the area briefly condition.

hot_rod · January 14

I'm thinking something like this may be going on under the hood, causing all the high temperature issues.

Any idea of when it was opened and cleaned last? Not just an external wipe down cleaning :)

PeteA · January 14

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1882287#Comment_1882287

WOW Bob

@hot_rod how long did that one run for like that? I had no first hand knowledge of how the equipment in the OP was assembled but I did imagine it was debris and a bottom gasket or some other seal leaking. Geez I never imagined these thing can load up that much junk in them.

hot_rod · 12:18AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1882311#Comment_1882311

When the fire tube mod cons became available one of the selling features was they are "self cleaning" the condensate running down the tubes allegedly was going to keep them clean :(

Plus bad water quality on the water side can cause over-heating tubes and and welds to fail.

All boilers need servicing and they need good water and proper combustion adjustments.

They are what they breath, if they suck in tree pollen, bugs, dust, etc that will show on the first cleaning often, alerting you to the fact something needs to be corrected.

3 year solution to replace failed boiler? No heat, no hot water.

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