How long should a Triangle Tube Solo 250 Condensing boiler last?

Javelin · February 9

Heating Pros,

With a TON of awesome help from this forum, I installed a boiler back in 2013. It's been a reliable workhorse and aside from replacing an ignitor once, it's been going strong. Just a year ago, I had a service guy come out and inspect it and do a recall of some sort that was mandated by TT.

It's still running ok but now that it's almost 13 years old, I'm wondering what the shelf life here is? as long as I get it inspected and things seem ok, do they last much longer? Or would I be smart to entertain a new boiler maybe over the summer when we can live easier with a little downtime?

Any experience any of you have with the longevity of these boilers would be appreciated. And if the general consensus is it's time to start thinking about a replacement, any suggestions for an alternative would be welcome since I know now that TT is out of business (at least in the USA). THanks!

hot_rod · February 9

That is a tough question to answer.

A lot of the life expectancy of any mod con has to do with proper installation, proper combustion tuning, occasional clean and check including combustion check. Proper venting is important, you don't want them recycling flue gas.

On the water side, having good water and a conditioner protects the metals from the inside.

Electrical components all have a engineered cycle life. So preventing the boiler from cycling on and off frequently will be the best operating mode. Stable incoming voltage is ideal. We have seen examples of power conditioners add in areas with occasional brown out or low voltage conditions.

20 years is not unheard of for a mod con life cycle.

There are plenty of brands available to replace that boiler should parts become obsolete.

Javelin · February 9

Thank you Hot Rod, would you think that with another inspection by a pro he'd be able to "poke" around to see if there is evidence of failing anywhere? I guess my question is do these things usually drop dead instantly, or do they start to show signs that they are dying (so I can be pro-active if needed).

tim smith · February 9

did the last tech remove blower and top heat exchanger plate and clean combustion chamber, burner, flush out tubes and drain trap? Clean igniter, flame rod. Combustion checks. Btw, we have seen usually 15-20 max with being regularly, properly serviced on PS boilers. Pretty much all the fire tube boilers. If ignored 8-12 yrs.

hot_rod · February 9

I'll bet you can find You Tube vids on how to clean a TT boiler. An example video from Jake at Simple Hydronics in Bozeman

As @tim smith mentioned the top needs to be removed to check and clean. Example of a poorly neglected boiler below, and example of how the water side fails.

Conditions like this are not the boilers fault, or design issues. It's lack of proper maintenance and water quality control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQL_KWGQaGw

Screenshot 2026-02-09 at 10.38.31 AM.png

Screenshot 2026-02-09 at 10.38.09 AM.png

tim smith · February 9

Every 1-2 yrs the combustion chamber needs vaccuming out, the tubes need good flush, we also found that we needed to clear the tubes as best we could of the (coffee ground like) build up in the tubes. It stacks up in the tube and finally becomes compacted to such a point that tubes will be fully blocked. Its amazing how many tubes can be blocked and these units will still run. But reality is your stack temp is going higher due to less airflow through heat x. back pressure building up and will finally blow out gaskets. The cleaners on the marked dont really break to the crystalized deposits enough to flush them out. We would use flat silfos brazing rods and on the 1st gen Triangle ps boilers we could get the rods all the way down to verify clear. Then the factory changed dimpling pattern on tubes offsetting every other dimple where as original were right down the middle ever 4-6 " appx. So when punching them out on early models could go down either side of the dimple. Later versions we could only get down maybe 10 - 12". The build up is what we found to be the boilers demise more often than other items. Build up would also retain condensate, making a corrosive build up where this occured. Just my .03 worth.

ferrociousghandi · February 21

I just replaced a PS 250 that was 18 years old but it had extenuating circumstances like water dripping into the electrical system and whatnot. They were awesome boilers from a controls standpoint. So easy to see what is going on with the supply and return temps, domestic water temp, and outdoor temp then change values like set points. I don’t know of any other great interfaces like that one. I settled on a Viessmann over an IBC boiler because of the piping configuration but both seem to be good and around the same price.

gyrfalcon · February 21

The Triangle Tube boiler that heats the floor at my work was installed in 2008. It is also responsible for the domestic water via a sidearm heat exchanger. The system as a whole is getting a little aged and we have had to call in for repairs but the boiler itself, probably towards the end of its life, is still working fine. It has never, to my knowledge, ever had the fire tubes cleaned out. I’m not recommending this maintenance to be neglected , I’m just saying they can go over 15, pushing 20 years . Definitely not 30

How long should a Triangle Tube Solo 250 Condensing boiler last?

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