Munchkin Boiler Replacement

October 22, 2015   |   Author: Gary Kirkendall   |   No comments   |   Categories: Boilers   |   Tags: •
Munchkin Boiler

Costly Munchkin Boiler.

Almost every Munchkin boiler we come across has a history of problems. This particular Munchkin just started to have issues ... my customer elected not to go down the costly repair route that these boilers are famous for.

The Flash Boiler

The idea behind this Munchkin Boiler is to flash heat the water, by doing so you have a very small compact unit. BUT in my opinion its this compact design that can led to serious issues, like clogging of the burn chamber and or the heat exchanger itself. This type of clogging can lead to serious costly failures.

Munchkin To Burnham

The new Burnham ECS boiler is a cast iron boiler with an optional outdoor reset, perfect for this application. The Burnham boiler efficiency is a little less than the Munchkin Boiler but I feel it is a more reliable, and will last a lot longer with fewer repair bills.

Conclusion

Flash boilers have very small ports on both the inside and the outside of the exchanger, without proper maintenance they will clog and cause costly repairs. 

 

Existing Munchkin Boiler
New Burnham Boiler

Bow Wa Boiler Replacement

October 14, 2015   |   Author: Gary Kirkendall   |   No comments   |   Categories: Boilers   |   Tags: • •
A Clean, New Installation in an Existing Home

Bow Wa Boiler Replacement.

When it comes to boilers we really don't have a favorite brand or model, we actually look at the situation and then pick a boiler that will actually work the best. That being said, we do have a list of favorite boilers we like to use. In this Bow Wa Boiler replacement the Burnham ESC boiler fit the bill.

Maintenance was the key

Our customer actually had a fairly new high efficient boiler already installed, the problem was it kept breaking down. So much so that he decided to have it replaced with a much simpler boiler. As it turned out we had found that the top of the heat ex-changer was almost totally plugged and the gas pressure going into the boiler was not properly set. All of this was overlooked for years by the company doing his maintenance, and that company was the original installation company.

The Burnham ESC

In this situation we had picked the Burnahm ESC boiler, reason being they are very basic, durable, easy to install and you can add modules to them. The boiler is great in low temperature applications, like for in-floor systems or it can easily handle high heat base boards applications as well.

Conclusion

Make sure when your having maintenance done on your boiler system (especially high efficient systems) that its done properly. A good installation company is not always a good service company.

 

New Burnham ESC Bow Wa Boiler Replacement

Laars Pool Heater to Burham Boiler

January 21, 2011   |   Author: Gary Kirkendall   |   No comments   |   Categories: Boilers   |   Tags: • • •

This Laars Lite pool heater has seen the end of its life, sadly to say it was only 10 years old. The really unfortuate part is that this appeared to be the 3rd pool heater replacemnt since the pool was installed. Fortuantly at this time my customer wanted to do more than just heat the pool, he also wanted to heat the pool room and he did not want to have to replace the heater in another 10 years.

Existing Laars Lite pool heater

Existing Laars Lite pool heater

I’m not use to dealing with pool heaters, but after seeing what kind of corrosion can occur I do not understand why pool owners still use them. Now it could be this is a lower quality of pool heater?

Laars Lite corrosion

Laars Lite corrosion

Never the less my customer did not want a repeat. I proposed using a Burham ES27 boiler with a Triangle Tube MF-135 heat exchanger to heat their pool. This way we have a closed loop system that heats water with water. The pool water will never be introduced into the boiler system. The ES27 is 85% AFUE and is atmospheric, and because its cast iron … its built to last.

Burham ES27 Boiler

Burham ES27 Boiler

Being a cast iron boiler the Burham ES27 did weigh considerably more than the Laars Lite pool heater, fortunately I did have help on this day… I just didn’t feel like wrestling 460lbs all by myself.

Boiler Loop

Boiler Loop

If you can make it out the Triangle Tube MF-135 heater exchanger is the black cylinder just to the left and down from center. Its hard to believe a small cylinder like that could heat an entire pool. We control the pool loop with a Ranco controller.

Modine Heater

Modine Heater

Now for the pool room itself, we installed a Modine HC-108 hot water fan coil. We ran a separate loop off the boiler into the room. We control this with an Honeywell 4000 thermostat. Now for you people that know what a pool room can do to copper … we actually coated everything with a high heat clear coat paint.
Alpine Heating And Cooling

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.