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Bought home. Boiler bad. Company put in wrong boiler...

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GothicBeauty

Junior Member
Michigan.
Ugh unsure what to really do... Me and husband purchased home and moved into it August 2017. Just last week the boiler went out. Called the plumber that was listed on the boiler out and he checks it out and helps call our home warranty to help cover costs of some of the repair/parts. Agrees to come back and fix on Monday. He doesn't show and we play phone tag... Finally get ahold of him and he comes out wed. Takes another look and goes to replace parts but doesn't know what's going on and calls the company/manufacture of the boiler... Well it happens to be installed improperly and totally wrong. There's a gas boiler installed when it's supposed to be a propane boiler. How this happened I have no clue. Previous owners never made a mention. But plumber says it'll need to be replaced and said almost 6 grand!! This doesn't seem right... It was their company that carelessly put in the wrong boiler... Can something be done? Anything? Help??
 
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justalayman

Senior Member
To start with many gas/lp (propane) appliances are convertible from one fuel to the other. Generally it’s a matter of changing orifices (fuel metering devices) and making some adjustments. I would take the manufacturers name and model number and investigate the mattter before getting too worked up.

Generally when running on the wrong fuel (either with gas specific appliances or not changing the orifices) the error is known very quickly. Any installer should realize the issue upon first use.

Then, if it is truly the wrong appliance we get into; how long ago was the home built/appliance installed?
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
When a appliances orifices are natural gas and they are used with propane the flames are larger , Like a clothes dryer that was not converted will run hotter drying a large load of jeans and towels in about 20-25 min , your boiler may have easy to change orifices where the venturi tubes ( tubes that serve as burners with slots for gas to come thru ) slid on to that pipe there you would see the venture tubes meet the gas pipe ) Any way what im getting at is that you may be able to convert the boiler to propane and be okay. BUT while your investigating things contact your propane supplier and ask them if they have any records that show when this boiler was installed and the gas line leak tested ( if they have no record then try one of the other area propane companies or your city/ county permit desk to try to learn a permit date from permit records) If you contact another heating contractor flat out tell them you want them to try to convert the boiler to propane and see if it will run okay if you cannot find any information as to who installed it since its possible the former homeowner them self may have installed it or swapped out a older unit to newer and didnt get a permit. As to what else you can do , if you learned that the boiler was installed by a different heating contractor you are free to contact them and tell them what the current plumber told you and see if they will correct their mistake, as to going after the former home owner you should at least consult with a Attorney so you can make a choice once you have more information
 

HRZ

Senior Member
The conversion of jets may be rather simple . THere might be control valve or sensor issues . and it might impose paper code or certification issues Then again it might be an excuse to sell an entiire new boiler .

Get prompt help on technical,issues wth that model heater ...and BTW..just why did it fail to operate ?

A basic igniter or control valve replacement is pretty simple ...albeit service call and markup is there .

.
 

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