Yearly Boiler Maintenance
#1
10-07-09, 12:02 PM
Yearly Boiler Maintenance
I have a 1996 Burnham natural gas fired boiler, running 5 zones (p205 boiler).
I would like to do my own annual fire-up and maintenance.
Can anyone give me any suggestions? The circulator pump is oil-less, the vent is clear, there pilot looks perfect, and there are no bleeders on the baseboards (there are a couple of Taco self-bleeders down by the boiler.)
Is there any purpose to having the furnace guy come out for $140 for annual maintenance?
Thanks
I would like to do my own annual fire-up and maintenance.
Can anyone give me any suggestions? The circulator pump is oil-less, the vent is clear, there pilot looks perfect, and there are no bleeders on the baseboards (there are a couple of Taco self-bleeders down by the boiler.)
Is there any purpose to having the furnace guy come out for $140 for annual maintenance?
Thanks
#2
10-07-09, 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by muldog
Is there any purpose to having the furnace guy come out for $140 for annual maintenance?
Since this is a DIY forum, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I wouldn't call in a tech annually for a gas-fired boiler. If you were a widow living alone, it would be different.
#3
10-07-09, 12:41 PM
Nope, not a widow.
That is what I have been asking myself - gas company is suggestion that I have a boiler guy come out for "annual maintenance" - can't imagine that I can't do it myself, but there is painfully little to maintain - other than oiling the circulator, bleeding the valves, inspecting the vent, and checking the pilot - all of which are either unnecessary on my system, or easily done.
Just wanted to see if anyone else knew of something that I was missing that might be worth $140.
Thanks for replying.
That is what I have been asking myself - gas company is suggestion that I have a boiler guy come out for "annual maintenance" - can't imagine that I can't do it myself, but there is painfully little to maintain - other than oiling the circulator, bleeding the valves, inspecting the vent, and checking the pilot - all of which are either unnecessary on my system, or easily done.
Just wanted to see if anyone else knew of something that I was missing that might be worth $140.
Thanks for replying.
#4
10-07-09, 02:45 PM
I would think that the hardest part of any boiler maintenance would be the disassembly needed to brush down the flue passages in the heat exchanger... IF the boiler needed it.
The burner area should probably be vacuumed out... sometimes debris falls from the passages and sits on top of the burners...
The burner area should probably be vacuumed out... sometimes debris falls from the passages and sits on top of the burners...
#5
10-07-09, 05:02 PM
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Annual Maint.
The single most critical thing a person (homeowner or tech)should do is check all of the safety devices. One thing very few homeowners can't do is combustion analysis. Household CO detectors are worth little more than nothing.
