Water is circulating but there is no flame to heat the water

On Cristmas eve we came home to a cool house, I could hear the water circulating but the rads were cool to the touch. I went to the basement to check the boiler and there was a red light flashing. I followed the restart procedure on the side of the boiler and everything was fine. Only for about a week and a half. I proceded to restart it again and this time it only lasted for 3 days. Now the temps are really getting cold out, good for making ice for ice fishing but not good for heating a house with an iffy ignition system on a boiler.

The boiler I have is an HB Smith and it is ~20 years old. When I restart the boiler everything seems to work fine, this is an auto ignition system, and I can see the element glow to start the piolet and then after a few seconds I can see/hear the flames ignite. Wondering if I want to fix this myself what parts may be bad for me to replace? Should I start with the igniter first? I do not haev the book for the boiler so I am not sure with out taking it apart what piece or pieces I may need?

Any help would be appreciated!!!

 

Circulation should be nearly silent.

First step should be to obtain a copy. You should be able to find a place to download on the web.

What is the full model of the boiler?

What was the red light indicating? What control was the light on?

 

I have pictures of the boiler and of where the light was blinking but they are to big to upload. I will work on that next.

Also, when I said I could hear the water circulating I miss spoke. The water is almost silent, but I can hear the circulating pumps are on and running.

 

What's the boiler model number?

 

Clean your flame sensor. I bet thats your problem. Should be a small rod with one wire hooked up to it. Clean it with some scotch brite or emry cloth and you should be good to go. Try that, if it doesn't work let us know. Also if you have a direct vent unit make sure there's no blockages on the intake or exhaust side. Ice or snow for example.

 

Trooper, The boiler model number is G100-W-4 HSID

RD, I will try that and see how things go. Not sure how to get to it, but I will see what I can do.

Thanks guys. Hope it does not go out tonight! Wind chills in -20's are predicted, BRRRrrrr!

 

Could that be GB100 or is definitely G100 ?

 

definitely G-100-W-4-HSID serial number B92-2429 installed 8-3-94. Its getting old but still heats well, when it lights.

I tried to take the whole side to get at the flame sensor, but I cant get one of the screws out. Going to try again after I get the kids to bed. Is that how to get at it, take the side off?

 

Take a quick pic if you could. You shouldn't have to really take anything apart. Some just pull out, most just have one screw holding it in.

 

I can't find any info on the G-100. Still looking.

 

If it's a Hot Surface ignitor, the ignitor itself could be serving as the flame sensor... there might not be a separate 'flame rod'.

Does your boiler have a FENWAL or a HONEYWELL ignitor? Either one, what model?

 

Me either... but it seems to be a valid number because there are others on the net asking about similar numbers.

I wonder if the G100 is a predecessor to the GB and later the GC series?

 

For some reason I can not get a picture up here?!?!

Anyway there is a gray honeywell box that I believe is wired together with a white-rogers box. The white-rogers box is the one that has the red flashing light on it when it is not lit. On the side of the boiler there is a wiring diagram for the G100 hot surface ignition (water/white -rogers)

Any of this sound familiar?

If not I will have to spend some time looking around on the web while I am at work. Also ask some of the technicians/engineers at work tomorrow and see if anyone can help. If they can figure out some of the big heaters/ovens/melters at work they may be able to help.

Thanks again for your time!!!

 

Well hello again!

Sorry to bring up this old topic again this year but I am still having the same problem. Last year I had a technician come out to the house and look at our boiler, the original one in this topic. Funny thing is when he came out to look at it, the stupid thing worked fine. He serviced the unit (what ever that means) but we never had another problem with it for the rest of the year.

Well you guessed it, we are having trouble again. I have had a technician come out again and while they were here the freaking thing worked fine. So again I had to pay the bill for them to "look" at it.....

At best it is an intermittent problem and when I turn the thermostats off and back on it usually starts up, ~70% of the time.

I am going to start out by replacing parts, starting with the White Rogers ignition control. This is the part with the flashing red light. Figure it is a good place to start? Unless anyone has a better suggestion? Now I have a question for the experts, when I look up the model number I dont get much for that number (50F47-060). I did find on one site (heatcoolparts.com) that the model number 50F47-060 was replaced with number 50E47-843. I just want to make sure this is correct before I go ahead and order it.

Thanks for any info you may have!!!

 

I'm gonna say that if you must throw parts at it to first replace the HSI (Hot Surface Ignitor)

If I could find a manual for your boiler I could point you at the correct ignitor to use.

Those ignitors DO wear out and require periodic replacement... it's MUCH more likely than the control itself. If you want to replace parts, this would be the logical first part to try.

But,

This module WILL replace the one you have but make sure to use the correct programming key (you can find the correct setup by looking at the 'competitive cross reference'.

50E47-843 - White Rodgers 50E47-843 - Universal Silicon Carbide Non-Integrated Replacement Module