Doing Annual Maintenance on my Propane Heater Myself

[hotajax 223]

I've watched the guy come in. He shuts off the unit, pulls out the flame sensor and scrubs it with Scotch Brite pad and sticks it back in

He removes the igniter, and replaces it. 

He pours the rusty water contents out of a square plastic collection bottle from underneath the unit.

Powers it up.

Out the door for $270 labor, not including parts.

Peerless Boiler, Model 40

 

***  I do NOT have to open any gas lines to do this job ***

 

Am I nuts to do this job myself? I have enough hand tools to do the job. 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by hotajax
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[c-series don 8,688]

Absolutely not! Go for it! 

[lynnmor 7,305]

That scam has been going on since the invention of furnaces.  Often they do a minimum amount of work, bang on the pipes to let the owner think they are working hard and then write a big bill.

[hotajax 223]

Question:  After I power the unit back up, do I have to do anything to the control board, like hitting "RESET"?

[Pullstart 62,834]

33 minutes ago, hotajax said:

Question:  After I power the unit back up, do I have to do anything to the control board, like hitting "RESET"?

nope, powering it back up is the reset.

 

38 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

That scam has been going on since the invention of furnaces.  Often they do a minimum amount of work, bang on the pipes to let the owner think they are working hard and then write a big bill.

that how you do it Uncle Jim @WHX??

[squonk 41,067]

Uncle Jim prolly wore out a hammer a year! 

 

Yearly boiler furnace maintenance varies by manufacturer. On commercial hot water units, we would pull the burner, vacuum out all the crud and loose scale. Wire brush the non loose scale off. Replace low water cutoff, check manifold pressure and do a combustion analyzer test. 

 

Eviction of spiders was extra! 

[Gasaholic 224]

1 hour ago, hotajax said:

 

 

Am I nuts to do this job myself? I have enough hand tools to do the job. 

 

 

Not in the least. I have worked on forced air propane, oil fired, diesel/kerosene torpedo heaters for years (We were an authorized dealer for Reddy Heater)  so I had no trouble figuring out what was wrong with my Big Dawg overhead shop heater (Propane) but the first year I had an issue with it I called in a tech from the installer (it was still under warranty) and the guy just took the side panel off, used a bottle cleaner brush to brush off the nozzles & sensor, and then blew the whole thing out with compressed air.. charged $180 for maintenance service call.  Forced air heaters are just as simple as small engines - Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow.  All you really need is the specifications for the unit (often in owner's manual) things like air pressure spec (2.8 to 6 PSI) or in the case of propane, fuel pressure specs (Which rarely ever need adjusted - regulator is kind of like a solid state voltage regulator - they either work or they don't)  and other than that , it is just a matter of seeing the issue (nozzle spray pattern when it first lights, etc) and diagnosing any causes. More often than not the problem is simply an air flow issue, so a bottle brush, can of compressed dry air, a few tools if you need to replace parts (like an igniter that won't glow, or a nozzle that is plugged internally) and you're good to go.  Easier to see a service tech trained in the unit to do the seasonal maintenance once, then all you need to do is copy what he did once a year, and save your $180 - $270 (Put it in a savings account with interest and use it for repair/maintenance, and when it reaches the level that it can buy a whole new heater, then you likely can just buy a new one, and have a few years of warranty.. and even maybe free maintenance if your installer offers that kind of contract..) 

[pfrederi 17,723]

2 hours ago, squonk said:

Uncle Jim prolly wore out a hammer a year! 

 

Yearly boiler furnace maintenance varies by manufacturer. On commercial hot water units, we would pull the burner, vacuum out all the crud and loose scale. Wire brush the non loose scale off. Replace low water cutoff, check manifold pressure and do a combustion analyzer test. 

 

Eviction of spiders was extra! 

 

 

My summer job in High School included cleaning the boilers.  You scraped off the asbestos sealing the access doors used long pole brushes for the tubes but also had to get inside the fire box to scrape and vacuum. Took a couple days to wash the black off your skin and you blew black snot for a day.  Then you dumped a bag of asbestos into a tub added water and mixed it up like paper mache, then resealed the doors..  Guess statute of limitations is past so I can admit I took some of the asbestos home mixed it up to fix the failing insulation on our boiler.

[squonk 41,067]

58 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

 

 

My summer job in High School included cleaning the boilers.  You scraped off the asbestos sealing the access doors used long pole brushes for the tubes but also had to get inside the fire box to scrape and vacuum. Took a couple days to wash the black off your skin and you blew black snot for a day.  Then you dumped a bag of asbestos into a tub added water and mixed it up like paper mache, then resealed the doors..  Guess statute of limitations is past so I can admit I took some of the asbestos home mixed it up to fix the failing insulation on our boiler.

Still do that at the hospital on the steam boilers. They finally got us an industrial boiler vac for the fire tubes. We have 6 high pressure boilers that have to be torn down annually and 2 Low pressure ones every 3 yrs.

 

[JoeM 7,873]

come on guys those furnace guys got to eat too! 

[ri702bill 8,316]

1 hour ago, Joey Small Block said:

come on guys those furnace guys got to eat too! 

Do they have to have steak & lobster? Or cracked crab?? Or both???

[squonk 41,067]

Knowing how much it costs to buy and outfit a truck for service. Pay for truck and contractor insurance. Pay the tech and offer some benefits, $240 bucks isn't bad

[CCW 1,293]

The older I get the more willing I am to pay to have someone else do some jobs.