polaris water heater problems

[prueben]

we have a 10 year old 100,000 btu polaris water heater that heats both domestic and about 800sqft of floor space. Recentley the heater stopped running. We brought in a gas heating specialist who has a number of years experience with polaris heaters. He started with a new igniter,cleaning and checking air intake and exhaust, then checking the control board, then replacing the gas valve, and the regulator, eventually he got it running but with hard start which let out a large bang everytime it started. After 3 weeks of the cannon going off i asked him to come back and see if we could minimize the bang. he talked to polaris Tech support and they suggested turning the mixture screw down on the gas valve, we did that and now he can not get it to stay on. We have now replaced the flow switch, checked for power there, put in a secondary regultor to get the gas values perfect and still it does not consistentley stay on. he has fiddled with the mixture setting, still nothing. he has now been here nine times, and is at wits end to what the problem may be, any ideas would be much appreciated,

[snupytcb]

you need to find a new tech. is he using any instruments? is the gap right? it just seems like alot of parts are being thrown at this thing with no good results.

[skippedover]

How about just replacing the unit? 10-years is beginning to get long in the tooth methinks. I know, the warranty on the heat exchanger is 12-years but we've replaced furnaces with a lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger. There comes a point in time when it just feels good to stop beating your head against a wall. How about a nice Navien combo unit?

[prueben]

it was one thing that led to another. he started by cleaning the unit, then a new igniter then cleaning the air in and out, then that didnt work and then he spoke with Polaris tech support and they recomended replacing the gas valve.
Hes been using a manometer( hope thats right) and hes set it up for the values indicated in the operation manual

[snupytcb]

i woyld have him start back at the igniter. is he sure the hx is not plugging?

[prueben]

hes replaced the igniter twice now, as well as checked the voltage, the igniter is getting hot.

[beb]

Did He do a CA. it could tell him something he is missing.

[snupytcb]

plain and simple. you need a new tech to look at this. he is missing something someone else may find. and he is throwing parts it it to boot. usually delayed ignition is not this hard to diagnose. why did he put another igniter in? you must really like this guy because he is costing you a bunch of money. something sounds fishy.

[beenthere]

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[tinknocker service tech]

when he pulled the unit apart to clean everythin did he replace all the gaskets
if not it may not be sealed properly and pulling air in from a differant place or blowing it out where it shouldnt causing the delay ignition

these unit are touchy and need to be carefully put back together or you will continue to have troubles

[AtticAce]

did he also clean the burner? The burner can only be cleaned by blowing nitrogen or some other high pressure gas from the inside to the outside.

If you let this go on long enough the heater will start to lock out on air switch.

[chuckcrj]

when he pulled the unit apart to clean everythin did he replace all the gaskets
if not it may not be sealed properly and pulling air in from a differant place or blowing it out where it shouldnt causing the delay ignition

these unit are touchy and need to be carefully put back together or you will continue to have troubles

Bingo.

Burner gasket leaking.

And just for the tech's info, he should never, never, never, change the gas adjustment on these burners without a combustion analyzer (CA). I have seen those just slightly out of adjustment causing them to output 1500 ppm and more of Carbon Monoxide.

If your tech does not use a CA, do yourself a big favor and find one that does. Go to www.stopcarbonmonoxide.com to find a CA certified contractor.

[motoguy128]

IS this guy a plumber of a HVAC tech? I think with these newer tanless and HE storage tank domestic water heaters, when you have anything other than a leaking pipe, you are best ot contact a HVAC tech to trobuelshoot them.

Honestly, I'm still not sure I'd recommed tnaless WH unless you have a very well trained and skilled plumber or its installed by a ehating & cooling contractor. A regular pipefitter, plumber will get over his head pretty quick. They become a parts changer really fast.

[BadgerBoiler MN]

I was saying Snup is right.

Get a new "technician".

We installed two units to heat a 100,000 sq.ft. warehouse 15yrs ago.

A Polaris water heater in an application such as you describe should last 20yrs easy. Of course this assumes some reasonable and professional maintenance.

Unfortunately, Polaris maintains no control over their distributors, nor they over the installers. I believe most are sold direct to retail customer and therein lies the rub.

Great unit, we use all the time for our radiant floor heating combi systems.