Brand New Sentinel boiler problem - help please?

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corrypaw

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Hi there - my long-time plumber just left after spending 7 hours removing my old 55 year old Crane Sunnyday boiler, and replacing it with a Slant Fin Sentinel gas boiler.
He's installed alot of these, but when he fired it up to get it running, it made a horrible rattling noise, kind of like an old car with a bad knock....sounded like a metal fan with the blades banging into something. He says he's never seen this before, and since he's not a gas expert, he's going to send his gas guy over tomorrow. I was willing to just call the company under warranty, but I guess my plumber wants to be sure there isn't some quirk with my gaslines or something. I'm worried this will end up being a really expensive situation, so I was hoping someone here might have an idea what could cause a knocking noise in a brand-new Sentinel?? We've been without heat for a week now, and the only reason my old Crane died was because my knuckleheaded gas utility company broke the starter.... I miss my old boiler :( Never gave us a day of trouble..... help? Thank you!
 

Jadnashua

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Hopefully, you didn't pay him the full amount which should not go out until it is working properly. It should be quiet...
 

corrypaw

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Thanks for the reply...no, I didn't pay him anything yet - he's old-school, with a lot of integrity, and wouldn't take any payment until the problem is resolved....I'm more worried about the other guy who's coming. He charged me $125 bucks to cut and cap a gas pipe, which only took him 15 minutes....I'm scared HE'S the one who's going to cost a fortune. I'll hold off paying either of them though, until the job is finished. I was just hoping someone could give me some idea of why it's rattling, so I could shorten the length of time the gas guy spends "diagnosing".
 

Dana

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Low gas pressure or an inadequate supply line/regulator at the meter can cause "interesting" popping symptoms on startup due to fuel/air mixtures being too lean (==mini gas explosions), but not the scraping blade sounds.

Weird symptoms on startup or failure to light are more commonly found with high-efficiency boilers and tankless water heaters than cast iron beasties like the Sentinal. Did you go with a higher BTU input rating when you did the swap? (Almost universally a bad idea from an efficiency point of view, and sometimes from a fuel capacity point of view.)
 

BadgerBoilerMN

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"He's installed alot of these" When I was younger I was never impressed with the number, rather, the quality of work that I saw. Still, I had respect for my elders...now, that I am an elder, I have lost that as well. If a man charges you for a job, he should follow through. If he doesn't know how to fix the problem, he has to pay the smart guy. (Buy the way, what matter is it that he charges $125.00/hr.? is it better to have a cheap guy who can't make a residential boiler work in a week? Every US boiler manufacturer has factory service technicians supporting local distributors that support local contractors. It is chain of support that you access through your contractor. Unfortunately no one here can help you.

You may like your contractor, but your loyalty is misplaced. A common mistake.

PS. You should naturally deduct any cost you may incur to get your new boiler working. If it is a factory flaw, the smart guy should get the factory involved.
 
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