Is my boiler dying? No power light

[user]

Hi all, I'm not getting hot water in the house and the boiler is looking like this:
https://postimg.cc/6yfc2ZR1
As I recall, the green light labeled "boiler" is normally always on, in that panel above the temperature gauge, but right now it's dark even though the boiler room has power -- is this normal? I assume this indicates broken electronics. Does this prove that the electronics are turning bad, or that some other parts of the boiler is broken, or not necessarily? Is it possible to repair only the boiler's electronics in this case, or should I replace the boiler? It's about 11 years old.

Symptoms: I've been getting only cold water sometimes out of my faucets and shower, so I'd go to the boiler room, turn the power off and on, and it'd kinda work again. Right now I have no hot water again, and I noticed that there's no light on the boiler's instrument panel. The last time I reset the power, the green light came back and I had hot water again.

 

[Geofd]

Hi all, I'm not getting hot water in the house and the boiler is looking like this:
https://postimg.cc/6yfc2ZR1
As I recall, the green light labeled "boiler" is normally always on, in that panel above the temperature gauge, but right now it's dark even though the boiler room has power -- is this normal? I assume this indicates broken electronics. Does this prove that the electronics are turning bad, or that some other parts of the boiler is broken, or not necessarily? Is it possible to repair only the boiler's electronics in this case, or should I replace the boiler? It's about 11 years old.

Symptoms: I've been getting only cold water sometimes out of my faucets and shower, so I'd go to the boiler room, turn the power off and on, and it'd kinda work again. Right now I have no hot water again, and I noticed that there's no light on the boiler's instrument panel. The last time I reset the power, the green light came back and I had hot water again.

 

[user]

Sorry I don't see anything in the reply above

 

[Geofd]

Sorry about that, when was the last time you had it serviced?
Looks like you have propane

 

[user]

Sorry about that, when was the last time you had it serviced?
Looks like you have propane

Hmm I don't recall the boiler was comprehensively serviced per se, although last year they replaced the gas valve (I think that's what it called) which seemed to help the boiler remain functional throughout the winter for a change. A couple years before that I replaced the thermocouple, that's about it. One plumber last year said there's oxygen in our system due to poly-b pipes. I suspect he is right because we've had frequent pump failures, so the boiler may be rusting too. I'm just curious whether the electronics are to blame at this time.

It's using natural gas.

At the moment the light is off but there's still hot water flowing from the boiler to the water tank, so it looks like I'm wrong about the electronics being a direct cause. I still feel like the light should be on though.

 

[WyrTwister]

First of all , get your hands on a Volt-Ohm meter . You are pretty much helpless with out one . Check if you have 120 VAC power . Check if you are getting 24 VAC from the transformer . Check any fuses .

If you do not know what you are doing , BE VERY CAREFUL . Or hire a professional .

No offense intended , but you sound very lost . Guessing this and guessing that .

Best of luck ,
God bless
Wyr

 

[user]

You know who else was guessing? Those licensed plumbers that came over last week who couldn't fix anything, so they're recommending a new boiler. I'll remind them to hire a real professional the next time they start guessing at my expense ;-)

 

[WyrTwister]

I am not a plumber or a boiler technician . I do have over 40 years in the electrical trade .

A few years ago , we did the electrical on a boiler replacement of one of two boilers , in one of a customer's buildings . We had completed the wiring on the new boiler .

I was at a different building in the same city . I received a call . A cold front was coming in . The new boiler was not quite ready to run . Building Maintenance was trying to get the old boiler running , before the cold front hit that night .

We , the electrical contractor had done nothing to the old boiler .

I drove over to that building and met the two guys from Building Maintenance . We started investigating . I verified the boiler had AC power and the controls had power . I asked if they had a schematic for the old boiler . No . This was not good ! :-(

After verifying line voltage , we checked 24 VAC control voltage . Now , keep in mind , a boiler has several safeties that must be satisfied . First thing , we checked if adequate water was present in the boiler . We checked to see if ignition spark was present ( natural gas fueled ) . Good spark , but no pilot . No gas going to the pilot .

Cutting to the chase , we checked several more safeties . Last one we checked was a pressure switch that monitored incoming gas pressure . With a manual reset . The plumbers had turned off the gas to the building to plumb in the new boiler . Then turned the gas back on . We reset the gas pressure switch and started the lighting cycle .

Praise God , it all started working .

Moral to the story . There are a LOT of safteys on a boiler and ALL of them must be satisfied before it will work . Not saying you do not have defective components . But I suggest you refrain from firing the parts cannon until you verify line voltage power , control power , fuses and wiring .

God bless
Wyr