Buderus G115/3 oil fired boiler - service

[Benj]

Hello there,
I'm in the process of buying a house that has in-floor hydronic heating with a Buderus G115 boiler that was installed in 2002. I called the company that serviced in in May of 2017 and they say they only check the oil fuel supply, burner, heats up to specs and vent. There is evidence of weeping leaks multiple places with mineral deposits on the solder joints. The low water cutoff is mid level of the boiler, which, in my experience it should be above the level of the boiler. Any advice on a competent hydronic heating company in the Gig Harbor, WA area?

 

[Dana]

Is a low water cutoff even required for that boiler? (Is there a WA state code requirement, but it's not indicated in the installation manual. )

Regardless, in a leak situation you'd be hearing a LOT of micro-boil sizzle & bang long before the water reached the mid-way point on the boiler, the boiler's high-temp limit controls would have cut in, and would have been out of heat for awhile. Even in a castastrophic break type of leak the safety high-temp limit would cut the burner.

FWIW: Even the smallest G115 is ridiculously oversized for the true heat loads of most homes in Gig Harbor. It's still in it's adolescence relative to a normal lifecycle expectation, but if it's been running cold return water from low temp radiant floors or short cycling it may be prematurely aged. Much of that is within the control of the original system designer or installer, but they don't always get it right. But as long as a burner tech can still tune it to 78% or better steady state efficiency there's no point in retiring it, even though it's as-used AFUE is probably well below it's steady state efficiency numbers due to the (probably) high oversizing factor.