New controls for older Burnham boiler?

[cdestuck]

So a friend has a older burnham boiler. Probably 35 years old. Boiler itself appears to still be in good shape but the circuit board is fried. And a replacement is no longer available. But he did find a company he can send it to for a “possible “ rebuild.

My question is, can’t his old circuit board stuff be ripped out and a complete new control system be install and wired to his boiler, circulator pump, thermostat, gas valve and anything else involved. Seems to me a new different set of brains can be wired into this boiler. Thanks.

 

[Dana]

Most Burnhams of the 1980s had controls as dumb as a box of rocks, but it's unlikely that it's worth spending very much on new retrofit controls.

But this is sort of like asking whether a it's worth fixing the engine on a 35 year old Ford, with the only other information being that it's blue. The fuel type, model number and size might be useful information to share here.

Most 35 year old boilers in my area are 3x oversized for their loads, and even when brand-new could not hit their AFUE numbers due to oversizing. With some of last winter's fuel bills it's possible to correlate outdoor weather data with the fill-up or meter reading dates to get an accurate estimate of the actual 99% heat load and oversize factor. AFUE testing presumes a 1.7x oversizing, ASHRAE recommends 1.4x as the best compromise for efficiency & comfort. So before spending hundreds or thousands reviving this beast, run the fuel-use load calculation, which may even affect what sort of retrofit controls might make the most sense if saving it, or whether it'll be more rational to bite the bullet and install something more appropriate.