Manufacturer transposes digits in parts

The manufacturer, Bradford White, offered to replace the entire machine. Instead, we ordered a new burner and gas valve and burner tube. Tuuns out the previous burner tube was the wrong one. THe part number in the online catalog had the right picture, but the part number had digits transposed, so the part we'd previously received , the burner tube, was too short. That pulled the burner to the outside of the Combicor, so carbon straks went up the outside.

Those streaks could just as well have been made by the lack of combustion air. The installation instructions say that if the construction is exceptionally tight, there must be two combustion air holes, sized according to the BTU. One is within 12" of the floor, the other 12" of the ceiling. Harold Brunner, Mechanical Engineer for the Combicor with Michael Sales, the regional rep, figured that out. It is in the code, 2000 International Gas Code, as well. You can't pay a heating professional to read code, or the installation instructions. They don't think they have to. Should they be paid for failing to follow the directions, quitting when they get sick from the fumes?

The professional who installed the duct near the ceiling did not want to follow the installation instructions to remove the vinyl siding before cutting a hole in the wall, so I did it for him. He forgot to bring the parts to reduce the diameter of the stack, and was not prepared to climb on the snowy 12/12 pitch roof to work on the metal chimney, so I did. He left his power tool battery charger. I'll give it back when I get a statement from Pete, Arrowhead Plumbing, that the system, installed according to his design,  is installed according to code.

Infloor heating is the way to go. Better would be self-draing, (so if it freezes, pipes won't burst), and wood-heated. Pipes can go in the back of a fireplace. Propane should be the backup, no electricity should be essential in the heating system. In off-the-grid applications, the electrical system can fail for many reasons, but the heating system must not.

Carbon Monoxide Alarms

Carbon Monoxide alarms kept going off. The gas company could not find out why. One Carpenter said, "I feel like I am going to die", so drove himself to the VA in Duluth, two and a half hours away. THe gas company fixed leaks in the pipes, replaced a regulator, replaced the tank. More alarms, more visits by the gas company, until that company quit, as the complaints kept coming.

The new gas company's installer had been a General Contractor, and saw immediately that the stack was too short. As it was within ten feet of the peak, it needed to be two feet higher. I fixed it, as the heating system installer felt he had installed it according to code. And indeed he had, as in the wilderness, there is no code. That changed in 2010. That installer is no longer in business.

Changing the stack improved the flame, but it still was not burning blue. There was incomplete combustion, so carbon built up. We kept cleaning the burner chamber out.