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Problems with Lochinvar Knight Boiler (2023 Update)

I want to tell others of the very bad service I have received from Lochinvar Knight boiler manufacturer and Fast Mechanical plumbing services in Calgary.

In May 2006 my wife and I spent $20,000.00 to have a Lochinvar Knight Boiler, model KNB285, and valve system Installed in our home by Fast Mechanical Limited of Calgary.

The only function of this equipment is to create hot water for bathing, dishes and for hydronic heating, and yet between October 1 and Dec 31 2006, I have documented more than 31 times when boiler has failed to produce ANY heat.

We have contacted the Fast Mechanical many times and they usually come to our home and attempt repairs fairly quickly but as of January 2007 they have refused to come out to our home when the boiler failed to make heat and they have never contacted us since to see if things are better or worse. Sadly neither cause nor permanent solution to the problem has ever been found. I have received no explanation for the inability to keep this unit producing heat and as such I am left to wonder if this is commonplace.

I wrote to Lochinvar on October 25 asking for assistance, they directed me to speak to installer, who chastised me for writing to parent company, but neither answered my questions about this unit or problems. Lochinvar has never made contact with me to see if problems persisted or were resolved. I do not have any written records for any work done at my home as none were supplied, even when requested.

My family depends on this unit for all of the heat in our home and so I am very dismayed by the failure of this equipment to do its job.

After many months it appears to me that installer had little knowledge of unit and the service expert sent out from Lochinvar was also unable to solve or explain the problems with this boiler. Further I suspect poor quality equipment and improper installation.

This boiler only seems to fail in really cold temperatures (-25* to

-35* Celsius) or during windy conditions which is pretty much the description of winter on the prairies of Alberta.

I would not recommend Lochinvar/ Knight Boilers nor Fast Mechanical Services as we paid a lot of money and received equipment which does not do the job it was designed for and poor service.

Reply to
MJF
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boilertech77 had written this in response to

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: I'd like to tell you that installed properly, the knight boiler is one of the absolute best working, most efficient boilers ever. Installed properly, they are practically problem free. Apparently you got screwed by a company that didn't install it correctly, didn't know how to install it correctly and came back a few times really having no clue what was. If I saw a picture of it, I could tell you everything wrong with their installation. And as far as Lochinvar goes, It's not their responsibility to oversee installations on a boiler that they've sold. If it was defective, which is doubtful, your installer would have to go through his vendor to get it replaced. in other words, it works like this.. YOU---

again.

I don't know about Canada, but in the US we would deal with this problem by filing a claim against the contractor, in which you would receive compensation from the contractor's bond.

KNIGHT BOILERS=GOOD BAD INSTALLATION=NO GOOD

Boilers are the k> I want to tell others of the very bad service I have received from

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Reply to
boilertech77

boilertech77 had written this in response to

formatting link
: I'd like to tell you that installed properly, the knight boiler is one of the absolute best working, most efficient boilers ever. Installed properly, they are practically problem free. Apparently you got screwed by a company that didn't install it correctly, didn't know how to install it correctly and came back a few times really having no clue what was wrong. If I saw a picture of it, I could tell you everything wrong with their installation. And as far as Lochinvar goes, It's not their responsibility to oversee installations on a boiler that they've sold. If it was defective, which is doubtful, your installer would have to go through his vendor to get it replaced. in other words, it works like this.. YOU--->INSTALLER---->VENDOR--->MANUFACTURER. So again, we have your installer to blame.

I don't know about Canada, but in the US we would deal with this problem by filing a claim against the contractor, in which you would receive compensation from the contractor's bond.

KNIGHT BOILERS=GOOD BAD INSTALLATION=NO GOOD

Boilers are the k> I want to tell others of the very bad service I have received from

-------------------------------------

Reply to
boilertech77

Any particular reason you're replying to a 2 1/2 year old post, Sparky?

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I know this post is old, but the company name of FAST should have been a warning they'd suck at boiler installation and service.

Reply to
Dennis Treacy

Sorry , I don’t agree that the Lochinvar boiler is trouble free. I have a KBN -211, system was installed by an experienced contractor, familiar with in floor heating systems. The original issue was a short cycling problem, the boiler system registered over 250,000 starts , in a very short period of time. Called the factory to ask some specific questions about operation of boiler control system, the individual I spoke with, acted somewhat upset by my questions , provided no answers or help, told to call installer. Managed to find a really good contractor. who arranged to have a Lochinvar technician on site to make adjustments, no question the system is better, but far from perfect. Being familiar with large manufacturing heating systems, and a mechanical engineer by education, even when talking to the factory technician, the boiler control leaves much to desire. Yes, you can change the ramp and percentage of fire , but the system does NOT look at the rate of temperature increase, and due to the small amount of water in the boiler, it will overshoot, meet the set point, and start the cycle and ramp up again, more of a problem when heating loads are reduced.So Ok , but not perfect. Don’t understand why people at the factory refuse to answer questions, your just trying to understand the problem. BTW , the factory technician did agree with my assessment of the current control’s limitations. In retrospect, probably would have selected a European boiler , with a much larger water capacity. It’s not a bad boiler, but could use some control improvements. A smaller issue was spare parts, I like to have spare parts on hand, control boards, igniters, flame detectors etc. not that I want to install them, as I understand the liability issues, but rather having parts on hand when the repair person is onsite,and not waiting for repair parts.

Reply to
John

In article <179438baf1a2ab25$5016$510491$4266dc33 @news.newsgroupdirect.com>, snipped-for-privacy@example.com says...

ask some specific questions about operation of boiler control system, the individual I spoke with, acted somewhat upset by my questions , provided no answers or help, told to call installer. Managed to find a really good contractor. who arranged to have a Lochinvar technician on site to make adjustments, no question the system is better, but far from perfect. Being familiar with large manufacturing heating systems, and a mechanical engineer by education, even when talking to the factory technician, the boiler control leaves much to desire. Yes, you can change the ramp and percentage of fire , but the system does NOT look at the rate of temperature increase, and due to the small amount of water in the boiler, it will overshoot, meet the set point, and start the cycle and ramp up again, more of a problem when heating loads are reduced.So Ok , but not perfect. Don�t understand why people at the factory refuse to answer questions, your just trying to understand the problem. BTW , the factory technician did agree with my assessment of the current control�s limitations. In retrospect, probably would have selected a European boiler , with a much larger water capacity. It�s not a bad boiler, but could use some control improvements. A smaller issue was spare parts, I like to have spare parts on hand, control boards, igniters, flame detectors etc. not that I want to install them, as I understand the liability issues, but rather having parts on hand when the repair person is onsite,and not waiting for repair parts.

Sounds like the boiler is sized wrong for the load. That or the controller needs some more work on the setup. I worked at a large plant and we had lots of big things to heat up and needed to hold the temperture consant. Is that controller capable of operating in a PID mode or just the typical bang/bang (off/on) mode ? Maybe you are trying to hold the temperature more constant than the comtroller is set for or can handle.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

That seems unlikely. If it started every 5 minutes continuously that would take 2.4 years.

Reply to
trader_4

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