Five hours to diagnose problem on hydronics system!!

[Bill Mac]

We had a technician in our home for 5.5 hours trying to diagnose an intermittent problem (not producing enough heat) on heating system! The problem with intermittent circulator pump was not found until after a second and more senior technician arrived. The more senior technician was here for about 1.5 hours (in addition to the 5.5 hours spent by junior technician). Even though our Burnham 120 hydronics boiler was SHOWING error b.25 which suggests a fault with circulator pump it still took them over 6 hours to diagnose the problem. Does it seem fair that they sent an invoice for $545 to diagnose this problem?

 

[Diehard]

Was it determined WHY there was inadequate boiler water flow?
Was it fixed?

 

[breplum]

The realities of owning and running a service business is that when all costs are factored in, it can cost easily upwards of $200 per hour to send a technician out.
This is not the place for us to explain all the factors involved.
And yes, you didn't get any bang for the jr. technician.
It would be nice if they gave you some sweeter deal on replacing the pump.

 

[voletl]

The way I see it
a little ridiculous the amount of time it took someone to figure out what was wrong and then needing of a second technician yes but if your boiler does break next time then you fix it yourself....... or go with a different company you can refuse to pay the bill but then that company will put you into collections and it will eventually hurt your credit

 

[Bill Mac]

Was it determined WHY there was inadequate boiler water flow?
Was it fixed?

Thanks Diehard for your questions. Yes it was determined after 6 hours that the circulator pump is intermittent and needs to be replaced, even though that b.25 error message basically says that`s the first thing to check. No shut off valves either side of pump so system needs to be drained. Quote for $950 to replace pump including refilling system and getting it running - I would drain system before they get here. I could probably replace the pump but I`m not confident I could refill system properly and get it running correctly again.

 

[Diehard]

Make sure you get some type of warranty, in writing, if you have the work done.
Try to get a reduction based on the fact that the first visit didn't diagnose it, even with the error message telling him what to look at.

 

[Bill Mac]

The way I see it
a little ridiculous the amount of time it took someone to figure out what was wrong and then needing of a second technician yes but if your boiler does break next time then you fix it yourself....... or go with a different company you can refuse to pay the bill but then that company will put you into collections and it will eventually hurt your credit

Thanks voletl. Yes it seemes rediculous. You would think someone charging that kind of money would have enough experience and skill to diagnose the problem faster that 6 hours. The Burnham boiler is showing error b.25!! I know I may end up paying them $545 but they will certainly not be doing the repair.

 

[Bill Mac]

The realities of owning and running a service business is that when all costs are factored in, it can cost easily upwards of $200 per hour to send a technician out.
This is not the place for us to explain all the factors involved.
And yes, you didn't get any bang for the jr. technician.
It would be nice if they gave you some sweeter deal on replacing the pump.

Thanks breplum. $950 to replace pump, refill system, get it running correctly. I would drain system before they get here. I would be concerned that that $950 could double to $2,000 or more very fast with those guys.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Have isolation lever handle ball valves installed on both sides while you are at it.

So you can easily change the pump yourself next time.

With only a little burping of air afterwards.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Intermittent problems are the most challenging to diagnose. If you cannot adequately reproduce the problem you never know if you solved it.

 

[Bill Mac]

Have isolation lever handle ball valves installed on both sides while you are at it.

So you can easily change the pump yourself next time.

With only a little burping of air afterwards.

Yes, good advice thanks!

Intermittent problems are the most challenging to diagnose. If you cannot adequately reproduce the problem you never know if you solved it.