Brand of Microboiler

[BTI]

About ready to buy the boiler set up for the shop.
36-40k BTU should work fine.
6" of concrete with 2" of Dow Styrofoam down with plastic under it.
900' of PEX
I have read alot of posts and looked alot around the net.
It seems there are quite a few companies making the boilers.
BUT alot are rebadges....So if I buy one now what brand should I go for.
I've seen the Hydroshark 2, Hydroshark 3 and Seisco as having the most web presence.

Any downs and ups as far as price vs quality.
Any opinions and tips are welcome.
Good deals to be had?

Thanks, BTI

 

[csp]

I've helped a friend in the HVAC business install two Munchkin boilers. They seemed like great units, but since the installs (fall 2003) he's had to service these two units quite a bit, relative to other brands he installs.

They've done a revision to all of their units, but just a heads up on this particular brand for whatever it's worth.

Personally I'd talk to some HVAC contractors rather than relying on a web presence of one brand or another.

 

[BTI]

Well I ordered the Seisco SH-11
All of the sites seem to say for my area 24k to 30k BTU
The 11 is 37k BTU so I should be fine.
It should be here in a few days, hopefully Wednesday so I can play over Thanksgiving.

BTI

 

[Thumpya]

You poor poor thing. I hope for your sake they have resolved at least some of the many issues they have had with that system. Care to have me elaborate?

Control relays for the heating elements tend to be a problem. Underclassed and unable to handle the types of demand put on the system in a heating environment. This system was the original Hydroshark in case you didn't know that. The relay failure is a big reason they are no longer branded Hydroshark. There was a recent post about that here.

Temperature sensors fail internally causing wild temperature fluctuations or put the system out of commission completely. This has been a problem with 2 seperate makers of the temperature sensors. All it takes to cause an issue is a 10% baseline variance in one of the sensors.

The system tends to develop leaks kind of like a screen door. Failed seals, improper assembly at the factory and even failures in the molded plastic body. The body is made using a complicated process that leaves a seam along the top of the body. This is the same top of the body that has 2 elements screw into it. The seam runs down the inside of the threads. Not surprisingly that seam tends to start seperating after some use. And the best part is almost all of the leaks develop somewhere above the control board. I'll let you do the math on that one.

Just thought I'd warn you.