Replacement required?
reddit.com/gallery/zxj763Posted Dec 28, 2022, 7:56 PM UTC
Posted Dec 28, 2022, 7:56 PM UTC
Without being there to see what is happening, I can't say for sure if the technician is wrong.
We can't see the chimney liner in the photo, you'd have to pull the venting out of the chimney to get a good look
If the "silver pipe" is the pilot tubing, then it can absolutely be replaced and it's fairly cheap. If the "silver pipe" is the burner, then thats a bigger problem, but still repairable
However, I can't see the condition of the heat exchanger. Age itself is not a valid reason to replace equipment. HOWEVER age is often a good estimation of overall condition.
If you're really worried about it, and you don't trust your contractor, then call a second contractor to take a look at it and rediagnose. No one will be able to say for sure from these pictures alone
Edit: I'm not Canadian, but 15k USD for a full boiler change out isn't unreasonable on northwest WA. So at the very least the replacement price doesn't seem like a scam. As long as that is the finished installed price with all the new piping included and properly done
Thank u so much for the info. I just found out the silver pipes are the burner assembly. Will get a second opinion. Crazy thing is the technician didn't look at the chimney they just looked at the inside of the discharge duct inside the boiler room
Depending on where he pulled the vent apart he may have been able to see into the base of the chimney and may have seen some sort of deterioration.
But again, it's all speculation since I wasn't there.
Good luck
Hi everyone, a technician came to my mother's house and mentioned that one of the silver pipes in the attached photos has a leak. Because of this leak and because of the age of this unit, he got my mom to sign papers saying to fully replace the system for $15,000. This is in Toronto Canada. Is this a fair price? He is saying that the silver pipe cannot be replaced because it's old. Also they want to replace the chimney liner but he never went to inspect the chimney itself. Is my mom being scammed? Please help.
First rule is get several estimates/ quotes for repair or replacements.
Without being there I can't see anything wrong, no signs of flame issues around the mixing tubes.
Most likely nothing is wrong, just need another contractor to inspect it to confirm.
Thank u I will get another quote/ inspection
What silver pipe?
Sorry I'm not familiar with residential stuff. It's the second picture the four open ended cylinders pipe things. When the heat turns on the burners light up behind it.