Consumer Reviews of Heat Transfer Products boilers

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Date created: 2010-07-07 Name: Brian

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Truth about condensing boilers"
All the reviews on this boiler are correct - slope unit so consate drains - have it serviced by a reputable and knowledgeable tech. Do not use part changers - All hi eff boilers and furnaces are an expensive addition to your home. Don't treat them like your 30 year old unit that was serviced every 4 or 5 years. They have more parts and they will give you better comfort but not if you ignore them. Just one other note, the dirt in the gas side on these boilers is the iron coming out of the stainless steel (try a magnet). If you ignore the service, don't clean it because you will have issues. Just like if you don't change your air filter on a car or furnace. Customers choose a contractor, not a contractor choosing a customer. So, do your research.

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Date created: 2010-02-04 Name: K. Nicklas
Years owned: 5

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"F0-9 fault code"
Had a Munchkin 140-m installed 5 years ago. Up until this year, no problems. Heating bills (gas consumption) is much lower, (took out a valiant approx. 30 yrs old). This year, my wife said she hears the baseboard pipe's banging when the furnace comes on, thinking air was needed to be bled off. After closer review, I found the noise she heard is the ignition of gas (explosion) after the furnace failed the light and went through it's 3 purge and try to ignite cycles and then would ignite the gas build up. Then, the furnace would dump into it's f09 fault code. So like everyone else out comes the manual, the list, condensate drain - ok, vents - ok, gas pressure - ok, Burner - clean, blower - cycles fine (both speeds), ignitor - sparks. Had the heating contractor that helped install it over and could not find anything wrong. So I ditched him and I ran resistance test on wires, and still got the f09 shut down code. I checked the gaskets on the burner tube, on the burner tube door (front housing)thinking maybe the 1 to 1 gas/air mix was off, checked the swirl plate, checked to make sure the spark electrode was not shorting out on the ceramic refractory, all was good. Then I thought the spark was load when arcing, a pulsing sound which means a break in the spark current so I replaced the spark electrode and tested it and got a much quieter, steady, almost non-breaking spark. Put the new spark electrode in and the furnace fired right up. So if your spark is a load heavy arc chances maybe it's not steady enough to light the gas. Hope all my trouble shooting may help some of you f0-9 people out there. Good luck, Kevin P.S. A new spark electrode is around $60.00 and a 2 min. fix.

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Date created: 2010-01-12 Name: Mike Pelar, Pelar Plumbing and Hydronic Heating

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"munchkin"
I have installed and serviced numerous Munchkin boilers of all models. Most of the service calls I respond on are a result of improper installation. One of the biggest problems I encounter is re-circ of flue gas into the boiler case, which destroys the swirl plate and fan wheel. It also causes major corrosion of the aluminum components inside the case. This is due mainly to improper installation of the intake/exhuast piping. Most of the f-09 problems I encounter are a result of improper combustion and gas pressure. These must be checked with the proper test equipment to ensure a proper rectification signal is sent to the board to keep the unit running. if your service tech replaced your board and you are still encountering F-09's then its not the boards fault, and you probably have a less than reputable munchkin service man. A factory trained tech can have most of the bugs out of a bad install in one or two trips. 80% of the boilers I encounter have never had a combustion analysis done on them. This is a must on any sealed combustion condensing appliance. Not just Munchkin. Improper piping and incorrect pump sizing is the cause of banging and clanging in the heat exchanger 90% of the time. And as for the loud buzzing noise that wakes you and your neighbors at 2 A.M., once again is a result of improper set up. I fix it all the time on units that have never had combustion tests done or done correctly.

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Date created: 2010-01-12 Name: Jan Newman
Years owned: 4

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Okay but......."
I bought a Model 199mr1 boiler in December 2005. I just paid close to $1000 in repair bills for the circulating pump that died and had started to leak... faulty bearings.... had swirl plate degredation and ceramic target wall and burner door replaced. The first year I owned it I had to have the control panel replaced which was under warranty. Dealing with heat transfer initially was no problem. They were helpful and referred me to appropriate personnel. Installers had gone out of business. Last summer, I heard a strange noise. 2nd contractor had died. Called Heat transfer. No help. Asked for a contractor in the area. No help. Got a guy who said he serviced Munchkin. I have no idea of what he did except take me for a ride. No problem until this winter when noise returned. Finally found an authorized Munchkin service tech with no help from Munchkin. I had been warned that all high efficiency boilers had more problems that normal boiler and super high efficiency were plagued with problems. I quite honestly don't know if this boiler has decreased my heating bill. Probably has as the rates have increased and my bill is about the same. Each year varied so much as to weather that it is difficult to tell. I have been told that in floor heat produces the greatest efficiency. I had hot water baseboard. I have had no further problems with the control panel. I have had no problems with the sometimes frequent electric outages and automatic reset. It is a bitter pill to swallow to drop a $1000 in repairs on a 4 year old furnace. This unit replaces a 1986 Weil-McClain that there were recurrent problems with and factory recalls. This shouldn't be rocket science. Someone should be able to make a furnace that is reasonable, repair free and last 20 years.

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Date created: 2009-12-23 Name: T Mechanic

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Re: Munchkins and their issues"
Munchkin boilers do have their issues. We service them all the time. If they are installed right and maintained once a year diligently, they run okay. We have seen several failed heat exchangers and a couple of blower replacements. Target walls inside heat exchanger needs replacing quite often when servicing. They can be kept running if initially installed right and combustion set properly. Don't let anyone work on them without computerized combustion analyzer that they use. Noises, reliefs, leaking etc. outside of boiler not running, these are not boiler problems. This is a system problem and again, qualified mechanics can figure this out. Merry Xmas to all.

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Date created: 2009-03-18 Name: Stu
Location: Voorhees, NJ

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"HVAC Sales"
As a contractor we have installed over 50-Munchkin boilers. For the most part they are reliable and Heat Transfer Products have honored their warranty. The boiler is sensitive to installation. If you don't follow instructions well you should be installing cast iron. We have had a series of leaking heat exchangers. Currently we are installing #4, a 140M, in the same home. Our customer is loosing confidence in us because of this boiler. We have not seen a lot of the problems listed in various sites concerning the Munchkin. Without looking at the individual boilers I would suspect poor installations, not poor product design. I believe our problem with leaking heat exchangers is poor quality control in manufacturing. My $.02

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Date created: 2009-02-27 Name: T. Mednick Services
Location: New Haven, CT

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"T. Mednick Services New Haven Connecticut"
I have installed well over 200 Munchkin boiler in the past 3 years. I can count on less than one hand the number of call backs I have had. These are great boilers. I have had to replace 2 boilers that were not piped right by other contractors one was 5 years old and Heat Transfer did not only supply me with a new boiler but also paid me for my labor.

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Date created: 2009-02-23 Name: John Seawright
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"wholesaler"
The fact is that most Munchkins are working fine. Knowledgeable technicians and not taking the lowest bid price for install may have an impact on many of these complaints.

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Date created: 2009-02-23 Name: John Seawright
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Wholesaler"
We have sold & serviced (with local plumbers) the Munchkin Boilers since their release. This is the first 'Made-In-USA' High Efficiency Boiler and there have been problems - as with every first production run. The Pressure Switch and Blower are problems. They have recently set up & trained a network of service techs that can handle these problems and many others that arise from poor install and lack of standard maintenance. Cold houses - when the boiler is running is a result of incorrect sizing.

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Date created: 2009-02-06 Name: Nicole
Location: Taos, NM
Years owned: 1

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Unexplained 50% increase in heating bill"
We replaced a 15 year old boiler with the Contender (mc-80) and their Superstore Ultra (80 gallon) sidearm, just a few months ago. It is running both domestic and radiant floor heating. While the unit has experienced none of the problems mentioned by others, we are using twice the amount of propane as in the previous winter (and this winter's temps are higher)! The house is a small one - just under 1200 sq ft - with low ceilings, all new double paned windows and doors, and tons of solar gain - and yet our propane bill is $600 every month! The propane company came out and checked for a leak - none was found. The plumber won't take the responsibility for this one, neither will Munchkin. I have no idea where/how this level of heat loss could occur (if anyone has input, I would love to hear it). But I do know that we're going to have to rip out our brand new $5K + system and replace it with a $300 "inefficient" boiler - in order to be able to afford living in our house...

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