Mod con boiler power switch welded shut??

[JHZR2]

We’ve had a peerless surefire mod/con boiler since maybe 2008 or 2010.

We haven’t lost power in years. I don’t recall when it last went out.

But last night there was a decent thunderstorm, and the lights dipped, and the AC definitely browned out.

Tonight it was shower time for the kids, and there was no hot water. Got a main board connection error. I should have photographed it before touching buttons. I can’t get the message back.

Anyway, I went to power cycle it by its switch and it’s stuck! I can’t get it to rock.

It’s not complex.

But it won’t budge.

I cycled the breaker, it turned on, and the unit works fine it seems… but that switch doesn’t work.

The whole boiler system pulls less than 15A on its own circuit. But I’m concerned about that switch. Might it be welded shut?

Is there a good way to check the switch?

Is there a good at the load protective device I should install? We have a whole house surge suppressor at the panel.

 

[ctechbob]

I wouldn't give it a second thought. I would look up the specs for the voltage/current it needs to handle and then order a quality switch from Digikey and replace it.

Is that on the top of the boiler? IE facing upwards? If so it probably collected enough dust over the years to jam up the workings.

 

[CDX825]

I would just bypass it and install a regular switch in a junction box in the power feed to the boiler. We install them as service disconnects on the side of the furnace or boiler when we do an install.

 

[JHZR2]

I wouldn't give it a second thought. I would look up the specs for the voltage/current it needs to handle and then order a quality switch from Digikey and replace it.

Is that on the top of the boiler? IE facing upwards? If so it probably collected enough dust over the years to jam up the workings.

Me neither. It’s just odd that it’s so stuck. I have used it, maybe twice a year, once for service and once to keep the whole system from cycling for domestic hot water when we go away in the summer.

I would just bypass it and install a regular switch in a junction box in the power feed to the boiler. We install them as service disconnects on the side of the furnace or boiler when we do an install.

Not a bad idea at all. And easy enough to do. My primary concern and reason for asking here is if this could be damaged? It’s just odd that this thing has been flawless for over a decade, and then all of a sudden we get a thunderstorm, a significant power hiccup that hasn’t happened in I don’t know how long, and then a bad board… and a bad switch. Something seems rotten…

 

[CDX825]

Only way to find out would be to remove it and crack it open. Could be welded contacts or could just be jammed.

 

[twouvakind]

Hit it with some DeoxIt, worth $20 for the can and good for many other applications. But prepare for switch bypass.

 

[JHZR2]

Only way to find out would be to remove it and crack it open. Could be welded contacts or could just be jammed.

I don’t see a reason why it would be jammed. But who knows. It has worked fine for a decade…

Hit it with some DeoxIt, worth $20 for the can and good for many other applications. But prepare for switch bypass.

I have some somewhere. Good idea.

 

[facility1]

or you may want to use any contact cleaner spray ,(crc) etc and soak down and see if this helps, or ,though a new switch maybe needed , it looks like a fairly common switch that can be purchased at a hvac supply house and not too hard to replace,just remove and take it in to compare with a new one, and CDX825 offered a good solution also (post3) depending on your wiring skills.

 

[JHZR2]

or you may want to use any contact cleaner spray ,(crc) etc and soak down and see if this helps, or ,though a new switch maybe needed , it looks like a fairly common switch that can be purchased at a hvac supply house and not too hard to replace,just remove and take it in to compare with a new one, and CDX825 offered a good solution also (post3) depending on your wiring skills.

Yes it looks like a common and probably pretty cheap switch. I’ll have to look at if it operates a relay or carries the entire system on that switch.

Regardless, it is a pretty small cheap plastic switch. Easy to find.

Just curious really that all this stuff happened at the same time.