vigas boiler

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nrcrash

Member
Apr 17, 2012
165
MA
I am looking at a discounted new vigas boiler. It is supposed to be new in a crate and I am planning on taking a look at it this weekend. Is there anything I should inspect when I am looking at it so that I don't discover a problem with the boiler after it is together in my home? I am not sure if it comes with the lambada controls or not, does this make a big difference? I appreciate any help you guys could give me.
 
I am looking at a discounted new vigas boiler. It is supposed to be new in a crate and I am planning on taking a look at it this weekend. Is there anything I should inspect when I am looking at it so that I don't discover a problem with the boiler after it is together in my home? I am not sure if it comes with the lambada controls or not, does this make a big difference? I appreciate any help you guys could give me.

You could look in the stovepipe. If it's lambda it will have two sensors in there usually. One for O2 and one for temp. There isn't much of a "crate" to them. You should be able to open 'er up pretty quick and take a look. I'm sure you could always add the lambda stuff if you really want it. I've been very impressed with mine and how it makes adjustments. Especially as the storage gets up into the high 180s. It throttles the unit very nice to get my tanks 194 at the bottom and 195 at the top.

Of course.. a proper designed system is important. I've never heard a bad word about Mark from AHONA on here. Not sure how this unit got orphaned... but I'm sure Mark wouldn't leave you hanging. You could always buy parts from him, and pay him a few bucks for system design if you had to.

JP
 
You could look in the stovepipe. If it's lambda it will have two sensors in there usually. One for O2 and one for temp. There isn't much of a "crate" to them. You should be able to open 'er up pretty quick and take a look. I'm sure you could always add the lambda stuff if you really want it. I've been very impressed with mine and how it makes adjustments. Especially as the storage gets up into the high 180s. It throttles the unit very nice to get my tanks 194 at the bottom and 195 at the top.

Of course.. a proper designed system is important. I've never heard a bad word about Mark from AHONA on here. Not sure how this unit got orphaned... but I'm sure Mark wouldn't leave you hanging. You could always buy parts from him, and pay him a few bucks for system design if you had to.

JP

I see that you have a Vigas 60. Are you happy with it? I can get a 60 for another $1300 and was debating on upgrading the size since my house is on the border of the limit of a 40.
 
Very, Very happy with the 60kw. I haven't been able to run it when it's -10 outside.. as it was installed about a month ago. But I've been very impressed with it's operation. I'm sure it will only get better as my wood gets a bit drier.

I'm heating about 6k sf. Oil boiler was running steady when it was -10 outside. So that was about 130k BTU gross input per hour (I was burning a mix of HHO and Homebrew biodiesel)

Figuring the Vigas should yield good overnight burns even in the dead of winter.

JP
 
I agree with JP about Mark at AHONA. A great guy for sure. I went the Paxo 60 route with Mark at my old place. He was great with everything!
 
I talked to Mark today and he said that he thinks it might be some black market boilers and that is the reason for the discounted rate. I told me to check for the UL # and CSA # on the back of the units. He said that if it does not have these tags he would be unable to sell me any parts for them. I should have asked him on the phone if it was because they have different parts in them or if its because he is trying to prevent people from bringing them into the country illegally. Does anyone know the if there is any difference between a black market boiler and a boiler I would be buying from Mark? Might be worth the extra money for his help during the installation as well as any help I would need afterward with servicing the unit. What do you guys think?
 
I'd go with Mark for the Vigas. He'll have you designed right so you get the most out of your boiler. Mark it smart outside the book if you know what I mean. Plus,,,,,,,,,,,,, he'll answer the phone every time you call and believe me, you will call with questions. Boilers are a learning curve. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of knowledgeable people on here as well, but it's nice to get support from the person you just shelled out your hard earned dollars to, not just have someone sell you something and it's all yours now. Mark has even traveled on the road to help his customers out, not too many people will do that anymore. Good luck with what ever you buy.
 
Picked up a Vigas 40 from Patrick of AHONA this weekend and finally got it into the basement. Patrick and Mark where both extremely helpful with all of the questions that I had. Now comes the fun part.....
 
Picked up a Vigas 40 from Patrick of AHONA this weekend and finally got it into the basement. Patrick and Mark where both extremely helpful with all of the questions that I had. Now comes the fun part.....

The 'fun part' is winter. If that comes now, food prices - and fossil fuels - will go through the roof, But snow in June would be so c:eek::eek:l.

Now you know the drill . . . lets see pics of the unit and install.

Jimbo
 
She's a beauty! Pick up a used 1000 gallon propane tank this weekend. The paint is flaking off pretty bad. Thinking of stripping off the lose pieces with a compressor and stripping wheel. Anyone have a easier way?
 

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Moved the vigas into the basement. Luckily I have a walkouts so it was easy with a skidsteer. Now I have to move a indirect water tank which is in the location I need to place the boiler to hook it up to the chimney.

I only have one flue available so I was planning on power venting my oil boiler with a Tjernlund power vent. Anyone have any luck with these?
 

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She's a beauty! Pick up a used 1000 gallon propane tank this weekend. The paint is flaking off pretty bad. Thinking of stripping off the lose pieces with a compressor and stripping wheel. Anyone have a easier way?

After a failed sand blasting attempt with some poor equipment, I just pressure washed mine, then took a wire wheel to the bad spots. Another half hour with a can of rust paint and a roller and I had some sweet looking tanks. ;)
 
Hi. Did you wind up power venting the oil boiler?

Your basement reminds of mine, only while I might have space in my pipe chase, my oil tank is too close.

Very impressive that you're moving that big tank into your basement.
 
I am picking up the power vent next week and am hoping to get the newly painted storage tank into my basement next weekend.

I ended up moving the oil tank to give me over 60" of clearance so I wouldn't have any issues with the local inspector.
 
If you are going to spray foam your tank, do it before you place it next to a wall and frame it in. I found out too late you need some clearance to spray on the foam. I removed the old paint from my 1000 gallon tank with a disk sander; worked fine.

Mike
 
I am picking up the power vent next week and am hoping to get the newly painted storage tank into my basement next weekend.

I ended up moving the oil tank to give me over 60" of clearance so I wouldn't have any issues with the local inspector.

Awesome! Here's to everything going smoothly!!
 
image.jpg Finally got the tank stripped, welded, primed and in the basement! First day of fall tomorrow. I better hurry with the rest of the install.
 
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What JP said.

TS
 
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